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CNN Live At Daybreak
Honorary Titles Conferred on Giuliani, Former Commissioners
Aired February 13, 2002 - 06:18 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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks for sticking with us this morning. New York's famous former mayor now has a royal honor. Rudy Giuliani has been knighted by Britain's Queen Elizabeth for his remarkable leadership following the September 11th attacks. Our Walter Rodgers is live in London with details. Good morning, Walter.
WALTER RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. If everything goes on schedule or went on schedule, and of course it does here in Buckingham Palace, Rudolph Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City is now a Knight of the British Empire. Now that's an honor which is, of course, to be esteemed. Also, the former police commissioner of New York, Bernard Kerik, and also the former fire commissioner, Thomas Von Essen, also received awards. They are Commanders of the British Empire.
Of course all of this is to honor these men, especially Mayor Giuliani for rallying New York's police and firemen September 11th, rallying the city and literally raising New Yorkers from the ashes of despair to come back from that terrible tragedy. Giuliani, of course, is now a Knight of the British Empire. It is an honor which has been bestowed on other Americans. Former Presidents George Bush Sr., Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, also received this honor. Also the current Secretary of State, Colin Powell, is a Knight of the British Empire.
What's interesting in all of this is, of course, that this is sort of a limited knighthood because these are foreign nationals and because Americans would not get down on their knees before the sovereign of a foreign country. They are being knighted, merely being presented with medals here. They get this medal, but of course the queen does not dub them with a sword in this case. They are not called sir; that does not go with this honor.
What Mr. Giuliani gets from this is a very nice medal and knighthood of the British Empire. The knighthood being something he can wear -- the medal, knighthood medal, being something he can wear only when he wears a white tie. But he can sign his name from here on out Rudolph Giuliani, KBE, Knight of the British Empire -- Carol.
COSTELLO: So, Walter, what is the ceremony like if there is no sword involved?
RODGERS: It's very low key. It's simply the awarding of a medal. In one of the ballrooms in Buckingham Palace behind me the queen comes in, she's handed a medal by the Lord Chamberlain or one of her other assistants in there. And the medal is simply presented with some words passing to the recipient. We will receive a videotape shortly, we're expecting it almost anytime now and you can see it. But this is a very, very simple ceremony.
Knighthood, of course, is an honor that -- a royalty Queen Elizabeth, of course -- but through the ages has awarded to people. It chose to honor perhaps people it was seeking financial support from in medieval times. Certainly, the very concept of knighthood goes back to the Roman Empire -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Is this the first time a mayor of an American city has been knighted?
RODGERS: I think so. I've gone down the list of American recipients. We have the current Secretary of State, Colin Powell; three former presidents; Steven Spielberg, the movie producer, for his mammoth contribution to a world culture through his films, of course. But then Pele, the soccer star, also got a knighthood, this same award as Mr. Giuliani received.
One of the things, by the way, I want to point out that's important is that Giuliani is also here to be -- to confer with London officials in the British home of Secretary -- today -- David Blunkett. The Londoners want to talk about Giuliani; about how he cleaned up crime in New York -- in New York City, for example. Now there is one policeman on the street for every six recorded crimes. In London, which has a soaring crime rate, there's only one policeman on the street for every 40 or more crimes.
Londoners and the British, particularly, want to talk to Giuliani about his program of zero tolerance of crime and how to make London a safer city -- Carol.
COSTELLO: That's interesting. OK, we're running out of time, but I have to ask you, can women be knighted?
RODGERS: You got me. I never saw a woman's name on the list, so I don't -- I don't know. The list I was given by the palace did not have any women's names on it. And we'll -- I promise I'll take that up with the palace immediately after we're finished.
COSTELLO: Thank goodness for that. So what are dames? Like Dame Judy Dench? She's not exactly knighted, she's just -- something else is done to give her the dame moniker.
RODGERS: Well I suppose that's a female equivalent of a knighthood. But, you know, knighthood has a rich tradition going back to medieval times. And women were not exactly in the forefront of battle in continental Europe or Britain in medieval times, so you didn't have any female knights. But I expect with the -- with you sitting there, we will get something done -- and me here, between the two of us, we'll have a female knight before the day's over.
COSTELLO: I like your style, Walter. Thank you very much. Walter Rodgers, reporting live for us from London.
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