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tv   Piers Morgan Tonight  CNN  September 11, 2012 9:00pm-10:00pm PDT

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imagine what it was like to be someone there in the navy and out on your day of leave. go back for your night. brings it alive in a way that is so important. one day ground >> this is new york's tribute in light. the city's stunning memorial to the victims of the 9/11 attacks. it's an installation of 88 search lights which can be seen in the night sky up to 60 miles away. meanwhile, on this an versery of 9/11, we have breaking news of turmoil in the middle east. in cairo, angry protesters climbed the walls of the u.s. embassy and hauled down the american flags in protest of a film they believe insults the
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prophet muhammad. and a state department official says that the libyan government has confirmed an employee at the american consulate in benghazi was killed today. good evening. i'm wolf blitzer in for piers morgan. attacks on diplomatic compounds in both egypt and libya. joining me is the chairman of the house intelligence committee, congressman mike rogers. thank you very much for coming in. i want to get to 9/11, but there's some breaking news that we're following and i want to get your sense. an american diplomat has apparently been killed. people stormed the u.s. consulate in benghazi, libya. can you update us? >> it's my understanding there were nearly two dozen armed individuals that coordinated explosions and other things. this is the same site that was
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attacked with an ied about a month or so ago. very, very concerning, and it's concerning that this is a repeat target for them and that this may have been more successful because of the large scale of it. so it's, again, very, very concerning. we have seen al qaeda elements in libya spring up, as we have seen in tunisia, as well. all of that is concerning. we still don't know for certain yet, as i speak to you today or tonight, who is responsible and who's claimed responsibility. so those details are still unfolding. >> it is a coincidence or not that this is the anniversary of 9/11? and we see not only what's going on in libya, but they were attacking the u.s. embassy in cairo, as well on this day. is there a connection here? >> well, from what i have been led to believe as i stand here, there's no connection yet identified after the coordination.
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and we've even had some odd descriptions of the one in egypt. i will say the egyptian government has not done as much as it needs to do right now. i think those discussions are happening and ongoing. but it just shows that with the change of the government and the new direction and the muslim brotherhood taking over, there are just huge questions that go unanswered, and their commitment to u.s. embassy security is very, very concerning. so we saw some changes in the sinai that disturbed us when it comes to egypt. their lack of real effort to make sure that that doesn't explode, if you will. and now this with the u.s. embassy. we're going to have to have a lot of hard questions and do a lot more digging to find out exactly who is responsible, if it was coordinated, and if it was related at all to 9/11, and b, to the event in benghazi, libya. >> a lot of your colleagues, democrats and republicans, have said they're reconsidering
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supporting about $1. 5 billion a year in aid to egypt. are you amox those ready to pull the plug? >> you always have to ask yourself, is the united states and the national security better if we're gone completely or have a sphere of influence there? i do believe it ought to be leverage as we move forward and we have to get some commitments by this government that they're going to do more in sinai, less to provoke israel and make sure our u.s. embassies are protected fully by the egyptian government. it's unconscionable this could happen on their watch. so it needs to be a point of discussion. we need to be careful about starting to pull out of places that we don't understand the changes that are happening and we don't understand the intelligence and military roles
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yet and what this muslim brotherhood is trying to do. we should walk into that decision, not run into it. >> speaking of israel, what do you make of this decision the white house telling the israeli government, prime minister netanyahu coming to the united states that the president won't be able to meet with him because of scheduling conflicts. this comes at a time of tension between the u.s. and israel over iran and its nuclear program. what do you make of this? >> they are in a really tough neighborhood a there's a lot of uncertainty that surrounds them. the one thing that they clearly need is certainty from the united states on where we are. this just shows to me, it's just another example that highlights this problem that we're having politically. intelligence services are working well, cooperation is great, but our political discussions and corporation is off kilter. if we want to prevent a conflict in iran over their nuclear
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program, then we better have some certainty about what role the u.s. is playing, their leadership and our relationship with israel. we have to work all of that out. i would encourage the president to find time for this meeting. netanyahu said he would fly anywhere to do that. we need to continue dialogue to prevent armed conflict. but we also need iran to understand that we are absolutely serious, that we will use a military option if they don't stop their nuclear program from advancing. >> senator john mccain and lindsey graham issued a statement, apparently upset about the president and netanyahu unable to get together. it is puzzling that the president can't make time to see the head of state of america's closest allies in the world. if these reports are true, the white house's decision sends a troubling signal to our ally, israel, about america's commitment at this dangerous and
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challenging time. you were at a meeting recently. the israeli prime minister was there. the u.s. ambassador to israel was there. apparently there was some angry words exchanged, just t the record straight for us. what happened there? >> well, i can tell you that clearly i walked out of the meeting with the understanding that the israeli government is a little frustrated with the lack of certainty on behalf of the united states. and they're trying to move some dialogue so that israel has a comfort level and the united states has a comfort level. clearly that's not happening. so i think there was some sharp exchange. the u.s. ambassador to israel was not shouting in the meeting. i think that was reported. but there was a sharp exchange. there was certainly a meeting that was a little elevated in tone, if you will. again, it was very clear that there was a high degree of frustration with the united states government and that lack
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of certainty and leadership, one of the sole remaining superpowers, it is important we show that leadership and we have those levels of certainty and we work with our allies. if we don't, wolf, my fear is israel is going to say look what's happening around us. we're going to have to do this on our own, and i think if we all come together on this, we probably can prevent a military action, but we have to prevent it not by beating up on israel but making sure iran understands there is a real consequence, a military consequence if necessary, if they don't stop their program. >> all this unfolding on this the 11th anniversary of 9/11. mike rogers is the chairman of the house intelligence committee. mr. chairman, thank you very much. >> wolf, thanks for having me. now i want to bring in the senior senator from new york state, chuck schumer. thank you very much for coming in. first, what do you make of this decision, this inability for the prime minister of israel, coming to the united states, and he's
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not going to meet with the president of the united states. what's going on here? >> well, i think that -- look, prime minister netanyahu can reach the president any time he wants. and my guess is, there are just scheduling difficulties and i wouldn't be surprised if they work something out. >> i wouldn't be surprised either. but it does sort of reenforce this notion, some of israel's supporters have doubts about the president of the united states' commitment to support for israel. you heard what mitt romney said not that long ago in his acceptance speech in tampa. listen to this one line that he said. >> president obama has thrown allies like israel under the bus. >> thrown allies like israel under the bus. so what do you say to romney on the heels of what happened with the jerusalem platform dispute, now this inability to come together for netanyahu and the president to meet what mitt romney is saying, go aled as a strong supporter of israel, what do you say?
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>> here's what i say. the two biggest threats to israel, are one, a nuclear iran, and two, rockets raining in from lebanon launched by hezbollah. on those two issues i would say this president has been better than any other. he's launched sanctions against iran that are tough and having an effect. he's made it clear that he will not support a nuclear iran. he's made it clear that the policy of containment is not a good policy. and i'll tell you this on iran, and i've said this to a couple of romney supporters who agree, that if the sanctions fail, and military action is warranted, a re-elected president obama is far more likely to launch that kind of military action, probably in concert with israel than would mitt romney. because mitt romney will be new, he'll have a whole domestic agenda. president obama is resolute about not having a nuclear iran. the prime minister of israel
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admits nobody has done more for iron dome than this adnistration. israel has even tweaked it a little bit so it's even stronger. and the percentage of hezbollah rockets that might be launched from lebanon, if there was a military action or iran decided to let hezbollah loose in any other way, the number of rockets that would get through would be much, much smaller than it would have been in the past. on the israel -- so i think on these two issues, the president is very strong and i think that mitt romney is mistaken. >> i do think, though, that right now, even though when i was in israel not long ago, the defense minister and the president of israel, they hailed the close u.s.-israeli relationship. i think there's been a history, a continuation of tensions on a personal level between prime minister netanyahu and president
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obama. i don't know if you agree with me or not. >> i would say this, look, i've had my disagreements with this administration on the israeli and palestinian issue. i believe frankly that most -- too many palestinians and too many arabs don't believe that there should be an israel. they hide behind the law of return but never, when they talk about a two-state solution, acknowledge a jewish state. i think that's the big problem. but overall, the president's record on israel is extremely strong, particularly with iran and iron dome and rockets from hezbollah coming to the fore. so i think supporters of israel, if they had to choose who would be better for israel, there's no doubt it would be barack obama. >> on this 11th anniversary of 9/11, where do you see the greatest threat to the united states? >> well, here's another thing. this gets -- the president gets
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a lot of credit. obviously, terrorism launched by al qaeda would be. and they're reeling in iraq -- in iran and in pakistan -- rather in afghanistan and pakistan. let's not forget while president bush was reluctant to send drones over the pakistani border, president obama has released them. we're doing the same thing in yemen, another al qaeda center. so we're a lot safer today than we were on 9-10-01 but also a lot safer today the day president obama took office. he's been the toughest president on terrorism we've had. what is our great danger? there are always new terrorists that pop up. different types and they're smart with the internet. they have a lot of knowledge a look for our weak pressure points. that's why we have to stay vigilant all the time. it's not an accident that sense the 9/11 thing there hasn't been a terrorist attack on america.
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we're doing a much better job, particularly in the ability to listen in to would-be terrorists and find out what they're doing and thwart them before they could launch anything that might hurt us. >> senator schumer, thank you very much for joining us, especially on this 11th anniversary of 9/11. >> thank you very much. good to talk to you, wolf. and go bills, right? you must be a bills fan being from buffalo. >> of course. thank you very much, senator. up next, rudy giuliani joins me and he'll talk about what he remembers most from that fateful day. [♪...] >> announcer: with nothing but his computer, an identity thief is able to use your information to open a bank account in order to make your money his money. [whoosh, clang]
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we've blunted the taliban's momentum in afghanistan, and in 2014, our longest war will be over. [ applause ] a new tower rises above the new york skyline. al qaeda is on the path to defeat and osama bin laden is dead. [ applause ] >> president obama at the democratic national convention. he, of course, ordered the raid that killed the terror mastermind. bin laden is gone, but what he did in 2001 will stay with us forever. 9/11 changed the country and it changed the world. and it began on a tuesday morning in new york 11 years ago today. rudy giuliani was the mayor of
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the city. he's joining us now. mr. mayor, thanks for coming in. it's 9:00 p.m. here in new york right now. where were you exactly on that evening at 9:00 p.m. 11 years ago today? >> i was at a temporary command center at the new york city police academy on 22nd street. and i was getting ready for our last press briefing of the day, which we did shortly thereafter to explain to people the information we had about what happened, give them advice on how to hand el themselves the next day and also trying to find something inspirational to say to them. because i knew going to bed that night, they're going to be the first new yorkers in memory that had to go to bed at night with their city having been attacked. and i wasn't sure how they were going to deal with it. frankly, i'm not sure how i was going to deal with it that night. >> i don't think any of us
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appreciated what was going on. but the responsibility you had was so enormous. you've described 9/11 as both the worst day and the best day. explain why you said that. >> the worst day because it was the worst attack, domestic attack in the history of my country, at least you have to go back to the revolution and the war of 1812 and the civil war. certainly the history of new york city. and at the same time, it was a day of more heroism, more patriotic fervor, more assistance, more charitable action and activity than i ever saw in my life. i never saw this kind of desire to want to give. 4:00, 5:00 in the afternoon, seemed to me like a thousand construction workers descended on ground zero. the place was in flames at the time and these guys wanted to go in and drag people out. and they just came. nobody called them. we got help from all over the country.
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firefighters who put up the flag, the firefighters who saved so many lives inside the building. so you had both. you were shocked by the attack and the loss of life and my case the lot of a number of good friends. on the other hand you were just elevated by the tremendous spirit of courage and the desire to fight back, which was almost immediate. >> it was a day i think all of us will never, ever forget. we seem to remember almost every moment of that day even 11 years later. what was the biggest lesson from that fateful day? >> when i look back on it? >> yes. >> we had been preparing for a terrorist attack since the day i took office in 1994, because we had been attacked in 1993, the year before i took office. and we had started the first mayor's office of emergency management. we used to do drills, exercises. we were ready for sarin gas, anthrax, suicide bombings. here's the lesson i got out of it.
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we had underestimated the impact they could have on us, probably by half. everything was too small. our 911 system was too small. the emergency management center was destroyed. we need a center 2 1/2 to 3 times larger than the one we thought. the scope of it was bigger than we had actually anticipated. i think we responded to it well, and we did some catchup very quickly. we set up a new emergency center in half an hour. we set up a bigger one about three days later at the peer. but if you look back at you want to see the things that would have been done different, if we had anticipated twice as big an impact -- >> america was so, so united in the days and months after 9/11. here's the question. can republicans and democrats be
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united again any time soon? is that possible? >> sure, sure. you know, it's all very understandable, wolf, having been in politics and government in different capacities all my life. when something very big happens that's bigger than you are, bigger than you, your ambitions, your political party, americans come together and we're one. i knew that that bipartisan cooperation wasn't going to last very long. i was very fortunate. i had 3 1/2, 4 months to go as mayor. until the day i left office, we still had that bipartisan cooperation going on. i got tremendous help from democrats and republicans in the senate. president bush gave us everything we wanted and needed and more. but i knew that wasn't going to last. when things go back to normal, we go back to having very different views of how our government should be run, what's important. our political differences are
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real. we have real differences about the way america should be governed. so that's why we have debates. >> we have politics in the process at the same time. stand by for a moment. when we come back, i want to turn our attention, more to politics. i'll ask rudy giuliani about the presidential race. ♪ ♪ i can do anything ♪ i can do anything today ♪ i can go anywhere ♪ i can go anywhere today ♪ la la la la la la la [ male announcer ] dow solutions help millions of people by helping to make gluten free bread that doesn't taste gluten free. together, the elements of science and the human element can solve anything. solutionism. the new optimism. wouldn't it be nice if there was an easier, less-expensive option than using a traditional lawyer?
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the presidential election is fast approaching. come november, voters will decide if barack obama deserves four more years in office or if mitt romney should lead the country. with me, the former presidential candidate rudy giuliani. certainly has a lot to say about the white house race. mr. mayor, once again, thank you. the conventions, as you now know, over. this race neck and neck by all accounts. what did you make of the democrat's convention? >> if you listened to the democratic convention, things are going in a good direction and we should continue to go in that direction. the republican convention thinks we're going in the wrong direction and we have to change it. however voters come out on that is how this election will come out. if people are satisfied with the direction of the country, they generally re-elect the incumbent. when people are unsatisfied, they change management.
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when all the fighting is done, the sound bytes are over, that's how people in virginia and ohio and florida and the swing states are going to decide it. >> i was in tampa and in charlotte for both conventions. the republicans left tampa on a high note. democrats certainly left charlotte on a high note. last friday's jobs figures dampened that mood a bit. the president, former president clinton's speech was powerful. he used a key word, as you know, arithmetic. what did you think of his presentation, bill clinton? >> i thought if bill clinton were running, he would win by ten points against anybody. he's not running. honestly, he's trying to argue as a defense lawyer for somebody else's record that's very different than his. and i don't think it works. i think bill clinton's rhetoric was fabulous. i think the president and joe biden gave great speeches, then
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you wake up the next morning with 8% unemployment, and there's been an increase in permanent unemployment. 300,000 people stopped looking for work in august. that is staggering. we haven't seen things like this since the depression and i don't think you can talk your way out of it. people are too smart. romney and ryan have their slogans. obama and biden have their slogans and argument. i think it's that unemployment number that is going to say we've got to try something different and give romney a chance. >> i can't tell you how many people said to me they wish the constitution would allow bill clinton to seek another four years. on a serious note, you think there should be an amendment that would allow that to come
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into play? >> no. one very famous american, dick thornberg, governor of pennsylvania, told me the best thing about term limits, lit save you from yourself. third terms are notorious for complete deterioration. bill clinton did a lot of good things as president, he did things i disagreed with, but he had a very good record. who knows if he could reproduce then. what worked then might not necessarily work now. we've got a lot of good, young people in both parties and it's time for them to take things over. >> there will be three debates in october. what will an obama-romney debate look like? >> i mean, i debated mitt maybe 11, 12 times in 2007, going into 2008. always did well. he won some of the debates, never lost one. he's a very, very sound, very comfortable debater. we know the president is. the president is an
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extraordinarily smart man. and they're very similar. they're both a little wankish. they like to get into the weeds a lot. they both want to understand very deeply what the policies are. they're both going to be enormously well prepared and i think they're very important. but ultimately i think the economy is going to decide this election. assuming no one of them wins or loses by a big margin in the debates, which i think they're going to be pretty even. this is going to come down to america's view of the economy and whether they want to give president obama four more years. if things remain the way they seem to be on friday with the unemployment numbers, i think the president has a hard time asking for four more years. >> but as far as those up decided voters are concerned or the switchable voters, say there's 5% or 8%, they will make the final verdict in florida, in ohio and these other key battleground states. i moderated four democratic
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debates four years ago when barack obama was running, including that final debate with just him and hillary clinton. he's an excellent debater. i've moderated four republican debates with mitt romney. he's an excellent debater, as well. i'm really looking forward to seeing how they do head to head in october in these three presidential debates. let me ask you about the vice presidential debates. a lot of people are looking forward to paul ryan versus joe biden. >> that will be very lively and it ends up being a more important debate for paul ryan than joe biden. nobody is going to change their mind because of joe biden. they already accepted him once as vice president. paul ryan has the most to win and the most to lose. he's the new guy on the block and he doesn't have to win the debate, he just has to be acceptable in the debate. he has to be someone that people
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can say, okay, this is a man we can accept as president of the united states, if god forbid something happens and i think paul can easily do that. he could be the single smartest guy in the race in terms of knowledge of the intricacies of government. >> joe biden is pretty wankish, as well. that's going to be an excellent debate. >> joe can't lose the debate. joe has been through numerous debates. he's not going to lose. the real question is, can ryan stand toe to toe with him. if he comes out each or close to even, ryan will have won the debate. >> mr. mayor, always good to speak to you. i know you lost friends and colleagues and our condolences to you as reweb what happened then and will always remember. >> thank you. up next, the 9/11 survivor
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i'm wolf blitzer. welcome back to this sperl 9/11 edition of "piers morgan tonight." howard lutnick had an office on the 105th floor. he was taking his son to his first day of school when the plane hit. he survived. 658 people in the company he still runs did not. and howard is joining us now. howard, thank you very much for joining us. 11 years since the 9/11 terror attacks. your company, kanter fitzgerald lost 2/3 of its workforce, including your own brother. howard, let me ask you, how are you doing tonight? >> every year on september 11, and you know it's the toughest day in the world for us. we have a charity day. so we don't give away our profits that day, we donate all of our revenues, so today we donated all of our revenues and we ask all the new york related stars to come out and help us. last year we raised $12 million. this year, we haven't finished tallying it up yet, but it
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should hopefully be more. >> tell us why this way of commemorating, remembering what happened 11 years ago is so important for you and kanter fitzgerald. >> you can remember on september 11, what do i want to do in the morning? i want to curl up and grab a pillow and pull the covers bac over my head. the only way to get up and really enter the world is to do something good. so all of our employees around the world, they all agree to waive their day's pay and all of our clients come to our aid and help us. we give to about 150 organizations around the world. we gave it -- and this happens all over the world, in asia, europe and of course here in america. we give to wounded warriors, the intrep ed fallen hero's fun, children's cancer, things that show we can make the worst day into something nice and special and then in the afternoon we all
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get together, all of the families get together and we read the names of the 658 people we lost and show their pictures and stay together as a family and keep their memories alive. >> take us back to that awful, awful day. how did you learn that a plane had crashed into the north tower? >> i was standing in front of my son's nursery school or kindergarten. he's now 16, so he shaves, but then he was 5. but that first day picture when you're in front of school. i was standing there and my phone rang and i thought i can't believe my office won't believe me alone. i couldn't get through to the phone. and an administrator came over and said, a plane -- i was just told a plane hit the building and they're looking for you. so i jumped in the car and headed right downtown.
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i went right to 5th avenue so i could see the building. of course, we all know how horrific it looked. i went like a moth to the flame to the building to grab people out in hopes that i would find one of my guys. >> when did you realize that none of your colleagues, family, friends would be able to escape? >> well, i was -- so i'm at the door of the building grabbing people as they come out asking what floor they were on? the highest floor is someone said they were on the 92 and floor. then we had this roar. that roar walls the other building falling. obviously if the one i'm standing under falls i'm not having this interview. so i just start running from that tornado of black smoke, which i think people have seen in videos. so i'm a guy in a suit running with all my might from this tornado of black smoke. when the smoke caught up with me and i was laying under some car
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in this pitch black darkness, i was outside and here i was dying outside. so i knew right then and there, all my friends and my brother, everyone who i knew at work was gone. >> your brother was trapped in that north tower. he did call your sister, edyth. what did he tell her? >> you know, my sister picked up the phone and my sister runs our relief fund. so she's given up her business life to take care of the families. but he called her and she said, oh, thank god you're not there. he said, i am there. he told her he loved her and told her goodbye and he told her to tell me that he loved me and my kids and he said goodbye. it was brutally sad. you want to know what the calls were that came out of that building? they were calling their loved
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ones to say goodbye. these are extraordinary people we lost. >> it was so painful for me, too. not only what happened with all of those that were killed on that awful day, but i -- as you might know, i have a cousin -- i had a younger cousin who worked at kanter fitzgerald, a wonderful, wonderful man who unfortunately was among those who was killed. he worked in your mail room and he did a fabulous job for you guys and it's so painful to even think about the loss. i lost someone that day, as well. >> you know, jeffrey worked in our mail room and we were a special company, because we liked to hire people that we liked. so one of our friends was a social worker and we had our mail room, we're all people of special needs and jeffrey walls a beautiful person with special needs and so our whole mail room were young men and women of special needs. our whole firm couldn't be more
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supportive. and that was what was beautiful about it. it just makes it -- when i tell stories like that and we think about jeffrey, it makes it more sad. these were beautiful people who were lost that day. >> i wanted to express my condolences to jeffrey's entire family. his wife, i was at their wedding in brooklyn. just a wonderful family and my heart goes out to them and my heart goes out to everyone who died on 9/11. >> make sure you give them my love, as well. >> i definitely will. howard, i want you to stand by for a moment. we're going to continue our conversation with howard and talk about the post 9/11 world and what it means for business and politics. we'll be right back.
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who lost over 600 people on 9/11. describe the aftermath of the attacks. you reopened only 48 hours after those towers fell. why was it so important to reopen so quickly? >> well, one of our competitors was really pushing to open, because this was their big chance. you can't understand that kind of -- some people just don't understand the difference between business and humanity. so this was their big chance to open and take advantage of what happened on september 11. so they were going to open on thursday. member, the stock market didn't open until that next monday. no football games were played on sunday, but the bond market in america opened on thursday and we knew if we were not there, that people would move on and forget about us, our employees, primarily the people in london. my office in london, who had never done u.s. government securities.
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new york stock exchange for u.s. government bonds. we run the u.s. government bond business in america, one of our bond businesses, they opened on thursday morning, and i -- i still to this day, i think it was a miracle, i don't know how those guys did it, but they did, our screens flickered, and up came our business, and you got to realize, everybody in the world who trades with us, every bank in the world trades on our government securities market, couldn't believe we opened, and, you know, the people, men and women who survived and worked for this company are extraordinary people. and you know, i'm honored to be associated with them. >> howard, describe your feelings about the new 1 world trade center, tallest building in new york. >> look, i think it's important to rebuild. i just find it personally find it odd that they would name it 1 world trade center. frankly, i think if they named
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it any other name, i would think it was -- the memorial is beautiful, but i don't know why they don't change the name. that seems so odd to me since the building i worked in was never called the north tower, it was called 1 world trade center. >> you think they should change that or try to change that. >> and i'll tell anybody -- i'll tell you, tell anybody what you want to know. change the name. that's just weird. >> bin laden as you know is dead. everybody in the world knows he's dead. do you worry about future terror threats in new york? >> of course. new york is a spectacular place, and there was a jealous of the way we live our lives, are always going to strike out. and, you know, always going to be a target, sadly. always, london is going to be a target. anywhere in the west, and you are a target. >> are you thinking -- are you thinking all of us are better prepared now? >> well, i'm certain we are better prepared. prepared enough? i don't know. but better prepared. darn well better. >> let's talk politics for a
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moment. two weeks of conventions. we're nearing two different -- very different visions for how to get americans back to work. you have to bring your company back to life. who has the better answer? mitt romney or president obama? >> i think -- you know what the problem is? they both speak to the crowd instead of speaking to reality. my view is the most successful americans, the people with money, the people who have been successful, if you want to tax them more, you'll take their money, and you'll send it into the black holef government. or that's -- that's the democratic way. or have the republican way that says tax them less, or, you know, don't raise their taxes. that doesn't seem right either. the right answer is incent them to work more. say to the most successful americans, they are the horses that are pulling our carriage. don't let them sit in the back of the carriage. tell you what. are you a private equity guy. you want to have carried interest.
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go hire 15,000 people, and you earned your interest. don't ask us to give it to you. warren buffett says i think i should pay more taxes. i think warren buffett should hire 10,000 people. he's probably such a smart guy, he will make money on that, and then he could do it again and again. if we don't incent the best business people in america to drive more employment, then we're being silly, and i think both of this rhetoric is buck us, nonsense, garbage. unless we get people to hire people, we know that government isn't going to save us. can you imagine suggesting government is going to save us? businesspeople had hire people, we need to create the kind of incentives that push them. you, you're a rich guy, howard, you're a successful guy. you will pay more taxes unless you go out and hire another 1,000 people. i tell you what.
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i can sit on my butt and pay more taxes or get off my tail and hire 1,000 more people. that's the kind of incentive that sounds like america to me. >> want to tell our viewers which candidate you are leaning toward? >> you know, i'm probably leaning -- in the presidential race toward romney, however, i think that nontax stuff is not going to move our economy. more right than wrong, but i still think we could do much better than this. >> well, i'm sure you will have conversations with him down the road. howard lutnick, thank you for joining us, especially on this 11th anniversary of 9/11. once again, our deepest, deepest condolences, memories come back, especially on this day. thanks very much. >> great to be with you, wolf. >> and we'll be right back. [ lisa ] my name's lisa, and chantix helped me quit. i honestly loved smoking, and i honestly didn't think i would ever quit.
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we leave you on this solemn day with the tribute in light. piercing the night sky over lower manhattan, the beams reach far into the heavens, composed of 88 search lights, this lasting memorial introduced six months after september 11th. every year on the anniversary, the tribute of light soar skywarto honor the thousands of victims who perished in the terror attacks. ground zero will always be