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CNN Live At Daybreak

Marianne Pearl Appeals for Husband's Release

Aired January 31, 2002 - 05:31   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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The wife of kidnapped American journalist, Daniel Pearl, says she hasn't slept much in six days. She is calling on the kidnappers to open a dialogue about releasing her husband.

Marianne Pearl spoke with CNN's Ben Wedeman in Karachi, Pakistan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Mrs. Pearl, your husband -- the group holding your husband has given a 24-hour deadline for the United States to meet their demands, or they say they will kill your husband, Daniel. Do you have a message to that group?

MARIANNE PEARL, WIFE OF KIDNAPPED REPORTER: Yes, I have a message like three different points I want to talk about. The first one is I want to remind them that my husband and I are both journalists, and the reason that -- we are two people who met and fell in love, because we have the same ideal, you know. And all of my life, all of his life and our life together is just a big effort to try to create dialog between civilization. This is me. I am French. I am not American. My mother is Cuban. My father is Dutch. And my whole life is that, right?

And why I love Danny is because he has the same ideal. So before I met him, he was covering the Middle East, you know. So when I met him he was always standing around, you know, trying to go to places, where people like there was a lack of understanding so he could write about it. But that's what really Danny is. That's why I was attracted to him at first. So his almost religion, I would say, is truth.

Now, the situation is very real for me, because, okay, I have seen this e-mail that you just mentioned, and what can I do? Nobody has consulted me. Nobody is trying to, you know, to tell me what I should do. I have read the statement. I have read with my, you know, my like open heart in trying to understand what they say. I think I do. I think I do, but what should I do? What exactly, you know -- it's a general statement, and Danny is my life.

So I need some education of exactly precisely what I should do, you know, regarding what they want, you know, we need something like (UNINTELLIGIBLE) I can work on, because you know, they have given us a deadline, but nothing to like... WEDEMAN: They have given demands. They have asked for the release of Pakistani prisoners held by the United States following the recent events in Afghanistan. What do you say to them? What is your reaction to that?

PEARL: My reaction to that is that even though I was just mentioning my mother, the Cuban, I cannot go now and see her, because my mom is there, you know, because Castro (UNINTELLIGIBLE), you know. What can I do? I mean, this is not like something I can actually, you know, do, right? So I am sure there are more actual (ph) demands, there are more like, you know, things that they can ask someone, you know.

I mean, I have to say -- to tell you that, you know, like when Danny went on this case like he went to see the people, because he wanted to, as I said, understand their view and talk about them. He went with complete confidence, you know. Usually we always do this interview together, because we are both journalists. That night, as I said, I am pregnant, so was I sick. I didn't go. Otherwise, I would have gone with him. And like -- and now I am confused, because like, you know, I have a dialog with people showing views, you know. We are not like on one side or the other, and now this dialog is broken.

WEDEMAN: But if one of them was sitting in front of you now, what would you tell them?

PEARL: Just what I told you, know. I would say, okay, I have tried to read, you know -- I mean, I need more. I mean, I need to understand more on what exactly what you want at our level, you know. What exactly do you want? But you have to understand also us, you know. okay, there is the human aspect. I mean, you know, I am not trying -- this is my life, and this is my baby's life and my husband's life, right? But -- and besides that, look at who we are. I mean, this is we weren't doing like -- you know, we don't know -- like this is a lifelong effort of trying to create that.

This is -- so it's completely wrong, you know. That the only thing to hold us it's like just creating more -- just more misery and that's it, you know. Nothing can come out of there. If they don't allow people like, you know, who take the risk, who are willing to go and create the dialog, the last one to hold us there, Joe, to be, you know, suffering from that, because we are the ones who try to create that dialog.

And I would also tell him that -- you know, I trust that he can understand me, because since I have been in Pakistan, we have been able to create that dialog. It's a dialog that existed, and this is what keeps us going. That's why, you know, sometimes through a tough time, you know, it's not easy for me. I am also, you know, pregnant and all these things. And why am I staying here? Why, you know, I am not like comfortable in Paris, or you know, and because I believe that, and the dialog has always won. It has always won. So I ask them to have the dialog, you know.

And god, I mean, like you have to create that. You can't just like, you know, the statement of desire is not -- they have broken this dialog, and we have that with the Pakistani people. So that's communicating into something, you know, that I can actually do, or Danny can actually do.

WEDEMAN: And how are you coping with this?

PEARL: I haven't slept for six days that (ph) you're asking. But I have hope. I mean, I am not, you know, I'm not desperate, because if I stop believing in creating this dialog, then I stop believing in everything else. So I can't do that. I am pregnant.

WEDEMAN: And if you could speak to your husband now, what would you tell him?

PEARL: I love you.

WEDEMAN: The group holding your husband has suggested that your husband is some sort of spy. What's your reaction to that?

PEARL: Well, maybe they needed to know more about our life, you know. But with everything I told you, it's impossible that, you know, Danny could be a spy like everything between us and among us is international. We are absolutely international people. He is married to a French person, whose mom is Cuban and my father is Dutch, and we live in India, and we stay in Pakistan, and we don't even know what nationality to give to our kids, you know. It's so, you know, international. What kind of a spy would that be? This is ridiculous. The answer is no. Absolutely not.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Mrs. Pearl speaking there to Ben Wedeman. Pearl, by the way, was working on a story about terrorism. We're talking about Daniel Pearl, when he was abducted in Pakistan last week.

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