"Is Cantor Fitzgerald Taking Care of its Employees?"
Friday, October 05, 2001
a partial transcript from The O'Reilly Factor, October 4, 2001.
foxnews.com
<<REILLY, HOST: One of the most tragic stories in the World Trade Center attack here in New York City was the loss of 700 employees of the Cantor Fitzgerald Bond Trading Company located on the 104th floor.
CEO Howard Lutnick made the media rounds and was very emotional.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOWARD LUTNICK, CEO, CANTOR FITZGERALD: The average employee we have is around 33 years old. So they've got — they're just married.
We have — we have probably a dozen women who are pregnant with babies who just lost their husbands. We've got lots and lots and lots and lots — we must have more than a thousand — 1,500 children who have now lost one of their parents, and they've lost the breadwinner who makes all the money.
So we are dedicated to raising money for our foundation.
I'm just lucky to be alive, and I don't know why I am, but, you know, I — I'm just thankful, and it must be because I've got the responsibility to try to do my best for this group of 700 families.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'REILLY: Oh, sounded good, didn't it? Another story may be unfolding, as Mr. Lutnick has been slow in providing help to the families of his deceased employees.
With us now is Lynda Fiori whose husband, Mark, was killed by the terrorists, and Elizabeth MacDonald from Forbes magazine.
Ms. Fiori, we're very, very sorry. We know you had the funeral yesterday. And you have two small children, a 4-month-old girl and a 2- year-old girl. Have you heard from Mr. Lutnick?
LYNDA FIORI, HUSBAND DIED IN WORLD TRADE CENTER: No, I haven't.
O'REILLY: Not a word?
FIORI: No, I've called him and there's been no phone call back.
O'REILLY: You called his office, and nobody returned the call?
FIORI: I called his home.
O'REILLY: You called his home and got his machine, I guess, right?
FIORI: No, — a maid or his wife maybe.
O'REILLY: Right.
FIORI: ... and told her who I was and who my husband was and -- "OK. He'll call you back." And no phone call.
O'REILLY: What did you want to talk to him about?
FIORI: I just wanted to know what they were going to provide for us, if there's going to be any pamphlets going out, who can we get in contact with about paychecks, anything. Are my children going to be covered under my husband's insurance? Are his paychecks going to continue? Just questions like that. But we've just heard nothing.
O'REILLY: Have you gotten any money from Cantor Fitzgerald?
FIORI: No.
O'REILLY: Not a dime?
FIORI: No. I thank God for my family. If I didn't have family, I'd be out on the streets with my two kids.
O'REILLY: Now you just saw Mr. Lutnick on television. He also did an interview with every medium, you know, crying, you know, the whole routine. What do you think?
FIORI: About his interview?
O'REILLY: About him. Yeah.
FIORI: Well, I'm not too happy with him.
O'REILLY: Do you think he's a phony?
FIORI: I think so.
You know, he has his family, which is great. I mean, I don't want anybody to get hurt. But he really has to reach out to the families. Give them a phone call.
I faxed Cantor my husband's obituary. Not one person from Cantor came.
O'REILLY: To the funeral?
FIORI: To the funeral.
O'REILLY: Hard to believe.
Now there have been almost a billion dollars raised to help you, your family.
FIORI: Yes.
O'REILLY: Seen any of that money?
FIORI: No. No.
O'REILLY: Anybody call you?
FIORI: No.
O'REILLY: Red Cross? Anybody like that?
FIORI: The Red Cross called today. I spoke with them.
O'REILLY: Today?
FIORI: I spoke with the Red Cross.
O'REILLY: Was that before they knew you were going to be on this program or...
FIORI: No, I don't think...
O'REILLY: OK. So they just called you? So what did they say?
FIORI: They were talking about paying funeral expenses and filling out forms...
O'REILLY: Right.
FIORI: ... for me to get some money.
O'REILLY: OK. So at least the Red Cross has been in touch.
FIORI: Yes.
O'REILLY: But all the other myriad of agencies — nobody's gotten in touch with you. They're raising money. All right.
Ms. MacDonald, you're a writer for Forbes magazine. You know this company. What's your impression of what Ms. Fiori's going through?
ELIZABETH MACDONALD, SENIOR EDITOR, FORBES MAGAZINE: Well, you know, when you see Mr. Lutnick on the air, you want to believe him. You want to say to yourself, "Is this a face of compassion or capitalism, or is this the story about bereavement hitting the bottom line?"
The story here is that the families were not notified — personally, many of them found out through the Web site or in the paper that paychecks were stopped four days after the attack.
They also found out that they may not get any bonuses. In other words, their husbands or their spouses were working at the company and they're 10 months into their fiscal years. It's not as if those bonuses were sitting in a safe at the company. They're in a bank somewhere, and the employees earned it. The families should get their bonuses.
O'REILLY: Yeah. Well, certainly, this is being handled dreadfully. And we will tell everybody that we called Mr. Lutnick, and he did not consent to be interviewed by me. No surprise.
His salary is nearly $7 million a year, according to Dow Jones. This guy makes $7 million a year. His personal fortune is estimated to be like $50 million, $60 million. This is what this guy's got, this kind of money.
What's his reputation on Wall Street?
MACDONALD: He's known to be very tough, brash. He seized control of the firm early on in the process. He was barred, actually from Bernie Cantor's grave site ceremony when Bernie Cantor, who started the firm, died back in 1996.
O'REILLY: Why was he barred?
MACDONALD: Because he seized control of the firm while Bernie was ailing, and...
O'REILLY: So the guy who started the company was sick, and this guy did a coup d'etat and took the firm over.
MACDONALD: Right.
O'REILLY: Oh, he's a prince. All right. I'm getting the picture on this guy.
Ms. Fiori, we're going to help you here. We're going to track this now every step of the way, not only at Cantor Fitzgerald with their duty, but also the other agencies. We're going to make sure that they get in touch with you.
This pain that you're going through now with the loss of your husband — the sudden loss of your husband — and you guys, what, are 30 — very young. How long were you married?
FIORI: Four years.
O'REILLY: Four years. Is it compounded by the worry you have that you don't have any money, that you have two babies at home?
FIORI: Exactly. My mortgage — I have a big mortgage. No savings. We lived paycheck to paycheck. And I just — like I said, I mean, my family has started a trust for my children, and the money from — people I don't even know, neighbors are giving me money. I'm not looking for a handout from Mr. Lutnick.
O'REILLY: Sure. Certainly this company, Cantor Fitzgerald, should take care of you. There's no question. And they will. Or we'll provide you a lawyer pro bono to sue them and make sure they will. We will provide you that.
But also, the billion dollars that's being raised, I'm watching this very closely. We're going to have a report at the end of the broadcast about all of this money. We're going to make sure that they get in touch with you and they do the right thing.
But I can't imagine what you're going through emotionally. I think your composure on this program is startling. I would be so angry and so upset that these people have ignored you, and now we're almost a month into this disaster, you know? And this guy going on television, and he's weeping and crying, you know?
And did you know — did you both know that they hired — Cantor Fitzgerald hired a P.R. firm?
MACDONALD: Yes.
O'REILLY: Did you know that?
MACDONALD: Yeah.
FIORI: No, I didn't know that.
MACDONALD: Edelman. Yes.
O'REILLY: And how much does that cost?
MACDONALD: Well, that's unclear at this point.
But it's interesting when you compare it to what other companies are doing, such as Fiduciary Trust, which is owned by Franklin Templeton. They now have missing about 82 people. Five people are confirmed dead. Fiduciary Trust is saying, "We will continue paying salaries and benefits until we figure out the situation."
O'REILLY: Sure. But I just want this to sink in to people. After this happened, this guy, Lutnick, went on all the programs, all right, and he hires a P.R. agency. To do what?
MACDONALD: To go on Larry King.
O'REILLY: Yeah. To book him!
MACDONALD: To go on Connie Chung.
O'REILLY: So he's paying these people to get him publicity while Ms. Fiori and her two little children — he doesn't return their phone calls. The other media don't tell you — they won't tell you this story. Larry King and all these other people and ABC News — they're not going to tell you this story.
All right. We're going to watch this. Ms. Fiori, if there's anything we can do, of course, you keep in touch.
FIORI: OK. Great.
O'REILLY: And, Ms. MacDonald, thank you for coming in. We appreciate it. I promise that this is not going to go away. I promise."
_____________________
Unfortunately we don't get Fox News here. I cannot stand CNN's biased sympathetic and ignorant coverage of these Islamic extremist murderers. How quickly these morons forget that ``The people who did it lost any right to ask for justification when they slaughtered 5,000, 6,000 innocent people. ... '' "There is no moral equivalent for this attack,'' the mayor said.
Mayor Rudy Giuliani said this today, rejecting Saudi Prince's $10 million check because of statements he made right after his donation, when the Prince blamed the WTC attack on US mideast policy, in not 'fixing' the Palestine problem.
"Not only are those statements wrong, they're part of the problem" said Guiliani.
dailynews.yahoo.com
Not surprising that this same prince is a frequent guest on CNBC. |
