QUESTION: Mr. Mayor, can you respond (OFF-MIKE) you would like to stay on?

GIULIANI: Well, I can tell is that what I'd like to do is to maintain the unity that exists in the city. And I've met -- I'm going to meet with the candidates and talk to them about something that we can agree on. Or I hope we can agree on a way in which to handle this tremendous crisis that we have.

And it's something that I would hope that the candidates would take very seriously. So I'm going to talk to them and try to come up with something that unifies the city because we have a very, very strong spirit of unity right now. And I think that it's my obligation to try to maintain it. So I can't tell what you that is until I tell them. And I've met with some of them, but not all of them yet.

QUESTION: Without being the candidate?

GIULIANI: I don't -- after I finish the conversations, I will tell you if we've succeeded in coming up with something that unifies. I hope we do.

QUESTION: Would it be fair to say that (OFF-MIKE) would basically allow you to continue being mayor for an extended period after your term expires?

GIULIANI: I'm not going to discuss it with you. I'm going to discuss it with the candidates first. And then there's time to discuss it. But I think we should try to come up with something that unifies and you're just going to have to, you know, labor under just a little less information than you would like to get.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE) are your hopes then?

GIULIANI: I hope that we're going to come up with a position that we agree on, so that it unifies the city. I could tried to find another way to say that.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

GIULIANI: I don't know. Pardon me?

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

GIULIANI: The next couple days, hopefully. Maybe in a day or so.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

GIULIANI: Pardon me? No, we should come up with an agreement now. The city is in a -- is coming out of a crisis and is having to get used to living a different way. And one of the great benefits of this terrible, awful tragedy is that the city is more you unified than it ever has been before. And I want to do something that unifies the city, because I love this place. I mean, I've invested before this 7.75 years into trying to make the best city in the world.

And it then got devastated by this horrible attack. It's still best city in the world, but it's going to need a lot of help. It's going to need a lot of assistance. It's going to need a lot of unity. And it's going to need politicians who think outside the box, who think outside the old way in which we used to practice politics. So that all came to me last night, that I should start thinking that way also.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE) I mean he came out on top. And he was the person (OFF-MIKE) sees two cities existing and this and that.

GIULIANI: Yes, I'm not going to -- that's -- here, once again, a terrible thing happened to us. And we can start think differently as a result of that. Which means we can everyone conduct our politics differently as a result of that. Or we can go back to the way we used to conduct our politics in the past.

And I think it's a lot better if we try to conduct our politics differently now. And things that people said before, you know, they have a right to rethink things now. They have a right to rethink things in light of a horrible, awful, unimaginable thing happening.

And frankly, I started thinking about that when I was with the two different groups of families, the fire families that went down to the World Trade Center today and the first group of civilian families that went down.

The pain and suffering that comes out of this is only beginning. There's more of it that's going to happen. And it is enormously important that we remain unified. And therefore, I'm going to see if we can all agree on an approach that allows us to handle this in the best interest of the city.

QUESTION: You said that you've come up with a position. Could that be a position other than mayor?

GIULIANI: No, I don't want a job, if that's what you mean. No, no, no. I meant an approach to how we handle this that we agree on, that makes -- there are now three candidates for mayor. We don't know which one of them is going to be the mayor.

So I'm going to present them with a proposal that as the current mayor, who has I think the best interest of the city at heart, that I think will help to unify this city. And I want to see if I can get their agreement. It has nothing to do with me. And it has to do the city.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Last question please?

QUESTION: Sheldon Silver has gone on record saying that you have approached him and other leaders involved saying that you're seeking to overturn term limits. Sheldon Silver said this on the record. Is he speaking accurately?

GIULIANI: That's a possibility. I mean, we might do that, but I'm much more hopeful that we can work out a unified approach to handling this.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE) you on after December 31?

GIULIANI: Let's see if we can come up with a unified approach first. And then I'll tell what you it is.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Very last question.

GIULIANI: I should present it to them first. I've had a chance to present to one or two of them, but not to all three at this point. Don't do that. Try -- you all try to get out of what you used to do, too. Try it.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE) legislation or would this be an agreement?

GIULIANI: Let's see what the agreement is. I need the opportunity to talk to them about it, but the objective is to come up with an approach that the candidates will agree with, I will agree with, and that will allow to us provide the best mechanism for getting ourselves through this, getting ourselves in a position where the city is secure, the city is safe and everything is handled seamlessly.

And I believe this will -- it is as having been mayor for the last 7.75 years, it's the best judgment that I can come up with as to the way to handle this. And also, to make the people of the city feel confident that their concerns are going to be put first and not anybody's particular desire to be in office. The three candidates or mine. Thank you.