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CNN Sunday Morning
Interview With Andrew Kirtzman
Aired December 30, 2001 - 10:19 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.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: So what lies ahead for both Mayor Bloomberg and Rudy Giuliani?
Andrew Kirtzman is the author of "Rudy Giuliani, Emperor of the City." And Mr. Kirtzman joins us now from New York this morning. Good morning to you.
ANDREW KIRTZMAN, AUTHOR: Good morning. Thanks for having me.
SAVIDGE: How do you think his honor is going to adjust to life after being Mayor Giuliani?
KIRTZMAN: Well, I've never seen a politician leave office this popular. And it's not very frequent that someone should have such high popularity and kind of walk away from it all. I think Giuliani probably would love to run for higher office, if and when the situation presented itself. Unfortunately for him, there are no opportunities right now.
There's a Republican in the White House and a Republican in the governor's mansion. And Giuliani has endorsed George Pataki for re- election already here. I think that, you know, better to go out a winner than a loser. And his popularity is sky high now. So he, you know, he'll get a lot of consolation walking the streets and being greeted like a hero and going to restaurants and getting standing ovations. And that's the kind of thing that's happening to Rudy Giuliani now. He's got stratosphere popularity.
SAVIDGE: Well, I heard the other day, he said he's at peace with leaving.
KIRTZMAN: Right.
SAVIDGE: Which is kind of an interesting comment. I'm wondering though is he really? Does it get in his craw, perhaps, that he leaves now with perhaps believing still a lot that New York needs, maybe from him?
KIRTZMAN: Well, I guess only he knows for sure. You know, these are very strange times. These are very kind of unusual circumstances. Giuliani is now beloved in an almost religious way by people around the country and around the world. He's "Time" magazine's person of the year. He's been lionized by Larry King and Barbara Walters. He's something above a politician. And I think that's got to affect his psychology in a very positive way.
SAVIDGE: Sure it would.
KIRTZMAN: You know, he may not be happy that he can't run the city, but he's up there now with the major leaders of the country. And I think he'll have this kind of moral authority to speak out on issues. I think he'll be sought after to speak out on issues. And God help Michael Bloomberg when Rudy Giuliani speaks out against him and disagrees with him publicly, because it's Giuliani now who has that moral authority.
SAVIDGE: And that's another issue we could go into, but I wanted to ask you again regarding the mayor. As he leaves office now, and as he goes on to bigger and better things, you knew him obviously before September 11. A lot of us did not. Did he simply come to the forefront in the national eye? Or did somehow that day transform him in a way that we had not seen previous?
KIRTZMAN: I think that Rudy Giuliani spent his entire life preparing for that moment on September 11. He was always very, very good in a crisis. He always kind of had this uncanny certitude in his own instincts. Always believed that he was right about everything. And I think those qualities really served him very well on September 11.
I was with him on September 11, literally just a block or two away from the crumbling towers, and watched him as, you know, this kind of wartime situation evolved around us. It was really a scary moment. And there was the mayor, kind of being very methodical and very decisive and didn't look particularly scared by things.
You could kind of see the wheels turning in his head. He kept turning to me and saying, "Andrew, I want to you call up your station, New York One, and tell them to keep the traffic away from downtown Manhattan so the emergency ambulances can get through." And I kept thinking wow, you know, he's really kind of thinking very methodically, while you know, I was thinking wow, you know, the world seems to be coming to an end.
SAVIDGE: He kept focus and obviously rose to the occasion.
KIRTZMAN: Sure.
SAVIDGE: And was a benefit not just to New Yorkers, but to the nation as well. Andrew Kirtzman, thank you very much, author of the book "Rudy Giuliani, Emperor of the City."
KIRTZMAN: Thank you.
SAVIDGE: Thanks again.
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