Rescuers at Ground Zero Pull the Body of a Firefighter From Rubble
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: At the disaster site in New York today, it was a day of mixed emotions. Rescuers pulled the body of one more fire fighter from the rubble. Earlier, there was cautious but some fresh optimism of finding survivors as searchers got close to possible air pockets. CNN's Gary Tuchman joins us now from New York with more on that. Is there really some optimism, perhaps, Gary, that someone could still be found alive?</s>GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We have to be very careful with how we talk about this. There has been absolutely no sign, Wolf, whatsoever of any survivors. Nothing has been heard, nothing has been seen. However, they are approaching what they call air pockets or voids, areas where people could have potentially survived. They haven't been able to get to these areas for 11 and a half days, therefore they are excited that they are approaching it, that they are able to get enough rubble away to get to that. And they are hoping they find somebody alive. But there is certainly no visible or audible information that that might happen. So they are hoping, and that is very important to stress. Over 2,000 people are on the scene as we speak, using tools ranging from cranes to shovels and participating in this rescue and recovery effort. And when we talk about recovery, we're talking about the recovery of many people who perished. Right now, 252 people have been recovered. Yesterday, the number was 241, so that shows you 11 bodies have -- only 11 bodies have been found over the last 24 hours, including a fireman. The mayor of New York spoke to us earlier. He told us when the fireman was found, that two other firemen took him away in a stretcher and the other police and fire officials on the scene put their hats and helmets over their hearts. As you said, Mayor Giuliani spoke before, he is the chief executive of the city. Obviously, he's also become the chief cheerleader, and he spoke with another former chief, former commander- in-chief.</s>MAYOR RUDY GIULIANI, NEW YORK: Everybody in their own way has to find a way to get back to normal. Normal means not being sad and not mourning of -- everybody is going to mourn and feel terrible and feel awful. And then, there are going to be times when people just cry. But they have to be able to, as best they can, get back to work, get back into normal life, get back into enjoying their lives, and also stop being afraid. Stop being afraid doesn't mean you can get rid of the emotion, it means overcoming it -- just going out and doing the things that you normally do.</s>BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT: We need to keep the confidence of the people up. The ultimate victory here is the maintenance of America's confidence in itself, its values and its future. And I certainly think, and Mr. Mayor you have been critical not only for the people of this city but all over America. My friends call me from every region of the country and say how well you have done and how well the people of New York have done, and how proud they are. So I'm glad to be here, and I hope I can be of help.</s>TUCHMAN: Six thousand three hundred and thirty-three people are still missing and presumed dead, and more than 70 countries, ranging from Antigua to Zimbabwe. But it is believed that number might go down, because it is thought that many of the countries reported people who haven't called back home, but might not have been at the World Trade Center the day this happened 11 days ago. Wolf, back to you.</s>BLITZER: Thank you very much, Gary Tuchman in New York. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com