Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Some Companies Profiting in Name of Charity
Aired February 04, 2002 - 07:45 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: 9/11 tie ins are all the rage these days, but according to "The New York Times," some companies are profiting in the name of charity. The "Times" cites as one example a new line of Steve Madden sneakers called "The Bravest," designed as joint venture with actor Dennis Leary's foundation to raise money for New York's fallen firefighters.
The paper claims none of the more than $515,000 in company profits generated by the sales of the sneakers has yet reached the families, but a Madden company executive says the "Times" was wrong. He says the actual profits from the sneaker line are about $77,000, and that money is going to the families.
And in our "Homefronts" segment this morning, questions about charities are actually spreading the wealth. "Newsweek" columnist, Steven Brill, says the Red Cross alone has raised $850 million for 9/11 victims. An excess of riches, he says, is finding its way not just to the victims' families, but also to some who you might not expect.
With his investigative report this morning, Steven Brill joins us now -- welcome back -- good morning.
STEVEN BRILL, "NEWSWEEK" COLUMNIST: Hi, Paula.
ZAHN: You have looked into the distribution of this money.
BRILL: Yes.
ZAHN: Where is it going?
BRILL: Well, this can't be what the people, who donated to the Red Cross, had in mind. Beginning a couple of weeks ago, in conjunction with the book I am doing, I went down to the Red Cross, the relief centers they have here in lower Manhattan...
ZAHN: Right.
BRILL: ... and asked to sit with some of the caseworkers, as they processed these cases of people coming in for aid. And guess what I found?
ZAHN: What? BRILL: Outside on line were nothing but dial-cab (ph) drivers. These are the drivers who take people around town, lawyers, bankers, you know, when you dial up...
ZAHN: And they weren't lined up because they lost family members. They were in line...
(CROSSTALK)
BRILL: No, they were lined because their incomes...
ZAHN: ... declare their business was hurt?
BRILL: Their incomes had gone out. In some cases right after the disaster, their incomes had gone down a lot. But most of them were sort of almost back to normal. The problem is that by the time you get to January, the Red Cross has so much money, they are just processing any claims that come in.
ZAHN: Well, look at this graphic here.
BRILL: Well...
ZAHN: Are you telling us that drivers are taking...
BRILL: No. If you...
ZAHN: ... anywhere from 5,000 to 10,000 bucks?
BRILL: So far, the average check is something between $5,000 and $10,000. I watched one driver get $11,000, another driver get over 7,000, and approximately 2,000 drivers have gotten this money so far.
ZAHN: Wow!
BRILL: Now, they are not doing anything wrong. They're not necessarily lying about anything. It's just that by that standard, you know, anyone could go down there. You know, Tina Brown, who announced that her magazine was going under because of 9/11, she might as well get down there and wait on line.
ZAHN: Yes, with the dozens of people who...
BRILL: Yes, sure.
ZAHN: ... (UNINTELLIGIBLE) along with her. What can this add up to potentially?
BRILL: Well, if you assume...
ZAHN: I mean, if you look $5,000 to $10,000 per driver?
BRILL: ... let's take this example. If you assume that there are 4,000 drivers who are going to get this money, that adds up to approximately the amount of money that the Red Cross spent aiding all two-and-a-half million victims of Hurricane Mitch in 1998. ZAHN: Come on!
BRILL: The reason is simple. The reason is simple. The Red Cross has too much money. The Red Cross traditionally goes to a fire or another disaster, provides blankets, provides food, provides, you know, overnight shelter. They are not used to doing this kind of work. They were buried in this money. Then they got some criticism, because they hinted that maybe they would take some of the extra money and use it for future disasters, and that didn't work. So they said, all right, we're going to spend every penny we get for 9/11, on the victims of 9/11, which makes sense, because if I donate money to 9/11, that's where it should go.
ZAHN: So what was the initial reaction of family members, who actually lost people down at the World Trade Center?
BRILL: Well, family members are getting lots of money too. It's not that...
ZAHN: They are, but they can't love the fact that...
BRILL: They can't love...
ZAHN: ... delivery cab drivers are taking 10,000 bucks a pop in some cases.
BRILL: I don't think they necessarily know better yet. But the fact is, this is a hard thing to say, but as charities go, the least legitimate -- you know, the least worthy legitimate charity in the United States right now might be any charity having to do with 9/11 as compared to all of the other disasters, as compared to the future victims of new terrorist acts. You know, what's going to happen next time?
ZAHN: We actually sent a crew to Oklahoma City and talked with some folks there about your story, to get their reaction of how they felt about cabdrivers legally getting this kind of money, instead of maybe family members absorbing more of this fund -- let's hear what they had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To me, the people that deserve the money are the people that were injured or the people that lost someone.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I mean, there is not really a true answer to that. Who deserves what? I mean, we have all lost.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZAHN: All right, she made the point, "We all lost."
BRILL: That's right.
ZAHN: But you know, also the woman before was saying, hey, what's only the true victims here, those who were injured, those who lost their lives.
BRILL: There are degrees of loss. You know, it's sort of like the Victims' Compensation Fund, the federal fund that we talked about a few weeks ago. It's impossible to put a price tag on this. The real point of the story I have just done is that this is gotten to be something that we really have to take a look at. That, you know, they're just opening the window and tossing the money out to people.
ZAHN: But once again, the cab drivers have done nothing illegal...
BRILL: They haven't done anything wrong.
(CROSSTALK)
ZAHN: And the money is there.
BRILL: And god knows the Red Cross...
ZAHN: They can legally line up and get it?
BRILL: And the Red Cross hasn't done anything wrong. And if you go down to those same centers, you see volunteers from all over the country, who are some of the greatest people I have ever seen in my life who are working day and night. Nobody has done anything wrong. We have all done something right, which is we have contributed to a charity. It's just we have to step back and look and say, maybe we should reapportion some of it.
ZAHN: But it certainly goes back to President Bernadine Healy, who lost her job for too aggressively raising funds for the Red Cross.
BRILL: That's right. She aggressively raised the funds, and then according to the Red Cross officials, wasn't candid enough with the donors and saying that it might not be used for just the victims of 9/11.
ZAHN: Steve Brill, as always, thanks for joining us from "Homefronts" this morning.
BRILL: You're welcome.
ZAHN: Fascinating story. It would be interesting to measure the response as more of this becomes known by the public.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
