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14th Anniversary of 9/11; Interview with Former NY Governor George Pataki; Interview with Mike McCaul on 9/11, Homeland Security, Refugees; Interview with Rep. Dan Kildee on Iranian Prisoner Amir Hekmati. Aired 1:30-2p ET
Aired September 11, 2015 - 13:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:33:15] WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Today, across the United States, people are taking part in ceremonies marking a very dark day in American history. 14 years ago today, 2,937 people were killed in terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center and at the Pentagon. Another 40 people died in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, when they stopped a fourth hijacked plane from making September 11th an even bigger tragedy.
Here's a closer look at some of today's remembrances.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(BELL TOLLS)
(TAPS)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Within this community, we never forget. We will always remember.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My brother, Captain Jason M. Dahl.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Juanda Anita Green.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
(BELL TOLLS)
(MUSIC)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And my father, Stephen Lewis Roche. We miss you and we love you each and everyday.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Dad, thank you so much for your memories. I really wish you could meet your granddaughter because she reminds me of you so much. I love you very, very much and miss you always.
(MUSIC)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[13:35:25] BLITZER: George Pataki led New York State on 9/11 and in the weeks and months that followed. Today, he attended that memorial, a very emotional memorial at the World Trade Center site.
Now a candidate for president of the United States, the former governor says his ability to unite New York during those difficult days is what American needs now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE PATAKI, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & FORMER NEW YORK GOVERNOR: I saw that on the streets of New York in the days and weeks after September 11. We understood we were all Americans who had been attacked and were going to rise up together, and we did. We need to recapture that spirit.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Governor Pataki is joining us now.
Governor, thanks very much for joining us.
What was it like to return to the World Trade Center site and actually speak to the victims' families?
PATAKI: Wolf, I still have that same emotion that I did on the first anniversary, that sense of loss and sorrow, of the real human tragedy that happened that day. But then you talk to family member, give them a hug, see their strength and courage and it reminds you of the strength and courage New Yorkers and Americans showed in those horrible hours. We have to recapture that sense that we're all Americans, we're all in this together. It's very sad that what had been a unifying experience. We were the most united of my lifetime. Now we look at Washington and see it's the exact opposite.
BLITZER: You talk about how much the country has changed since those 9/11 attacks 14 years ago. You saw the pain, it did unite America. What else did you see today?
PATAKI: I also saw the resurgence of lower Manhattan about which I'm very proud. We had this horrible human loss but we also had an economic catastrophe looming in New York. This was the second time the towers had been attacked. The worth was you have to flee New York, you have to decentralize. Who knows when this could happen again? You go down there now and you have to image, the Freedom Tower soaring 1776 feet tall, and it raises right above the memorial where you can still see the voids where the towers stood. It gives me a real sense of pride that people can go there and understand the magnitude of the loss but also see that symbol of courage, that Freedom Tower rising to new heights.
BLITZER: You say your optimism, your leadership, those are the qualities that get you elected president of the United States. But the polls show you're right near the bottom of the pack right now. So what's your strategy to build momentum, stand out, for example, in that debate? You're going to be in the second-tier debate that begins at 6:00 p.m. eastern, Wednesday night, with four other Republican candidates. PATAKI: Wolf, I'm happy to be in any of the debates and happy to
have this opportunity. And my strategy is simple -- be myself. Let people know my vision for America. Let them know my record of putting in place the most sweeping conservative reform agenda in a very liberal state, New York state, with a state assembly more than 2-1 Democrat and that I will have the ability if the American people give me the chance to work across party lines and solve problems. Throw out the hideous tax codes. Stand up to rat cal Islam. Protect our freedom and security and grow our economy. These are things I know I can do if I have the chance to lead this country.
BLITZER: Do you think Donald Trump is qualified to be president of the United States?
PATAKI: No. I don't think Donald Trump is qualified to be president of the United States. And, Wolf, I don't think he's fit to be president of the United States. When you demonize entire ethnic groups calling Mexicans rapists and thugs, when you insult entire categories, women, African-Americans, you are not just not qualified, you're not fit. He will not be the Republican nominee and that's one of the reasons why I'm optimistic about my party and country. It will change. We'll see we need a litter who can bring us together and that's George Pataki.
BLITZER: He is ahead in all the polls, the national polls right now, the state poll, if he is the Republican presidential nominee will you vote for him.
PATAKI: He's not going to be the nominee, Wolf, let me tell you that flat out right now. He is unqualified. He is unfit. Voters will realize that. We've had our summer of theater and reality show as politics. People will understand this is serious business. We need a leader who can solve problems and have answers to the tough questions and not sound bites and I'm very hopeful and optimistic that this will pass. And when people want a leader that can bring us together, it's me.
[13:40:07] BLITZER: Not mincing any words.
Former governor of New York, George Pataki.
Thank you, so much, Governor, for joining us.
PATAKI: Thank you, Wolf.
BLITZER: Up next, security and refugees. I'll ask the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee about the greatest threats to the United States right now on this 9/11 anniversary and the president's new call now to take in more Syrian refugees. Stay with us.
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[13:44:52] BLITZER: I want to get back to the very disturbing breaking news out of Saudi Arabia. Authorities are now saying at least 65 people have been killed in a crane collapse at a major mosque in Mecca. There's no immediate word on the cause of the collapse at the Masjid al-Haram Mosque in Mecca. Officials say more than 150 people were injured. The mosque surrounds one of the holiest sites in Islam, a shrine that worshippers visit during the hajj pilgrimage. That's due to begin later this month and it attracts about two million Islam Muslims. Authorities have raised the number and said at least 65 people have been killed by a crane collapse at this mosque in Mecca. We'll get more information. We'll update you as we get it.
Also just coming into CNN, two U.S. sources are telling us that it's believed a notorious French bomb maker has been killed in Syria. A Twitter account belonging to a senior al Qaeda figure also announcing that the suspect, David Drujean, was killed in July. There's no official word but, if true, his killing would be considered by the U.S. and its coalition partners a major, major get.
Across the nation, people are remembering those who lost their lives at the deadliest attack on American soil. Now the FBI has arrested a Florida man for planning an attack at a memorial in Missouri. Officials say Joshua Goldberg has been charged with providing bomb-making information to an informant with the intention of planting a pressure cooker device at an event in Kansas City.
While it's a stark reminder that a terror threat still exists in the United States, it also underscores the fact that U.S. intelligence, to foil kinds of possible attacks, has improved.
The Republican chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, Texas Congressman Mike McCaul, is joining us.
Congressman, thank you for joining us --
REP. MIKE MCCAUL, (R-TX), CHAIRMAN, HOUSE HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE: Thank you.
BLITZER: -- on this important day 14 years after the 9/11 attacks.
Bottom line, what's your thoughts about the security of the United States right now?
MCCAUL: You know, I chaired a hearing at the 9/11 Museum with Rudy Giuliani and the police commissioner, fire commissioner. I think the threat has changed. It's evolved from core al Qaeda bin Laden caves and couriers to now sort of a new generation of terrorists that are very savvy on the internet to get their message out, to attack in the United States, to attack military and police officers. As you mentioned, the case in Florida is a classic examples of one of these lone-Wolf types that builds a bomb, wants to send it to Missouri and hit a 9/11 event. This is what we're seeing more and more of now. The FBI has done a heck of a job stopping these plots. We've had over 60 ISIS followers arrested just this past year. So it's like every week, Wolf, we're rolling out some ISIS terrorist in the United States.
BLITZER: In a new audio message, the head of al Qaeda, the group responsible for the 9/11 attacks, Ayman al Zawahiri, he says the enemy of al Qaeda right is -- Ayman al Zawahiri -- the leader of ISIS, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi. What's going on? Is this a war that potentially could take place between al Qaeda and ISIS?
MCCAUL: I think it's dangerous competition, if you will, to get attention. I think ISIS is the winning game, the strong horse, if you will. We haven't defeated or destroyed them. They're going ground, in my judgment. So al Zawahiri is trying to compete with Baghdadi. And if you see that kind of competition, I worry that they're going up the ante to try to win -- be the winning game in town and attack the United States. If al Zawahiri could pull off an attack in the United States, that would give him a lot of attention and help him bring these recruits more back to the al Qaeda camp. But right now, Wolf, we're seeing al Qaeda followers joining ISIS and we're seeing al Qaeda affiliates also pledging their allegiance to ISIS. So you have a competition going on that I think is dangerous for the United States.
BLITZER: I've heard exactly the same thing from top U.S. intelligence officials, because the initial reaction, if they're fighting each other, ISIS and al Qaeda, the reaction is, great, let them kill each other. The problem is they're not killing each other, they both want to kill Americans and other Westerners right now. And as you point out, they want to compete for that effort. That's why a war between ISIS and al Qaeda, potentially, as you correctly point out, could be very dangerous.
MCCAUL: I think so. And, again, what better way to get attention and more recruits than attacking the West, attacking Europe, Israel, particularly the United States. If they can pull off a successful attack in the United States, al Qaeda, that would get them -- you know, they would start winning this competition. But I think al Qaeda, quite frankly, is losing to ISIS right now, and I think they're the stronger horse.
[13:50:08] BLITZER: Yeah. I recently interviewed James Comey, the FBI director, and he said that ISIS represents the major terror threat to the U.S. homeland, even more significant than al Qaeda.
But we'll continue this conversation, Mr. Chairman. Thanks very much.
MCCAUL: Thank you, Wolf.
BLITZER: Mike McCaul, the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee.
Up next, the Iran deal moves ahead but not without renewed questions about Americans held captive. One U.S. Congressman is leading the charge to get freedom for Amir Hekmati, the former U.S. Marine being held in Iran. I'll speak with Dan Kildee of Michigan when we come back.
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BLITZER: In votes just a little while ago, the U.S. House of Representatives rejected the government's nuclear deal with Iran. And Republicans and several Democrats, they wanted to send a political message with their disapproval of the deal since both resolutions are unlikely to be taken up in the Senate. Just yesterday, Democrats did successfully block a Republican resolution to reject the six-nation nuclear agreement with Iran. That means, in effect, that the deal with go through without a veto that the president could have put forward, a veto showdown between the White House and Congress.
The Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, says the Republicans and others will have the vote -- have one more vote, one more time, next week.
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[13:55:17] SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, (R-KY), SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: I said we'd be happy to take up any bill that enjoys enough co-sponsors to override a presidential veto. Otherwise, this vote stands. And this is going to be a defining vote for the 2016 election.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: In a statement, President Obama called the vote yesterday in the Senate "a victory for diplomacy, for American national security, and for the safety and security of the world."
Once again, looks like this Iran nuclear deal will go through.
The deal does not include anything about Iran's American captives. That is a sensitive point that Republicans have seized upon during this election season, some Democrats as well.
With us is one Michigan Democrat, Congressman Dan Kildee, he has lobbied for years for the release of one of his constituents, the former U.S. Marine, Amir Hekmati. Hekmati has spent three years in jail on espionage charges.
Congressman, thank you for joining us.
You voted for the Iran nuclear deal. It looks like that part is over, at least for now. So does that open the door or close the door to Hekmati and the three other Americans being released by Iran?
REP. DAN KILDEE, (D), MICHIGAN: I think it creates a much greater likelihood that we continue to bring Iran slowly back to the international community and a tangible demonstration of that would be to release these Americans. I really hate to think with the fate of these Americans might have been had the Republicans prevailed in their attempt to try to stop this agreement. It was a dangerous path to not engage this agreement in the first place just in terms of the effect on the region and I think the effect on global security. But as it relates to these particular Americans who continue to be held, I just can't imagine how we could possibly engage Iran if we had negotiated an agreement with them and then walked away from it and then expect to try to work with them on the release of these Americans. It would be very, very difficult.
BLITZER: What do you say to the Republican presidential front- runner, Donald Trump, when he says it's crazy that the administration didn't simply demand the release of these four Americans right at the start, and say you've got to release these Americans and then we'll talk about easing the sanctions and other aspects? He says this is a disgrace.
KILDEE: Well, you know, Donald says a lot of things. I've always been amused by the things that he has to say. When you're actually in a position of authority and leadership and actually have to exercise real decision making, we tend to tamp down that kind of rhetoric. It would have been really dangerous for us to attempt to exchange the freedom of these Americans for $100 billion or whatever it is that he might suggest. You know, I would have preferred that the release of these Americans had been a precondition of entering negotiations and maybe I could agree with Mr. Trump on that particular point. But once we entered negotiations, I think most reasonable people on this question would understand the real danger in exchanging the freedom of innocent American for giving up at the negotiating table. We'd have to ask ourselves, what would we give? More nuclear capacity, more money? And what would that do to Iran or some other rogue nation's intentions later on when they can't get something from us, what would they do? Grab more Americans and try and trade them for something that they otherwise could not secure. That would be dangerous.
BLITZER: We'll stay in close contact with you, Congressman Kildee. Let's hope that Amir Hekmati and the other Americans are released, and released soon. Let's hope that turns out.
Thanks so much for all the good work you do.
KILDEE: Thank you, Wolf.
BLITZER: Vice President Joe Biden is marking the 9/11 anniversary in New York. Moments ago, speaking to firefighters, he spoke about the toll on members of the U.S. military that he said were sent overseas to avenge the horror of 9/11. Listen to this.
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JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Every single day, I carry a schedule, like all of you do. But every single day, I have my military aides contact the Pentagon at 5:30 in the morning. You can't see it. It's a little black box here. And on the box, it says "U.S. troops daily update." U.S. troops died in Iraq and Afghanistan. 6,719. Not over 6,000, not roughly 6,700. 6,719! Because every single man and woman lost, left behind a whole community, a whole family, a whole legacy. Wounded, 52,328. Not 52,000. But 328! Because every single one, like your friend sitting home on the couch who is still suffering from having done their duty, are required additional help and they're entitled to every single solitary help --
