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American Morning
'Minding Your Business'
Aired February 26, 2004 - 08:46 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.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan's suggestion to cut Social Security and Medicare touches off a firestorm.
Andy Serwer is minding your business this morning.
Hey, Andy, good morning.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning.
It sure did.
O'BRIEN: The big question here, of course, is the timing.
SERWER: Yes, it's really interesting to talk about that and try to figure out why he decided to bring it up during an election season. Let's talk a little bit about that.
The Fed Chairman, of course, suggesting that the country could not afford to pay for Social Security and Medicare, saying, of course, that so many millions of Americans would be hitting retirement age coming up soon.
Let's hear what he had to say about that point.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALAN GREENSPAN, CHAIRMAN, FEDERAL RESERVE: Dramatic demographic change is certain to place enormous demands on our nation's resources, demands we almost surely will be unable to meet unless action is taken. For a variety of reasons, that action is better taken as soon as possible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SERWER: You know what's striking about that is the as soon as possible. That's not Greenspeak, that's very straightforward.
Now, getting back to your point about why now, I think it is because it is during an election year. He has a forum. Awareness is raised. And not only does the president have to respond, but the Democrats have to respond, Kerry has to respond, Edwards has to respond and everyone's paying a lot of attention to it.
O'BRIEN: There will be pressure, certainly, for everyone to respond.
SERWER: That's right.
O'BRIEN: Let's talk about Howard Stern. He got yanked.
SERWER: He did. He got booted off of Clear Channel's six stations that carry him as of this morning. There he is, shock jock, and Clear Channel Communications out of San Antonio taking him off of stations across the country. He is still on dozens of Infinity broadcasting stations.
Howard Stern, surprise, surprise, talking about it this morning.
Let's listen in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOWARD STERN, RADIO PERSONALITY: I can't even tell you what's going on. I learned about this last night. Testa -- I'm hesitant...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The information is still trickling in.
STERN: Not only am I getting bad information, I'm getting completely whacked out information. So I can't even tell you what's going on, other than -- the only thing I can tell you is what I read in the newspapers, we're suspended and off the air in six markets. I predicted this right after the Super Bowl.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SERWER: Yes, I mean it's interesting how just things did change after the Janet Jackson...
O'BRIEN: The zero tolerance policy.
SERWER: Yes. That's right. And, you know, he was talking about the Paris Hilton video, I mean that old chestnut. It's just the same old stuff and things get ratcheted up from time to time, don't they?
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: The old chestnut.
SERWER: Yes, the old chestnut.
O'BRIEN: How sad that we talk about the Paris Hilton videotape as an old chestnut.
SERWER: Yes. It is.
O'BRIEN: Interesting.
All right, Andy, thanks.
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 February 26, 2004 - 08:46 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan's suggestion to cut Social Security and Medicare touches off a firestorm.
Andy Serwer is minding your business this morning.
Hey, Andy, good morning.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning.
It sure did.
O'BRIEN: The big question here, of course, is the timing.
SERWER: Yes, it's really interesting to talk about that and try to figure out why he decided to bring it up during an election season. Let's talk a little bit about that.
The Fed Chairman, of course, suggesting that the country could not afford to pay for Social Security and Medicare, saying, of course, that so many millions of Americans would be hitting retirement age coming up soon.
Let's hear what he had to say about that point.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALAN GREENSPAN, CHAIRMAN, FEDERAL RESERVE: Dramatic demographic change is certain to place enormous demands on our nation's resources, demands we almost surely will be unable to meet unless action is taken. For a variety of reasons, that action is better taken as soon as possible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SERWER: You know what's striking about that is the as soon as possible. That's not Greenspeak, that's very straightforward.
Now, getting back to your point about why now, I think it is because it is during an election year. He has a forum. Awareness is raised. And not only does the president have to respond, but the Democrats have to respond, Kerry has to respond, Edwards has to respond and everyone's paying a lot of attention to it.
O'BRIEN: There will be pressure, certainly, for everyone to respond.
SERWER: That's right.
O'BRIEN: Let's talk about Howard Stern. He got yanked.
SERWER: He did. He got booted off of Clear Channel's six stations that carry him as of this morning. There he is, shock jock, and Clear Channel Communications out of San Antonio taking him off of stations across the country. He is still on dozens of Infinity broadcasting stations.
Howard Stern, surprise, surprise, talking about it this morning.
Let's listen in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOWARD STERN, RADIO PERSONALITY: I can't even tell you what's going on. I learned about this last night. Testa -- I'm hesitant...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The information is still trickling in.
STERN: Not only am I getting bad information, I'm getting completely whacked out information. So I can't even tell you what's going on, other than -- the only thing I can tell you is what I read in the newspapers, we're suspended and off the air in six markets. I predicted this right after the Super Bowl.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SERWER: Yes, I mean it's interesting how just things did change after the Janet Jackson...
O'BRIEN: The zero tolerance policy.
SERWER: Yes. That's right. And, you know, he was talking about the Paris Hilton video, I mean that old chestnut. It's just the same old stuff and things get ratcheted up from time to time, don't they?
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: The old chestnut.
SERWER: Yes, the old chestnut.
O'BRIEN: How sad that we talk about the Paris Hilton videotape as an old chestnut.
SERWER: Yes. It is.
O'BRIEN: Interesting.
All right, Andy, thanks.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
