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tv   MONEY With Melissa Francis  FOX Business  November 1, 2012 5:00pm-6:00pm EDT

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unemployment rate to tick up to 7.9% from 7.8. nonfarm payrolls expected to rise 125,000 versus 114 we saw in september. liz: melissa is next. melissa: i'm melissa francis and here's what's "money" tonight. a whole new crisis growing in sandy's aftermath. gas supplies running out. desperate customers waiting in massive lines across the northeast. we'll tell you if it will bring the region to a standstill. plus an oil spill dumps nearly 300,000 gallons of fuel in new jersey. this could be another big blow to the supply crunch. steven schork from the schork report is here with all the answers. new york city is just beginning to recover from the storm but some businesses refused to their doors are making a killing. that is so new york. i will talk to one restaurant owner who hasn't stopped serving three meals a day to many more people he could have ever expected. even when they say it's not
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it is always about money melissa: first let's take a look at the day's market headlines the bulls coming out strong to kick off november. a series of strong economic reports today helped boost investor optimism. the dow posted its biggest gain since september 13th, closing up 136 points. building supplier masco was one of the biggest winners on the day. its shares rallied nearly 7% fueled by an expected spike in construction demand after superstorm sandy. in after-hours action shares of linkedin are leaping. the professional social network beat third quarter earnings estimates on top and bottom line. linkedin upped full-year revenue guidance. >> one thing we truly need, we need more fuel. so we're reaching out to agencies, to see if we can get more fuel so we can make sure the national guard can
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continue to operate, that our police department and our fire department can operate so that we can keep our community safe. melissa: boy is this today's new paralyzing problem. that was hoboken, new jersey mayor, dawn zimmer making a desperate plea in the wake of superstorm sandy. she is not the only one that can use a fill-up. it is our top story. dire shortages and major power outages making it impossible for drivers all over the place to fill tanks. if you're lucky enough to find a station that actually has gas. plan on waiting in line for two hours. tom kloza, chief oil analyst and joins me on the phone. tom, tell me what is really going on here? is it a supply shortage? it is is disruption problem? what is causing this? >> this is all about access. access to tanks of fuel whether it be in your gasoline station or pump requires electricity. not that we have a shortage of fuel.
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we have a little bit of a consumer panic and a lot of stations that don't have generators and have no way of accessing fuel in their tank. melissa: how, given all that, how long do you think it goes on? >> i think it probably goes on maybe through the weekend or whatever. people will calm down. i do think that the logistics folks in supply are getting a grip on this. we're going to start to get some of the supply that we get from offshore. there is plenty of product in the pipeline and ultimately we have, you know, tens of days of supplies in the terminals. right now the terminals for the most part are out of power and all of new york harbor and that's a big area. melissa: that's a problem. how soon do you think they will get power back? that's essential. now the port had been closed. now it is reopen. but we have to get supply in. you say it is not necessarily that huge of a problem but it will still take a couple days at least? >> yeah. i mean, the crowd behavior that we're seeing, you know, actually really, sort of
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worsens the problem. we're not as dependent on imports in the northeast as we were a few years ago. out of about 16 million barrels a day of refining capacity we really only lost about 300,000 for more until this weekend. i'm confident we'll have reasonable supplies and we're on the threshold, we're in a month that actually has pretty low gas leap demand, pretty near election time. melissa: i know you're one of the best guys i know about following prices in various areas. already new jersey officials are launching an investigation into potential price gauging you see people lined up for two hours in jersey, the guy that owns the station will raise the price. kind of makes sense of the people really want what he has. is there price gouging going on do you think? >> i haven't seen it. at this i think mostly about people panicking and believing they need to buy fuel and thinking it will not be there a week or so
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from now. you have to remember the region is under the microscope. the oil industry is under the microscope. there is an election on tuesday. so people are going to critsizes politically because probably to benefit of republicans and democrats to demonize the industry. so far the prices have been flat for the most part. the footures market rose very robustly but dropped off. crude oil prices are as low as they have been in more than a year. melissa: it is not just panic. it is real. i talk to a lot of taxi drivers and car service guys who aren't able to work because they're out of gas and they can't find it. we'll talk to one right now. tom kloza, thanks for coming on, we appreciate it. >> take care. melissa: it is taking on a live of its own and causing ripple effect on businesses. taxi and car services needed more than ever because mass transit is down could be making huge bucks. instead they're seeing a cut to their bottom lines because they don't have one essential ingredient they
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need to work and that's gas. here at fox business we rely on benz luxury car and him hoe service for a lot of our -- limo service. thanks for taking time to be here. i know you're swamped with everyone calling and needing transportation. the mayor isn't letting folks into town unless you have three people in your car. you have subways and buses out of service. so more than ever everybody only thing you need to do to get to work or walk or call someone like yourself with a car service. but you're having a problem with gas, correct. >> that's correct. very difficult to provide the service, with cars not even being able to get gas. they're driving around. they're having to stop. it is just continual problem right now. melissa: so, frank, in a crisis like this you have a lot of calling you that wouldn't be normally calling you. seems like you're busier than ever. are you making a killing? are you doing well or how
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does it shake out financially? >> actually the opposite. the phones are ringing off the hook. we can't provide the service. we can't get into the city. we have situation with three unit passenger minimum really caused a problem of delivering service. actually took a cut of about 20% on the bottom line right now. melissa: 20%? that's a lot. what does that translate to about? >> you're talking about, instead of 500 to 400 job as day, we're talking about 320 to 420 a day. melissa: so you're doing fewer jobs basically because it takes so long to get around because the traffic is so terrible and also because you're having a hard time getting gas? >> exactly. when we have to turn down customers because of decision by government to interfere and make a regulation that says that we have to go in and, you know, stop cars from delivering the type of service they need to get in, and you know, people right now, with bad transit you have to travel. you can't stop people at the doorway and the limousine
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service is very important for customers. melissa: no, absolutely. you heard tom kloza was on right before you. he was saying a lot of this has to do with panic. i'm out there on the street, the gas situation is not about panic. it is about cars literally running out of gas because there isn't any around. give me an anecdote. what is going on? >> it's true. cars are running out. driving around for miles and miles trying to find a gas station. literally having to pull over, because they can't drive anymore. we're having, literally 30% of our fleet down as of last night. this morning we're turning away customers. we're telling no, we can't provide service to you. it's a real problem. it's not just, it is not imaginary. it is real. melissa: frank mcdonald, thanks for coming on. i know you've been up around the clock and you guys are working so hard. we thank you for that. it will all be over soon and we'll remember how hard you tried through all this.
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>> thank you, melissa. melissa: to make matter even worse the storm caused an oil spill in the arthur kill waterway in new jersey which officials are still trying to clean up in the midst of all of this. a diesel tank burst on monday night dumping 277,000 gallons of fuel. i don't need to tell you this is fuel drivers could be using to gas up their cars right now. it is floating off the coast of new jersey. this could have an impact on prices and supply in the new york area. let's bring in steven schork now, principle of the new york city report. -- schork report. tell me about this spill. how did it happen and this is fuel we needed. >> absolutely. it happened monday night, one of motif have tanks, they are a joint venture with shell and saudi aramco. they spilled 300,000 gallons of diesel into kill. it is a vital waterway. this adds to the logistical
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nightmare that is new york harbor, right now. it is not necessarily a question of refinery capacity the oil is there. the capacity is there this is a infrastructure problem. we have a problem getting oil, gasoline, diesel from where it is at the terminal to where it needs to be, at the retailer right now. we have navigational hazards in waterborne markets in new york harbor and long island sound. so we can't move barges. we can't move vessels yet. we have power outages. we have terminals being closed. you can't pull vessels up to the dock. so the oil is there. i'm more in the camp i agree with your previous guest, this is a real logistical nightmare. there are shortages induced by a lack of transportation. the oil's there. it will get there. but we're probably looking at least another week, maybe two weeks. melissa: really? >> persisting. melissa: wow, a week or two weeks? >> absolutely. so, now, what, but what is really interesting here you're not seeing reaction in the pricing. the --. melissa: why? >> futures market, term structure, forward curve, what i can take away from this the market is still
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judging that this is a transitory problem. it will be solved. it will be solved within the next month. yesterday final day of october we had an 18 cent rise in gasoline prices in futures expiration and then they 15 cent crash. so, problem is now, we have to start delivering or take delivery of the futures contracts that went to expiration yesterday. but the terminals aren't open. so there is a lot of maneuvering going back and forth. all this uncertainty adds another unknown variable into the equation. so it does create a scenario for higher prices but oddly enough and fortunately enough we're not seeing it yet right now. melissa: there are a lot of dislocations. we'll see how the whole thing shakes out. we have a map of the whole country i think we can put up the pads across the u.s. we call them where with the fuel is divided into. i'm wondering if this will have a domino effect over time? the yellow on the right hand part of the screen that is pad one and who we're seeing
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impacted by this shortage right now. but i wonder is there a domino effect. could this start spilling over to the rest of the country as we steal fuel from other sources here on the east coast? >> oh absolutely, it certainly can. i have a retailer, gas station owner in pittsburgh market i was talking to yesterday and he is fully expecting this. look, commodities are very easy to follow from a price perspective. the commodities will go wherever the price is the highest. melissa: right. >> if you do have indeed a shortage of product and increased demand, and what's happening now, we have to keep in mind, the supply issue is what it is but the demand issue is still muted. melissa: right. >> so we don't have, roads are closed and so forth. so the demand is there. in weeks ahead demand will pick up. that is when you can start to see markets robbing oil or gas as it were from other markets. so certainly this is, as the potential to have a domino effect not just in the northeast region but certainly as we move out towards the midwest and into the southeast.
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melissa: yeah. i think so too. thanks for coming on. we appreciate your time. >> thank you, melissa. melissa: so time now for today's fuel gauge report. first up, oil prices rose for a third straight session. a larger than expected drop in u.s. crude supplies. upbeat economic data helped propel the rally. crude climbed about 1%, settling at 87.09 a barrel. the energy information agency reports that u.s. oil production hit its highest level since january of 1995. the u.s. is now producing 6.67 million barrels of crude per day. exxonmobil expanding its presence in the gulf of mexico. the company says it has acquired minority stakes in two deepwater prospects in the gulf. lawyers in argentina are aiming to seize $2 billion worth of chevron assets. the lawyers represent a group of ecuadorians who won a $18.7 billion judgment last year for alleged environmental damages. that fight goes on.
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next on "money", government agencies getting major praise for their handling of the super storm but it could mean trouble for republican candidates on election day. plus seeking government help, guess is is offering a hand to victims of storm? iran. it is possible they dialed the wrong phone number. we have details coming up straight ahead. ♪ look, if you have copd like me,
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it's just one of the ways constant contact can help you grow your small business. sign up for your free trial today at constantcontact.com/try. ♪ . melissa: turning to the living like a refugee, how is all new york feels. that is perfect. turning to the election five days away, the whole republican platform has basically been, that big government is evil. but now actually seeing the government in action after superstorm sandy might flip that argument on its head. fema put 1900 people on the ground so far. it has made more than half a million meals. given out more than 600,000 liters of water and thousands of blankets and cots to anyone who needs them. will this quick reaction by the government change the mind of any voters and help president obama? joining me democratic strategist chris hahn, brad blakeman, fox news
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contributor, and former deputy assistant to president george w. bush. chris i have to admit, government is looking pretty good the last couple days here. i don't know. do you think it is having impact on voters out there? >> look, it is hard to argue that fema is not necessary. also hard to argue that fema performs much better under a democratic president than it did under republican president. melissa: you made a jump from that one. >> look, bottom line the republican platform this entire summer, government bad, government bad, government bad. melissa: right. >> if you look paul ryan budget, it desmates fema. we need fema to coordinate between the states. that's why we got rid of articles of confederation and replaced it with the constitution. so one central government could help states work out in situations like this and we're showing that it work. >> brad, i don't know maybe it is time to make the distinction government isn't necessarily bad, it is bad at a lot of different things. this is one of the thing it is good at, national security, national disaster.
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what do you think? >> absolutely. all government is not bad but government should only do for the people what they can't do for themselves. let me remind my friend chris, a few days of good governance doesn't erase four years of incompetence by this administration. fema continues to do a good job. they're exactly the kind of government agency that we need because people can't do for themselves in emergencies. the problem we have people who deliver big checks and checks are given out and money is spent and it is never accounted for. that is what we need to do in this emergency. we need to provide for people but later on we must account to the people money that is spent. >> i agree we should account for money spent absolutely. i agree with that fully. look, bottom line we need to spend the money right now. when you have in the republican party like representative steve king, wait a minute minute. don't spend money. we'll have to figure out how to pay for it. when crops go up in iowa those of us in new york we
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have to ask the same question considering we send a lot more to iowa than iowa sends to us. melissa: truest libertarians say there are only a few situations where the government should really spring into action. this is one of them. national disaster and war are kind of the things that it should work on. this makes sense but doesn't make the argument government should be doing more or does it? >> i think what you're seeing now there is a basic flaw in the republican strategy all year and their strategy is government is bad. not talking about like bad. >> we're not saying government is bad at all. >> what brad said is reasonable about government. what the romney ryan campaign this entire year is government is bad. including fema. >> romney was against fema up until three days aao. now he loves fema. melissa: brad, respond to that. >> we are for accountability. we're for providing service to the people need. >> so am i. >> we agree that is the pub position. the problem with democrats they believe government is
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the answer to all problems. >> that is not true. melissa: don't get off topic, how do the democrats turn this into votes or can they at this point? >> bottom line is this, good governance is good politics. the president is practicing good governance. he is appearing with governor chris christie who is one much his harshest critics and getting praise from him. that could only translate into good thinks for the president. melissa: brad, is this too little too late. >> too little too state. storm's devastation in very blue states like new jersey and new york which would go to obama anyway. the key battleground states decide the election, good news they weren't as devastated as blue states were. so the fact of the matter i don't think the storm will have much effect on the election. melissa: we'll leave it there. chris, see you later on in the show. we'll have fun with spare change. so don't go far. here is our question of the day, will the government's response to the
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storm have an effect on your vote next week? i want to hear your. melissafrancisfox or on twitter at melissaafrancis. coming up on "money", relief aid is pouring into the east coast but the u.s. is getting an offer from very unlikely source, iran. is it smoke and mirrors? we'll find out. we'll call them to see if it is real. strong economic data today gives hope for recovery but does it mean a big surprise for tomorrow's crucial jobs report. we'll break it down for insight. do have too much money or too much help from iran? ♪ ♪ [ engine revs ] ♪ ♪
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♪ . melissa: so you kind of think they would be the last friend to offer help to the u.s. but reports say iran is
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offering to send aid it storm victims in new york. of course they are. this on the heels of iran announcing it is investing $40 billion in their domestic oil sector in the next five months of the is it all part of an elaborate pr blitz? with me mike barrett, principle at diligent innovations and a consulting firm that specializes in national security. welcome back, mike. >> good afternoon. melissa: what do you make of this? do you think they're rrady to race over here to give us some help? >> of course, if we said yes they would put some people on a plane. we're not talking about a huge amount of resources here of the as you indicated in the intro this is something we see pretty often in diplomatic. did it through the cold war in russia, same kind of thing. we offered plenty of earthquake aid. after 2002, after 9/11 and iran had a horrible earthquake and accepted american assistance and tensions worsened quite a bit since then. melissa: do you think they offered to put people on a plane because they knew the
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airports were closed? >> i think they knew we would not say yes. had they said yes they could have grabbed the intelligence community and stuff the intelligence officers in the crowd coming over here any way so we would say no to it. melissa: would there be upside to us. great, come on over. bring money. come help us out, bring whatever you have. is there any upside to the u.s.? do we look good? do we get anything out of isn't. >> iran is playing a global game on acquisition of nuclear weapons and u.s. and europe are trying to very hard to keep severe sanctions in place and put a hurt on the iranian economy. for us it would be a pr loss. for them it will was pr win. they get most of the win say hey we were willing to do this. they just decided not to accept it. melissa: yeah. i mean, speaking of pr, i mean last week they said that they were investing 100 dal billion in their oil industry and some wondered is that really a big number? do they have that kind of
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money. today they backed it up saying they were putting $40 billion in the oil industry by march of 2013. sort of doubling down on that bet and giving a definitive timeline. do you buy this? >> two things here you can't really verify. they could say 40 and put in 20 there is not a way for us to verify that. that is the first point. there is no process we would know that. second of all reality is so much of the economy is tied to the oil and gas industry, it is over 60% of the government revenues. they have no choice. it is their economic lifeline. they're in the middle of a 10-year plan to try to expand even further. as of about two years ago they were the second largest producer within opec. you're talking about a massive, massive industry. melissa: yeah. >> for them to be investing what seems like huge numbers to be expected. they know investment getting money back out. melissa: do you think they have that kind of money though? >> it is interesting. just as i was preparing to come on today, i did searching around on some news sites. turns out "the new york times" reported recently as august of this year, that
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the department of justice is investigating some chinese banks for being heavily involved in laundering billions and billions, billions with a b of dollars into iran. so you can see even though we have the sanctions the reality is that there is ways to get around that. the other thing they do of course they smug gel a lot of oil. oil is very easyable, fungible, very easy to take it in a container at wholesale price. have iraqis sell it on the global oil market and obviously the iraqis pocket the difference but iranians get wholesale value. melissa: absolutely. we came reported a story from reuters. getting money from turkey going through dubai. that is probably the same chain you're talking about. there is probably oil in there do you think. >> absolutely. smuggling routes in that part of the world are fabled. it has happened for centuries. melissa: mike, thanks for coming on. always appreciate your time. great insight.
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>> thank you. melissa: good economic jobs data takes many by surprise. does that mean tomorrow's all important october jobs report will blow expectations out of the water? it is a important one. the last one before the election. plus some businesses brave the storm and kept their doors open to customers. they are making a killing. the owner of a top manhattan restaurant tells us all about it. "piles of money" coming up. ♪ 4g lte is the fastest.
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so, which supeast 4g lte service would yochoose, based on this chart ? don't rush into it, i'm not looking for the fastest answer. obviously verizon. okay, i have a different chart. going that way, does that make a difference ? look at verizon. it's so much more than the other ones. so what if we just changed the format altogether ? isn't that the exact same thing ? it's pretty clear. still sticking with verizon. verizon. more 4g lte coverage than all other networks mbined.
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♪ . melissa: so if you're out of work you might be catching a break sometime soon. a couple of jobs reports today giving people a bit of hope. first time jobless claims for last week came in a little better than expected. 363,000. it is a slight drop from the prior week. still a big number though. the adp report showed a
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couple 158,000 private sector jobs were added in october. that is not bad. so are these jobs reports a sign what we can expect to hear tomorrow? >> let's ask former labor department chief of staff paul conway and chris kofinis. thanks for both of you joining this. paul, what is your big bet for the jobs number tomorrow? >> actually i'm thinking it may stay the same or go slightly downward. we'll have to see. it will be a tight bracket whether it goes up or down. melissa: 7.8% you think it could slip to 7.7 or something like that. >> 7.7 to 7.9. i don't think anything dramatic. as we go into election day people will take a look at, whatever the vary rnss in number will it change what the think of past four years. i don't think the number will pack a wallop of undecided voters on president obama's economic record. melissa: chris what do you think? we're still grappling with the number last month.
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two numbers didn't go together from the household survey and payroll survey 759,000 jobs and didn't show up on payrolls of companies. >> listen, i think it is going to probably exceed expectations. i think expectations for the labor number is 125. i think my guess it will be a little bit higher than that. i think unemployment rate will stay the same or drop. in terms of political implications this is probably one of the most important jobs reports. melissa: yeah. >> that you have ever seen in an election because it will either one candidate's nate tiff or the other. if unemployment rate goes down, if jobs numbers exceed expectation it is will feed into president's obama's narrative we're in recovery. if unemployment rate goes up it will feed governor romney's narrative. given a close race where anything can change the dynamics of a few or minds of a few undecided voters this is pretty big report. melissa: i guess. paul, do you think there are really undecided voters out there at this point?
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i have such a hard time with that. i feel like when somebody says they're undecided they don't want to tell you who they are going to vote for. >> probably because you want to reach out and shake them. i think there are undecided voters out there. in fairness to them it is incumbent on both candidates to lay out details and keep pressing arguments. there are folks given number of different circumstances or because they are not certain what the next four years might bring may make the call at the end. i tell you what. i agree with chris, the report is fundamentally important. it is even more important when you look at key demographics for the president's base like young americans who last month the unemployment number was 11.8%. not 7.8. for them and their lives this is major, major issue for them every single if day. melissa: chris, what do you think about that. >> well i mean, i think, you know, the election is basically about the economy and jobs and when you look i think at key demographics that been hurting they want to believe the next four years will get even better.
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anything that gives them a indication it will fweeds i think the president's whole strategy and whole message in terms where the country is going. melissa: chris, chris, i got to stop you. even better? things are not better. so they can't get even better. it is tough shrugging out there. the economy is growing at 2%. millions and millions of people out of work. i mean we're crippled here in the northeast. we're walking because we can't drive anyway. it is bad out there. >> i mean in fairness, that is not on president obama's watch what is happening that is hurricane, that is natural disaster. melissa: i was being sarcastic with that part. you know exactly where i'm going. >> i understand. even in terms of the jobs crisis one of the most important statistics come out the american people still hold the previous administration, the republicans hate to hear that but they hold the previous administration response responsible for that. melissa: george bush is not running that is that argument doesn't work. you can blame bush all the you want he is not around. i don't think people vote
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for him or -- >> it is not a question, it is not a question of whether we think it is a fair argument. if that is what voters believe, that is significant. and when you look i think at the president's record, in terms of creating five million jobs, over the last 30 plus months, that is significant accomplishment. unemployment rate is at 7.8. significant accomplishment. you have growth. gdp number is in positive direction. those are significant things that people want to say, you know what we're going to the right place. melissa: paul, give you last word. what do you mean to blame bush, he is not running. so it is not, i don't think, i don't think that has worked for democrats. do you think it has worked for democrats? >> here's, here's amazing thing. number one, i think where was chris back in the bush years when hurricane katrina happened? apparently, that has no impact on natural thing. it is all the president's fault back then and now it is not. >> no, how you respond to it that determines whether it is the president's fault. melissa: we've got to go. >> we'll see about that. thanks. melissa: thanks to both for
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coming on. appreciate your time. refusing to close for superstorm sandy has some businesses thriving. how serving up clients has never paid so well for the owner of one manhattan restaurant. we had to find a silver lining. at the end of the day it is all about money. ♪ follow the wings.
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melissa: as sandy was ripping across new york city earlier this week most people were hunkered down, hiding out at home until it was over. most people that is but not everyone. a restaurant in manhattan chose to brave the storm and stayed open throughout the entire thing. since they were one of the only places to do so they actually made a killing. leave it to new yorkers to bank on a disaster and make it work. sirio's owner joins me now. thanks for coming on. we've been looking for a good news story because there were folks out there who said you know what? i will get out there and make the most of this and do something good for people at the same time because a lot of people were hungry. >> yes, of course our location, midtown, uptown,
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we were quite fortunate the weather didn't impact us as much. so, you know, as a new yorker wanting to get going and, you know stay involved, we got on the phone. called up, you know, all the employees we could get. get a skelton crew together. and, you know, some fantastic efforts from chefs to, dishwashers, carrying people in different coarse and stuff. melissa: carpooling and getting everybody here. >> yeah. melissa: one of the great things i saw that was very funny, i live uptown as well. and all of sudden people flooded into our neighborhood. we had power. midtown and you town, people from downtown needed food they're smart. they came uptown to fill their needs. it was a business opportunity for you guys if you could open, you knew that it would be good. >> yes. i mean everyone was not open so you also have food and refrigerators and things. melissa: right. >> nature of business. if you fall behind, november and december are telltale
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months financially for restaurants, especially in new york. melissa: right. >> it is really, you got to stay moving. melissa: you turned a potential negative into a positive. like you said you have the food in the fridge that would rot otherwise. >> right. melissa: you generally have six cooks for maybe 200 people. you ended up having 300 people, four cooks. how did you manage something like that? were you cracking the whip? >> no. just people, we have a great staff, a dedicated staff. real new yorkers and they came in and they understood, you know, we treated them well. we helped them with taxis. the guys who chipped in and caravanned everyone we gave them extra money. you have to take care of the people. like i said, we had fortune of being able to open up and look at it in a financial sense. the true heroes are also people downtown like who were donating their food and
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people going to breezy point and rock away. those are real heroes. like i said we were fortunate to be in midtown. melissa: there is such a spirit in new york and you can open and do business and can help people do it. we saw when we were out there, the butcher on my corner was open. i immediately brought all i could carry back to the apartment. you appreciate people are out there trying to serve and trying to live life normally if it is safe. >> yes. melissa: during tough times, do you think that customers will remember that you were open? and do you think you got people in to try your restaurant that will come back later? >> we did. we had the opportunity for people to come in. they see the hustle. they see efforts that are made. it is a good business opportunity. people are really trying to, i saw the other restaurants in midtown, everyone is struggling to put peopling to, a team together, because there are mouths to be fed. melissa: they knew it was opportunity. that is what new york is all about. thank you for coming on. we appreciate it. >> thank you. melissa: by the way if you watched our show yesterday
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you may have seen the insane gridlock taking place right outside our studio on sixth avenue. it was absolute mayhem. the subway system was totally shut down. public transportation a complete disaster. i was stretching through the whole show it was halloween. i had to get home of everything is partially up and running. what a difference a day makes. this is the current shot on sixth avenue. you can see street there. there is daylight in between the cars. when the light changes it moves. there isn't people blocking the blocks going across when they're not supposed to be. what a difference a day makes. pay phones are so 20th century but superstorm sandy is suddenly making them more popular than your new iphone. we'll sprain that -- explain that one coming up. plus if it wasn't bad enough having sandy around it could spawn a super rat in new york city. this is we know in new york. those are real pictures. that is disgusting.
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we have details coming up. you can never have too much money. i can have too many rats. oh my. what's next? he's going to apply testosterone to his underarm. axiron, the only underarm treatment for low t, can restore testosterone levels back to normal in most men. axiron is not for use in women or anyone younger than 18. axiron can transfer to hers through direct contact.
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>> this is a test
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melissa: is time for some spare change. chris hahn it back. it is all democrats tonight. bursa, the nightmare of shopping. a big traffic situation in new york. this is a crazy story. a united flight miss the takeoff time because of the traffic. so he wasn't allowed out of the cab because you need multiple people in the car, and he was only one person in the car. so he said, i'm a pilot, have to go get to the airport and they were like yeah, right. >> pilots sleep near the airport, come on, united, hook them up. >> when i missed my flight, they put me in a hotel near them and i think they should the pilot there. gerri:
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melissa: there you go. here is an unexpected effect of the storm come especially for this day and age. no power means no cell phones. new yorkers are once again using pay phones. when is the last time that they use pay phones? >> i don't know, 1999 -- a longtime. >> i was searching for a phone a while ago. my old job shop my phone, so i was trying to call my kids. and i couldn't find a payphone saved my life. i was walking all around new york. i couldn't believe it. i went to the payphone booth, and i was looking and there was no phone. >> i was in a hotel conference center a couple of months ago and my cell phone wasn't working in the conference center. it was the same thing. >> it is just like they aren't
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there. melissa: just a huge problem. another thing that we have learned in superstorm sandy. here is a disgusting one. since sandy flooded the new york subway tunnels, it actually brought out the rats. rats are good swimmers, and many of them survived. they could become a breed of super rats. they could carry an increased risk of infectious disease. these are the rats that survived the subways and whatever poison and that pizza that we keep seeing go by there forever near the cheese that is rotted. rats think it is still delicious. they have survived the water. so what is this mutant super rat. >> i think about them fighting crime in the subway. aquaman rant. it will solve all the problem in the city.
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>> i could vote for a the rats. he could be the next mayor. >> i think he's an independent. >> i have been having nightmares about this all week. melissa: about the rats? >> yes, i saw videos about them swimming yesterday and i thought, oh, we are all going to die. we are all going to die. >> if you swim in that river, it is not fun. melissa: anytime you go on the subway, you invariably see the rats running around. they are also out in the street with the trash out. so i thought, this is great, it will flood out the rats. but i didn't realize it will flood out the week rats and the strong will survive. >> out on long island i had a cricket problem until the storm hit. i have not seen a cricket since the storm. [talking over each other] melissa: here is a cool cat
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yesterday. can you believe that? the fisherman gave his discovery to the new england aquarium. this is halloween monster. because he is half orange and half black. i'm going to make that my screensaver. >> it looks like he did it in black die. >> i think that is incredible. that is really exciting. >> it is making me hungry. melissa: i'm saying how great this thing is and chris says he thinks someone made that thing. >> it looks like something from star trek. you remember the alien that was half black my? melissa: you are a big trekkie. that is a shock. how about you? >> well, i do like

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