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American Morning

America Under Attack: Families Still Have Hope

Aired September 14, 2001 - 09:26   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.
PAULA ZAUN, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to check in with Hillary Lane right now, who joins us from the Armory in New York City, where people continue to show up with information on their friends and family members, hoping to find out what happened to them -- Hillary.

HILLARY LANE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Paula, as you said, there are still at least 4700 people missing. So this giant building behind me has been turned into one large missing persons center. And what is happening here today is a different picture from what we saw yesterday. Yesterday the lines were wrapping around the block, people bringing pictures, waiting to fill out eight-page missing persons reports. Each person individually then meeting with a police detective, asked for all sorts of personal information, any sort of body marks, asking -- being asked for names of dentist, being asked to hold on to personal items such as hair brushes.

Dental records and hair brushes obviously two items that could be very useful for DNA identification, which will be one of the next steps in the coming days as they do begin to recover more and more remains.

Since we cannot take you inside of the building, I'm going to talk with now a gentleman who filed one of these missing person's reports yesterday. His name is Rinaldo Gargano (ph), and his nephew, Rocco, has been missing since Tuesday.

Sir, if you could tell me a little bit what happened when you went into the building yesterday and what sort of questions the detectives were asking you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They were asking me to bring any kind of information, any kind of distinctive marks I could have for my nephew; that way they were able to identify him in case he is found.

LANE: There are grief counselors as well. Did you stop and talk to anybody to get any sort of advice on how to talk to your other family members?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They gave me something -- they said to try to remain as calm as possible and try to comfort your other one that's mostly, you know, touched by it. And it's been very difficult, very difficult.

LANE: I assume even more so day by day, now day four. Please tell me now what this is like for you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's been very hard. very grieving. It's been insurmountable type of pain. And now -- but I do know that he's not on any kind of list, he's missing, dead or in a hospital. So I do still have a lot of hope for him. I hope they will be found. I hope that the pictures that I'm circulating will be seen by someone to identify him and we'll get some sort news to the home, to his mother, to me, and to everyone that's really involved.

LANE: Mr. Gargano, thank you very much for your time, and good luck to you in your search.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.

LANE: So, Paula, that's what happening around here. You have people walking around with missing persons posters, they're showing these faces anywhere they can. They're trying to maintain any hope they possibly can, but as everyday passes and as this rain falls it becomes even more difficult.

One of the gentlemen I was talking to earlier this morning has said that what he had as hope is now turning to anger and he's -- and it's growing. He came back today to present even more information, but he basically said, as day four has come, he doesn't really think there's much of a chance of finding his sister, who hasn't been seen since Tuesday.

Back to you.

ZAUN: Boy, Hillary, that is absolutely brutal to hear what these people are telling you this morning.

Thank you. We will come back to you a little bit later on this morning to see what else you have learned.

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