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American Morning
Minding Your Business: Do Not Call? Tell it to the Judge
Aired September 26, 2003 - 07:52 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: The on again/off again, "do not call" list is off again.
One person in particular is getting a lot of calls, too, as he always does. Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business." Do you?
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: It's not my fault. They're calling -- no, no one is calling me up.
HEMMER: That's what it says (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
SERWER: I know, you're just reading. All right, but you've got to be judicious when you read those things, I think.
All right, the "do not call" list, you've probably been hearing about this, this morning. Let's take you back.
First of all, Judge West in Oklahoma said it was unconstitutional. There is Judge West. He was the one who got a lot of phone calls. We'll get into that in a second.
Then, yesterday, out of Denver, Judge Nottingham -- Judge Nottingham. There is Judge -- they call him the sheriff, I bet, don't you think?
(CROSSTALK)
COSTELLO: Oh, man!
SERWER: Judge Nottingham said that it was unconstitutional, and the reason he said this, you guys, it's very interesting. He said it would be unconstitutional to ban commercial companies from calling you and allow nonprofits to call you. OK. I don't know if I agree with that. Anyway...
COSTELLO: It violates freedom of speech.
SERWER: That's what he's saying.
Anyway, then what happened, Congress got into the mix, quickly passed a bill yesterday, saying that it would support -- in support of the bill. So on and on and on.
Ed Markey from Massachusetts got into the act. Let's hear what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. EDWARD MARKEY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: I believe this legislation has set the congressional land speed record for legislating in the aftermath of a terrible Oklahoma court decision.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SERWER: All right, pat yourself on the back there, representative.
And Jay Leno got into the act, too. Let's hear what he had to say.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JAY LENO, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO": The judge says the telemarketers can call you whenever. You know what we should do? Let's all call this judge tonight at home during dinner.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SERWER: All right, everyone wants to call these guys up.
You know, I'm a little bit wary about this thing, when the Congress of the United States -- everyone's against it. The president's against it.
HEMMER: Right.
SERWER: I mean, you know, maybe I'm not against it. OK? I'm not against it. You know, the "do not call" list is a good thing. People are saying I think it may not be a good thing. Why? Because it's taking away jobs. A million people work for telemarketers. It's a huge business. And you've just got to wonder, they're going to get rid of this thing? The whole cloth? I don't know. I'm not...
HEMMER: You're setting up our debate pretty well here.
COSTELLO: Yes.
SERWER: Yes.
HEMMER: What the judge is saying, though, is that Congress doesn't have jurisdiction here. This is a matter that needs to be settled through the courts.
SERWER: Yes, well, they're saying that, No. 1. Then, No. 2, they're also saying that the nonprofits versus the commercial businesses. It's a mess. I mean, I think they've got to go careful here.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired September 26, 2003 - 07:52 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: The on again/off again, "do not call" list is off again.
One person in particular is getting a lot of calls, too, as he always does. Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business." Do you?
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: It's not my fault. They're calling -- no, no one is calling me up.
HEMMER: That's what it says (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
SERWER: I know, you're just reading. All right, but you've got to be judicious when you read those things, I think.
All right, the "do not call" list, you've probably been hearing about this, this morning. Let's take you back.
First of all, Judge West in Oklahoma said it was unconstitutional. There is Judge West. He was the one who got a lot of phone calls. We'll get into that in a second.
Then, yesterday, out of Denver, Judge Nottingham -- Judge Nottingham. There is Judge -- they call him the sheriff, I bet, don't you think?
(CROSSTALK)
COSTELLO: Oh, man!
SERWER: Judge Nottingham said that it was unconstitutional, and the reason he said this, you guys, it's very interesting. He said it would be unconstitutional to ban commercial companies from calling you and allow nonprofits to call you. OK. I don't know if I agree with that. Anyway...
COSTELLO: It violates freedom of speech.
SERWER: That's what he's saying.
Anyway, then what happened, Congress got into the mix, quickly passed a bill yesterday, saying that it would support -- in support of the bill. So on and on and on.
Ed Markey from Massachusetts got into the act. Let's hear what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. EDWARD MARKEY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: I believe this legislation has set the congressional land speed record for legislating in the aftermath of a terrible Oklahoma court decision.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SERWER: All right, pat yourself on the back there, representative.
And Jay Leno got into the act, too. Let's hear what he had to say.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JAY LENO, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO": The judge says the telemarketers can call you whenever. You know what we should do? Let's all call this judge tonight at home during dinner.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SERWER: All right, everyone wants to call these guys up.
You know, I'm a little bit wary about this thing, when the Congress of the United States -- everyone's against it. The president's against it.
HEMMER: Right.
SERWER: I mean, you know, maybe I'm not against it. OK? I'm not against it. You know, the "do not call" list is a good thing. People are saying I think it may not be a good thing. Why? Because it's taking away jobs. A million people work for telemarketers. It's a huge business. And you've just got to wonder, they're going to get rid of this thing? The whole cloth? I don't know. I'm not...
HEMMER: You're setting up our debate pretty well here.
COSTELLO: Yes.
SERWER: Yes.
HEMMER: What the judge is saying, though, is that Congress doesn't have jurisdiction here. This is a matter that needs to be settled through the courts.
SERWER: Yes, well, they're saying that, No. 1. Then, No. 2, they're also saying that the nonprofits versus the commercial businesses. It's a mess. I mean, I think they've got to go careful here.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
