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American Morning
Interview with Rick Perry; Occupy Wall Street Protests Continue; Transcript of Final Two Minutes from Crashing Air France Plane Released; ; Can Two Movements Coexist?; Fed Up with Bank Fees; Switching Banks Hard; Some Parents Suffer from Baby Naming Remorse; Interview with Brad Miller
Aired October 14, 2011 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: We begin this hour actually with breaking news. A showdown at Manhattan's Zuccotti Park has been averted for now. The Occupy Wall Street movement has been staging a sit-in for nearly four weeks. The city ordered them out this morning so they could begin to clean up the area, but suddenly the city changed course and said, hey, the cleanup has been postponed.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Susan Candiotti is live in downtown Manhattan. Susan, the endurance of these people is phenomenal considering there was thunder, lightning, and rain all late night. These people are pretty galvanized. They thought it would be an eviction. What's happening right now? That's not happening.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's not happening. You can put a check mark in the victory box as far as these protesters go, because they got what they wanted. The city has backed down. The property owners of this privately owned park have backed down, saying that they're going to postpone the cleanup.
And they consider that, of course, a full victory here. You've got chanting going on now. You've got music playing. The crowds here have swelled in the last couple of hours in anticipation of possibly being forced to move out of this park.
But in the end, the mayor's office put out a statement saying the property owners have decided not to start a cleanup after all. Now, protesters say they think it's in part because they've been saying consistently in the last 24 hours that would consider it a violation of their constitution rights to be here in this park. What was happening, a poorly veiled attempt, as they describe it, to move them out of the park. And they say not being able to occupy this place, it's not an occupation.
Now, to get reaction, here is Eric. Eric has been camped out here how long?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: About nine days out of the last two weeks.
CANDIOTTI: You work for the Yankees. Is that right?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do.
CANDIOTTI: You're a photographer. Season's over.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.
CANDIOTTI: Why did you decide to come down?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I came down two weeks ago with co-workers and fell in love with it. And I couldn't be anywhere else after that.
CANDIOTTI: What do you think about the property owners backing down at this hour and not moving people out?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's bold of them, real bold of them. I think they saw a lot of peaceful people that were going to do anything to stay here, and that kind of made them bold, for lack of a better term.
CANDIOTTI: Are you going to stick around? Come and go? What's going to happen next, do you suppose, to this movement and to the people in this park?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to occupy this park indefinitely.
CANDIOTTI: And where does it go from here? How do you accomplish whatever the goal is, and how do you see the goal?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I see the goal as our federal government getting their priorities straight as the end game, like education, like health care being on the top of their priority lists in my lifetime.
CANDIOTTI: What's on top of your list?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Education and health care in this country, in this state, in this city. State governments need to step up. The Fed needs to get out.
CANDIOTTI: Eric, thank you very much.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you very much.
CANDIOTTI: Reporter: And as the day goes on, the people helping this saying there are power in the people and the numbers that are here, a lot of people who offered to pay for a cleanup of this park. They've done that in the last 24 hours. They've done, from what I can tell, a very good job of that. The tarps are going to say, it looks like, and the sleeping bag, going to stay and the protesters are going to stay. Back to you guys.
COSTELLO: The protesters there, some say they really want to get arrested and that's how they sell their cause. They post these arrests online. Is that what they were shooting for today and maybe the New York City police department kind of knew that. And because they cleaned up the park they said, well, maybe we better not have this showdown this morning?
CANDIOTTI: Well, certainly, Carol, it's no separate that whenever there is a police tussle or a confrontation, people get arrested, that does raise the profile of this group.
On the other hand, they would say that they didn't start what would have been a possible and a very likely confrontation today. They said it was brought on, in this case, remember, by the property owner saying they would clean it up and people could come back. But they said, come back to what? Because the property owner said we're now going to enforce the rules you cannot sleep in the park, that you cannot put a mattress down, can't leave a sleeping bag here. And so that's what protesters made them say we're going to lock arms and not leave if the police make us move.
ROMANS: Susan Candiotti, we'll check in with you and you watch the crowds and their reaction.
VELSHI: We didn't know this would be the reaction. We'll continue to follow it.
This morning, by the way, for the first time we are getting a look at the final conversations of the pilots of that doomed Air France flight 447 that went down in the south Atlantic ocean as they tried to desperately and incorrectly save the doomed flight while it was plunging towards the ocean as 15,000 feet per minutes.
Our good friend Richard Quest joins us now. He's been following the story from the beginning. He's in London with this startling new development. Richard, tell us about it.
RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we have already known what happened -- the disaster lasted four minutes, give or take a few second seconds. We already know from authorities what happened in the first few minutes, released transcripts. But this, if you like the bit that shows what happened afterwards. And it makes some pretty unpleasant reading for Air France.
Let me read you the pilot's final conversation. Before I do this, let me just say, Air France and the investigating authority, the BEA, are roundly condemning the publication of these last two minutes, saying it's outside the legal framework and it is an intrusion.
But this is what happened. The pilot flying says, "How is it we're going down like this?" The other copilot says "See what you can do with the commands up there, primaries and so on. Climb, climb, climb, climb." The pilot, pilot flying, "But I have been pulling back on the stick all the way for a while." The captain returned to the cockpit after his rest break. "No, no, don't climb." Pilot not flying, "OK. Give me control. Give me control." Pilot flying, "Watch out. You're pulling up." "Am I?" Pilot not flying.
Then, so in that short -- we get an idea that they are still climbing the aircraft and the plane is yet -- or pulling back on the controls and the plane is still in full stall falling out of the sky. Then you get to pilot not flying. "Go back up. Go back up. Go back up. Go back up." Pilot flying, "But I've been going down at maximum level for a while." The captain -- "No, no, no, don't go up." Pilot flying -- "Go down, then." Pilot not flying - "Damn it, we're going to crash. It can't be true." Pilot flying, "But what's happening?" With that, of course, the aircraft hits the ocean.
VELSHI: Richard, the thing people often don't know, when your aircraft stalls and starts to go down, many people have the instinct to pull back to try to get that nose up when, in fact, the correct maneuver would be the opposite, to push that nose back down until you achieve the speed you need to pick the plane up again, and unfortunately they didn't get to do that.
QUEST: Correct. And what this will turn out to be, besides the confusion and chaos in the cockpit, this crash along with many others is targeting to turn into an investigation into how flyable modern airliners are in the heat of the moment with so much information. It is like a battle between man and machine, and that's what Air France says is where this is going to be looked at in the future.
VELSHI: Richard, thanks very much for this reporting. We'll keep on top of the story with you, Richard Quest in London.
COSTELLO: Wow.
Now's your chance to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. Today's question -- should companies require interviews with minority job candidates? The black community is hurting -- 16.7 percent unemployment. And many in the African-American community say President Obama is trying, but not hard enough. Robert Johnson, CEO of Black Entertainment Television and an influential guy in the world of politics, said this --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT JOHNSON, CEO, BET: And I think the president and the Congress both sides -- I'm not picking on one or the other -- they need to go the extra mile to increase opportunities for African- Americans.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Johnson's idea of going the extra mile -- Expand the NFL's Rooney rule throughout the business world for executive-level jobs. That's the rule requiring NFL owners to interview at least one African-American candidate when there's a vacancy in a coaching or GM position. OK, I hear you -- that smacks of discrimination. Not so, says Johnson. It would be strictly voluntary.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNSON: No mandate to hire anybody. It's called what I call best practice enhanced commitment to diversity and inclusion.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Especially, he says, with so many white candidates vying for the same jobs. As for how the Rooney rule has changed the NFL? There are now eight African-American head coaches. Before there were only two. And five black general managers. Before that, there was only one. The Rooney rule, though, is mandatory. The talk back question for you today, should companies require interviews with minority job candidates? Facebook.com/Americanmorning, Facebook.com/Americanmorning. I'll read your comments later this hour.
VELSHI: Still to come, Texas Governor Rick Perry trying to regain his mojo. We'll talk to the governor of what could be a make or break policy speech today. We'll speak to him in five minutes.
It's now 10 minutes after the hour. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.
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ROMANS: Were back. "Minding your Business" this morning -- U.S. stock futures are up ahead of the big G20 meeting of the world finance ministers. That happens in Paris today. Tech shares pulled the NASDAQ higher.
More bad news overnight about the stability of the Eurozone, though. Ratings agency Standard & Poor's has cut Spain's long-term credit rating by one notch from AA to AA minus. And rating's agency Fitch put 13 major banks on notice for a potential downgrade. The list includes Goldman Sacks, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, as well as several of the biggest banks in Europe.
COSTELLO: And here in the U.S., you could see fewer Gap stores. The company plans to shut down 21 percent of its stores in North Americas over the next two years. That's about 700 different locations. A combination of the lasting effects of the recession on people's shopping habits as well as the rise in online shopping has made the past few years a struggle for Gap.
The rise in gas and oil prices is hitting American consumers harder than ever before, according to a new report. The Consumer Federation of America says you could spend up to $600 more on gas this year, amounting to about $2,900 total per household. It's because of a huge right in oil speculation, or people betting the price of oil will go up or down.
Get it while its hot. People are already lining up for the iPhone 4S this morning. It goes on sale in stores in about an hour from now here on the east coast, at least. Apple already sold one million of the iphones in the first 24 hours the device was available for pre- order.
AMERICAN MORNING will be back in just a minute. Texas Governor Rick Perry will join us live right after the break. Don't miss it.
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VELSHI: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.
Texas Governor Rick Perry hoping to energize his campaign with a major policy speech today on energy. He's seen his poll numbers fall in the past few weeks. His wife Anita even reflecting on how rough a month it's been. But we've seen how fast things can turn. Just ask Herman Cain.
Governor Perry joins me now live from Pittsburgh. Governor, good to see you. Thank you for being with us here on CNN.
GOV. RICK PERRY (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Ali, it's good to be with you this morning. Thank you, sir.
VELSHI: Let's talk about your - your very, very interesting campaign. There's a new "Wall Street Journal" poll this week shows a reversal of fortune since August, where you were on top, there you were at 38 percent, dropping down to 16 percent. Herman Cain going from five to 27.
A CNN poll of polls an average of four national surveys show you slipping into third place. How did you blow that lead?
PERRY: Well, these polls are going to go up and down. I've run for office for a decade as the governor of State of Texas. Down 25 points in the last election in Texas and that one turned out all right.
So I don't get confused that this early in a campaign that polls are going to be all over the place.
VELSHI: All right.
PERRY: But Americans are interested in is not the best debater, not the slickest politician. They're interested in a leader that looks them in the eye and says, listen, here's how to get this country working again. In about two hours, I'm going to be standing up in front of America and showing clearly how the president of the United States can get this country back working again.
VELSHI: And you're going to talk about energy, and you and I are going to talk about that in just a minute.
But, let's stick to the campaign for a second. Your wife, Anita, whom you always, every time you're given a chance, you speak so highly of, she - she was brutally honest yesterday in the Carolinas. Listen to a bit of what she said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANITA PERRY, WIFE OF RICK PERRY: It's been a rough month, I have to tell you. We have been brutalized and eaten up and chewed up in the press. We are being brutalized by our opponents, and our own party.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: You as down on this as Anita seemed?
PERRY: You know, family members always take these campaigns substantially more personally than the candidate. I've been doing this for a long time. I understand slings and arrows and that's a diversion, frankly.
This is a - this is the big leagues. Everybody understands that. It's about the presidency of the United States and we're committed to this campaign. We're committed to this country. And that's the reason here in jut a couple of hours I'm going to be laying out that energy plan.
People are interested in getting back to work. People are - are begging for somebody to focus on job creation in this country, and how we're going to get this country back working.
So I'm doing two things here in Pittsburgh today. Not only laying out an energy plan, but showing how to be energy secure from countries that don't particular have our best interests in mind. That's what Americans are interested in.
VELSHI: And you are, as you pointed out, are a very successful politician. You did say Americans are looking for somebody to put them back to work, not - not just a great debater.
Are you satisfied with your debate performance? You've got another one coming up. We're going to be hosting that on Tuesday in Las Vegas, the Western GOP Debate.
Some have said that's not really your - your thing. Your wife even said in Iowa that you'd be better prepared next time. Is this not your thing or are you satisfied with how you're holding your own in your debates?
PERRY: You know, I hope I made progress every day in my life as well as my debate performances. But, again, Americans aren't looking for the best debater. We've got a slick talker in the presidency right now that's lost 2.5 million jobs. At the same time, we created a million jobs in the State of Texas. They're looking for someone who's got that chief executive governing experience that truly knows how to get America back working.
In 100 days we'll lay out a plan that opens up the federal lands for exploration that pulls back these regulations that are killing jobs that this administration has put forward and rebuild the EPA where it's not a job-killing agency. That's what Americans are interested in and I'm the president that's going to implement that.
VELSHI: I'm going to get a jump on you on this one, or you're going to say it in your speech. But you've mentioned some of the things, so let's talk about them.
You're going to open federal lands to energy and exploration. You're going to prove new pipelines including this Keystone Pipeline coming in from Canada from the oil sands. You're going to suspend and reconsider all EPA regulations that stand in the way of that and you're going to phase out industry specific tax incentives.
Now, you have said about the EPA in the past, and this is a quote from you, "They wouldn't know what hit them."
What about the criticism that you're going to gut Americans - America's environmental regulations in favor of the oil and gas business? PERRY: I totally disagree that you can't have environmental quality and take care of the land and the air and have energy independence at the same time. Our state environmental protection agencies, I suggest to you, will do a better job than this one-sized fits all agency that we have in Washington, D.C. It's just killing jobs.
I mean, you look at the number of jobs that have been killed because of the Gulf and the EPA's decision and the Department of Interior's decision to not go forward. They're killing jobs across this country, and we're sitting on a treasure-trove of energy in this country. All across this - 300 years' worth of energy, and yet we're sending hundreds of billions of dollars out of this country every year to foreign sources of energy.
Americans are ready to make what Americans buy. Buy what Americans make. And sell the rest of it to the world.
VELSHI: You know, let me ask you this, then. Because one of the things the EPA is trying to deal with are climate change and carbon emissions.
Now, do you believe that human beings play a role in climate change? And if so, who is supposed to regulate carbon emissions, CO2 emissions, if not the EPA?
PERRY: Well, I assure you one thing, the EPA is not in the - should not be in the CO2 emission business.
VELSHI: Fair enough. Who should?
PERRY: That is not what they should be doing. From the standpoint, I look at the carbon emissions and man-made climate change is one of those issues that science is not settled on yet. So the idea that we ought to bet America's economy on some regulations, cap and trade will kill this country from the standpoint of economy, and wouldn't make a bit of difference in the world, because of what China and India's doing building coal plants every day, that have no technology.
We need to have a president who understands that we're in a global economy, and that we have to get our country focused back on creating jobs, and not allowing an agency in the federal government to put regulations in place that kill jobs and don't have any thought about what the economic impact is relative to what the benefit is.
These are minor, minor benefits. I mean, minuscule benefits to the environment at best, and huge impact on the job creators out there. There's a reason we've lost 2.5 million job, and it's because we've got at Washington, D.C. a one size fits all mentality that's killing jobs, and a president needs to be in place that respects that government's job is to create an environment where those men and women who risk their capital know they can have a chance to have a return on investment, and we don't have that today.
VELSHI: All right. We're looking forward to getting your full statement on - on your energy plan and hopefully it will be as successful as Herman Cain's "999" and they will get talked about a lot.
But, you know, a lot of people are looking for your full economic plan. And, you know, Herman Cain on one side has a one sentence economic plan that's become very catchy and Mitt Romney on the other side has a very long, multi-paged plan, 140 - a lot of pages. He's accused you of having 114 blank pages.
When are we going to hear your full economic plan for the nation?
PERRY: Well, I've been in this race for about eight weeks, so the idea that we're supposed to lay out full plans is a little bit - I mean, he's been running for office for five years. I expect him to be a little ahead of us from that perspective.
But today is phase one, where we lay out the first 100 days of our activities and 1.2 million jobs can be created, where Americans know they've got an opportunity to get back to work and have the dignity of the job.
Over the course of the next few weeks, we'll lay out phase two where we talk about tax policy and how to deal with entitlements, et cetera. So I hope that both Herman and Mitt will, you know, be patient. It's coming, and then we can have a real debate about who has the vision to get this country working again.
VELSHI: I want to ask you about Pastor Jeffress. He was known to make anti-Mormon remarks before he called Mormonism a cult when Mitt Romney was running in 2007. Your campaign knew that he's got a history of this.
So why did he clear that introduction of you the other day and can you clear the air now? Can you disagree with and disavow Pastor Jeffress and say that Mormonism is not a cult?
PERRY: Well, we clearly said that as soon as it was uttered and we were asked about it, and we're - we're very clear on that issue.
But here's a bigger issue. If we're all going to spend time defending what one of our supporters has said, then President Obama's not going to get to talk about much. He's going to spend a lot of time defending statements that people who support him are going to be making.
And, again, I think this is a huge distraction. Americans want to talk about how we're getting this country's economy back. How do we really create jobs that will sustain -
VELSHI: I hear you. I hear you, Governor, but are you prepared to disavow the pastor's comments? Are you prepared to disavow the pastor's comments?
(CROSSTALK)
PERRY: Look, we live in a great country. Our Founding Fathers gave us freedom of religion, and we certainly have that in America and I respect that. We have religions of all backgrounds, but we also have freedom of speech, and I'm not going to spend my time defending everything that is said by someone who endorses me. It doesn't mean I endorse what they say, and that is the case here.
VELSHI: All right. Governor Rick Perry, thanks for joining us. We look forward to hearing your comments on energy later on today.
Governor Rick Perry, Texas Governor -
PERRY: Thank you, Ali.
VELSHI: -- and the 2012 presidential candidate.
We're taking a quick break. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Good morning. Welcome back. Here are your top stories.
Breaking news: A standoff in New York City between police and "Occupy Wall Street" protesters has been averted.
These are live pictures of what has been a celebration in Zuccotti Park. The city had ordered demonstrators there to leave the park by 7:00 this morning so that work crews could clean it.
That cleanup was postponed just before the deadline. The city says that decision was made by the firm that owns the park, and, of course, it's galvanized the "Occupy Wall Street" crowd because they think they have defeated an eviction from the authorities.
VELSHI: The pop mogul, Russell Simmons, was trying to diffuse tensions at Zuccotti Park. He was offering to pay the entire cost of the cleanup if New York City officials allow the demonstrators to stay. That's now not necessary.
Simmons tweeting his message to the New York Mayor Bloomberg yesterday, I will pay for cleanup of Zuccotti Park to avoid confrontation. I don't want to go to jail, but I will be there ready.
There is no way the brave, patriotic young people are being kicked out of. Clean up is fine but if you clean section A and don't allow the sleeping bags and set up back to section A, you're going to take us all to jail.
ROMANS: The "Occupy Wall Street" movement picking steam. New York City maybe the flashlight point, but protesters also took to the streets yesterday in cities like Oakland, Austin, Portland, Maine, Denver and Boston. Dozens of rallies are also planned for today and for this weekend across the country -- Carol.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Christine, a lot of people have been comparing the "Occupy Wall Street" movement to the Tea Party even if they happened to be on opposite sides of the political debate in this country after all.
Both upstart groups were born with frustration with the federal government, but such comparisons make the Tea Party officials brittle. So is there room in this country for both movements?
Let's ask Amy Kramer, chairwoman of the Tea Party Express. She's live in Washington this morning. Good morning, Amy.
AMY KREMER, CHAIRWOMAN, TEA PARTY EXPRESS: Good morning, Carol. How are you?
COSTELLO: I'm terrific. Thank you for joining us. Also with us in New York is Dan Cantor. He's the executive director of the Working Families Party and a supporter of the "Occupy Wall Street" campaign. Welcome to you, Dan.
DAN CANTOR, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, WORKING FAMILIES PARTY: Thank you so much.
COSTELLO: Dan, I'm going to start with you since this breaking news over these protests held on Wall Street, the New York City police and Mayor Bloomberg were going to ask those protesters to move so they could clean up the park.
The protesters say we're not moving. They didn't. It seems as if New York City backed down. In your mind what does this mean?
CANTOR: Well, it's a great day for the first amendment because that's what the protesters, the young people. I've never seen so many young people up this early. There must be 10,000 or 15,000 people there right now beginning at around 5:00 this morning.
And they are saying they want to freely assemble and petition for redress. That's the first amendment is all about. What they're saying, shining a light on, the role Wall Street has played in the financial crisis, the unemployment crisis and the housing crisis.
So in that sense, staying there, keeping their ground, continuing to shine this light is an enormous victory for both the first amendment and --
COSTELLO: I was going to ask you that. So they're seeing this as an absolute victory?
CANTOR: It absolutely is. Brookfield, which is the firm that owns.
COSTELLO: Zuccotti Park.
CANTOR: The title to the park even though it's a public park, essentially. That's the largest commercial real estate firm in the world who have no doubt prospered from the financial gambling and deregulation of the last decade and they've backed down, too.
So it's a very exciting moment for them. Obviously, you know, there's a lot of work yet to be done.
COSTELLO: Amy, as you looked at the events of this morning, what are your feelings about it? Is it a victory for the protesters?
KREMER: Well, you know, I mean, if they view it as a victory, I guess, you know, that's certainly up to them. But I personally, you know, everybody wants to compare these two movements, and we do agree that, you know, we're all mad as heck about the bailout, but aside from that, I don't see that we have a lot in common.
You know, I respect their first amendment rights, their right to be there. I certainly respect that, but what is their objective? That's the difference in the Tea Party Movement and "Occupy Wall Street." We have a clear and defined objective.
And, you know, I -- as I said, I respect their right to be there, but, Carol, we're all mad about the bank bailouts. But you know what? It was Washington's regulations and policies that allowed them to be bailed out.
They're against capitalism, but if capitalism -- you know, flourishes, it would have allowed the banks that weren't successful to fail. That's a free market society.
COSTELLO: Amy, I do understand that. There is an interesting thing happening online, however. The Tea Party and many groups including yours are posting pictures of the worst of the protesters on Wall Street.
And they're contrasting them with the best of the protesters during the height of the Tea Party Movement. You're even asking people for money. You're raising money this way. I mean, why are you doing this?
KREMER: Carol, we have to defend our movement. The media -- I'm sorry, with all due respect, the media has demonized the tea Party Movement from the beginning. We have never had any arrests. We've never had -- there's never been a news report with an anchor saying, the showdown between the police and the protesters has come to an end.
There's never been that. We have been demonized from the beginning. There were 700 arrests two weeks ago. I mean, this movement -- the "Occupy Wall Street" is nothing like the Tea Party Movement and we need every day, average Americans to understand that.
COSTELLO: OK. I'm going to --
KREMER: Completely different.
COSTELLO: I'm going to ask Dan to respond because I know CNN has gotten a lot of pushback from the protesters on Wall Street for our coverage of the events saying that we've vilified the protesters?
CANTOR: Well, let's step back just for a moment. She's entitled to her opinion. Obviously, there was that famous moment when Tea Party protesters actually spit on some Congress people. So let's not --
KREMER: No, that never happened. That was never proven.
CANTOR: So let's be clear here. I didn't interrupt you so I'm going to continue here. Listen, this bank situation, the bailout, was a gigantic moment in American history. The Tea Party got mad at the government.
We're saying the banks who gambled with our money, but then we're rewarded for it should pay their fair share. We're not going to be able to reduce the unemployment rate. One of 10, one out of 11 Americans can't find work.
We're in a disaster right now. Our democracy is in peril in some ways because with Citizens United, the amount of corporate cash that is washing through the system, it's too much.
COSTELLO: I think many Americans completely understand that, but Amy's saying that it's unclear what these protesters want. There is no goal?
CANTOR: No, no. I think it is quite clear. They've done us a great service, right? They've changed the conversation in America to the problem is the government in Washington to the problem is Wall Street and the way we have society in which a tiny fraction of the people are gaining immense wealth while the middle class and working class and poor pick up the tab.
COSTELLO: Right. So what's the answer?
CANTOR: Obviously, you need to re-regulate the banks heavily. The reason we're in this mess was the deregulation of both the Clinton and Bush years. Obama inherited it, made some mistakes, did some things right. The point is what do we do with society?
Our view is that we're actually in this together. If we are in this together, we need to ask ourselves what are the things that can allow people to have decent and secure lives?
Don't destroy their pensions. Provide health care. Have opportunity for young people. If you went down to Zuccotti Park, you'd be amazed as the energy, love and good humor there.
COSTELLO: And Amy, I'll give you the last word. Go ahead?
KREMER: Carol, I have to say, and Dan, with all due respect, you represent a pack, and your pack has taken money from people from packs, pack to pack donations that voted for these bailouts. So I'm all for sending the right people to Washington.
Wall Street is not the problem. Washington is the problem. Washington has spent us into oblivion. They're drunk on spending and power. We need to send conservatives, fiscal conservatives to Washington. That's what this Tea Party Movement is about.
It's not about electing Republicans or Democrats. It's about sending fiscal conservatives to Washington and when you are taking money from people that voted for the bailouts, I simply don't understand how you can stand out there and say this.
COSTELLO: A fantastic debate, but we have to end right now. You both have been very enlightening. I think this has really helped at least maybe, you know, expand our national conversation. That's what we're all about. Amy Kremer and Dan Cantor, thanks to you both for joining us this morning.
KREMER: Thanks for having me.
COSTELLO: Thank you -- Christine.
ROMANS: Fascinating. Up next on AMERICAN MORNING, we've told you all about the new bank fees, how unpopular they are. Well, now one lawmaker wants to make it easier for you to switch banks so you can let your money walk out the door. We'll talk about that next. It's 39 minutes after the hour.
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ROMANS: Good morning, Washington, D.C., light rain and 66 degrees right now. It's only going up a few more degrees, 69 later and thunderstorms.
Welcome back. A lot of people have been asking, where, when will it stop? Banks raising debit card fees. First to $3 then $4, and now $5 a month. Last week, we spoke to Molly Katchpole. She started an online petition calling for Bank of America to cancel its $5 a month debit card fee and she sparked a small movement.
She made the point that has been rebroadcast again and again. She's 22 years old. She's got two part-time jobs. She cannot afford to pay $60 a month to use her own money. She's here with us this morning again.
And as well as Democratic Congressman Brad Miller from North Carolina. Congressman Miller just introduced legislation that would make it easier for people to switch their banks. Sorry, didn't mean to switch your party. It was obviously a typo.
I was actually surprised by that typo, but nice to see you both this morning. Molly, you've gotten some momentum behind the movement here. My last account, you were well above 200,000 people signing your petition. You've heard from Bank of America. They say it would be premature to end this debit card fee. Have you found a new bank?
MOLLY KATCHPOLE, ONLINE ACTIVIST: Yes, I have. I am with a smaller community bank in D.C. right now.
ROMANS: No fees? No scary gotchas? No fees in there and you're not worried about any of them lurking around the corner?
KATCHPOLE: No.
ROMANS: Tell you, Molly, that a lot of small community banks are looking exactly for people exactly like you so are credit unions because they are actually not for profit. You can get money back at the end of the year.
But it's difficult, Congressman Miller, sometimes to fire your bank. I fired my bank five or six years ago and it was really a pain. This is one of the reasons why people say, you know, they're mad at Bank of America or they're mad at other banks. But it's too difficult to walk away. You want to change that?
REP. BRAD MILLER (D), NORTH CAROLINA: It really is, and it's intentionally sticky. A lot of what the banks do for you now are convenient, but they also are very deliberately making it difficult for you to leave.
When your pay is deposited automatically into your bank account and other benefit checks, and then, you know, all of your automatic deductions, pay a lot of your bills like your mortgage, student loan, car payments, whatever else.
If you want to change your banks, the bank, you really need to have like a nine-day transition to make sure you don't miss paying some of your bills.
ROMANS: And sometimes you can close that bank account and then all of a sudden, you realize that there's a $13 fee on there for something you don't understand. You have to go to a branch and fill out some paperwork. Then they send you a paper check in the mail. They won't accept, in some cases, a check to close your account. If do you have a balance you owe them, they want a money order or something. Do you think legislation is the solution here?
MILLER: Well, they do intentionally make it hard for you to move your account. And it ought to be easy. You ought to be able to walk into a new bank -- first of all, ought to be able to tell what the best deal for you is. It ought to be clear, plain English, standardized. You ought know what the bank's services are, what they charge, and you ought to be able to comparison shop and pick the best bank or credit union for you. You go there, go to that new bank, new credit union, say, I want to move my account here, and they ought to be able to hand you the phone, call your old bank, tell them you're closing the account. That's really all you have to do. The new bank takes over from there to make sure you're not missing transferring any bills. The old bank has to transfer any money you've got in your account.
ROMANS: Yes.
MILLER: Electronically, if your pay is deposited in your old bank, they have to forward that immediately. And they have to make sure there is a smooth transition in paying your bills.
ROMANS: Molly --
MILLER: There's no excuse for it having it be as sticky as it is.
ROMANS: Molly, was it sticky for you at Bank of America, to fire Bank of America? What did you have to do?
MOLLY KATCHPOLE, ACTIVIST: It was. I had just deposited my rent check a couple days before. Electrical bills, Internet, cable, things like that, I was a little bit worried about overdraft fees?
ROMANS: Did you get hit with any overdraft fees or did it work out in the end?
KATCHPOLE: It worked out in the end.
ROMANS: I'll tell what a dirty little secret is. The banks know, by our own behavior, that we don't really walk away. We complain and don't walk away. If you look at what we do, our behavior -- and I'm not blaming the victim. I'm just saying, if you look at the ATM fees we pay, out of not work, we pay ATM fees, it's almost as if the banks know we have a high threshold for pain.
Do you think, Congressman, that that has changed? That after the Great Recession, we're just not going to accept pain to use our own money the way we have done for so many years?
MILLER: I think if we can introduce real competition by having consumers be able to compare and figure out the best deal and then make it easy to change. No other bank, no other business in America announces what they're going to charge. They worry about whether they're going to lose business. If Wal-Mart makes you unhappy, you can go down the street to Target. Banks appear to not have to worry about that. We need to introduce real competition. The way to do it is to make it easy, first of all, to tell what the best deal is, and then easy to change.
ROMANS: All right, Molly Katchpole, online activist, who has really sparked a following because of her anger at Bank of America.
Also Congressman Brad Miller, Democrat from North Carolina.
Very nice to see both of you today. Have a nice weekend, both of you.
MILLER: Thank you. You, too.
KATCHPOLE: Thank you.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: All right, your morning headlines are next.
Plus, Muhammed Ali ripped off. The greatest claiming a couple scammed him and sold him a money pit.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: That's just wrong.
VELSHI: Yes.
COSTELLO: Also our "Talk Back" question of the day, should companies rear interviews with minority job candidates? Oh, you responded to that one. We'll read your responses next.
ROMANS: And today's "Roman's Numeral," 8 percent. Here's a hint. It's a story with your name all over it, Mr. Harry Pitts.
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: What?
ROMANS: We'll explain. It's very funny.
48 after the hour. VELSHI: What did you say?
COSTELLO: Harry Pitts.
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VELSHI: 49 minutes after the hour. Here are your morning headlines.
Breaking news. A standoff in New York City between New York police and Occupy Wall Street protesters has been averted. The city had ordered demonstrators to leave Zuccotti Park by 7:00 this morning so work crews could come in and clean it. The clean up was postponed by the company that owns the park just before the deadline. The city does say the decision was made by the firm that owns the park.
U.S stock futures are sharply higher this morning. The recent rally on Wall Street took a breather yesterday. The markets were mixed after a lackluster earnings report from JPMorgan Chase.
President Obama and President Lee, of South Korea, will begin -- will visit a G.M. auto plant later today. Last night, Lee and his wife were honored at a steak dinner at the White House.
The CEO of the solar energy company, Solyndra, has resigned. Solyndra received a $535 million loan guarantee from the Obama administration before it filed for bankruptcy in August.
The publisher of the "Wall Street Journal's" European edition forced to retire -- forced to resign because of a circulation scandal. "The Guardian" claims the "Wall Street Journal" may have channeled through European companies to buy thousands of copies of its own paper to secretly boost its circulation.
Muhammed Ali suing the former owners of his Kentucky mansion, saying they sold him a money pit. Ali and his wife bought it for $1.9 million five years ago. They claim they were never told about a number of problems, like mold and leaks.
A human rights group slamming actors Hilary Swank and Jean Claude van Damme for attending a birthday party for Chechnya leader, Ramzam Kadyrov, an accused torturer. Swank said she didn't know that that was the primary reason for the event, and she deeply regrets attending.
And the man who co-wrote the country rock classic "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" has died. The long-time keyboard player and vocalist for the Charlie Daniels Band, Joel "Taz" DiGregorio, was killed in a single-car crash in Tennessee. He was 67 years old.
(SINGING)
VELSHI: That's the news you need to start your day. AMERICAN MORNING is back after this break.
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COSTELLO: Oh, Harry?
VELSHI: Good morning, Atlanta! It is sunny and -- sunny somewhere in this country.
(LAUGHTER)
Sunny and 55 degrees. And later on it will be sunny and 77 degrees in Atlanta. What a lovely, lovely day to be in that beautiful city.
ROMANS: OK, I have a very fun "Roman's Numeral" for you today. It's a number in the news, Carol and Ali and Christine, and that number is 8 percent.
VELSHI: It has something to do with Harry Pitts.
ROMANS: I know. I said it's for the parents of the guy named Harry Pitts.
VELSHI: Oh.
ROMANS: That's the number of parents that regret the name they've given to their child. This is according to an online study from yourdomainname.com.
(LAUGHTER)
Funny, right? Usually, it's the kid that regrets the name.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: If your name is Harry Pitts, somebody should be regretting that very fast.
ROMANS: Actually, it's baby naming remorse. Most parents say they have second thoughts because they went with the trendy name at the time. Maybe the poll was done in Hollywood. Parents are now willing to go out and change a name more than ever because they are sending kids out into a very competitive world, and mom and dads of multiples also worry how their kids sound together. They are going for trendy names and then they are also really disappointed when they think they have a unique name and they go to the playground and everyone has it.
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: That was a good number.
COSTELLO: Gwyneth Paltrow may now regret naming her child Apple.
ROMANS: I never met another Apple, however.
(LAUGHTER)
VELSHI: Very unique.
COSTELLO: The only names that I know, like Harry Pitts, that you can't say on television.
ROMANS: Yes, that's true but --
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: But are they real names?
ROMANS: Carol, Christine and Ali, we could not be more common names.
VELSHI: That's true.
(LAUGHTER)
ROMANS: Are parents were not really stretching very far for very of us.
VELSHI: That's a good number. I like that.
ROMANS: All right, late night comedian, Conan O'Brien, je had something to say about this too. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONAN O'BRIEN, HOST, LATE NIGHT WITH CONAN O'BRIEN: According to a new survey that just came out, 10 percent -- this is a lot -- 10 percent of all parents regret the name they gave their baby.
(LAUGHTER)
Yes. Well, I, for one, want to come clean here. I have no regrets about my two little angels, Kanye and Snooki.
(LAUGHTER)
Daddy loves you. Go to bed, Kanye.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: So be careful about those trendy names. You never know.
(CROSSTALK)
COSTELLO: Snooki O'Brien does sound good together though.
(LAUGHTER)
ROMANS: That does sound funny.
VELSHI: Oh, OK.
COSTELLO: OK. Now, to our "Talk Back" question of the morning. We asked you this morning, should companies require interviews with minority job candidates. This from Andrew, "As a Mexican-American, this requirement would be degrading to me and all other minorities. As a potential employee, I don't want to get an interview mainly because of my minority status. I want to feel as through I have the qualifications and not just be part of some cliche affirmative action policy. If you are a minority trying to get a job, you should be more driven to get the job because, after all, you do have more to prove."
This from Edwin, "I believe a person should get an interview for a possible job based on experience, qualifications and education. I am a minority and I feel that all races should be on an even playing field. If not, then you are discriminating against one race to cater to another. How is that fair"?
This from Sarah, "The positive results in the NFL prove that there are qualified minorities who are routinely not offered an interview for high-level positions. When the minorities are offered interviews, the hiring personnel realize what they have to offer to the team. Mr. Robert Johnson is suggesting that companies voluntarily adopt a practice of always interviewing at least one minority for each position. I agree with him."
Keep the comments coming, Facebook.com/Americanmorning.
ROMANS: Top stories next, including Occupy Wall Street protesters, they are staying put in Zuccotti Park. We'll have a live report from there.
It's -- those are live pictures you're watching, by the way.
It's 56 minutes after the hour.
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