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CNN Live At Daybreak

America's New War: U.S. Stock Exchanges Prepare to Open for First Time Since Attacks

Aired September 17, 2001 - 08:43   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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Joining us to help us in all of our efforts throughout the morning, John King from near the Capitol this morning, Bill Hemmer, who joins us from outside the New York Stock Exchange, Miles O'Brien, who continues to stand by at investigation desk in Atlanta, and also joining us in roundtable discussion you have lobbed our way is Lou Dobbs who joins us from the floor of the Stock Exchange.

Lou, I want to start it off with you, because we haven't had a chance to talk to you since the Feds announced it's going drop interest rates, dropping the closely watched federal funds rate to 3 percent from 3.5, which is the 8th rate cut this year. The reaction down there to this news?

LOU DOBBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As you say, the 8th rate cut, the third intermeeting cut, or surprise cut, and the discount rate at 2 1/2 percent, the Fed funds rate at 3 percent, the lowest it's been in 9 years. But frankly, the reaction here has been one of caution and, if you will, temperate expectation. Some of these folks talking about they'd rather have seen the more dramatic, a 1 percent. But it's almost impossible to tell its impact, but it was not met by cheering or any sort of resounding reaction here. These people are going about serious business, ready to open this market, in just about 45 minutes. And it just didn't have any kind of emotional or dramatic impact.

ZAHN: It's interesting you should say that, because Andrew Serwer (ph) was on a little bit later on, saying that what it will do is cause strategies on the floor to change pretty dramatically today. What sort of changes might be made?

DOBBS: Well, I will -- Andy is -- I'm sure he is absolutely right. But I think most of the strategies put in place here will not be dependent on monetary policy, and certainly short-term being moved this dramatically. It's symbolic, it's helpful in the long term. But today, what the Exchange is focused on, the Treasury, the Fed, all of the major brokerages, is an orderly market.

And the most encouraging thing, Paula, is we have seen the European markets move from negative territory earlier in the trading day there into positive territory now. That is a strong vote of confidence for what is going to happen here on Wall Street.

Now there's no question, these specialists and traders, it's an emotional day for them as well. Because remember, the World Trade Center is only three blocks from here. These people are part of the same community. They had friends, colleagues, and importantly, people who they cared about as professionals in the same community. This is going to be a tough, emotional day for these people, but they are getting a lot of encouraging signs for what would be a very tough day of work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange and at the Nasdaq.

ZAHN: Lou, we're going to come back to you to even in advance of the 9:30 opening for further reaction to this rate cut. Of course, we'll be covering the opening live as well as part of the two minutes of silence that will follow as you hear the opening bell.

Let's bring John King and Bill Hemmer into the discussion. It's time to answer questions from viewers.

Let's start off with a question from Tracey, who has no last name this morning, but she has a good question. The question is: "Isn't it customary for hijackers to be proud of their achievements and gloat or even boast about their involvement? If so, do you have any idea why the culprits of the recent twin tower bombing do not own up?"

Who wants to start first here? John?

JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, I can give you a sense, we do know from law enforcement and intelligence sources that one of the reasons there has been what the government calls anyway significant progress in the investigation so far, is that there were some phone conversations intercepted in which members of the terrorist cells are alleged to have been bragging about the attacks to their colleague.

Now, as to why there was not a public statement, yes, in the past some groups who rushed to claim responsibility after terrorist attacks, one of the fears of U.S. officials is that this is a first wave, that these terrorist cells continue to exist in the United States, and perhaps there were plans for additional hijackings and additional possible attacks. If that is the case, that would be one reason for the terrorists not to come out and publicly claim responsibility.

ZAHN: All right, our second question comes from Frank Steiner of Green Brook, New Jersey. The question is: "If we declare war on Afghanistan, can we freeze their assets worldwide and take them as reparations, making the country unstable and unable to survive without the aid of another country?"

Lou, do you want to weigh in on this one?

DOBBS: Paula, the answer to that is fairly straightforward. With the international authorization. That is the United Nations and the world court, that could be done. It could not be done unilaterally by the United States, except in specific cases with bilateral arrangements. But the fact is, Afghanistan does not have enough assets to begin to even think about reparations for the damage that's been done in terrible devastating attacks on the world's financial center here in New York and, of course, at the Pentagon. ZAHN: And I just wanted to button that off with, Lou, the fact that Pakistan, of course, is one of three governments, only three, that recognizes the Taliban as the rulers of Afghanistan, and one little note I have here, says that, in fact, it's the primary financial backer.

Let's move onto our next question from Rowey B. from Guam. The question is: "The U.S. has taken the position of 'Declaration of War' to terrorism; does President Bush need the permission of the United Nations?"

Bill?

BILL HEMMER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Paula, I think that question is probably more properly addressed in Washington. But with regard to the U.N., I think at any point that anyone wants to take military action, it is always best, as we have seen through the White House in the past few days, trying to establish this international coalition. We saw it during the Gulf War, and we were quite clear at that time that after the former President Bush gathered his coalition together, the U.S. militarily and politically felt like they were in a much stronger position.

But I think John King probably has a much better gauge on this at the White House, huh, John?

ZAHN: Yes, John, what will the extent of the U.N. involvement here, and what kind of permission does the U.S. need?

KING: Well, the security council did pass a resolution condemning these attacks. The administration was gratified with that. But this administration would say that it does not need the permission and will not wait for the permission of the United Nations, and two examples would be, number one, the Persian Gulf War, where President Bush was criticized by some for using violence, if you will, in the words of some at the United Nations, to go after the government of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

There has been a continuing debate over the 10 years since in the continuing use of U.S. and British warplanes to patrol those no-fly zones, and there was criticism as well in much more recent history when President Clinton organized the NATO allies and others to go into Kosovo with military action. Many in the United Nations criticized that as well. So this administration would welcome any international statements of support. It will not listen to any international statements of either caution or condemnation.

ZAHN: John, I've got another question for you from our next viewer, Jane Bajaldziev from Skopje, as the folks call it: "Does this mean that the U.S. will wage a war on all terrorist organizations, or just those responsible for Tuesday's attack?"

KING: Well, that is the question of the day, if you will. One of the reason administration officials are talking about perhaps some military strikes in the next day or weeks, but more importantly, trying to prepare the American people in the United States and Allied and other governments around the world for a campaign the vice president said yesterday said would take years. Others in the administration have talked of at least a decade. There's a two- pronged strategy. One, to try to hold those responsible for these attacks accountable, and then the president saying he will root out terrorism around the world.

Now, the question will be, down the line, whether it's six months, a year or two years from now, will there continue to be support from the people in the United States, the American people for that, especially if it involves U.S. military assets, and what will the reaction be around the world? Will this administration, and possibly a follow-up administration be able to maintain an international coalition to fight terrorism? That is a big question, especially in the Middle East and that part of the world, where many of the terrorist cells, in the view of the United States government, are initiated. It has been a very difficult, delicate balance. Former Secretary Albright was speaking about that earlier today. Very difficult to sustain the diplomatic support against organizations known to be quite violent.

ZAHN: John, I don't think I'm ignoring the rest of the colleagues, but most of the areas include your area of expertise, including the next one Jorge Nogueira, from Lisbon, Portugal. His question is: "I would like to know if there are any chances of nuclear arms being used in this conflict. Would it be possible to avoid this terrorist attack?"

KING: As a journalist, the administration and previous administrations have certainly raised the concerns of nuclear materials making their way out of the former Soviet Union for example. No evidence at all that any of these organizations have a working nuclear weapon, and as a human being, God, let's hope not. But certainly, that is the one of the concerns for the administration's argument for a missile defense system, that in time perhaps a rogue nation or a rogue group could get a handle on a nuclear weapon. But we have heard no such talks.

There have been concerns raised about chemical and biological weapons, which are of course much easier to transport across international lines and across borders and the like. That has been a much more of a paramount concern, chemical, biological weapons than any nuclear aspect of this.

ZAHN: Bill, just a quick question from me, just to reset the scene there, as more and more workers start to converge on this area outside of the New York Stock Exchange building?

HEMMER: Yes, Paula, you know, one thing that strikes me just standing here watching the workers file away, we just saw about a dozen National Guard troops walk past us here. There's an armored personnel carrier stopped at the intersection down here. And I think, you know, as we look at this almost a week into the terrible tragedy we're seeing, I think for a lot of people, it's still settling in. And the fact we're standing on Broad Street, right near the Stock Exchange, waiting for the open to come down here, and seeing these troops and police, et cetera and the security detail, it really makes you stop and think, and really try to settle in the reality that we're witnesses so far at this point into this terrible tragedy.

ZAHN: And I'm going to go back to Lou Dobbs as we move up on 35 minutes before the New York Stock Exchange Opens this morning. Lou, I know you talked a little bit about the concern over systems in place. We know a lot of buildings around the perimeter area where you stand right now don't even have electricity. ConEdison laying 20,000 miles of lines yesterday to try to store electricity.

Lou, are you still with me -- yes, there you are.

But you touched on this a little bit earlier on with Mr. Grasso, the sense of personal loss down there, because many of the folks who are on the floor today lost friends and family members, didn't they?

DOBBS: Absolutely. And as you know, Paula, this is a very tight-knit community here on the floor of the New York Exchange. These men, mostly men, some women, grabbing each other and just giving each other very emotional hugs, wishing each other well on what they know is historic day, and it's a day that many of these people would just as soon be home grieving for those who have been lost in the financial community, whether they be family members, friends, or professional colleagues who simply won't be going back to work after last Tuesday's devastating attack.

It is a remarkable display of emotion as people get ready to on the part world's largest equities market in just about 36 minutes from now. And it will be quite a remarkable sight, given all that has had to be accomplished in order to get these markets back up and running.

Back to you, Paula.

ZAHN: Lou, so how many red, white, and blue ribbons are you seeing, pins or lapels? How many flags are people holding?

DOBBS: Well, they're all over the exchange. The post have flags affixed to them. I've seen a number of guys, big burly tough guys, holding back tears, sticking flags in the post, wearing them on the shoulders of their brokerage jackets. There is an amazing display of emotion, and the loss and the pain that has been suffered here, and a great deal of pride in what this country is about to set out to do.

ZAHN: All right, Lou, we'll be with you, when the markets open in just about 32 minutes from now.

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