A Conversation with Ian B. Walters and special guests Mercedes Schlapp & Rob O'Donnell

Good afternoon CPAC family. Thanks for joining us for a very special Patriot Day edition of CPAC Live. I'm not sure when we started calling it Patriot Day. In my mind, and a lot of my friends and family's mind, we're still going to call it September 11th, 9-11, a day by which we separated time, the end of American innocence in a lot of ways. It gives me great pleasure to introduce no stranger to the CPAC stage, my friend and colleague, wife of Matt Schlapp. She's a senior advisor to the Trump Pants campaign, Mercedes Mercy Schlapp. How are you on September 11th, Mercy? Well, it's great to be here, Ian, but obviously in seeing the coverage this morning, it brings back so many memories of that day. Just even talking here with the staff, some of them I don't think were even born on September 11th of that year. Others, they all know exactly where they were the moment the Twin Towers were attacked, the moment the Twin Towers came down, the fear of what was happening in the capital city here when the plane hit the Pentagon. Obviously then when we knew that Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where the last plane tragically crashed, I think for all of us, it's a moment of time of reflection of how horrific it is to lose these innocent American lives because of these awful terrorists and the fact that September 11th did change all of our lives. I was speaking with Karen this morning about her 9-11 memories before we came into the studio, and she remarked how we came together as a country on September the 12th. There's that famous image of all of the members of Congress on the steps of the Capitol singing God Bless America. I know you remember that energy that was riddled with fear, but this notion that we had a confidence in our fellow Americans. We weren't white or black or gay or straight or rich or poor. We were all Americans at that moment, and it was a tragedy that really brought us together. Boy, it seems like 19 years was a long time ago. How do you think that we can bring some of that American unity, some of that spirit of really we're all in this together, and apply it in a 2020 kind of way? I know that elections are tough and you vote for this guy or you vote for this guy, but shouldn't there be a sense that there is still a shared experience for all Americans? Well, when America suffers, we all suffer. This is our great country. This is where we live in freedom. This is where we are the envy of the world. People want to come to America to be part of this American free experience and experiment. You see there's a lot of division these days, and there's a lot of hatred, and there's a lot of one party pitted against the next party. Even living here in Virginia, in the city of Alexandria, there is definitely this sense of I can't be open about what I think or who I support because I'm going to be shut down or looked down upon because of supporting Donald Trump. I'm just not the only one. It's our young people as well who are in college who feel that they can't speak up, or in high school, they don't feel they can speak up because they support the president. I think what 9-11 reminds us is the importance of learning about our history. Obviously, your kids, my kids, they weren't born in 9-11. It's our responsibility, our duty to be able to say what happened on that day, why that fundamentally changed America forever. It's our obligation to make sure to tell our stories to our children, which we know the left spends a lot of time trying to erase history. We don't want to do that. We need to make sure that this is a day that we honor. This is a day that we honor the victims. This is a day that we remember that there's plenty of people across the globe who hate America. These are the terrorists who basically knew that they had to take down this great country. What we saw in 9-11 is that they weren't able to take us down. We only grew stronger. We only grew more united. We were able to put politics aside, even if it was for a brief period, to say we need to come and heal as a nation. I think that message not only resonated on 9-11 and on September 12th, 19 years ago, but it resonates today. I think it does too. You never forget it's not just a hashtag. It's something that we all have to do to remind people of what happened that day and what some of those lives meant. One of the similarities that I stumbled on this morning is that in the weirdness of 2020 and everything that we've dealt with as a nation, that a lot of people have reprioritized things in their life, decided that they're going to focus on their kids or focus on their jobs or on their properties or they want to get into farming. There's been a whole shaking up of what's important. The same thing happened around 9-11. Matt Schlapp, of course, my friend, your husband, tells this wonderful story of his 9-11 experience where he was working in the White House, where you were working in the Bush White House. You, of course, were not married at that point. You were both single at the time. But to hear your husband tell the story of his 9-11 experience, it's the sweetest thing. He decided to reprioritize how he felt about you in his life. He said, I think I'm in love with this woman. Life is short and fragile. Life and death can sometimes happen randomly. That's just part of the human condition. He said, I'm going to go put a rock on that finger. One, is that an accurate version? Matt Schlapp does such a beautiful job of telling the story. I will try my best to recreate that moment of 9-11. But we were both working at the White House at the time. We had just started dating in August. So just think about this. It's just been a month that we were just dating. I was over in the old executive office building. So was Matt. All of a sudden, I'm with my colleague. We're watching the television. We see the first plane hit. We're just standing there going, what has just happened? We see the second plane hit. At that point, I said, we got to get out of here. I mean, we're going to be a target, definitely. And our boss at the time said, no, we got to stay. We got to work on strategy. We got to know how we're going to respond. We got to figure out where we are. I mean, just think about it. The president is in Florida. They're taking people down to the situation room with the vice president. And then there's the rest of the staff. We didn't even have an emergency system. So what you would hear is the Secret Service running down the hallways yelling, get out, get out, get out now. We are getting out, running out of the building. At that point, Matt and I don't see each other. We go into two separate directions. The city is in chaos. We end up going, it was myself and two or three other female colleagues, to one office. Matt then, we used to have beepers at the time. Remember that, Ian? And Matt, we're told to go to the secure location. Well, we were way too far from the secure location. Matt goes to the secure location. At that point, he realizes I'm not there. And he goes, knowing Mercy, she probably didn't even check the beeper. She ran in the opposite direction. So he goes down to the Secret Service man and he says, I need to go find Mercy. I need to go find her right now. And he's like, if you leave this building, we don't know what's going to happen to you. And you're not going to be able to come back. He goes, you have to remember my face. I will have to go find her. At that point, you know, the cell coverage, there was no cell coverage at the time. You were trying to make calls. It was busy signal, busy signal. So he couldn't get ahold of me. Finally, his sister gets through to him and says, do you know where Mercy is? And he says, I don't know where she is. And he goes, she goes to him, she goes, you better find her. So he went searching for me, could not find me, could not get in touch with me. At that point, we finally reconnect late at night in Georgetown. And I have to go get my car. And I said, we got to go get my car. So we get in his car. We're driving by the Pentagon and the Pentagon is on fire. And the place was empty, the whole city. It looked like a military takeover. It was just military vehicles everywhere. We were able to get my car. But there was that moment in time where you were so scared. And thank God that Matt Schlapp was by my side to help me get through this difficult time. And at that point, we both realized we can't be apart. We have to be together. We have to start our future together. Life is too short. Life is too fragile. And this is a moment in time that we both realized I can't live without him. He can't live without me. And we got engaged December 12th, which is our Lady of Guadalupe feast day. And we got married seven months later. We didn't even wait too long to get married because at that point we knew that we almost lost each other. It could have been worse. The White House could have gotten hit. And the mere fact that we could be together and that we can start our lives together, we were like, why wait? Let's get married. And one other point, which is, I think, an important part of the story is that night you could hear the jets over D.C. And I remember telling him, like, I don't think I can go back to the White House. I'm so scared. And Matt Schaap looked at me in the eye and he said, we are not going to let these terrorists win. We are going to go back to work tomorrow, and we're going to make sure that we continue working for the American people. And that's exactly what we did the next day. We showed up to work at 7 a.m., and we were there to make sure that we were going to continue working for the American people, keep serving our nation, and keep fighting against these terrorists that we know had really hit our country hard. That sounds like the Matt Schaap that I know as well. You get on with it. You accept a certain amount of risk. You admit that there may be fear, that you may be scared, but you get on with it. That's right. That's very much what I see happening from the good work that you are doing at the campaign today. Remember, you deal with a lot of reporters. I deal with a lot of reporters. 19 years ago was so long ago, reporters actually did good work, and they went on camera and told us what was happening. It seems like a very long time ago. But the story that you told—and we've got to let you go here because you've got another hit coming up—just one last word, words of hope and encouragement to anyone out there who may be feeling despondent in this time of American crisis in 2020. Your story is one of taking tragedy, of taking the lemons that life throws at you, of very difficult moments, and figuring out how to find the opportunity, figuring out how to find the joy, figuring out how to rejigger one's own life and one's priorities to be able to continue to have faith. How do you apply it in just 30 seconds before we let you go to the difficult moments that we're dealing with here in 2020? Well, I want to add one really important story. It might take a little more than 30 seconds. Go for it. When we were at the White House, the families of the plane that crashed in Shanksville came over to the White House. And so the staff was there to greet the families, to comfort the families. And I have to tell you, it was that moment of raw humanity. It was that moment where you meet these families who lost their loved ones, some of those on the plane who fought against that terrorist, who that plane could have come to the White House and killed us all. And so you really do remember how great the American people are because they sacrificed their lives for others. And we know we are this great country of hope. And I think that it was a moment in time that I remember meeting them. They were grieving. And I just wanted to take their grief away and be like, I'm so sorry that your loved one passed away. And it just reminds you of how delicate life is and that you do have to have great faith and have great faith in this nation. And I know right now we are going through an unprecedented time. My children have learned that word, unprecedented, and they use it all the time. And why? Because while we are all struggling as Americans right now, this is a moment in time that we have to come together to make sure that we can get through it. And it's going to take mental fortitude. It's going to take prayer. It's going to take all the inner strength you have that God can give you to say, we can get through this together. And I say this because we're at a point right now where we're very close to finishing this election. And it's a moment in time that we have to decide what we stand for. Do we stand for this great America that loves us, that welcomes us, that has given us great opportunities? Or do we stand with, let's criticize all this greatness of America? And that's where I think Donald Trump understands what his role is. He understands the great love of this country, the great love of the people who sacrifice every day for their kids. And he's doing everything he can to get us through this very difficult time, despite the fact that the media wants to tear him down, despite the fact that the Democrats want to tear him down. And so we're going to keep fighting every day. I'm very hopeful. I've been traveling the country, Matt's traveling the country as well. And what everyone keeps telling me is, we love this country. We need to save America. And we got to keep fighting. And that's, I think, the message that not only did we learn in 9-11, but that we are learning today. And as we get through this very difficult time in our country. If you keep on doing what you're doing and working hard to support the re-election of President Trump, then yes, the American people are marching orders. Let's roll. Let's remember that America is the greatest country on earth, the last best hope of freedom for humankind. We've been talking with my friend, Mercy Schlapp, senior advisor for the Trump campaign, wife of our ACU chairman, Matt Schlapp. We're going to have Rob O'Donnell, who was a NYPD homicide detective on 9-11 up next. At first, we're going to watch this quick video of George W. Bush throwing out that first pitch of the World Series just one month after the terrible tragedy of 9-11. Mercy, thanks for joining us. Thank you so much. Let me know when you find Matt Schlapp, because we can't seem to find him anywhere. Ceremonial first pitch. And please welcome the President of the United States. And we're back with CPAC Live. That was a fantastic moment, a month after 9-11, where George W. Bush, in the bulletproof vest that you can't see underneath his NYPD jacket there, goes out and throws out the first pitch and threw a strike right down the middle there. And it was an emblematic moment that will live in history forever that gave a great deal of hope in a moment of crisis to the American people. I think about what's happened to sports in the past year and wonder if we'll ever get back to that. We're joined by our friend, my friend, Rob O'Donnell, who serves on the board of Brothers Before Others and also on the board of Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher's Pipe Hitters Foundation. We wanted to bring him and his experiences to the CPAC virtual stage this morning, because on 9-11, Rob, you were a former New York NYPD homicide detective, and you were there on 9-11. And we had the opportunity to go up to Ilhan Omar's district just last year, it seems like it was five years ago, to talk about your 9-11 experiences. What was it like on that day for you working for the NYPD? Well, if you remember, some people did something, right? And they did that day. I saw the worst that happened to America, and I saw the best in America that day when the towers were struck. It was surreal, growing up and living in New York City my entire life, to see that icon. When you were coming home as a kid, and you saw those towers from 50, 60 miles away, you knew you were close to home, to see what happened that day. At first, there was confusion. Was it an accident? Was it an airplane mishap? But then after the second plane, there was no doubt in anyone's mind what happened. My brother worked in Building 5 of the World Trade Center, so when it happened, I headed right down there. Thankfully for my case and my team's case, the night before, we just made a homicide arrest from a three-day investigation. We worked until two o'clock in the morning processing that arrest for murder in New York, the morning of September 11th, where we normally would start at 7 a.m. It was like, okay, come in when you come in, since we worked three days straight, and you worked into the morning. But I was awoken by the first plane hitting and started getting my stuff together to head in, and then getting the reports as we were headed in, and then cell service started going down, and communication started going down. Within miles of New York City, you could see the smoke billowing from the towers. I made it to the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge to meet some of the guys on my team and started the mass evacuation of Manhattan, where thousands upon thousands of people were fleeing. The Tower 1 came down at that point, so we're trying to get people out. Once we got as many people out, we headed in because I have partners that I worked with. I have friends that I knew went into the building. My brother at that point was unaccounted for, so headed down there and did what we could. I started my career as a New York City transit police officer. If you're unfamiliar with the World Trade Center, the old World Trade Center subterrane, there's probably 12 levels underneath those buildings. There's a shopping mall down there. There's tunnels for trains and transportation. There's utility tunnels that a lot of people don't know of, but being a transit cop, we were very familiar with that, so we knew ways to get into the underground of that because, as we know, everything pancaked downward. To look for survivors, to look for pockets of people, we used those subterranes that started blocks away to try and get in to only find they were collapsed and such. To see Americans make a conscious decision to jump from the buildings, to hear the impacts of these Americans of every demographic. They were Americans that day. We were Americans after that. I don't know how we've lost that now, this conflict we've had. I'd love to see a 9-12 mentality again without having a 9-11, but you could have placed me on Mars. This is a place I knew intimately. If you could have placed me on Mars from what I saw after those towers came down and the smoke and the hundreds of firemen's alerts that were going off, meaning there was a fireman down somewhere, the chirps that everybody knows so well, the destruction, the human destruction that was all around is just indescribable. I have a saying that if you were there, no words are necessary. If you weren't there, words will never be enough. If you've forgotten, you're not worthy of my words. I live with that mantra to this day. It was the worst and best of America during that time, and that's the best way I could put such a tragic incident. I'll tell you, for me, I will mark my life for what came before 9-11 and what came after 9-11. It's a mechanism by which I mark time the same way for the generations older than us. It was the JFK assassination. They'll remember where they were. They'll remember what came before and how their lives changed afterward. It doesn't feel like, to me, it was 19, almost 20 years ago. It's still very close to my heart, even though when I read the newspapers and see everything on television, it feels like it was 50 years ago, even though we're not that old yet. One of my indelible memories, though, was not just honoring the people who jumped out of the buildings, who will forever be haunted by, the folks who just went into work that day and found themselves in that awful situation working in the towers or in the Pentagon, but it was the first responders like you who chose to go out there, who chose to run toward the fires and towards the building in order to help people. This was something that brought unity, I think, that 9-12 feeling. It was a real pride to see so many police officers, firemen, and EMTs, and regular citizens, just lay people going out there and serving food and helping to find family members that were unaccounted for. The two words that pop into my mind as we apply it to 2020 and deal with 2020 are these concepts of risk and fear. I think of you and your colleagues and you understood that there was a risk and you decided to run toward it anyway. There must have been fear. You understood that there might not be people who make it out alive. Nobody knew the extent of the deaths at that point, but you overcame that fear. What the hell has happened in the 19 years since then with the American character? We see the rioting in the streets. We see the dissing of law enforcement personnel happening in urban areas, New York City especially, Chicago, Minneapolis today, the whole defund the police movement. How have we changed our approach to risk and fear? It feels like that as an American culture, there's half of the country that is overwhelmed by the notion and has lost its courage to go out there and accept a certain amount of risk and to get over that inevitable fear that we all enjoy as human beings. One, what do you think has happened? Two, what would you say to people who you think need to get over it? What you're seeing now and over the past couple of years that we really didn't because it was just starting during 9-11 is social media. You have people who build their lives around social media time. They want that instant gratification. They want that instant insult. They want that attack mentality when there's something they don't like. They want to get their 1,000 likes or 100,000 likes on their post on Twitter or Instagram. There's no foot in reality anymore. These Antifa types who are going out there and thinking they can literally swing skateboards at people's head and there's going to be no repercussions over it because you have cities like Portland and other areas that are allowing it to happen without repercussion, without the response. Every action deserves a reaction. We've lost that because of the social media instant gratification and this cyber protection shield that everybody thinks they have from their living rooms or basements. Everyone knew what was at risk when they ran into those buildings on 9-11. Every soldier now, today knows the risks when he puts on a uniform, picks up that M4 and walks into a hostile situation. That's the America that's out there, but we're not seeing it because this overwhelming social media mob mentality that wants to use this false rhetoric and this grandstanding. When you break down the arguments, there's very little there. This defund the police movement is one of the most idiotic things I've ever seen in my life. You're not affecting a single police officer in this nation by defunding the police. You're taking resources away from the communities that you're saying are being impacted by systemic problems. Why would you take the funding away to address those problems that work the best? I mean, there is no group in America that has helped Black Lives or inner city America more than the American police officer. Across the board, the statistics are there to prove it, but they wanna take this 0.001% of incidents that are tragic, that need to be corrected, that need to be addressed, that need to be prosecuted if they're criminal, and demonize 850,000 police officers in this nation, and defund 850,000 police officers in this nation. What's gonna happen when the next 9-11 happens? What's gonna happen when the next active shooter happens, when the next bomb scare happens, and these officers aren't coming anymore? The citizens of these cities, the Americans across this nation are the ones that are gonna feel that. And by letting this rhetoric, by letting these idiotic movements like defunding the police, I mean, in most of these cities, it's just a shell game. It's the same funding, they're just moving it under a different umbrella. You're taking the resources, you're taking the training, you're taking the best of the best in American law enforcement and forcing them to retire. That's not how you fix these problems. There's a conversation to have no doubt on all sides and how to make police community and American relations better. You need to start that conversation from a place of fact, not fiction. I remember being at the convention in New York City in 2004, and a lot of the folks who were there felt that there were protests happening. But the general attitude from New Yorkers when they saw law enforcement was one of pride and to thank them. And you were still feeling that 9-11 service that they had brought, that has somehow slipped away in 2020. I know that you're a big supporter of the Back the Blue movement and appear at a lot of events that are pro-law enforcement that are very necessary. Let me ask you, what can our activists, the folks who attend CPAC and who are watching us now, and just regular Joes like me do besides put a sticker on our car? How can we be more active as far as sending the right message that we support law enforcement and reasonably showing the other side what sheer lunacy this defund the police movement is? Yeah, I'm an ambassador for We Back Blue. It's at webackblue.com. They have events all around the country. They kicked off just a few months ago in DC, and they've really made a national footprint. I've spoken at a couple of their events. I'm now one of their ambassadors. You need to speak up. The silent majority can no longer be silent in these issues. The reason it's a We Back Blue movement, it's not an anti-anything, everything. It's not a Black Lives Matter versus Blue Lives Matter versus All Lives Matter. It's We Back Blue. How do you not support that? Because these are the people going into all communities in this nation and risking everything. I mean, case in point, look at Dallas a couple years ago, where there was a Black Lives Matter protest against the police. And when shots rang out, the police shielded the very people who were protesting them. That's the American police officer, every demographic. Not a single person asked who was in that building on 9-11 when we ran in, what demographic they were, what their income was. Not a single officer says on a 911 call, what's the profile of the caller? They go regardless. So we need the American public. We need CPAC, American Conservative Union members to, if you see these events, come and support police. It's not an anti-anything. It's a pro-America. It's a pro-law enforcement. It's a pro-law and order. We're seeing what happens when that's ignored in areas like Portland, Baltimore, Wisconsin, Minneapolis. You don't want that happening to come to Wichita, Kansas, and Orlando, Florida, or Miami Beach. It's gonna. It's gonna if we continue down the roads we are, because they're trying to make it more mainstream and acceptable to burn cities down, and we can't have that. Well, if you keep doing what you're doing, Rob O'Donnell, I think we got a good shot to educate Americans on the importance of supporting law enforcement in their communities. Thanks so much for joining us and sharing with us your recollections and impressions of 9-11 and what it means in America today. You exhibited real courage, in a spirit of public service on that day. And I thank you, and I know that everybody in New York thanks you. I know that you lost colleagues and you lost friends, but you're a good dad, you're a good friend. Thank you for joining us on CPAC Live. We're gonna keep an eye on you. Be sure to follow Rob on Twitter. Rob, what's the Twitter handle again? At O'Donnell underscore R. At O'Donnell underscore R. For all of your law enforcement talkers about how many of them are retiring early, Rob is our go-to guy for what's really happening on the ground for our colleagues who wear badges and who back the blue. We thank you for your service, Rob, and thanks for joining us on this special day, on Patriot Day. We still call it September 11. I remember we ended our 9-11 event last year with making sure that young people understand the importance of 9-11. What's your last word before I let you go to young people? This is the first election where we're gonna have young people voting who were born after 9-11, who didn't live through it the same way that our generation. What would you say to those young people who weren't around to experience it and have to absorb it and learn about it from old fogies like you and me? Listen to the stories. Do the research yourself. Like anything, don't take the social media word for gospel. Don't think that because you saw it on the internet, it's true. Do your own research. These are bright individuals coming up in our country. Find out for yourself. Have your own voice. Have your own mind. Don't be swayed by others. Make your own decision and reach out for the guidance and advice of people you trust and take faith in. Rob O'Donnell, thanks for doing your part. CPAC family and viewers and listeners, we are counting on you to do your part. It's 2020. It's about America versus socialism. It is a complicated time to be an observer of American politics, but there is no more important time to be involved, to be active, to go out there and to make a difference and fight for the future of this country and for our kids' future. Thanks for joining us on this special September 11th edition of CPAC Live, and we'll see you on Monday at 3.30 p.m. Matt Schlapp will be back in the anchors chair and will regale us with his adventures from being on the bus tour in Iowa with Matt Whitaker. So we look forward to seeing you on Monday. CPAC folks, have a great weekend.