Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

New 9/11 Terror Threat; Power Back in San Diego; GOP Candidates Slam Obama Jobs Plan; Wall Street Honors 9/11 Victims; New 9/11 Terror Threat; Interview with Hillary Clinton; Tea Party GOP Debate Preview; Giuliani on New 9/11 Terror Threat

Aired September 09, 2011 - 09:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, guys. Good morning.

Well, just days before the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks, U.S. intelligence officials have uncovered a new terror threat. They described it as specific, credible, but unconfirmed information about a potential al Qaeda plot.

It's believed to involve three individuals and explosives such as a truck or a car bomb. Washington and New York are cited as possible targets.

We're covering this from all angles. Anti-terror expert Fran Townsend is in Washington, Susan Candiotti in New York, and Barbara Starr is at the Pentagon.

Fran, let's start with you. You're a former homeland security adviser to President Bush. Specific, credible, but unconfirmed. Tell us exactly what that means.

FRAN TOWNSEND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CONTRIBUTOR: OK. I think it's most important that we work backwards. The unconfirmed is the key thing right now and it's what's driving all of the intelligence and law enforcement community.

Specific, that you're hearing that word because, yes, they think it's a car bomb in either New York or Washington. They do have some information that three individuals entered, one being United States citizen, they believe.

The credible is -- goes to where the source of the information is. They are not telling us whether that's human intelligence or technical intelligence. But they believe based on how they got that information that it is plausible and could, in fact, be an accurate reporting of the threat.

And so back to the unconfirmed part. Right now, law enforcement intelligence officials are not only going through their own databases and files, comparing notes, looking to see if there's anything that corroborates this threat.

They've also gone out around the world to their allies. Particularly we understand they've gone to the Pakistanis. They are cooperating with the U.S. officials and try to see if they can't get additional information that will allow them to identify these individuals they believe are in the United States.

This is no small task because of course if one of them is a United States citizen the fact that somebody -- a U.S. citizen crosses the borders doesn't tell you much about where they may be. And so they have asked for the help of not only the American people but also state and locals. We saw Commissioner Ray Kelly talk about the NYPD's response.

PHILLIPS: Now it's interesting how we are able to talk such specifics here and there are reports out there saying it was the CIA that gained all these specifics, in particular this vehicle-borne attack.

So what does this tell us about the CIA and its new leader, General David Petraeus? I mean this is his first week on the job.

TOWNSEND: Yes, absolutely. A busy first week for General Petraeus but let's be honest. I mean he's been through many of these types of threats, just in a different seed. So General Petraeus, although its his first week, this is not a new business for him.

And let's remember, you know, over the course of 10 years, we have increased the resources of the CIA. They have a far more robust capability to collect intelligence around the world. Their relationships with our allies are far improved. And even with Pakistan. I mean, let's remember, al-Mauritania was captured just in the last week. That was a huge capture for the Pakistanis and clearly they're cooperating with the U.S. and that's a very good sign.

PHILLIPS: And let's not forget, obviously, the takedown of Osama bin Laden and the CIA's involvement there.

Fran, appreciate it. We're going to talk more in the next couple of hours.

Now here's a visible reminder of just how seriously authorities are taking this threat. Take a look at this video from just this morning. Police officers stopping and searching balk trucks as they approach the George Washington Bridge over the Hudson River.

A hundred million vehicles cross this bridge every year between New York and New Jersey.

Our Susan Candiotti is live for us in New York.

So, Susan, what else is going on in the city with regard to amped up security?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you can imagine just about anything you can possibly think of. You will see, for example, more of these random searches. Many were already planned because this is the 9/11 tenth anniversary weekend.

But you'll also see an increased police presence around, for example, landmarks, train stations, subways, tunnels, bridges, as you saw, and perhaps more random searches of purses, bags, backpacks, that kind of thing. Even more security as the mayor said around religious buildings. So all of that goes into it.

Now we had to show the importance and concern over this. A late- night news conference last night talking about this. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, NEW YORK: The NYPD is deploying additional resources around the city, and taking other steps to keep our city safe. Some of which you may notice and some of which you will not notice. But there is no reason for any of the rest of us to change anything in our daily routines.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

CANDIOTTI: And that's the main thing. People shouldn't panic about this. On the other hand, they do want people to be on the lookout as they always do and they use the term if you see something, please say something. And with good reason. For example you remember it was a little over a year and a half ago that the Times Square attempted car bombing was thwarted because someone saw some smoke coming out of a car.

So that's why they want to engage the public as much as possible while they try to pin down whether this really is a threat that they can corroborate -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: OK. We'll continue to talk about it with you, Susan. Keep us updated, please.

And then out west the power is back on for many people now but five million people went without power. It was pretty frustrating and for a lot of those folks it was kind of scary.

Now imagine how the guy that caused this massive outage is feeling this morning. That's right. One guy. Five million people affected.

Let's get straight to our Casey Wian in San Diego.

So, Casey, what exactly did this one guy in Arizona do?

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the best we know, Kyra, right now, and authorities stress that they don't know exactly what happened and they will be investigating how power was gone for up to five million people throughout Southern California, parts of southern California and cross the border into Mexico yesterday.

But to the best of our knowledge, what happened is there was a worker working on a substation near Yuma, Arizona. Something went wrong when he was working on some equipment and it knocked out power to several thousand residents in that area.

Other workers then tried to restore power. Something else went wrong there as they restored power to that small group of people and the power outage spread on one of the two transmission lines that connect the San Diego area to the wider grid. That's coming from Arizona to the east.

Now, to the north of here is the San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant. The power outage that came from the east somehow spread to that plant as well. And as a precautionary measure, it shut down. That knocked out power to this entire region.

Now what's incredible is the fact that San Diego Gas and Electric now says they have restored power to everyone in their service area that lost power. In just 12 hours, they were able to restore more than 100 substations and more than a thousand different distribution points.

So the picture is going to be a lot different for San Diego area residents this morning than it was yesterday when there was gridlock throughout the area in the rush hour commute home. Businesses were shut down. We talked to one owner of a convenience store here who lost $1,000 in inventory in four of his stores.

So it as a major inconvenience for a lot of people. They're going to be getting back to business, though, today and the power grid they hope will hold up as long as people don't all turn on their air- conditioners at the same time this morning -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Yes. Because it's got some pretty high temps there today.

Casey, thanks.

All right now, let's head over to the other coast where people in eastern Pennsylvania, southern New York and Maryland are overwhelmed by record floodwaters. Three people have died, homes are under water, nearly 100,000 people were forced to evacuate, all because of Tropical Storm Lee dumping rain on an already saturated region.

Places like Binghamton, New York, got soaked with more than 10 inches of rain. President Obama has now signed disaster declarations for the northeast flooding.

Well, in an address before a Joint Session of Congress, President Obama laid out his new plan to put more of us to work but not everyone heard the broad details of it last night. Some Republicans boycotted the speech. And the president addressed that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This idea came from a bill written by a Texas Republican and a Massachusetts Democrat. The idea for a big boost in construction is supported by America's largest business organization and America's largest labor organization. It's the kind of proposal that's been supported in the past by Democrats and Republicans alike. You should pass it right away.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Now selling this job plan doesn't stop at a speech. President Obama is also hitting the road. First off, he's traveling to Virginia where he'll deliver remarks at the University of Richmond, hometown, by the way, to the Republican Majority Leader Eric Cantor.

Then next week Obama will visit Columbus, Ohio. The state has been hit hard by the sour economy and could be decisive in his reelection bid.

Our deputy political director Paul Steinhauser has the reaction from the Republican presidential candidates.

So, Paul, let me take a guess. They hated it?

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: That's a pretty good guess, Kyra. No doubt about it. And just about every major presidential candidate on the Republican side put out a statement reacting to the speech.

Yes, not a positive review. Two thumbs up, definitely not.

Let's start with Rick Perry, the Texas governor. He's the front- runner right now in most of the polls in the battle for the nomination. Here's what he said. "America needs jobs, smaller government, less spending and a president with a courage to offer more than yet another speech."

As for Mitt Romney, yes, he put out a statement but he also went one step further. He put up a Web site, Kyra, and it's called Obamaisntworking.com. I think from the name of that Web site you get the idea that Mitt Romney really doesn't like the president's plans on jobs.

And Michele Bachman, the congresswoman from Minnesota, she had a news conference last night on Capitol Hill after the speech. Take a listen to what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MICHELE BACHMANN (R-MN), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Not only should Congress not pass his plan, I say, Mr. President, stop. Your last plan hasn't worked and it's hurting the American economy.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

STEINHAUSER: A similar message from just about every other Republican presidential candidate. We're going to hear a lot more from them on Monday because, Kyra, guess what? There is another debate.

PHILLIPS: That's right. And that's why you're in Tampa. The big debate on Monday night, you'll see it live right here on CNN.

Paul, thanks so much.

Well, Christine Romans now with the business side of the president's job plan.

Christine, let's go ahead and break it down.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, let's put the politics aside, right? And not talk about what parts of this could ever get through. Just take a look at what it is.

This plan, Kyra, looks at the payroll tax cut for 98 percent of businesses. Mark Zandi of Moodyseconomy.com calls this a creative way to take the payroll tax cut that you and I, everyone is getting right now in their paychecks stand to businesses.

Also a tax credit for companies that hire unemployed veterans. We know, Kyra, you know very well that employed veterans, that unemployment rate has been rising to dangerous levels. Some added -- something is definitely needed there, both parties agree on that.

Improvement for about 35,000 public schools. This is part of the infrastructure component of this. You know we have an unemployment rate of -- for construction people anywhere from 13 to 16 percent. This would be modernizing 35,000 public schools and getting people back to work in that arena.

Also a tax credit for firms that hire the long-term unemployed. We know that a record number of people have been out of work for six months or longer. It's a real problem for families getting the long- term unemployed some kind of help so a tax credit there.

Also it would let more Americans refinance their mortgages at these near 4 percent interest rates that are available now. And you've heard complaints from me and many others that you've got these very low interest rates that so many people are under water on their loans. They don't qualify to refinance at these low levels.

The president in this plan has some broad brush stroke ideas on how to get that handled. So there's a lot of different elements in here.

Bottom line, Kyra, when you look at sort of the scoring this morning of what it would mean for jobs, Gene Sperling, the White House economic adviser, pointing me to analysis from Mark Zandi that says it would create 1.9 million jobs and cut one percentage point off of the unemployment rate. The White House saying that they agree with that analysis -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Christine Romans, thanks so much for breaking it down for us.

Now something very special this hour at the New York Stock Exchange. Hillary Clinton, Rudy Giuliani and several others will be ringing the Opening Bell to re-create this moment.

The stock exchange opening for the first time after the September 11th attacks. Our Alison Kosik will be interviewing Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani in just a few moments.

But first, Alison, let's go ahead and talk about what's happening on the floor right now.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, you know what? It's one of those somber reflective mornings. You know many traders that are here today, they were also here on 9/11. You know, the NYSE is just a few blocks away from Ground Zero. So yes, everybody is remembering that day like it was yesterday.

And you know, you can walk around anywhere on the floor here and just about everyone here knows somebody who died in those attacks. It's no wonder why one woman coming into the NYSE this morning yelled out, you know what, I hate this day, because the NYSE marks 9/11 every year and it's a tough day. And the 10-year anniversary is even more poignant.

Now there's going to be a lot of ceremony going on in just a few minutes. There will be a moment of silence at 9:25. A Marine will sing "God Bless America." And at the Opening Bell, ringing the Opening Bell will be Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. She was a senator from New York back in 2001.

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, he'll be ringing the bell as well. They were all here on September 17th, 2001, to ring the bell when the market opened up again after being closed almost a week with no trading.

Now they're going to be joined by former NYSCC Dick Grasso, NY -- the New York City police commissioner and other dignitaries to ring the Opening Bell today -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Once again, 15 minutes away. Our Alison Kosik there, going to have a live interview with Hillary Clinton.

Alison, we look forward to it. You let us know when you're ready to go.

All right. Well, coming up, getting Afghans ready to take over security in their country. Our Suzanne Malveaux is there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Seeing and understanding Afghanistan from above is critical to security. Trying to get supplies to those remote bases. A helicopter is essential.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: We're going to go live to Afghanistan and hear more from Suzanne after the break.

Also more on the new terror threat. Barbara Starr is at the Pentagon working her sources. She joins us at the bottom of the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, it's been 10 years since U.S. troops began fighting the war on terror in Afghanistan and just as long trying to train the Afghan army to be able to take over its own security.

Now, our Suzanne Malveaux is there with an inside look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX (voice-over): Getting around Afghanistan is tough. It's the size of Texas but has poor roads, extreme weather, and rugged terrain. Travelers are often the target of insurgent attacks.

(on camera): Seeing an understanding Afghanistan from above is critical to its security. The mountains and trying to get supplies to those remote bases. The helicopter is essential. And is the Afghan pilot.

(voice-over): We were taking on a train exercise aboard a Russian made MI-17, often used for battlefield operations. On this day, we fly across a huge lake 20 miles east of Kabul. It's a desolate area but strategically important for supplying those fighting the Taliban.

(on camera): It's unbelievable because about 30 minutes or so, this helicopter ride across Afghanistan, and (INAUDIBLE) road is what we followed. But we are here in the middle of nowhere.

Tell me a little bit about the mission, Americans alongside the Afghans flying these things.

SOLDIER: It's not only just the Americans and the Afghans. It's Americans and our squadron, Croatians, folks from the Czech Republic and Hungary, all of which are providing training in the helicopters that you see there. So, it's been ride of my life so far with respect to this job.

MALVEAUX: Mine too

SOLDIER: But it's just been a phenomenal job.

MALVEAUX: And we saw some pretty rough terrain. Explain how important it is to have the helicopters in and out. I mean, it seems like it really is the best way to learn about these mountains and how to supply these routes, yes?

SOLDIER: Yes. The options that you have a donkey possibly or a helicopter. A lot of times, again, as you can see with the rough terrain, especially as you go out to the northeast of where we are, it just gets worse.

MALVEAUX: How important is it to make sure the Afghans are able to fly not only the helicopters but more advanced aircraft, too?

SOLDIER: Well, the -- it's a fairly expensive asset. I mean, it's $12 million -- each one of those helicopters that we have out there. And, you know, they need to make sure and the leadership of Afghanistan wants to ensure that the people we have flying can handle that $12 million asset.

MALVEAUX: Nineteen-year-old Afghan Sofia Pirosi (ph) is training to become one of Afghanistan's few female pilots. This is her first time ever on a plane. It's a C-27. She tells me she is excited.

American Master Sergeant Erin Manley shows off the plane's capability, by opening the rear ramp. Sofia gets to sit with the pilots. A bump and ride makes her queasy but she quickly recovers.

"On landing," she tells me she is not deterred. She feels great. Her American mentor is proud.

MASTER SGT. ERIN MANLEY: It's great that you get to take this and run with it and build a foundation for future females in Afghanistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Suzanne is joining us live from Kabul.

So, Suzanne, let's talk about the various challenges that make creating this Afghan force so complicated.

MALVEAUX: You know, Kyra, you saw really kind of the best of the best there. They got about 200 Afghan pilots and want to more than double that number for four years or so. But what we are talking about here is the basics.

It's the Afghan army that you have U.S. and NATO troops that are trying to train right now -- that is the biggest challenge because, you know, you can't have people flying planes unless they can read and write.

And about 86 percent, Kyra, if you can believe this, of the Afghan recruits that try to join the army, the joined that Afghan army cannot read or write. I met some of them who can't even count.

It sounds surprising, it sounds amazing that you got U.S. and NATO forces involved in some sort of literacy campaign but that is happening here and really the focus to get these guys up to speed. So, you're talking about just the ability to be able to read like a serial number on a weapon or to call in if you're in trouble, to be able to read a map. Really simple skills like that.

Those are the simple skills that the Afghans, they just don't have. I mean, it's been 30 years of war. It's a lost generation. Folks just don't have an education so that is the primary focus.

And, Kyra, it seems like a lot of people on board with that because essentially the quicker, the faster they can get Afghans to be able to take over security, that is the faster with can get out of Afghanistan. They are looking at a goal at the end of 2014. That is the mission here. That is really focus now, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, and as we saw you point out in your piece too how women are being treated and empowered. How many stories have we done about how there are no rights for women in that country. And so seeing what you did with regard to these missions, teaming up with the military is incredibly progressive.

MALVEAUX: You know, Kyra, such a small number of Afghan women, when we interviewed and we actually met that young woman who is training to be a pilot, she has been doing it for three months now. And it was unusual just to see the sergeant master aboard that plane who is actually acting as her mentor.

But she is just one of a handful of folks -- just five females who are actually in the United States who are training to become pilots. They are trying to up that number and increase that number. It is highly unusual and really rare. We spoke to her and she has the blessing of her parents, but that is not often the case and they have got a long way to go on that score.

But, still, the military, NATO officials, soldiers here on the ground, they believe that that's the way to go, to train the females, as well as the males, to make sure they can take care of their own country.

PHILLIPS: Our Suzanne Malveaux in Afghanistan -- Suzanne, thanks.

And you can join us for our special "9/11: 10 Years Later" live coverage of remembrance events begins Sunday at 8:00 a.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.

And still to come: homes under water, thousands of people forced to evacuate. The Northeast is still feeling the remnants of tropical storm Lee.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Checking stories now cross country.

Plumes of smoke are still billowing over Texas. Firefighters have gained some ground, though, in the battle against dozens of wildfires there. Camp Bullis near San Antonio, 50 percent contained now.

Meanwhile, the 34,000-acre Bastrop fire near Austin has already destroyed nearly 1,400 homes and two people died there.

In San Francisco yesterday, a BART train station shut down for a couple of hours as police arrested more than 20 demonstrators protesting against the Bay Area Rapid Transit Authority's police force.

And NASA is delaying it's planned launch today of a moon research mission. Bad weather is the reason. They'll shoot for tomorrow now. The mission called Grail will hopefully study how the moon was formed.

Still ahead, more on the new terror threat. Barbara Starr is at the Pentagon working her sources. She's going to join us right after the break.

And also, Hillary Clinton is there at the New York Stock Exchange this morning. She's there for a moment of silence to honor the 9/11 victims. There you go -- live shot, straight from the floor.

Our interview with the secretary of state, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: All right. It's a special day at the New York Stock Exchange this morning as you can see. We had a moment of silence just a few minutes ago honoring the victims of 9/11.

Now, as you can see, a number of dignitaries on hand for the opening bell as you can see right there. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, also you can see Rudy Giuliani, the Police Commissioner Ray Kelly there in the background.

Well, our Alison Kosik is going to have a live interview with Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani coming up this hour. So, stay with us for that.

You can see members, obviously, of the New York Police Department and Fire Department that responded on that horrible day.

All right. Just days before the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks, U.S. intelligence officials have now uncovered a new terror threat. As a matter of fact, a senior administration official describes it as a specific, credible, but unconfirmed threat about a potential al Qaeda plot. It's believed to involve three individuals and explosives such as a truck or a car bomb. Washington and New York cited as possible targets.

Barbara Starr is working her sources there at the Pentagon.

So, bottom line, Barbara, if you live in D.C. and New York, do you stay home this weekend?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, government officials say no. Go about your daily lives. Don't panic. Do what you need to do, but be vigilant, keep an eye out.

And isn't what they have said to us, you know, for the last 10 years, very sadly? That's what life has really become.

So, you might ask yourself, Kyra, what is really different about this threat that they are looking into? And officials tell us it really focuses on that word "unconfirmed" -- it is specific, it is credible, but unconfirmed. They are now looking for corroboration of this information.

Whatever the sources, whatever the origin of the information is about this potential threat, it is significant enough that it is led to this warning, but they are looking for the corroboration. They do believe -- the working assumption is that at least three individuals may have entered the United States. One of them a U.S. citizen from abroad coming from Pakistan, coming with al Qaeda sympathies, if you will -- potentially even members of al Qaeda, looking for some kind of car bomb attack in New York or Washington.

So, all of that is what they are working against -- trying to find the corroboration so they can pin it down and either deal with it or dismiss it. That's where they are right now -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And, Barbara, you know, you and I have talked about the fact that this is David Petraeus first week on the job at the CIA. What a week for him and what does it tell us about the CIA leading the charge here?

STARR: Well, you know, for Petraeus, this is, as you know, Kyra, this is not anything he hasn't dealt with before in his military career in Afghanistan, leading the war there at the U.S. Central Command, dealing with the threat of terrorism. The CIA, in recent years, along with the rest of the intelligence community, has really stepped up its counterterrorist efforts.

All hands on deck this weekend. CIA, the director of national intelligence, the Department of Homeland Security, because, of course, it will be DHS, Homeland Security that deals with the threat as it exists in the United States. It will be Petraeus and others looking abroad, looking to Pakistan, looking outside the United States, to see what they can figure out about corroborating this threat and who exactly may be involved -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon -- Barbara, thanks.

Well, just moments ago, a moment of silence at the New York Stock Exchange honor the 9/11 victims. And Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is there. She's going to join us live, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: I want to take you live to the New York Stock Exchange.

This is pretty -- I want to point out awesome access we have here today. And just to let you know, this is our photographer that is down there on the floor with our Alison Kosik because we are waiting for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to come up to Alison where we're going to be able to get the first interview as we are approaching the anniversary of 9/11.

A number of dignitaries that were there at the time 10 years ago have come back. You saw them ring the opening bell just about seven minutes ago. And now, we are going to get a chance to hear from the secretary of state on a number of issues, including the terror threat that we have been talking about within the past -- close to 4 hours.

We want to welcome our international viewers as well, joining us here as we wait to hear from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton there on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

You know, it was minutes before the New York Stock Exchange was set to open 10 years ago on September 11th that we saw those two planes slam into the World Trade Center and the market shut down and it stayed that way for almost a week. Well, traders on the floor will never forget that day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good morning and welcome back to the greatest market on the face of the earth!

ALAN VALDES, DME SECURITIES: You could smell death really. It was just permeating in the air. You could smell the fires were still burning over there at the time even though it was a week later.

STEVEN GUILFOYLE, MERIDIAN EQUITY PARTNERS: Everyone described these people like short insurance stocks, like trying to do things that were just not right. I remember refusing to take those orders. It was -- it was a tough emotional time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The markets reopened. That was the right thing to do and no question about it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We all felt we were doing something patriotic when we came back.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

PHILLIPS: I don't think any of us will forget that moment on 9/11. And it wasn't just the New York Stock Exchange that shut down. But, boy, the entire country was stunned. In addition to the traders there you just heard from, we saw how we were devastated financially, emotionally, personally.

And now, 10 years later, a number of the leaders in our country, including Hillary Clinton right there who is actually walking up to our Alison Kosik and when I get the word, guys, that we are good to go, we are going to do a live interview in seconds here with our Alison Kosik there on the floor with the New York Stock Exchange with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as she mikes up.

We are getting the first chance to talk to the secretary of state. Not only remembering 9/11, a decade ago, but also the terror threat that came through later in the day yesterday, a terror threat coming to us from -- OK, let's go.

Alison Kosik, take it away.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Secretary Clinton joins me now.

Secretary, I want to talk about this threat that came in yesterday. CNN is reporting that the threat information came from the Pakistan/Afghanistan border areas. Have the Pakistanis been helping the U.S. track it down or helping in the threat of it?

HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: Well, first, let me say there is a specific, credible, but unconfirmed threat report. We take it seriously, as we always do, and particularly because we learned from the raid on bin Laden's headquarters and going through all of the material that al Qaeda was still determined to attack around anniversaries and particularly New York and Washington.

So, we are, obviously, working with everybody to try to find as much information as possible.

KOSIK: What specifically about this threat, though, really you sensed it last night, officials really took notice?

CLINTOIN: You know, I can't go into any of the details of the intelligence. Obviously, I and other top officials were briefed on it yesterday. But it was sufficient to have us have a public statement, obviously, to alert local and state law enforcement.

You saw Mayor Bloomberg, Ray Kelly, and others out talking about additional steps to be taken here in New York. We evaluate lots of threats all the time. I mean, one of the great advances since 9/11 is the way our intelligence community is much better integrated.

KOSIK: Secretary, should people here feel safe?

CLINTON: Yes. I mean, look, we have lived with this. The reason I'm here on the floor today is because I was senator from New York on 9/11 and I worked with a lot of people here to help, you know, get the city back going and rebuild. You have to go on with your life.

I mean, the goal of terrorism is to terrorize. It is to sow intimidation and fear. The reason that America, and this great city, has shown such resilience is because we refuse to be intimidated but that doesn't mean we are stupid. We're going to keep our eyes open. We're gong to be vigilant.

Part of the reason to go public with this particular threat information was to tell people go on with your lives and keep your eyes open and let us know if you see anything suspicious. Remember, the Times Square bomber was stopped by a food vendor who saw something suspicious, reported it and thank goodness.

KOSIK: All right. Switching gears. Does the U.S. know where Moammar Gadhafi is right now?

CLINTON: No, but we are closing in on his remaining forces. We have a very concerted effort going on with support for the TNC and the rebels -- and it's a matter of time. And the cities that are still held by loyalists will eventually either peacefully transition or be taken over.

KOSIK: All right. Let's switch to politics for a moment. What's the likelihood you're going to challenge President Obama in the primary? You know, you've got Dick Cheney in your court.

CLINTON: Oh, yes, it's below zero!

(LAUGHTER)

KOSIK: What do you think about Dick Cheney said that you would have made a better president than President Obama?

CLINTON: You know what? One of the great things of being secretary of state is I am out of politics. I am not interested in being drawn back into it by anybody. I have a big job to do and I'm honored to do it every day, representing our country.

KOSIK: Would you ever get back into, as you said, politics again then if you leave this position?

CLINTON: I don't think so. I think I'm going to stay focused on doing what I can to make sure that we continue to lead the world. And there's a lot of tough decisions we have to make at home in order to us to be positioned to demonstrate the kind of leadership that I think is in our best interests.

KOSIK: All right. And a final question: how important is it to come back here as you did on September 17th and ring this opening bell? Why is it important for you to do this?

CLINTON: Well, on a personal level, it's deeply important to me because it was one of the most extraordinary experiences of my life, to be a senator when we were attacked and then to devote as much time and effort as I could to working with all of the people you see here to try to make sure we came back stronger than ever.

But also it's a good signal. I mean, it is -- it's not, you know, let's remember the past because we have to be smart, we have to be vigilant, but let's look toward the future. Let's show some confidence and some optimism. Let's get the bells ringing. Let's get some activity going.

You know, we are the greatest nation in the world and we need to get up and start acting like it. And so, let's remember this moment and lets demonstrate once again why our resilience and our fortitude is going to keep us moving forward on top.

KOSIK: And what do you think of the energy on the floor?

CLINTON: It's always energetic.

KOSIK: All right. Thanks very much.

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIPS: All right. That was our Alison Kosik. Alison, great job. Now, she is getting mixed in the shuffle there of security around Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

And Alison is not finished. Rudy Giuliani is also there on the floor. We'll never forget his leadership as well during 9/11. Alison is going to connect with him and we will have an interview with the former mayor of New York just ahead.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Monday night, Tampa, Florida, hosts the CNN TEA PARTY REPUBLICAN DEBATE. The Tea Party Express Bus is on its way to Tampa where our Don Lemon already is.

Don, it's their night. So what do Tea Party members want to hear from these candidates?

DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, listen, on its way? There it is, right over my shoulder. You see the bus got here.

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIPS: I should say all the candidates on their way.

LEMON: Oh, the candidates, yes, you are right, they are on their way.

And as you said, we did speak to some of the Tea Party members. We spoke to the head of the Tampa Tea Party here and some of the other members and you know what, Kyra? What's on their mind? The same thing that the President talked about last night, jobs, jobs, jobs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: The recent poll shows that people care a lot more about jobs, jobs, jobs and the economy than they do about spending. Do you think you're on the -- the right track with the spending and not -- you don't want to hear jobs coming out of their mouth, how they're going to create new jobs?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, they go hand in glove, you can't separate one from the other. If you take a $1 out of the private sector to do something government with it, first of all, it's an absolute fallacy to hear anyone say that the government is going to create jobs. It just simply doesn't happen. And when you remove a $1 from the private sector to have the government redistribute that $1 somewhere else, then it's going to -- it has an immediate impact.

I own a small business. I'm not hiring anyone else until I can forecast not 12 months, not even 24 months. I need to be able to look down the road, because my commitment for borrowing is a five-year or a seven-year commitment.

I don't want to hear about what we're going give you a one-year break on this, that or the other. That's not going to get it done. I am actually a job creator. Not Hillsboro county government, not the Florida state government, not the federal government.

LEMON: And but -- you're not creating jobs right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not because of the uncertainty associated with the spending. That's why I say that they go hand in glove. You cannot -- they are inseparable entities, job creation and spending.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: All right, so Kyra, we didn't just let the guy do all the talking. You see the ladies there around -- around him. One of them actually, the woman, the blond lady there to the left is actually the head of the Tampa Tea Party. And we're going to hear from them just a little bit later on about their concerns and what they hope to hear from the candidates on stage Monday night.

Kyra, the fairgrounds are already busy and they are getting ready for a Brad Paisley concert tonight. But the big event comes Monday when we have our first ever Tea Party debate.

PHILLIPS: It sounds good Don. All right, we'll be tuning in. And of course we want to say to all of our viewers, you don't want to miss it either. CNN and Tea Party Members, co-host Monday's Republican debate. Don will be there and among our best political team in television live from Tampa, the site of the 2012 Republican National Convention.

The CNN TEA PARTY REPUBLICAN DEBATE Monday night 8:00 Eastern.

Now just a few minutes ago live from the New York Stock Exchange this happened on the podium. New York public figures, former and current, remembering 9/11 and the day the markets reopened. Our Alison Kosik, talked to the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who was a Senator at that time.

Well, next she's going to talk to the former Mayor of New York, Rudolph Giuliani.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: All right, we're following lots of developments in the next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM. Let's check in first with our Barbara Starr live at the Pentagon -- Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well Kyra, we are just a couple of days away from the ten-year anniversary of 9/11 and another terrorist threat -- threat. I'll have the latest, coming up.

CASEY WIAN, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: I'm Casey Wian in San Diego where power has been restored after a massive blackout affecting up to five million people. I'll have details at the top of the hour.

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Mary Snow, in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania where the raging Susquehanna River is swallowing homes and bridges. We'll have the very latest at the top of the hour.

KAYE: All right, thank you so much guys.

And I'm just getting a word that we are going to have our interview with former Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

Alison Kosik there live in the New York Stock Exchange just two days away from the 10th anniversary of 9/11. She's getting a chance to talk to the key leaders of that moment. How they feel, what they're talking about ten years later. You heard her talk with Hillary Clinton. She was a senator at the time and now a Secretary of State.

Alison Kosik, you're now about to talk to Rudy Giuliani who was mayor on that fateful day.

KOSIK: Exactly. And Rudy -- Rudy Giuliani is joining me now.

You rang the opening bell just as you did on September 17th. Why -- why was it so important for you to comeback and show --

RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER MAYOR OF NEW YORK CITY: Well, that was a very significant milestone in the comeback of the city and the country. The stock exchange is at the core of our economy, it went down, it couldn't function for a period of time. Dick Grasso (ph) and the people here through heroic efforts were able to get it back.

I don't think anybody will ever understand how complicated that was. And it only happened because Dick Grasso and the stock exchange did more preparing for the possibility of terrorist attack than just about any business in the city.

When they got it back and no one ever knew for sure it was going to work. So when I came in and to open -- opened with everyone else on the 17th of September I didn't know it was going to work. We were saying our prayers and crossing our fingers.

KOSIK: And you led this city through some of its darkest days. And now just days before the ten-year anniversary we're getting another very stark and stunning threat.

GIULIANI: Right.

KOSIK: How worried should we be? Because this is going -- this is an interesting one. This one really caught everybody's attention and we see the checkpoints on the bridges this morning. We see them on the subways. It's in our faces. What is so different about this one?

GIULIANI: Well, I -- I don't know the exact intelligence but I can only sort of interpret it from the experience that I had getting that information. They must be pretty convinced that this is a real one. That doesn't mean it's going to happen. It doesn't mean they aren't able to intercept it. We've got much better methods in place now for picking these things up than we did before September 11th.

I'm pretty confident the New York City police department will be able to prevent this. But people should be a little more alert. But they shouldn't change their way of life. They shouldn't let this affect them too much psychologically. And this should be a reminder that the tenth anniversary of September 11th doesn't mean that we can put all this behind us. These people who came here to kill us on September 11, 2001, want to come here to kill us over and over again.

This threat of Islamic extremist terrorism exists today. It is at least as great. And we need to be very alert. We need to have in place the kinds of things President Bush put in place.

President Obama has continued most of those after campaigning against them. We need these things in place and we need a military presence in the Middle East to protect us. This is not over. I know we would like to get it over and we're impatient but the Islamic terrorist threat to this country exists, it's real and it's going to be real for quite some time.

KOSIK: All right, let's switch gears and talk about you. When are you going to decide whether or not you're going to run for president in 2012? I know you're thinking about it. What are you waiting for?

GIULIANI: Well, I'm waiting to see who emerges and I realize how difficult it would be for me to get nominated given some of the positions that I have that I'm not willing to change. So I want to see if there's a really good candidate out there that can take this country in a different direction and if I find that candidate then -- then I probably -- I won't be tempted to run.

KOSIK: How much do you want the job?

GIULIANI: Oh I'd love to do the job. I can't imagine any American at a time of challenge who wouldn't want to be president particularly the kind of work that I've done in the past. But I'm also realistic enough to know that it would be very difficult for me to be nominated.

And I don't want to see my party put into some kind of turmoil. I think it's important particularly for the economy that we have a new president starting in a year and a half.

KOSIK: What would you do to fix the economy?

GIULIANI: Probably just the opposite of what President Obama has done. I think last night was a perfect indication. The market's reaction today. I don't think he has a clue.

I like him. Think he's a nice man. I think with regard to our economy he's working on a model that's about 50 years old and outdated. Last night's recommendations, warmed-over spit. We've done them before and they haven't worked. We've had a payroll tax reduction in place for a year -- hasn't worked. We're going to continue it. Great. We're going to continue unemployment insurance. How does that produce jobs?

He hasn't done the things that are necessary to give confidence to the American economy that it's going to grow. He is so far off the mark it's startling.

KOSIK: you say it would be tough to get the GOP nomination. What about running as an Independent?

GIULIANI: I'm a Republican. I believe in the Republican Party. I think they're really required now. Republican fiscal conservatism is totally required to save our economy. To the extent that we haven't been fiscal conservatives like in the mid part of the beginning of the 21st century. We've created some of these problems ourselves so we need a restoration of Reagan-like Republican fiscal conservatism.

KOSIK: Thanks so much for your time. Appreciate it.

GIULIANI: Thank you.

KOSIK: Ok. Great. All right. There you have it, Kyra. I'll throw it back to you.

PHILLIPS: Ok. Alison Kosik, thank you so much. As you saw Alison Kosik there on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. She is part of our CNN Money team, now part of our best political team on television. You got a chance to hear her not only interview Secretary of State Hillary Clinton but also Rudolph Giuliani who was the mayor at the time there during 9/11. Obviously Hillary Clinton the senator there.

It was a very special opening bell this morning. They were there to ring the bell. And we will continue to follow the impact on the numbers today ten years since 9/11.

And you can join us for our special 9/11 ten years later coverage. It begins Sunday, 8:00 a.m. Eastern right here on CNN. We sure hope that you'll tune in.

All right. Now, stories making news later today, 11:30 Eastern Time this morning President Obama is speaking at the University of Richmond selling that jobs plan.

Then later this afternoon house Majority Leader Eric Cantor will speak at a Richmond, Virginia business.

Then at 8:00 p.m. Eastern in Washington a concert to honor 9/11 victims has been moved from the National Cathedral to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.