Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

FAA to Investigate Gyrocopter Stunt; Political Ads: When Candidates Attack; CEO Takes pay Cut to Raise Employee Wages. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired April 16, 2015 - 10:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:33:28] DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN ANCHOR: Washington law enforcement agencies are scrambling this morning trying to explain how they could have missed a mailman demanding campaign finance reform. Not just any mailman -- he was piloting a gyrocopter through restricted Washington airspace right onto the Capitol lawn.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is not good, people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: Doug Hughes' plan was reportedly more than two years in the making. He let anyone and everyone who was listening know that he was coming.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN MONTGOMERY, "TAMPA BAY TIMES": Once I got to know Doug, his plan was entirely designed to be transparent. He was live streaming the entire thing from his gyrocopter. He launched from Gettysburg, PA, which is about an hour and a half flight time on the way in. He alerted the media to his flight plan and to his Web site, the democracyclub.org, which explains all about his thoughts of how he can reform campaign finance.

He alerted the authorities. And beyond that the authorities investigated him about a year ago. The Secret Service interviewed him twice and interviewed a colleague of his with whom he had shared his ideas for the plan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: So let's talk about this. I'm joined by Daniel Bongino, he's a former Secret Service agent, part of President Obama's protective detail.

Daniel, the first thing is, ok, clearly this guy wanted to make a statement. But let's be clear, he exposed a major vulnerability when it comes to not only protecting the capital but the White House as well. How do you see it? [10:35:03] DANIEL BONGINO, FORMER SECRET SERVICE AGENT: Right.

We have two major issues here. We have first a detection issue. When was this airborne vehicle detected? Who knew about it? And what was done if it was detected at all, which by the way, I find hard to believe it wasn't detected being familiar with what the air picture looks like around the region.

Secondly we have a use of force issue, an interdiction issue. Why wasn't it engaged? Now, that one I think is a little easier to answer. I don't think this was specifically a use of force issue but I've heard some people in the media asking, why wasn't it taken down? I don't think this was a case of use of force.

FEYERICK: But the interesting thing is when you talk about use of force, let's be clear, this really wasn't on radar. And we know drug cartels who use these kinds of aircraft to fly below everything that's potentially detectable. But this was not on radar, NORAD was not alerted. How could this have even been stopped had it been something more dramatic?

BONGINO: Well, there are a number of mechanisms to stop it. Obviously I'm not going to disclose this on open air.

FEYERICK: But can you stop it when it's that close to the capital?

BONGINO: Sure.

FEYERICK: I mean that's the real issue here -- right.

BONGINO: Yes.

FEYERICK: Is there something that will shoot it down?

BONGINO: Yes, it's certainly a legitimate issue to bring up but you have to remember, you're in a dense population center in Washington D.C. These are very serious conditions.

And when it comes to something like a low and slow aircraft like that -- flying low and very slow -- you have the benefit of time. You have time to react, assuming, of course, this thing was even detected.

I would find it very difficult to believe that they would have in any way shot this out of the sky. Remember, these ordnance, these rounds used to shoot this out of the sky -- whatever it may be have to go somewhere. They're not just going -- they're not just sucked up in a sky vacuum.

And you're in a densely population center. You could wind up causing more damage or causing more problems than you would have solved by just leaving it alone and letting it land.

FEYERICK: Well, the other big question this raises is either a failure of intelligence or a failure of communication. This is somebody who e-mailed the Secret Service, who was interviewed by the Secret Service, who broadcast everything he did. You go to his Web site, it's all there.

He live streamed the flight. He claimed that he sent an e-mail to the President. Look, everybody is busy, everybody has got a lot on their plate. But if you miss something like this, the big question is what else could you potentially miss?

BONGINO: Yes. Those are, you know, great questions -- very valid questions. I think a lot of people in America are asking those questions. But having been a former Secret Service agent in a protective intelligence squad where we investigated these types of threat cases, I can tell you from personal experience the volumes of paperwork generated from these cases. You have to run out everything. You have figure out who this person's kindergarten teacher was.

I would be stunned if the Secret Service knew about this and didn't say anything. I'd be shocked.

FEYERICK: Well, clearly there's going to be a lot of -- it does expose what they knew or what they didn't know or what will change after this. It did expose certainly a potential vulnerability. So I guess in that sense it's good because now that's maybe one more loop that can be closed.

All right. Daniel Bongino, thank you so much. We appreciate your joining us today.

And we move to politics now. The state of New Hampshire, which is becoming an early battling ground for Republicans who would be president. Several high-profile names Rick Perry appearing at two events today beginning later this morning. The Texas governor will address a youth town hall along with the New Hampshire Association of the U.S. Army dinner this evening.

Meanwhile Jeb Bush, he will take part in the politics and pie event in Concord. The two men following New Jersey Governor Chris Christie who has held a series of town halls throughout the state. It all leads up to this weekend where the New Hampshire GOP will hold its First in the Nation Summit. Most of the GOP field is expected to attend.

And it might be early but that doesn't mean the race to the White House is starting out all warm and fuzzy. Queue the attack ads.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What path will America take? Will it be a path to the past? A road to yesterday? To a place we've been to before? Hillary Clinton represents the worst of the Washington machine, the arrogance of power, corruption and cover-up, conflicts of interest.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: Well, it shouldn't come as a total surprise that almost all of the political ads released so far have been -- what's the word I'm looking for -- negative? Brings back memories, doesn't it?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Eight, nine --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, zero.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: If that doesn't strike fear in everyone -- well, ok. Rand Paul's anti-Hillary approach is a far cry from LBJ's daisy attack ad that ran in 1964 against Barry Goldwater but still the question remains. Does negative campaigning actually really resonate with voters?

[10:40:03] Let's bring in CNN senior media correspondent and host of "RELIABLE SOURCES", Brian Stelter.

All right. They go negative so fast it's head spinning.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: It is. It actually is worst than it's been in the past. I know that's hard to believe but this number really caught my eye from Kantar Media. They found that 96 percent of the ads so far have been negative -- 96 percent.

Now that actually is worst than in the past. Usually this early in an election cycle, there's still messages that are trying to build candidates up. You're used to seeing positive messages that introduce candidates. We've seen Ted Cruz, for example, running those kinds of positive ads.

For the most part Kantar found in local TV stations, in national cable channels like CNN almost all the ad buys have been negative already. And that's mostly because it's independent groups that are buying these ads for the most part, not candidates yet.

FEYERICK: Do you think that has very much to do with the fact Hillary Clinton is very much a known quantity. So their ability to plan well in advance --

STELTER: Yes, exactly.

FEYERICK: -- obviously was --

STELTER: Yes, even in the fall and through the winter we saw anti-Hillary Clinton ads being bought by independent groups which, of course, are able to spend lots of money if they want to on these ads nowadays. That's why Kantar says the most significant detail here is that these independent groups are buying these ads early on trying to lay the groundwork for you to dislike the other side.

Of course, we see that on the Democratic side as well. We've seen anti-Rand Paul ads being bought by groups that are trying to push him in different directions. So what's striking here is that the negative campaigning which we're used to seeing this time next year has already begun.

FEYERICK: So does that lead you to believe that in fact, they hate Hillary or that she's a threat.

STELTER: You know, I think it's probably significant threat. She's such a clear front-runner for the Democratic nomination that they are already -- some independent groups are already acting like they are already onto the general election and trying to prepare messages against her for that reason.

But you know, it's not just anti-Hillary ads. We've seen anti- Rand Paul ads as well. And we are just beginning of course. There's going to be more than a million of these ads running on television. One of the big beneficiaries, of course, media companies -- they get all the money from these ads. I think the voters are the ones that probably don't benefit.

FEYERICK: Well, that's going to be very interesting. Because, you know, to go negative so fast means that we're going to be looking for the positive in any little bit we could find.

STELTER: Yes. I mean if we can get maybe more than four percent positive, maybe those are the ads that will stand out.

FEYERICK: Wouldn't that be nice? That's exactly right. Counter program.

STELTER: I'm trying to be positive.

FEYERICK: All right. Brian Stelter, thank you very much. Appreciate that.

And still to come, a company raises its minimum salary to $70,000 a year. And you may be surprised where the CEO found that money.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:46:09] FEYERICK: So you may have seen the pictures of low wage workers around the country taking to the streets this week demanding a $15 minimum wage. One Seattle CEO is taking up their fight for a livable wage right in his very own company, promising employees at Gravity Payments a salary of $70,000.

He is putting his money where his mouth is, slashing his own pay to make sure this happens.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAN PRICE, CEO, GRAVITY PAYMENTS: My compensation is clearly high. And so I'm actually taking my salary down to the minimum salary as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: And he spoke with my colleague Carol Costello about what inspired this incredible act of generosity. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: So Dan, I want you to take me back to the moment that you told your employees you were going to take a 90 percent pay cut and they all were going to make $70,000 a year. What was that like, that moment?

PRICE: You know, I was getting pretty emotional, to be honest, as I got there. I lost it a little bit. And so I was watching other people. And I think they were trying to figure out like is this a joke? Is this real? Some of them were like oh, my gosh, this is the most amazing thing ever.

And there was just this long silence that lasted what felt like an eternity. Then everyone erupted and started screaming, you know. It was incredible.

COSTELLO: How could you not expect that reaction?

PRICE: I didn't really know what to expect. I think, you know, it was probably good I didn't think about it because I might have been more scared to do it. Because you know, that's a lot of emotion to go through, right, but it was nice. I got a lot of hugs in the next day or so.

COSTELLO: I bet you did. I would send you a big old gift, too.

PRICE: Hugs are a good thing.

COSTELLO: So you're making a million dollars a year and you decide oh, I don't really need to make all that money. Not many people would actually do that.

PRICE: I never actually had a huge interest in making a million dollars a year. The reason why my pay is set there is if something happens to me or if I had to step aside for some reason, somebody else could step in and we could fill those shoes. And so it's important to have that market compensation. But for me, I'd much rather like do something like this. Because, you know, I could spend money buying a car, buying something I'm not going to care about or I could use money to make a difference for something that is really going to be meaningful for me that I'm going to remember my whole life.

COSTELLO: You also dipped into your company's profits in order to pay your employees more.

PRICE: Correct.

COSTELLO: That's like not really capitalism. Isn't that sharing the wealth?

PRICE: I don't think so because I think it's a good medium and long-term decision. I think sometimes we get caught up in these short-term capitalist decisions. But for us, our whole company was built around values and by treating others the way you would want to be treated. So small businesses all over the country trust us to process their payments, charge them less and be honest with them.

And those same values are the things that led us to this decision. And the thing that's great is when you stay true to your values over the long-term you can build a great sustainable company. And shareholders of any company big or small, are going to benefit from that type of performance.

COSTELLO: There would be certain politicians out there saying, this guy is crazy because, you know, we have to give as many tax breaks to the job creators as we can, because that's the only way they are going to hire employees. The more money companies make, the more employees they hire, the higher wages become. Is that not true?

PRICE: You know, I think I have a plan that pretty much every politician can get behind which is if we, as business leaders step up, recognize the problem and solve it proactively in a way that actually helps our business as well, then there won't be the political need to make it a political issue.

I come from Seattle where there's $15 an hour minimum wage -- very controversial, experimental, risky. I hope it's going to work. I don't know if it's going to work. But if we step up and put solutions like this into place then there's more flexibility for business and the politicians don't have to be the ones that feel like they have to solve the problem.

[10:50:08] COSTELLO: So how do you convince other business owners to do what you did?

PRICE: You know, I don't think they need convincing. I know so many friends that have this same kind of heart that are experiencing success and wondering what do I want my legacy to be? I've gotten no less than 100 e-mails from different business owners since this came out stating, I'd like to do something similar. I'm working. I'm saving. I'm trying to build toward something like this, or I've even heard from some people saying they are going to institute something similar.

I think it's not the specific that they do exactly this plan that I care about, it's that they ask themselves, what is their moral responsibility to their team and to their clients? And that they follow through on that rather than just doing what everyone else does.

COSTELLO: Dan -- thanks for stopping by. I appreciate it.

PRICE: Thank you very much for having me.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: A really cool guy who is investing directly and personally in the people who work for him. Our thanks to Dan Price, CEO of Gravity Payments. I'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: Dennis Quaid absolutely losing it on set. Was it real? Was it fake? The debate of the week? But a hoax or not, who doesn't love one of those all good freakouts? Here is Jeanne Moos.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[10:55:04] JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Multiple choice, pick the meltdown that turned out to be the hoax. Was it A -- this baseball manager; B -- actor Christian Bale on set.

CHRISTIAN BALE, ACTOR: You're amateur.

MOOS: C -- Alec Baldwin leaving a voicemail for his then preteen daughter.

ALEC BALDWIN, ACTOR: What a rude little pig you really are.

MOOS: Or D -- actor Dennis Quaid.

DENNIS QUAID, ACTOR: I am acting here. And this (EXPLETIVE DELETED) wanders onto my set.

MOOS: If you said D, you've probably been watching TV.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think that was real.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My verdict -- it's fake.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We think it's real.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love a hoax.

MOOS: We also love meltdowns.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This damn (inaudible). All the damn time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll do it live.

MOOS: When you combine a meltdown and a hoax, what's not to love.

QUAID: I can't even get a line out until Dopey (EXPLETIVE DELETED) starts whispering in your ear.

MOOS: Jimmy Kimmel was accused of being an accomplice which he denied.

JIMMY KIMMEL, TALK SHOW HOST: You play 50 pranks and all of a sudden people don't trust you anymore.

MOOS: Kimmel put Dennis Quaid's rant in Daffy Duck D.

Quaid: This is the most unprofessional set I have ever been on.

MOOS: But after a day and a half of freakout analysis, the Website Funny or Die debuted the full Dennis Quaid sketch, complete with a man dressed like, never mind --

QUAID: I can't even get a line out and dopey is whispering in your ear.

MOOS: And insults that sounded worse than they were.

Quaid is known for his pranks on "Ellen" repeating what she tells him to.

ELLEN DEGENERES, HOST: Dennis Quaid is here. Say it out loud.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dennis Quaid is here.

MOOS: For instance acting up in a Starbucks.

DEGENERES: Hey Denis, when you get the water, take it gargle it and spit it back in.

MOOS: The good thing about a hoax meltdown unlike Christian Bale.

BALE: What the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) is it with you.

MOOS: Quaid will never have to say he's sorry.

QUAID: I acted like a punk. I regret that.

MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN.

QUAID: Don't (EXPLETIVE DELETED) Denis me.

MOOS: New York.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: Thank goodness that kind of stuff never happens here.

Thanks for joining me today. I'm Deborah Feyerick. Stand by. "AT THIS HOUR" with John Berman and Kate Bolduan begins after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)