FTN - 9/16/01, Part 2

BORGER: Do you trust the Pakistanis?

POWELL: I don't see any reason not to trust the Pakistanis. So far they have been forthcoming. They have given assurances to me. They have given assurances to the president. And we will see now what they are actually are going to do when specific requests are put before them.

We have had a strong relationship with Pakistan for many, many years. We have been friends of Pakistan and the Pakistani people for many, many years. And I hope that friendship will continue and the relationship will grow.

SCHIEFFER: Mr. Secretary, the last time you were on this broadcast, the Chinese were holding American airmen captives after the forcing down of the reconnaissance plane. And the first question I asked you that morning was, "What is your message to the Chinese?"

I ask you the same question this morning because, if I remember, that message, what you said, was later put on Chinese television. And after that, the crisis broke and the men were eventually released. I would ask you this morning, what is your message to the terrorists? What is your message to the American people?

POWELL: My message to the terrorists is that you don't know what you have gotten yourselves into. You have pulled America together in a time of tragedy. You will now see what we're made of. You'll see the steel that holds up this country. You'll see our determination. You'll see our firmness. And you will realize you are at war with a powerful adversary who will defeat you. And we will do what is necessary.

We will use all of the instruments of power available to us, domestic power with the strength of our society in protecting ourselves domestically, internationally with our diplomatic efforts, our military efforts, intelligence, law enforcement. You're going to see the full weight of the American government, the American people brought to bear against this kind of activity.

To the American people, I would say, we have a tragedy that we will get through. It is so reassuring to see the American flags out again, to see the pride that exists within our country, to see our country coming together. It shows who we are and what we are. And I would say to the American people, we will prevail.

SCHIEFFER: Secretary of State Colin Powell, thank you so much.

When we come back in a moment, we'll talk with New York Senators Hillary Clinton and Charles Schumer, in a minute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT BUSH: I can hear you, the rest of the world hears you, and the people (cheers and applause) ... And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHIEFFER: The president on Friday at the site of the World Trade Center crash.

With us now from our studios in New York, Senator Chuck Schumer and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Senator Schumer, how lon do you think it's going take to get this repaired? It's just astonishing. I mean, people are talking about a new Marshall Plan to rebuild lower Manhattan, but as I just watched Byron this morning you realize what an enormous task this is.

SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER, D-NY: It is a huge, huge task. There's so much. Just yesterday I heard that many of our subway lines can't run because they're either cracked or flooded or suffered structural damage. Our electricity grid system, which is so interconnected in New York, has trouble, the telephone system and then the rebuilding is just enormous. We have lost, Bob, 30 million square feet of office space. That's the equivalent of 150,000 job places for people to work. It's a huge, huge task.

One good thing I would say New Yorkers are amazingly resilient. The scenes that we have seen, Hillary and I have seen as we go throughout the city, are just amazing, both the grief that is shared by everybody. I just went back to my local neighborhood yesterday. I spent some time, I found that the local school, four kids have parents missing. The local firehouse, 11 missing. Every street has somebody missing.

But at the same time, we are so dedicated to building our city back, the city we love, the world city the international city, and we will, but it's going to take a while and a it's going to take a lot of money.

We're so grateful that President Bush and the Senate and House both parties united and really are helping us 100 percent. There's been no stinting.

SCHIEFFER: And I know both of you, Senator Clinton, had your own turmoil and anxiety because, as I understand it, Senator Clinton, you did not know for several hours where Chelsea was, Senator Schumer didn't know where his children were.

SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON, D-NY: Well, that's right, Bob. You know, from the moment we heard about it, the first plane going into the tower, I called Chuck, he was trying to find out where his daughters and his wife were. Of course, his wife has responsibility for transportation in the city. I knew that my daughter was staying with good friends in the city, and I was desperately trying to find her, and it took some time to track her down. She was quite actually quite close to where this disaster occurred.

I don't think you'll find anybody who doesn't have a personal story. And I have been so struck by how everyone is doing their best to help each other cope with what the after-effects of this disaster are here in the city. And it goes far beyond the city. We have, you know, many people who came into work from the suburbs from New Jersey, from Connecticut.

We now know - and I was at the armory yesterday visiting with the families who are still desperately looking for their lost loved ones - that this effected every single kind of person you can imagine, American citizens, citizens from all over the world. And you know, I just can't thank America enough.
Chuck and I came down with the governor and the mayor and saw the disaster firsthand on Wednesday afternoon and went to a briefing where the mayor and the governor told us exactly what was happening, and we could hear with our own ears that the immensity of this requires a national response.

And I'm so grateful that the president, the administration and our colleagues in Congress have responded. It's going to take a long time, just as our war against terrorism is a long-term effort. What we need to do to help rebuild lives and rebuild our city is also a long-term commitment. And we're grateful for the help.

SCHUMER: I heard today that, in Virginia, all the newspapers had full page ads saying, "We love New York." That means so much to New Yorkers, and all of America has been wonderful to us.

BORGER: Senator Schumer, as New York looks toward the future and toward rebuilding, should New York rebuild the World Trade Center?

SCHUMER: Well, that's a debate that is going on right now. I think we should. I think that it doesn't have to be exactly the same way, but, you know, Gloria, I look out at the skyline from my window of my house in Brooklyn, and I feel violated looking and seeing how it has been changed by a madman on the other side of the globe and his henchmen.

And to have nothing there, I think, would not be a good idea. So to rebuild in a way and to do it along with a memorial for those who were lost, I think that those who were lost would not want us to see that space lay vacant. And so there'll be a lot of discussion. Again, I think New Yorkers, who are known for having many opinions, but will come together on what will be the best thing to do. But my judgment would be, we must build something grand there.

SCHIEFFER: You know, both of you, I know, went to see the president after this happened. There has been $20 billion that people were talking about to rebuild and track down the terrorists. It's my understanding that the two of you talked to the president and almost immediately he said, "We'll double it." Senator Clinton, tell us about that.

CLINTON: Well, Bob, when Chuck and I went to the briefing and realized that we needed to get relief immediately, we spoke with the governor and the mayor. They gave us a very rough estimate of about $20 billion that was really needed as a first installment to keep the rescue and rebuilding work and the human consequences of this.

We have to rebuild lives. We have people without jobs as well as those who are now orphans and widows. And so the work before us is enormous.

And we immediately called our colleagues, spoke with Senator Daschle, spoke with Senator Byrd and others. We know that we got great support from the mayor and the governor who let the White House know that this was going to be a united front. And we're very grateful that we received the kind of bipartisan support.

And when we went to see thpresident, we were sitting in the Oval Office, Chuck and I, the two senators from Virginia and the president gave us a briefing about where we were in terms of our security issues. And then we asked him for the additional $20 billion over and above what he needed to conduct the kind of security, military defense issues.

SCHIEFFER: Senator, hold that thought for just a moment. I have to break in and say some of our viewers are going to be leaving us now, but for many of you around the country, we'll continue with our expanded coverage of this story on Face the Nation. We'll be back with Senator Clinton and Senator Schumer after this short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHIEFFER: And welcome back now to our expanded coverage on Face the Nation this morning.

We're going to be on the air for the next hour, as we continue to talk about this story from every angle.

I want to bring you up to date on the very latest developments. Just a while ago, Secretary of State Powell said of terrorism: "We will pull it out by its roots. We will find who is responsible."

President Bush has told the military to get ready for war. The vice president said, "Osama bin Laden is the target of the moment."

I want to go back now to Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator Chuck Schumer who are in New York.

Senator Clinton, before we took that break, you were telling us about going back to the White House and talking to the president about the extra aid that was needed for New York. Tell us about what happened.

CLINTON: Well, Bob, as soon as we asked the president for the additional money, he said, "You've got it." No hesitation. It was a wonderful affirmation of our commitment to doing whatever is necessary to rebuild lives as well as structures from this terrible, evil attack.

And then we worked very hard with our colleagues. And we were overwhelmingly grateful for the vote that we received in the Senate and the House. This is the kind of commitment that New York needs, and which we're receiving from literally, not just the president, colleagues in Congress, but people on the streets all over America. We're getting all kinds of messages.

My office is flooded with calls and e-mails from people who say, "I've never been to New York, but I want to help, I want to know what I can do to help you." And we are just extraordinarily grateful, and it's going to be a long-term commitment, but we know we're going to have the hearts and hands of America behind us.

SCHIEFFER: Senator Schumer?

SCHUMER: I just wanted to just say another word about the president, because he really helped this dramatically. You know, we made the pitch to him, and I said, "Mr. President, we just need this $20 billion." And I thought he'd say, "Well, let's start off with $5 billion, it's a huge sum of money. Let me - give me a list."

And instead, he just uttered three words. He said, "Yo've got it."

And I stood up, I was ready to hug him, I couldn't, because he was president.

(LAUGHTER)

SCHUMER: But, you know, just speaking, we're part of the..

CLINTON: I was rendered speechless.

(LAUGHTER)

SCHUMER: I was speechless.

And he said, "You're speechless?" And I said, "For $20 billion, I can be speechless again."

(LAUGHTER)

SCHUMER: But he didn't have to do this. We're part of the blue states, you know. We're not part of his political sort of coalition.

And the fact that he was so generous, and then, late that night, when some in the Senate didn't want to do it, he stood them down, and said, "We have to do this." It speaks for his ability to unify the nation, and Hillary and I are both just really grateful to him for his leadership and his help for New York, as we are to all of America.

SCHIEFFER: All right. Senators, thank you so much.

And I would say, Senator Schumer, there were a lot of people who were ready to hug a lot of people last week.

At one point, at the U.S. Capitol, I saw Trent Lott with his arm around Tom Daschle.

(LAUGHTER)

SCHIEFFER: You don't see that very often.

Thank you both.

CLINTON: Thank you.

SCHUMER: Thank you.

SCHIEFFER: Thank you so much.

We want to now check in with our correspondents at the key beats around town.

© MMI, CBS Worldwide Inc. All Rights Reserved