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America's New War: Hillary Clinton Gives Support

Aired September 19, 2001 - 10:22   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: And the rescue and clean-up operations continue at this hour.

Here you see Senator Hillary Clinton, the junior senator from New York, arriving at Pier 94. Let's see if we can hear her audio.

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON, (D) NEW YORK: ... the family center from the armory here in just breakneck speed. And it's a really well- equipped facility. It is a place where families can come and get not only information but help. We're now moving into the stage where, you know, bills are coming due, mortgages, rents have to be paid. A lot of people have lost their incomes, their only bread winners, their jobs. And I just can't say enough about this woman and the incredible people inside.

And there are people from all over the country. We have got the most extraordinary outpouring of support; people who dropped their jobs, people who are part of the Red Cross, who answer the call to a terrible disaster like this.

And once again, the city is setting an example. Rose Mary (ph) was just telling me that we've got folks coming from all over the world just to see how we're running this because it is an incredible display of know-how and can-do spirit with great leadership, starting with the mayor. And if you've got any questions, you know -- Rose Mary, you want to say something?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're in readiness for reality. We are still a bit numb, but the families are getting ready for the acceptance of what we're facing. They are still coming for services and mental health professionals. But our new registration of cases, as you can well imagine, is really down. Yesterday was only 25. Today we have just a handful coming and registering.

Last night we did a special outreach to different communities to remind people how important it is. But I think the reality and the time for acceptance is here, and we are changing some of the format inside to be prepared for that. The intake area will be reduced, and the mental health professionals, with the Red Cross and Department of Health, and all of those experts in that field, will be stepping up to be prepared for any questions, any time, anything that people need to take care of. Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mayor Guiliani is support (UNINTELLIGIBLE) right now. How do you think he is doing?

CLINTON: I think the mayor has been superb in every way. I have said that on every occasion that I could, publicly, privately, because his leadership has summoned the spirit of this city, as well as our nation, and, literally, I think the entire world. And the people that he has on the front lines, people like Rose Mary, are an extension of that kind of leadership.

The governor has been terrific giving us everything we possibly could need here in the city.

And I want to thank the president, who came through for us. When Senator Schumer and I asked for the money, that we needed the extra $20 billion, you know, because we have to pay for all of the rescue an recovery an reconstruction and rebuilding, and the president's been a great help to us.

Tomorrow, I will be bringing a very large group of bipartisan senators from all over the country to come here to see for themselves, because one of the points that I have tried it is that as good a job as all of you have done, and have you done a superb job, you know, I want to thank television, radio, newspapers, everyone, you cannot really grasp the full extent of this devastation and the extraordinary scope of this disaster until you see it. So everybody has been great, and I think the mayor deserves, not only our appreciation and our thanks, but you know, real gratitude for the courage, the compassion, the concern, the strength that he has given to all of us.

QUESTION: Senator, (OFF-MIKE) working. But what did you say to the family members to offer them comfort?

CLINTON: You know, we -- my husband, as you know, and daughter, are here. We spent a lot of time talking to the people working there, the volunteers, and professionals who are assigned there or who have just dropped everything to be here to help.

The families that I spoke to are moving, as Rose Mary said, to a state of accepting the worst. We looked for a long time at the wall that has been put up. At the armory there was a wall of messages and photos, and it sprang up overnight, right here, too. So we still have the wall at the armory and we now have a wall of, you know, faces and sayings and messages from mothers and fathers and sisters and brothers and children. You know, words are hardly adequate to what the families are looking for, I know that. But, you know, words of comfort, words of support, and what is especially important about what's going on inside now is that we're offering the kind of assistance that families need to be able to get on with their lives. You know, the practical everyday requirements of living have to go on.

I mean, one of the strongest messages that we hope everyone has received is: We must go on. We have to demonstrate that our lives, our way of life, continues. That, yes, we have suffered grievous losses and we have to stand with our families, but we have to get about the business of moving forward, and that's true even for these families who have suffered the worse than anyone could. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. ZAUN: Once again, that was Senator Hillary Clinton joining us from Pier 94, which is considered the new family center. This is where families, were visiting loved ones come. They are supposed to fill out extensive forms to better help investigators figure out if their missing ones have been identified so far. It's a brutal process. Family members have to bring tooth brushes, hair brushes, cigarette butts, in some case, to assist the investigators in making some kind of positive DNA identification.

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