#CNN anchor Chris Cuomo praises Rudy Giuliani for 9/11 response

Chris Cuomo offered high praise to former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani during an appearance on Cuomo’s primetime CNN show Friday evening.

During the program, which aired on the 19th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Cuomo lauded Giuliani’s leadership as mayor during the cataclysmic events that killed almost 3,000 people.

“You were built to lead,” Cuomo told Giuliani remembering the day. “You were saying, ‘Look, this was bad, there are a lot of dead people underneath this.’ This idea that people are alive on the mall? Stop saying it, stop suggesting it. It’s too hot down there.’ This fight between NYPD and the NYFD about if they could have gotten to the top of the roof, you made sure that people knew.”

The former mayor said he could still recall the harrowing details — like when a coroner told him no body bags would be required because the dead would have melted from the heat — and said he frequently prayed after making a decision.

“I would make a decision, and then, I’d say a little prayer,” said Giuliani “And I’d say, ‘God, I’m not sure I made the right decision, please make it right. You make it right. This is beyond me.”

The 20-minute discussion included some sparring too, with Cuomo saying Rudy would have been a better leader during the COVID-19 pandemic than President Trump. The former mayor was chummy with Trump during his real estate days and has been a close ally of the billionaire since the 2016 campaign.

His son Andrew Giuliani also currently serves in the administration working as a White House Public Liaison Assistant — and occasional golfing partner.