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CNN Live Today

Interview With Charles Schumer

Aired September 11, 2003 - 11:44   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.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: I want to bring in Senator Charles Schumer here, from the state of New York, who just like so many people throughout the day here has had his hands full. He takes time out to talk with us now.
Good morning to you as we come up on the hour of 12 noon. How did it go for you today?

SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D) NEW YORK: Well, it's wrenching to be close up there and hear the children say goodbye to their parents and their brothers and sisters and uncles and aunts. There's nothing more touching. It fills you with huge sympathy for the families.

It also, you get -- I, at least, get angry at the people who did this, you know, the fanatics, evil fanatics who did it, and took so many families and wrenched their lives apart forever, because somehow they thought they were better than everybody else.

HEMMER: I still think it's a very difficult thing to anticipate, the emotions and the feelings you have, before it begins.

SCHUMER: You know, it's no question, and you know, the first few kids who just said, "I love you, daddy," and we had all the elected officials, the mayor, the governor, Senator Clinton, myself, all the city officials, I don't think there was a dry eye. It just gets right to you.

I listened carefully for the name of a guy I played basketball with in high school who was a firefighter.

HEMMER: What was his name?

SCHUMER: Mickey Rothenburg (ph), Mark officially.

And a firefighter, Lieutenant Stackpole (ph), who lived in my neighborhood, and Herman Sandler (ph), who was a business leader who I knew well, and Neal Levin (ph), and you think of these names and they're gone and for what?

The one thing I guess I'd say, and I talked to a whole lot of the families. I mean, we are healing. Hemingway said, "The world breaks us in places, but we grow back stronger over the breaks." This applies to the families, it applies to New York, and I think it even applies to America.

HEMMER: There is a large debate that continues in this city as to what to do next in terms of construction. A memorial first, buildings first, and you have constructed slated for this summer on a tower that's going to stand well-over 1,700 feet. 1,776, if we'll note the symbolism there.

Where do we stand right now as a city here, in terms of moving forward and doing it the right way, so that you don't have thousands of people protesting on the streets of Manhattan on September 10, last evening?

SCHUMER: There's always going to be -- in New York, there'll always be some protests. There are some who say only a memorial and there are some who say push the memorial aside.

I think the memorial has to be the center piece, but I think we do need commercial space, because what did the terrorist try to do? Why did they strike the towers? They wanted to destroy the commercial capital of America and the world, the West, New York, and I think that we're obligated to do both.

The people -- I was just talking to John Whitehead (ph), who is the head of the LMDC, which is in charge of this, and I think they're mindful of both conflicts, but this is New York, and we're never going to -- they're never going to please everybody.

HEMMER: Everyone has an opinion.

SCHUMER: I think it's important we move forward. If we waited for consensus, we'll never get anything built.

HEMMER: Thank you, Senator. Good to speak with you, OK.

Let's get a break right now. We mentioned the global tragedy here at Ground Zero. Well over 100 countries lost their own citizens in the towers that stood behind me two years ago on this day.

We'll get to the ceremony in London when our coverage continues right after this, here on CNN.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com








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Aired September 11, 2003 - 11:44   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: I want to bring in Senator Charles Schumer here, from the state of New York, who just like so many people throughout the day here has had his hands full. He takes time out to talk with us now.
Good morning to you as we come up on the hour of 12 noon. How did it go for you today?

SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D) NEW YORK: Well, it's wrenching to be close up there and hear the children say goodbye to their parents and their brothers and sisters and uncles and aunts. There's nothing more touching. It fills you with huge sympathy for the families.

It also, you get -- I, at least, get angry at the people who did this, you know, the fanatics, evil fanatics who did it, and took so many families and wrenched their lives apart forever, because somehow they thought they were better than everybody else.

HEMMER: I still think it's a very difficult thing to anticipate, the emotions and the feelings you have, before it begins.

SCHUMER: You know, it's no question, and you know, the first few kids who just said, "I love you, daddy," and we had all the elected officials, the mayor, the governor, Senator Clinton, myself, all the city officials, I don't think there was a dry eye. It just gets right to you.

I listened carefully for the name of a guy I played basketball with in high school who was a firefighter.

HEMMER: What was his name?

SCHUMER: Mickey Rothenburg (ph), Mark officially.

And a firefighter, Lieutenant Stackpole (ph), who lived in my neighborhood, and Herman Sandler (ph), who was a business leader who I knew well, and Neal Levin (ph), and you think of these names and they're gone and for what?

The one thing I guess I'd say, and I talked to a whole lot of the families. I mean, we are healing. Hemingway said, "The world breaks us in places, but we grow back stronger over the breaks." This applies to the families, it applies to New York, and I think it even applies to America.

HEMMER: There is a large debate that continues in this city as to what to do next in terms of construction. A memorial first, buildings first, and you have constructed slated for this summer on a tower that's going to stand well-over 1,700 feet. 1,776, if we'll note the symbolism there.

Where do we stand right now as a city here, in terms of moving forward and doing it the right way, so that you don't have thousands of people protesting on the streets of Manhattan on September 10, last evening?

SCHUMER: There's always going to be -- in New York, there'll always be some protests. There are some who say only a memorial and there are some who say push the memorial aside.

I think the memorial has to be the center piece, but I think we do need commercial space, because what did the terrorist try to do? Why did they strike the towers? They wanted to destroy the commercial capital of America and the world, the West, New York, and I think that we're obligated to do both.

The people -- I was just talking to John Whitehead (ph), who is the head of the LMDC, which is in charge of this, and I think they're mindful of both conflicts, but this is New York, and we're never going to -- they're never going to please everybody.

HEMMER: Everyone has an opinion.

SCHUMER: I think it's important we move forward. If we waited for consensus, we'll never get anything built.

HEMMER: Thank you, Senator. Good to speak with you, OK.

Let's get a break right now. We mentioned the global tragedy here at Ground Zero. Well over 100 countries lost their own citizens in the towers that stood behind me two years ago on this day.

We'll get to the ceremony in London when our coverage continues right after this, here on CNN.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com








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