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American Morning

Foundation Formed In Daniel Pearl's Name Seeks To Teach Tolerance

Aired March 07, 2002 - 09:32   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.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to turn now to the tragic death of "Wall Street Journal" reporter Daniel Pearl. The family and friends of the journalist who was kidnapped and later executed in Pakistan are working hard to keep his memory alive.

A memorial foundation for Pearl has been established to support some of the causes he believed deeply in, like promoting cross- cultural understanding and preventing hate-based violence.

Daniel Gill was a life-long friend of Pearl's. They met in the fourth grade and were close buddies all the way through high school. And he joins us now from San Francisco. Daniel, nice to see you, welcome.

DANIEL GILL, FRIEND OF DANIEL PEARL: Good morning. Thank you for having me. And, not just through high school. Through -- through Daniel's death. It's -- I've -- you know, he's always been a close friend.

CAFFERTY: You received an e-mail from him, as a matter of fact, a couple of days before he was abducted, in which he was very much looking forward to the birth of his son.

GILL: Oh, Yes. I believe it started out, "whoo, boy!" with lots of exclamation points. He was really quite thrilled and it's, personally, tragic to me. He was talking about maybe coming to San Francisco and considering living here. So, it's just, you know -- it just an extra stab to the heart.

CAFFERTY: Yes. How are you -- how are you handling all this?

GILL: Well, you -- you know, you keep on doing, and it's difficult. It's tough to see the family going through so much pain. And frankly, I've been really busy trying to help out with matters here and there, so that helps fill the space.

CAFFERTY: Talk to me a little about this foundation. I mentioned in the introduction that one of the things that it will focus on is preventing hate-based violence. As a practical matter, that's something that's as old as mankind. What are you going to try to do in that area?

GILL: Well, it's -- that's a very specific question for a brand new, fledgling foundation. The Daniel Pearl Foundation is in that direction, but it has -- it's just -- it was just formed. There's only been an appointment of directors. Probably, what's going to happen is the foundation is going to sponsor and fund other organizations that are going to contribute to educational and other -- there are several organizations that try to get people together and help them understand one another.

You know if you look at this situation here, there are still millions of people who think that kidnapping and the brutal murder of Danny Pearl is an acceptable business practice in politics.

CAFFERTY: Sure. Sure.

GILL: And that's just not acceptable.

CAFFERTY: The world got to know Daniel Pearl as a journalist, his love of music, his -- the impending fatherhood. You knew him as a kid. Talk to me about the kind of kids you guys were. You shared a love of music. A little bit about what you used to do when you were hanging out.

GILL: Well, we did what kids did. We -- when we were young we played in the playground, and as we got older, we, you know, talked about girls and we tried to sneak a beer and, you know, do things that you don't talk about on TV. And...

CAFFERTY: Normal guys in other words?

GILL: Normal guys. Danny always was the same, though. He always had the same charm and charisma. Very sly wit and a very sly grin. And he was always -- he was always good for anything fun.

CAFFERTY: You got the sense he was idealistic about the human condition, in all the ways that are positive. Did you have a sense of that as you were growing up and going through adolescence with him? Where was that idealism, for want of a better word, rooted and how strongly did he feel about -- about trying to do the right thing? About trying to change things, perhaps?

GILL: I think that's an excellent question. And it's always been there. We've gotten in arguments before about politics in the Middle East or things that are going on. My response to his murder -- my initial response was, you know, I was enraged, and I become a lot less tolerant of certain groups of people, the kind of people who would do those kinds of things.

And, as I was talking to Danny's widow, Mariane, you know she reminded that, you know, who Danny was, and that he would be arguing against me right now. Because he would not condemn, you know, millions of people for the acts of thousands. He -- you know, he believed that by communication and by discussion and by understanding, the world could be a better place.

CAFFERTY: Do you have an address for people who might be watching this broadcast and would be interested in getting involved with the work of the foundation? And if so, why don't you share it with us, because we get a lot of people who have a keen interest in the life of Daniel Pearl and his -- and his death.

GILL: I do. The address for The Daniel Pearl Foundation is Care of: Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. That's 2029 Century Park East, Suite 4000, Los Angeles, California, 90067.

CAFFERTY: Daniel, it's been a pleasure talking with you on "American Morning" this morning. Thanks for your time. And your reminiscences and your information about the foundation. And good luck to you.

GILL: Thank you very much for having us and for putting the word out.

CAFFERTY: Our pleasure. Daniel Gill, a close friend of Daniel Pearl and one of the men involved, now, in the running of the foundation that bears his name.

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