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America's New War: Missing Persons' Families Start to Lose Hope

Aired September 14, 2001 - 22:45   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.
AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Now back to Elizabeth. This is a very difficult thing, Elizabeth, to ask you to do, to pick up your reporting where you were, but I am going to ask you to do that nevertheless.

That's still Las Vegas, of course, MGM Grand Hotel. The lights on the faux Eiffel Tower there going out. A little bit eerie. An awful lot of light around it, but you can see the lights on the strip at least dimming.

OK. Just wanted to get that in while we could, while it was happening.

Now let's go back now to the Armory. And Elizabeth, go ahead and pick up your story where you can, if you can.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, let me recap. We were talking with two cousins, Raul and Joanne, who are looking for Joanne's father, Juan Garcia. He's here with Joanne's son, so his grandson. And I was asking you, three and a half days after the explosion, almost four days, has your hope waned? Has it lessened?

JOANNE GARCIA, FATHER MISSING IN WTC: Well, honestly, yes, it has. But all we can do right now at this point is just to have faith and keep our prayers and -- and just pray and just have hope and never give up.

COHEN: And never give up.

What I'm hearing, Aaron, is over the past few days, is that on Wednesday, on Thursday, people -- I ran into very few people who said that their hope had waned. Their hope was at a high level. Today, I am hearing and really at the end of the today, I've been hearing for the first time, that people are beginning to lose some of that hope, just as the rescue workers who were with Gary Tuchman beginning to lose some of that hope.

I believe that I have another gentleman here who is looking for a loved one, a Port Authority Police Officer Paul Jergens. Tell me, Paul is a friend of yours?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is my brother, Pablo Ortez. And my neighbor came across and told me that he was missing his brother-in- law, and he told me that he went to work and he was missing, and I was shocked. I saw you yesterday, and you told me, "would I lose hope?" And I told you I wasn't sure. And now I have hope.

I have hope, because there's a lot of people out here and I'm out here, and I'm trying to help. I have hope. And my neighbor gave me a picture of his brother-in-law. And my brother is missing, and his brother-in-law is missing, so there's hope that we'll come together and we'll find these people.

COHEN: So, your brother is missing, you're helping someone find his brother-in-law, and you still have hope? Still have hope?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have lots of hope. I have lots of hope. Thank you.

COHEN: Thank you. Aaron, so many stories like this here on the corner of 26th Street and Lexington Avenue -- Aaron.

BROWN: So many indeed. Thank you, Elizabeth. It is -- it was difficult the last couple of days when people were hopeful. It is especially so as they lose hope, isn't it?

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