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CNN Live At Daybreak

Talk of CNN: The Station Nightclub Inferno

Aired February 24, 2003 - 05:44   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.


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well the deadly Rhode Island nightclub inferno is "The Talk of CNN" this morning.
Mark Ericson and Danielle Carrier, better known as the WOKQ Waking Crew in Portsmouth and Manchester, New Hampshire, are on the telephone with us now.

How you doing you guys?

MARK ERICSON, WOKQ MORNING WAKING CREW, PORTSMOUTH AND MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE: We're doing OK, Fredricka. How are you this morning?

WHITFIELD: Doing pretty good. Obviously a lot of folks are still talking about this very tragic fire in Rhode Island. New England is a very tight-knit community, what are folks saying there?

ERICSON: Well it's more tight-knit than you might imagine when you add in to it the fact that one of the owners of the club, Jeff Derderian, is a former Boston television news reporter and we, of course, see a lot of Boston TV up here in New Hampshire. And even our co-host here, Danielle, she knew somebody that was at the club earlier that evening but had left before the fire broke out.

DANIELLE CARRIER, WOKQ MORNING WAKING CREW, PORTSMOUTH AND MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE: Yes, I went -- I actually lived in Rhode Island for a few years and frequented The Station. One of my friends -- of course I had to call and just make sure everybody was OK. And one of them said yes, we left earlier in the evening as we had no desire to see the Great White band. And I was like well I'm glad you didn't, you know. It was -- they said they were very scared. They didn't know anybody there, so they didn't lose any friends. But Rhode Island is such a small state community wise you know everybody. I mean they knew some names but they didn't know them personally.

WHITFIELD: And, Danielle and Mark, you know what struck me is the variation of ages of people who would go to The Station nightclub. I mean folks who were in their 20s and folks who were in their 40s. It appealed to everyone, didn't it?

CARRIER: It really did.

ERICSON: It seemed to. And of course some memorial services are going to be held today. And the governor of Rhode Island, interestingly enough, Fredricka, has ordered a no-fly zone within five miles of the site. They're concerned that news choppers are going to be trying to get video during some of these memorials that are planned and the governor has said no-fly zone within five miles of The Station.

WHITFIELD: And you guys, you mentioned Jeff Derderian, who's the co-owner of the club, is also once a reporter in the Boston area, his very tearful press conference, is he winning a lot of sympathy from people in your community or are folks saying wait a minute, you know as an owner of the -- of the club you should know what your guests, your host, you know your bands are going to be doing?

ERICSON: Well the opinions I think are split, although his heartfelt press conference I think certainly did have an impact on a lot of people.

CARRIER: A lot of people did feel for him as -- I mean especially if you think about it in the way of there's a difference between a manager and an owner. Being the owners, they put a lot of trust in their own manager of the club. So to believe that he said he was totally shocked, I mean I believe him.

ERICSON: And it's a tragic situation all the way around. And I guess he and his brother have owned it for about three years and actually, according to Rhode Island state records, were in the process of selling it and transferring it to new owners.

WHITFIELD: Interesting. Now the fact that there is tape that has been shown across the country of other bands that have used pyrotechnics at that very club, in what way are some of your listeners talking about how this investigation might be swayed?

ERICSON: Well I think you know many people are now talking about, and we've heard from a number of listeners over the weekend who said that when they went to clubs they were suddenly not so much focused on getting into the club but looking at the emergency exits and focused on a way to get out. Some people saying, too, that if the place gets too crowded, they're not going to hang around in the club anymore. And Rhode Island is taking some interesting steps starting this morning.

CARRIER: Yes, approximately 200 deputy state fire marshals plan to actually fan out across Rhode Island today to inspect clubs similar to The Station in West Warwick.

WHITFIELD: All right. Well, Danielle Carrier and Mark Ericson, thanks very much for joining us. It's a sad story no matter which way you look at it.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired February 24, 2003 - 05:44   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well the deadly Rhode Island nightclub inferno is "The Talk of CNN" this morning.
Mark Ericson and Danielle Carrier, better known as the WOKQ Waking Crew in Portsmouth and Manchester, New Hampshire, are on the telephone with us now.

How you doing you guys?

MARK ERICSON, WOKQ MORNING WAKING CREW, PORTSMOUTH AND MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE: We're doing OK, Fredricka. How are you this morning?

WHITFIELD: Doing pretty good. Obviously a lot of folks are still talking about this very tragic fire in Rhode Island. New England is a very tight-knit community, what are folks saying there?

ERICSON: Well it's more tight-knit than you might imagine when you add in to it the fact that one of the owners of the club, Jeff Derderian, is a former Boston television news reporter and we, of course, see a lot of Boston TV up here in New Hampshire. And even our co-host here, Danielle, she knew somebody that was at the club earlier that evening but had left before the fire broke out.

DANIELLE CARRIER, WOKQ MORNING WAKING CREW, PORTSMOUTH AND MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE: Yes, I went -- I actually lived in Rhode Island for a few years and frequented The Station. One of my friends -- of course I had to call and just make sure everybody was OK. And one of them said yes, we left earlier in the evening as we had no desire to see the Great White band. And I was like well I'm glad you didn't, you know. It was -- they said they were very scared. They didn't know anybody there, so they didn't lose any friends. But Rhode Island is such a small state community wise you know everybody. I mean they knew some names but they didn't know them personally.

WHITFIELD: And, Danielle and Mark, you know what struck me is the variation of ages of people who would go to The Station nightclub. I mean folks who were in their 20s and folks who were in their 40s. It appealed to everyone, didn't it?

CARRIER: It really did.

ERICSON: It seemed to. And of course some memorial services are going to be held today. And the governor of Rhode Island, interestingly enough, Fredricka, has ordered a no-fly zone within five miles of the site. They're concerned that news choppers are going to be trying to get video during some of these memorials that are planned and the governor has said no-fly zone within five miles of The Station.

WHITFIELD: And you guys, you mentioned Jeff Derderian, who's the co-owner of the club, is also once a reporter in the Boston area, his very tearful press conference, is he winning a lot of sympathy from people in your community or are folks saying wait a minute, you know as an owner of the -- of the club you should know what your guests, your host, you know your bands are going to be doing?

ERICSON: Well the opinions I think are split, although his heartfelt press conference I think certainly did have an impact on a lot of people.

CARRIER: A lot of people did feel for him as -- I mean especially if you think about it in the way of there's a difference between a manager and an owner. Being the owners, they put a lot of trust in their own manager of the club. So to believe that he said he was totally shocked, I mean I believe him.

ERICSON: And it's a tragic situation all the way around. And I guess he and his brother have owned it for about three years and actually, according to Rhode Island state records, were in the process of selling it and transferring it to new owners.

WHITFIELD: Interesting. Now the fact that there is tape that has been shown across the country of other bands that have used pyrotechnics at that very club, in what way are some of your listeners talking about how this investigation might be swayed?

ERICSON: Well I think you know many people are now talking about, and we've heard from a number of listeners over the weekend who said that when they went to clubs they were suddenly not so much focused on getting into the club but looking at the emergency exits and focused on a way to get out. Some people saying, too, that if the place gets too crowded, they're not going to hang around in the club anymore. And Rhode Island is taking some interesting steps starting this morning.

CARRIER: Yes, approximately 200 deputy state fire marshals plan to actually fan out across Rhode Island today to inspect clubs similar to The Station in West Warwick.

WHITFIELD: All right. Well, Danielle Carrier and Mark Ericson, thanks very much for joining us. It's a sad story no matter which way you look at it.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com