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Rhode Island Attorney General Says Club Owners Not Responsive
Aired February 24, 2003 - 13:08 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.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Grieving at the scene of the fire, friends and relatives of the 97 people killed at that nightclub in West Warwick, Rhode Island. The state's attorney general tells CNN the club's owners have not been as responsive as he'd like.
CNN's Whitney Casey is in West Warwick. Whitney, what's the latest?
WHITNEY CASEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, as we are speaking right now, Governor Don Carcieri is giving a press conference, updating those numbers. Right now, he said that 55 have been positively identified. That leaves the number at 42 that remain unidentified out of the 97, and he was optimistic that he could possibly get the rest of those bodies identified by late tonight. He was optimistic.
What he did tell us is that medical examiners have now looked, and all of those pathology teams have looked at everybody, and now they have matched -- they are looking to match them with that burgeoning database of those dental records. He says they have not matched anyone, to be very clear about that, but they have now examined every one of the bodies.
I'm just going to show you behind me. Those are the numbers of this tragedy, but just behind me, this is the picture of the tragedy, and what's interesting here is the juxtaposition. These are the -- this is the fire marshals walking around here, still part of the investigation and then behind them, some of the grieving families that have come to pray here, and it is a scene that we've been seeing all day ebbing and flowing of people walking in and out of here, and then these fire marshals have just arrived at the scene. As the investigation continues here, as you said, the state attorney general has asked to speak more with the Derderians, both Michael and Jeffrey, the two club owners here, yet they have yet to come forward.
He did say, though, that Great White, the band here, was agreeing to talk with them at any time that he called.
But again, I want to update you on those numbers, because they were just recently released: 55 people have now been identified, Anderson.
So they hope, though, at the end of the day, that they may be able to have the majority of them identified. I will tell you, though, at 97, the number stays there. However, there are 24 people that are still in critical condition in area hospitals -- Anderson.
COOPER: All right. Whitney Casey, thanks very much, live from West Warwick, Rhode Island.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
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Aired February 24, 2003 - 13:08 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Grieving at the scene of the fire, friends and relatives of the 97 people killed at that nightclub in West Warwick, Rhode Island. The state's attorney general tells CNN the club's owners have not been as responsive as he'd like.
CNN's Whitney Casey is in West Warwick. Whitney, what's the latest?
WHITNEY CASEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, as we are speaking right now, Governor Don Carcieri is giving a press conference, updating those numbers. Right now, he said that 55 have been positively identified. That leaves the number at 42 that remain unidentified out of the 97, and he was optimistic that he could possibly get the rest of those bodies identified by late tonight. He was optimistic.
What he did tell us is that medical examiners have now looked, and all of those pathology teams have looked at everybody, and now they have matched -- they are looking to match them with that burgeoning database of those dental records. He says they have not matched anyone, to be very clear about that, but they have now examined every one of the bodies.
I'm just going to show you behind me. Those are the numbers of this tragedy, but just behind me, this is the picture of the tragedy, and what's interesting here is the juxtaposition. These are the -- this is the fire marshals walking around here, still part of the investigation and then behind them, some of the grieving families that have come to pray here, and it is a scene that we've been seeing all day ebbing and flowing of people walking in and out of here, and then these fire marshals have just arrived at the scene. As the investigation continues here, as you said, the state attorney general has asked to speak more with the Derderians, both Michael and Jeffrey, the two club owners here, yet they have yet to come forward.
He did say, though, that Great White, the band here, was agreeing to talk with them at any time that he called.
But again, I want to update you on those numbers, because they were just recently released: 55 people have now been identified, Anderson.
So they hope, though, at the end of the day, that they may be able to have the majority of them identified. I will tell you, though, at 97, the number stays there. However, there are 24 people that are still in critical condition in area hospitals -- Anderson.
COOPER: All right. Whitney Casey, thanks very much, live from West Warwick, Rhode Island.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
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