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American Morning

America's New War: New Orleans Mayor on Economy, Airline Industry, Military Action

Aired September 27, 2001 - 10:35   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.
JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR: And we want to talk a little bit more about this with one of the officials around the country about airline safety and the ripple effect on the U.S. economy.

We're joined by the mayor of New Orleans, Marc Morial, not only the mayor there, but also the president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

Sir, good morning. And thank you for joining us.

MAYOR MARC MORIAL, NEW ORLEANS: Good morning, John.

KING: You've heard the highlights of the president's proposals, marshals on planes, a bigger federal role at those security checkpoints, perhaps even asking governors to call up the national guard in the short-term to have an armed uniformed presence at airports. Steps in the right direction?

MORIAL: Steps in the right -- very important steps in the right direction.

We have believed from the very beginning that our ultimate goal ought to be the federalization of the security force at checkpoints, and this is a step in that direction. But what we should have as our goal in the United States is a completely federalized force comparable to other nations in the world. Further, the Conference of Mayors and mainly mayors of our hub airports, we continue to be concerned about safety and security at airports and across-the-board, so I will ask the mayor of Los Angeles, Jim Hahn, to head a special task force of mayors to develop further recommendations that we hope to present at a safety and security summit in Washington sometime later in October.

KING: Well, sir, you say a step in the right direction, but the president does not federalize those security checkpoints. He does want federal standards, federal testing, and federal oversight, but he does not want to make those people federal employees. Will you and your organization lobby the Congress to go further and go beyond what the president proposes?

MORIAL: I think that going further is ultimately what a lot of folks in the country want, not only mayors, but the employees of the airlines, the traveling public. I think the most important thing we have to remember is we have to ask ourselves: What do we have to do as a nation to restore the confidence of the traveling public? If the public is not confident to travel it's going to affect the economy of all of our cities and the economy of our nation. So we think that President Bush is doing exactly what needs to be done in the short- run. But we're certainly hopeful that his proposals are going to go even further as time goes on.

I'm confident that the mayors will work with him, work with Governor Ridge, and we certainly thank Secretary Mineta for providing us with input. But we hope to have even further proposals in late October, when we hold our safety and security summit in Washington.

KING: Sir, I see your beautiful city behind you, very dependent on tourist income, of course. I want to play for you in just a moment a remark from a governor I spoke to this morning, Bill Janklow of South Dakota. Before so I want to set it up by saying I would assume you agree that not just the specific steps for the safety, but the psychology of this, if you will. Do the American people feel safe that they can fly again, but not overly alarmed of the threat. And as you think about that, listen, Sir, to remarks earlier today by the governor of South Dakota, Bill Janklow.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. WILLIAM JANKLOW, SOUTH DAKOTA: Where I come from, when you have a war, you don't arrest people and put them on trial, you kill the people that are the war mongers. And then after the war is over, you arrest and prosecute their leaders. But in war you kill the people that are coming to kill you, and that's what we're going to do in South Dakota.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Do you worry, Sir, remarks like that, strong remarks, obviously legitimate anger on the part of the governor, but strong remarks like that, does that go too far? Will that make people afraid in your view?

MORIAL: Well, I think that it's very important that all of us have trust and confidence in President Bush and Secretary Powell to take the necessary military steps to punish those who attack this nation. And I think in difficult times it is very easy for people to lose their bearings and lash out. But I would hope that leaders across the nation would have trust and confidence in the president, in Secretary Powell and Secretary Rumsfeld, and all of the advisers that the president has assembled to assist us in making the appropriate response.

Let's not pedal fear. Let's not promote the idea of uncertainty. Look, New Orleans is safe. New Orleans is secure. We are open for business. We're going to have beautiful weather in October. So we welcome anyone who wants to come and visit here, and we will be sure to keep them safe and secure while they're here.

KING: I personally wouldn't mind taking you up on that offer right now, Mayor. Help me out here and understand what has been the short-term economic impact here? Are the chamber of commerce, others in your administration bringing you specific numbers on how much this has hurt your city?

MORIAL: I think we'll have a better sense in early October. But one group that canceled it's convention the week of the attack has in fact rescheduled for December. That's good news. We're launching a specialized marketing effort on October 1st to try to encourage people to visit here. We are looking at a day when all New Orleanians and people from the region can come downtown and enjoy themselves and spend money.

We have had an economic impact. We have had a slowdown in our tourist economy. But we see a slight rebound beginning, but it really won't be until early October when some major conventions that are scheduled to visit here come in, then we'll get the full impact. But I'm confident that it's going to return, and I hope the American people have the resolve and certainly the confidence to continue to go about what we must do.

By our own fear we could engender more difficult economic times. I think we have got to have the resolve and have the confidence to continue to move forward.

KING: Mayor Marc Morial of New Orleans, also the president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, we thank you for your thoughts this morning, Sir.

MORIAL: Thanks, John.

KING: Good luck in the days and weeks ahead.

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