Pastor turns to faith as 2021 marks 20 years since September 11 attacks
Pastor Russell Levenson on turning to faith during tough times as this year marks 20 years since the 9/11 attacks
This is a rush transcript of "Your World with Neil Cavuto" on September 8, 2021. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
NEIL CAVUTO, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Thank you, Martha.
Well, the presidential pivot is on, if you're including the focus on money, and lots of it, in fact, record amounts, billions, even trillions in new spending.
Let's get you up to date on the numbers we're talking about. Just over the past 24 hours, the president planning $14 billion in disaster aid, and a lot of that before Hurricane Ida, $10 billion in disaster aid for, well, damages after Hurricane Ida, $6.4 billion for Afghan refugees, by the way, all of that on top of the 3.5 trillion, some say closer to $4 trillion, maybe even $5 trillion, on that human infrastructure package that the president says we need, and especially now.
Feeling spent yet?
Welcome, everybody. I'm Neil Cavuto, and this is "Your World."
And what to make of it administration that is hell-bent now on making sure money gets spent to address crises that are out of control? It is also a means by which to avoid discussing Afghanistan, if that can possibly be done, and put the issue on, well, domestic matters, where money seems to be the answer.
Let's go to Peter Doocy at the White House with more.
Hey, Peter.
PETER DOOCY, FOX NEWS WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Neil, the president hadn't even returned from his trip to New York and New Jersey to survey storm damage before officials here started telling us that he wants $24 billion to address it.
That's $10 billion specifically for Ida, $14 billion for storms that happen before. The acting OMB director explains it like this: "A short term C.R.
is necessary not only to provide Congress additional time to pass full-year appropriations bills that make bold forward-looking investments in our future, but also to address the specific urgent needs facing our country right now."
Looking ahead, the president hopes to address climate with every dollar of that $3.5 trillion reconciliation budget that he is pushing. And so he is so confident that he's still on top of climate change that he claims his Build Back Better agenda would mean a storm like Ida doesn't cause $1 in damage down the line.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When I talk about building back better, I mean you can't build it to what it was before this last storm.
You got to build better, so if this storm occurred again, there would be no damage.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DOOCY: Here's the thing about that $3.5 trillion decide price tag. There's a discrepancy.
Nancy Pelosi said today on Capitol Hill they can pay for about half of it.
But Jen Psaki a few minutes ago here at the White House said they will pay for all of it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): I think, rather than talking about the cost, because we will pay for more than half, maybe all of the legislation.
JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I would also note that, whatever the size is, it's not actually accurate to call it any of these sizes, 1, 1.5, 2, 3.5. This is going to be paid for.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DOOCY: So, one thing here at the White House, another thing up on Capitol Hill.
Something that cannot be avoided, though, at the end of this month, the debt limit will be reached. Congress has to act by October 1, or else no more money to spend for anything -- Neil.
CAVUTO: Peter, that's an important distinction that we're going to pay for it, maybe half of it.
I mean, at these numbers, you're talking $1.7 trillion, $1.8 trillion that you might not add. So then you have got to go back to find, I guess, more tax money, right?
DOOCY: Yes, especially because the big thing that President Biden likes to say about this package is, well, we're going to pay for all of it, unlike Donald Trump with those tax cuts, where some of the payment was not all done up front. We're going to have all the money up front.
And according to Nancy Pelosi, who is the one with the piggy bank, that is not necessarily going to be the case.
CAVUTO: Right. Well, all up front, half up front, something like that.
All right, Peter, thank you very, very much.
DOOCY: What's a trillion dollars, yes.
CAVUTO: Right. I hear you, my friend.
I'm the numbers geek here at FOX here, not a red or blue, just green. And, man, you either commit with the green, or you don't have the green. And if you're going to pay for half of it, that's not paying for all of it. And, oh, my gosh. Anyway, I digress.
You remember Rahm Emanuel, when he talked about using crises as a way to get something? Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAHM EMANUEL (D), FORMER MAYOR OF CHICAGO: You never want a serious crisis to go to waste.
And what I mean, by that, it's an opportunity to do things that you think you could not do before.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAVUTO: All right, and a serious crisis right now for this president, of course, is the storms and everything else that's been happening, a justification for getting money out the door as quickly as possible, but sometimes for things that have nothing to do with the crisis at hand.
And that is another convenient thing that this president is doing to sell the $3.5 trillion human infrastructure plan.
We're going to get into that a little bit right now with Phil Wegmann RealClearPolitics.
This notion that the crisis at hand is the fallout from these storms, I get that, but then they use it at the same moment to champion legislation that is very, very pricey, I'm just wondering where you think all this is going, Phil.
PHILIP WEGMANN, REALCLEARPOLITICS: It's clear that the Biden administration knows that quote, they took the lesson away from it, and they're daring congressional Republicans to vote against legislation to keep the government open and running at the end of the month by connecting funding for that disaster relief to that must-pass legislation.
But rewinding a little bit, the thing about that Rahm Emanuel quote is that it assumes that you're dealing with just one crisis. Instead, the Biden administration is ending summer with a number of crises on their plate, whether it's COVID that has not gone away, whether it's the Americans who are stranded in Afghanistan currently, or whether it's not -- whether or not it's the border crisis, which doesn't get as much attention now, but is still ongoing.
So they certainly have their pick of crises to make the most of.
CAVUTO: I'm just wondering, though, where does it all go? Because all of this simultaneous -- forget about what's going on in Afghanistan and the little more than $6 billion the administration wants to commit to helping move some of these folks to this country.
The fact of the matter is, we're running up against a debt ceiling here.
And the timing couldn't be worse.
WEGMANN: Yes, the debt ceiling is the fact that makes Congress actually move forward. It's not something that they can wave away. This is something they actually have to deal with.
And that's why, when Congress is in town, this is their priority. They're not going to default. Brian Deese, earlier in the White House Briefing Room, was asked whether or not the White House was looking at the possibility of prioritization if the debt ceiling is not extended, whether or not the administration was going to pick and choose what to fund and what not to fund.
His assumption there from the podium was that the ceiling was going to be lifted higher. But this is one of these things that requires government to actually act to do things. And what's interesting is, it's a question of just that metric, but so many other things get piled on top of it.
CAVUTO: Yes.
WEGMANN: And so it's going to be a difficult couple of weeks for the White House.
CAVUTO: You know, Phil, this would not be the first administration to claim that something was paid for when it wasn't. So I'm not saying fingering them here, but I do find it odd, when you hear the speaker of the House say, well, halfway, the full thing, I don't know.
But their intent is to get this done and ram it through, paid or not. That seems pretty clear.
WEGMANN: And Peter made a really good point about this when he noted that there was a discrepancy between what the speaker is saying and what the White House press secretary is saying, because they seem to be ships in the night right now in terms of what the final number is.
One thing is clear. This administration, they don't mind spending big. The era of big government is back. Biden would like to build back better. And he doesn't mind if that requires significant spending.
CAVUTO: Yes.
WEGMANN: Because what's interesting right now is, the press secretary and the president can say we don't want to do what Donald Trump did. We don't want to deficit-spend, like he did with his tax cuts.
But it's going to be very difficult when you can't even agree on the single number here. Another interesting thing here is, there seems to be a Tea Party of one with Joe Manchin on the left, who is -- seems to be the only one who's arguing that $3.5 trillion is too high.
Meanwhile, Democrats -- Republicans, they don't have a lot of credibility on this because they were spending like there was no tomorrow under the previous administration.
CAVUTO: You're absolutely right. Even still, all of these numbers dwarf whatever those numbers were. But debt becomes more debt becomes more debt.
Phil Wegmann, thank you very much.
Want to go to my buddy Charlie Gasparino, the heart and soul of FOX Business here, on what he makes it this.
Charlie, they're already talking about not necessarily bringing the spending figure down, but bringing the tax figures up to pay for it, or maybe half of it. I don't even know. A tax on the investments, on daily trades, on wealth, on assets, on hard assets, on CEOs whose pay is out of whack with the workers. I mean, and on and on, we go.
What do you make of it?
CHARLIE GASPARINO, FOX NEWS SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Well, some of this is clearly political, to get people to stop thinking about the horrendous job the administration did in Afghanistan, one of the most -- one of the worst days -- one of the worst foreign policy errors in recent memory, occurred not under Donald Trump, but under Joe Biden.
And so you got to change the subject, to change it to the need for all this spending and how to pay for it and soak the rich and things that maybe appeal to the Democratic Party base.
The other thing is, is that there's an air of desperation here, you could tell, Neil, because they know, meaning the Democrats know that it's -- they're not going to be in power next year, that 20 -- the midterms are not going to be kind to them, and Biden basically blew it for them totally with his botched Afghanistan surrender.
CAVUTO: But wouldn't a rushed effort, though, Charlie, wouldn't a rushed effort like this further seal that fate?
GASPARINO: Yes. Well, that's--
CAVUTO: In other words, if it's sloppy, if it's expensive, it goes along with party vote, and even that, to your point, isn't a gimme, it could it things worse for them, couldn't it?
GASPARINO: Liberals and progressives play the long game.
Yes, it'll probably solidify the votes against them. More people are going to say, how much more money you going to spend, how much more welfare are you just going to throw out there while the economy is improving? Yet they play the long game.
And they see this bill as a way to transform the American economy transformed the culture. And what they're at essentially here is to essentially change the construct between government and people, between work and people.
The general construct has always been, the more you work, the harder you work, hopefully, you paid for -- you get paid more, you advance in the world. What they are changing the construct to be is, like, listen, the government is there for you every step of the way, and we're going to take care of you cradle to grave.
And that they're trying to change us into -- meaning the progressives. And, listen, Bernie Sanders is leading this effort. I mean, how many times do I
-- do you have to say that a socialist is behind this and--
CAVUTO: Well, they might be playing the long game, to your point.
I'm just wondering, I mean, they have the short-term issue of the midterms next year. And I'm not sure this will seal that deal.
GASPARINO: Right, but then they transform society.
CAVUTO: Well, it polls very well. It does poll very well for them. So maybe they're counting on that.
GASPARINO: Yes, listen, and they want to transform society.
By the way, doesn't this sound like Monopoly money here? So, we're talking trillion this.
CAVUTO: I know.
GASPARINO: It is so mind-boggling what they're doing, what they're trying to spend, money we don't have. They're trying to destroy also -- also, they don't care about destroying the economy.
I mean, listen, you start raising taxes while we're precariously recovering from COVID is kind of a dumb thing to do right now.
CAVUTO: No one worries about how much stuff costs, Charlie. No one--
GASPARINO: I agree. I agree.
CAVUTO: Those days are long gone, in multiple administrations and parties, that we have all dug our own--
GASPARINO: You're right. It's not -- it's a two-party thing. You're right.
(CROSSTALK)
CAVUTO: All right, my friend, it was very good seeing you.
Charlie Gasparino on all of that.
GASPARINO: Good seeing you.
CAVUTO: All of this week, we have been looking back at what was going on
20 years ago this week, ahead of the 9/11 anniversary.
And an interesting development on today 20 years ago. This was -- this was a Saturday. It was the last innocent weekend, if you will, before everything, everything changed. The jobless rate in this country was about
4.9 percent.
Venus Williams had just won her second U.S. Open title. Jennifer Lopez had the number one song in the country, "I'm Real." And Nokia had come out with a phone that was getting so popular, they couldn't keep it on store shelves. It was the 3310 and was long before we had smartphones. It was six years before we had something called the iPhone. And it was a different time entirely.
But, again, in just a few days later, we wouldn't be talking about phones or Jennifer Lopez, would we? We'd be talking about something that changed the very fabric of capitalism and this country, when markets shut down, more than 2,000 were killed, and a lot of people began to wonder whether we would ever come back.
We did.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAVUTO: Certainly, you have got to be a little surprised that, even in the face of uncertainty and a multiyear campaign, as the White House says this could be, that the markets still advance. What do you make of that?
RICHARD GRASSO, FORMER CEO, NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE: I think what the market is telling us is that this nation, the strongest economy on Earth, is unified perhaps more so than ever since the Second World War in the pursuit of economic growth and in the pursuit of freedom.
And what this market's snapback is saying is that, we're inspired by our leaders.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAVUTO: All right, that was Dick Grasso about a month after the attacks on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
You might recall that trading had stopped across the world and certainly in our country for upwards of a week. When the markets reopened, they immediately tanked. But, by then, they had clawed back most of those losses, as we announced our campaign to go into Afghanistan to take out the Taliban.
Optimism ran high then, 20 years later, an about-face and reversal of fortunes that has still prompted more drama each and every passing day, with folks still trying to get out.
Let's go to Jennifer Griffin with the latest at the Pentagon -- Jennifer.
JENNIFER GRIFFIN, FOX NEWS NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Neil, with Americans still stuck in Afghanistan and finger-pointing and confusion over who is halting six commercial airline charters from leaving Mazar-e-Sharif, the secretary of state called on the Taliban to open the airport and allow the flights to leave.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Those flights need to be able to depart. And we will work every day to make sure that they're able to do that.
We will continue to press the Taliban to allow the charters to leave and, also, critically, to open HKIA, the Hamid Karzai International Airport, to the regular flow of civilian aircraft, which can enable the safe and orderly departure of people from Afghanistan.
Our efforts to help people who want to leave Afghanistan will continue.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRIFFIN: The problem is, those that they must now negotiate with include a new cabinet filled with some of the world's most wanted terrorists.
The new interim prime minister for the Taliban is Mullah Mohammad Akhund, who faces U.N. sanctions, was close to former Taliban leader Mullah Omar, who welcomed Usama bin Laden to Afghanistan. The new prime minister served in the last Taliban government before 9/11. The new defense minister is the son of Mullah Omar, the spiritual founder of the Taliban.
But perhaps the most sinister choice is the new interim interior minister, who will oversee the brutal Taliban police. Sirajuddin Haqqani has the blood of American troops on his hands, is currently holding an American hostage, has been financed by the Pakistan government for years and has up to $10 million bounty on his head from the FBI.
Also in the new Cabinet, four Taliban senior leaders once detained at Guantanamo Bay. They were released by the Obama administration in 2014, when President Joe Biden was vice president, in a controversial prisoner swap in exchange for the release of Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, who was kidnapped by the Taliban after deserting his post.
Absent in the new Cabinet, any women or minorities, which is bound to affect the Taliban's ability to get international recognition or badly needed financial aid funding.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BLINKEN: It certainly does not meet the test of inclusivity. And it includes people who have very challenging track records.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRIFFIN: An inauspicious start for this new Afghan government made up of many of the same Pashtun Taliban leaders, many of whom have been on U.S.
terror lists since 9/11. That's who the U.S. now gets to negotiate with -- Neil.
CAVUTO: Wow, Jennifer Griffin, thank you very much.
Lieutenant General Jerry Boykin with us.
General, man, that's a rogue's gallery. What do you think?
LT. GEN. JERRY BOYKIN (RET.), U.S. ARMY: Well, I think that Jennifer was pretty obviously accurate in terms of what these people are.
These are bloodthirsty people, I mean, you -- all you have to do is go back and look at some of the intel reports on these people. These people have killed not only a lot of Americans, but they have also killed a lot of the people in Afghanistan that happened to be from one of the -- one of the other tribes.
These are brutal, evil people. And the Shiite tribes have suffered at the hands of many of these people as well.
CAVUTO: You know, General, we're also learning that the acting prime minister is reportedly calling out a lot of former officials of the government and elsewhere, come back, we can guarantee your security and safety. As if.
But what's going on here?
BOYKIN: Yes.
Neil, first of all, there's a quip in the military that goes something like, when you find yourself in a hole, stop digging. And what we have is, we have an administration, to include the State Department, and is probably the worst violator here, that is just digging this hole deeper and deeper and deeper.
When I came into the counterterror business in 1978, that was the creation of the Delta Force. We had a longstanding policy in the U.S. government that we did not negotiate with terrorists. Now, what we're doing today is violating everything that we have said for several decades now about how we deal with terrorist organizations.
I realize they have dug such a hole that we're at a point where, what are our choices? What can we do now? And let me tell you what we can do. We can throw in with these private groups that have some very bold, but, more importantly, committed people that want to go out there and bring home their fellow Americans, as well as their buddies that served with them in Afghanistan, the Afghans that stood with us.
And it is time for the State Department to get off the dime and create a partnership with these people, and not be totally dependent upon what they're doing now, which is negotiating with the Taliban.
CAVUTO: All right, General, we will see what happens. I wouldn't hold my breath. I don't want to sound cynical, but we shall see.
General Jerry Boykin on all of that.
All of this at a time we are remembering the bravery and the sacrifice and the guts of 20 years ago, and all those who lost their lives, particularly trying to save others.
Stay with us.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAVUTO: What do you think when you look back now at the video that was now so famous at that day, at that time? Do you say, gee, I was there, I was part of this?
What goes through your mind?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You get a cold chill and feel very, very fortunate and very sad for the people that didn't get out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAVUTO: Most kids returning to class this week. But the requirement is, they better wear a mask.
A mom who just loves the idea, another mom who doesn't, fair and balanced, the fuss over getting back to normal -- after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAVUTO: It's hard to believe, looking back, just all the lives lost, but particularly stunning is the more than 447 emergency workers who were killed on that day, the overwhelming majority firefighters just trying to save people in the process.
We all remember well how they were running in two buildings while everyone else was running out. It's in their DNA, I think.
Brendan Stackpole is a good example, a New York firefighter who lost his dad, Tim, on 9/11.
Brendan, it's so nice to have you, and thank you for coming.
BRENDAN STACKPOLE, SON OF 9/11 VICTIM: Thank you for having me, sir.
CAVUTO: Maybe -- and I don't want to make this painful, but if you could relive that day and tell me what happened to your dad.
STACKPOLE: Well, my father was assigned to the New York City Fire Department in 1981. And he was a firefighter up until 1995, where he was then promoted to lieutenant.
And then, in June of '98, he was in a pretty historic fire called the Atlantic Avenue fire, where, unfortunately, we lost two members of the fire department that day at that job. But him and several other members were on the floor above the fire, where all of a sudden the floor gave way.
And they plummeted into a pool of fire, where two members will loss and my father ended up burning 38 percent of his body. His ankles were burned to the bone. And he was hospitalized in the Cornell Burn Center for many months after that.
By sheer luck, he was able to make a full recovery. And in the spring of 2001, he went back full duty.
CAVUTO: Incredible.
STACKPOLE: And then in -- on September 5 of 2001, he was promoted to captain, and then inevitably perished on the events of September 11.
CAVUTO: What do you remember about that day yourself?
STACKPOLE: I remember mostly being in school. I was only 9 years old at the time.
Waiting for the end of the day, coming home, definitely having a sense of like something -- something was lingering in the air that something tragic had happened. But it wasn't until later on that night that our family started to gather around the house and coming in from all over.
But my one uncle who was a fireman at the time came to the house and declared himself that he was -- he was missing officially. At that point, it was tough on us to believe it, just based off his resiliency from past experiences.
CAVUTO: And now here you are, a fireman.
STACKPOLE: Yes.
I'm very happy to be able to do this right now. It's something I have always wanted to do. Like, I wasn't -- I never want to be a firefighter based on my father's, like, most trying days or his toughest days on the job.
It was all the days before that, all the stories he gave us, and the love and passion he had for it. It was too contagious to not want to be a part of that. And it definitely gives me a sense of connection to him still to this day, being able to be in the same positions as he was in.
CAVUTO: It's amazing, Brendan.
I always talk about what a different breed you guys are from everyone else, I mean, like I say, running into danger, as your dad no doubt did. And I'm wondering, on this anniversary, and all the attention given to the day and seeing video again and again of those towers falling, for you and your family, it's got to be very, very tough.
STACKPOLE: Yes.
But, in all these years to follow, we had such good things that were instilled in us at an early age, and my mother and father built such a tight family bond prior to 9/11 that would carry in the years to follow.
And having that tragedy happen to us prior in watching him come back from all that was a gift in itself to us, whether it was life lessons or just getting that extra time with him. We have always been -- counted our blessings for having that.
And we just try to make the best of it. All my siblings have stepped into life of service.
CAVUTO: All right.
STACKPOLE: We have created, like, a foundation in my father's name that helps give back to other people that are going through hardships, as we were, after he got burned, to try to help get them back on their feet a little, and just committed to all that.
CAVUTO: Not too bad, Brendan. I think he would be proud. And he's proud to see what you're doing now.
Thank you, Brendan, and thank your dad.
STACKPOLE: Thank you, sir.
CAVUTO: We will have more after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAVUTO: All right, most kids, by the end of this week, will all be back in school.
But there's a caveat here, that they better be wearing a mask, or they can't go there in person. And depending on the person, that can either rile or delight.
Nicole Brener-Schmitz is a Democratic strategist, a mother of a daughter in pre-K who doesn't mind the mask demand. Jennifer Nassour, the GOP strategist, mother of three daughters, fourth grade, 10th grade, 12th grade, maybe not too keen on the whole mask thing.
So, Jennifer, end it with you.
You don't like that kind of mask, or your kids ain't going to class.
JENNIFER NASSOUR, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: No, I don't, because I have a few feelings on this.
For my older children, they're already vaccinated. I put them through that.
I made them get both of their shots because I promised them that they could get back to life as normal if they got vaccinated.
With my little one, it's a distraction. She can't see people's faces. She can't socialize. They're already social distanced. And, for us, she lives in a house with a bunch of people that are vaccinated, and we're the only ones that she interacts with other than her classmates.
I feel that that is my decision to make and not for anyone to impose on my family.
CAVUTO: How do you feel about that, Nicole?
Because you have a pre-K little girl. So, obviously, she has to wear the mask. Does she mind it? Do you mind it?
NICOLE BRENER-SCHMITZ, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I don't mind it.
I want to ensure that these kids get to back to school and that we don't have to do with a lot of things we're seeing right now, Texas, Georgia, where they're going back into virtual classrooms because they're not approaching it with a three-pronged approach.
We need to vaccine those who are able. We need you do wear masks on those who can't get vaccines. And we need to be sure that we're having the safety of these kids be just as important as education of these kids.
My kid is 4. She's spent half her life now basically wearing a mask.
There's nothing that I love more than coming on your show, Neil, but my most important job is as a mother. I took it very seriously considering whether to send her back to school.
And this school's approach of masks and vaccines and testing is a three- pronged approach that I think is best for our country and to ensure that our kids are getting as back to normal as possible.
It's just not normal yet. We have--
(CROSSTALK)
CAVUTO: Yes, you always wonder how -- but you do wonder, right, how long this so-called normal lasts.
Jennifer, has the school system said you either wear the mask, or kids wear the mask, or they cannot go to class? Is it that blatant?
NASSOUR: So, I mean, I think that, look, everyone has their own situation.
I live in Massachusetts, where about 80 percent of the population is fully vaccinated. I'm not sure -- when we were talking about this, when we were talking about vaccines, the promise was getting back to normal. Now we once again have to wear masks inside.
When does this ever end? And for little kids, I just want to point out, in 2020, it was listen to the science. In 2021, it is science means nothing.
Statistics mean nothing. There are less than 500 children who have actually died from COVID. One out of every 5,000 adults is getting COVID.
And if you look at the statistics even further, and you see that children have a natural immunity to this -- to COVID and to the variant that prevents them from dying, they have a higher chance of getting cancer and dying from cancer and dying from drowning.
If we're talking about kids not getting sick, then why do we let them get the flu? Why do we send them to school and they get strep? And why do my kids come home or anyone's kids come home with lice? So maybe we should shut down schools and we should make our kids wear bags on their heads, and we should make sure that kids are always masked up because we shouldn't let them ever get anything else.
So I think we have to really look at the science and figure out, what are we doing to our children?
CAVUTO: All right, I will wonder, Nicole, in the case of your daughter, does she have difficulty keeping the mask on? A lot of kids are ripping it off or can't keep it on.
BRENER-SCHMITZ: I mean, certainly, there's times that she wants to take it off, and she has to be reminded. She's 4 years old.
CAVUTO: Right.
BRENER-SCHMITZ: But she's gotten pretty used to it. She does a pretty good job.
And, look, I try to make sure she doesn't get anything. I give her -- she gets a flu shot, as well as she will get the COVID vaccine--
CAVUTO: All right.
BRENER-SCHMITZ: -- when the FDA approves it for her age.
I want to make sure that I'm keeping her from as much sickness as possible.
CAVUTO: All right, well, you both sound like good moms. You're looking out for your kids. You just see it a little bit differently on the mask thing.
I can understand that.
But thank you both for joining us. We will get through this, ladies. One way or the other, I think we will get through it. Don't know exactly when, but we will get through it.
NASSOUR: Thank you.
CAVUTO: In the meantime here, looking back 20 years ago now.
Now, this is obviously the most captivating story in my career, the most significant event in my career. I think most people would feel the same way about the significance of that of a certain age, especially when you bump across those who lost loved ones.
And some, like this next fellow, touched me perhaps more than any other.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAVUTO: Your father, he could have gotten out. In fact, reports are that your dad did get out. But he was going back in and holding the door open for people to let them get out and guiding them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.
Well, I'm just amazed by my father's ability to be resilient in the moment of crisis. And I want America to use that as a metaphor and a vehicle to raise awareness of how important it is for us to deal with grief on a daily basis.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAVUTO: All right, California's big recall elections is, what, six days away, and Governor Newsom bringing in the big guns to help him close the deal, the vice president today, we're told the president next week.
Claudia Cowan with more -- Claudia.
CLAUDIA COWAN, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Neil.
The vice president spoke here today for about 10 minutes. She started off slamming the governor of Texas for restricting a woman's right to choose.
And she said this recall effort will fail because she said Gavin Newsom leads with courage.
Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We want our leaders in California to have a vision of what is possible, to see the opportunity of a moment to inspire and uplift all people.
That's what the people of California have always wanted. And that's why the Republicans' recall will fail.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COWAN: Newsom is counting on the vice president to help boost support among young voters, women and minority groups that supported her when she ran for president, groups that until recently appeared to be apathetic about this election.
But because of COVID, every registered voter in the state got a mail-in ballot. And nearly 28 percent of them, over six million ballots, have been returned. And a high turnout in this deep blue state will favor Newsom.
We are hearing reports that President Biden is expected to travel to California early next week, so we could see another rally with the president himself then. Also, we understand that former President Barack Obama is releasing a video endorsement for Newsom later today, another indication of just how much Washington cares about Gavin Newsom hanging onto his job and just what's at stake on Tuesday -- Neil.
CAVUTO: Claudia, thank you very, very much.
You know, in these crazy times -- I'm not talking just about runoff elections, but Afghanistan, what's going on at the 20th anniversary of 9/11, our fears heightened now, terror and everything else -- you would think, you would think that fewer people are going to church.
Technically, you're right. But there is an exception, the reverend who has now led this charge back to God and is succeeding measurably. Timely.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL O'NEILL, FORMER U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: I think we will never be the same. In an important way, we will never be the same.
This is unfortunate maturing, I suppose. But we will be stronger for this.
We will be more resolute, I think would be more unified. It may be one of the valuable things about this, is, I think this will draw Americans together like we have not been drawn together since perhaps when we fought the enemy in the Second World War. We're together.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAVUTO: You know, we asked it after 9/11. We were asking in the midst of a pandemic. How do we get back to God? Is that even -- even something that's doable?
You know the church figures and the synagogue figures. Not as many are going back to those service centers.
But there is an exception. And my next fellow is leading the charge.
The Reverend Dr. Russell J. Levenson is the rector at St. Martin's Episcopal Church. And, there, the return has been booming. I think it has in large part to do with his message. He's a gifted and eloquent speaker, but he's also a very good man and a patient man, because we supposedly had him booked three -- at least three prior times, and breaking news has forced us to push it back, Pastor.
So I'm glad we have you today.
REV. DR. RUSSELL J. LEVENSON, ST. MARTIN'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH: Good to be with you whenever I can be with you, Neil. It's good to see you again.
CAVUTO: You know, I'm amazed at what you have been able to lead at your rectory, the $60 million campaign that began with support of George Bush Sr. and Barbara Bush, by extension, the Bush family. And it's extended past them and through a pandemic, finally completed.
And you have more people going now to church and services than you did prior. How did you do that?
LEVENSON: Well, that's -- thanks for that kind of cheerleading there.
But I work for a wonderful church. And the people there are vibrant and organic. And they have always been very involved in the community and very
-- feel very good about their church.
You have mentioned this campaign, which was large, but that subsisted of thousands of gifts from a variety of sizes, I think the leadership provided by the Bushes, because the campaign actually started before -- before their health seriously declined -- and then continued, and was also led by Secretary and Mrs. James Baker, who are active members of the parish.
But people saw the need to be involved in the community. It really happened on the tail end of Hurricane Harvey.
CAVUTO: Right.
LEVENSON: And then right on the -- right as the pandemic began, we pivoted, as did many people. But we pivoted in ways that we were still able to reach out to the community, because, as you just mentioned, as we have been watching on your program today, the need for hope now is as desperate as it has ever been.
And I think the message of the church is always to point to hope. We -- yes, we have moments of grief.
(CROSSTALK)
CAVUTO: Right. It's not happening everywhere, Reverend.
(CROSSTALK)
CAVUTO: And I'm just wondering, how do you keep that thriving?
A lot of people, after the pandemic, who forcibly couldn't go to services, have said, yes, what's the rush? Why should I bother?
LEVENSON: Right. Right.
CAVUTO: What do you say?
LEVENSON: Well, I have said to them, you have to bother.
(LAUGHTER)
LEVENSON: My message has been, it's important to come together.
We do know that, when faith communities come together, whether they're Jewish or Muslim or Christian, that they are healthier communities. They have better mental health. They have better physical health. People who go to church actually live longer.
But beside all of that, we need to continue to point people to the eternal purposes that we believe and hold on to. You remember the Dutch evangelist Corrie ten Boom, who was just a wonderful person, who was in Ravensbruck concentration camp for rescuing Jews.
She used to say, if you look at the world, you get depressed. If you look within -- if you look at world, you get distressed. If you look within, you get depressed. But if you look to God, you get to be a person at rest.
And I think the healing of our world has to begin with connecting people back to a relationship with God. And you can't do that in silos. So we have been careful and protective. We have done a lot of protection around our campus and, when necessary, worn masks and had sanitation.
But I have continued to tell our members, it's so important to come together. You can't live out your faith in a silo. And we know our word said in Genesis. It's not -- good for a man and woman not to be alone.
People need to come together. And the way we do that often is in our worship and in our service and our commitment to living beyond ourselves.
And so, yes, as you just said, we have actually experienced growth.
CAVUTO: Right.
LEVENSON: We have added about 270 members during the pandemic. And we have seen the return of attendances begin to creep up. We're now -- this Sunday, we will be at six different services.
And, Neil, interestingly enough, we didn't reach out with livestreaming, the world you live in all the time. But we're doing that now.
(LAUGHTER)
LEVENSON: And we actually have people here who are joining the church from outside the state. We had members join not too long ago from Minnesota.
We're their church.
But I do -- I think I would lean in really much on somebody who is in your business. You remember Paul Harvey.
CAVUTO: Sure.
LEVENSON: A lot of people won't remember that name anymore.
But I remember many years ago hearing him say there will be no peace on Earth until each person one by one makes their peace with God. And we have spent a lot of time in the last few years thinking the solution to our societal ills is in politics or in who we elect or in a movement or in a social engagement.
And while all those things are important, they're not as important as getting ourselves connected to our heavenly father, and coming to be people at rest with him, so that we can be empowered to be loving and serving in the community around us.
That -- the societal ills I think we're facing now are far more spiritual than they are -- frankly, than they are economic or political or over things like racism or inequality.
Those things need to be addressed, but I think that they're really addressed primarily through getting people in community with one another and connected to the one who created them.
CAVUTO: Pastor, I mean, you're a modest man, but I think the secret to your success has been that you listen, and you don't scold people. You don't talk about them being sinners. You talk about them as being genuine human beings who the lord loves, regardless of your faith, denomination.
You get that. And you're mesmerizing. So, I have no -- no shock here in what you're seeing as a result of that.
Many, many and much more success in the future, Reverend. Thank you.
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