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American Morning
Police Break Up Occupy Wall Street Protest in Oakland, California; President to Use Executive Authority to Promote Parts of Economic Plan; Trial of Michael Jackson's Doctor Continues; Bracing for Hurricane Rina; Can Rich Politicians Relate to Ordinary Americans?; "Occupy" Chaos; Obama to Offer Student Loan Relief; Bracing for Rina; Gadhafi's U.S. Victims Demand Justice; Joe Versus The Reporter; Cain Gains; Dust Storm Crashes Wedding; Moving Halloween?; Creating Jobs in America; Interview with Rep. McCarthy; Obama Wants to Speed Up 10-Forgiveness on Student Loans; Things Than Can Go Wrong with MRIs
Aired October 26, 2011 - 06:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): From Oakland to Atlanta, the Occupy Wall Street protests turned ugly overnight as riot police cracked down on crowds and demonstrators.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Bright and broke. President Obama now taking steps to help ease the debt burden of college students. We will tell you how he plans to do that.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): And bracing for Hurricane Rina. The storm is gaining strength and on track to hit some of Mexico's most popular tourist areas on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: And good morning, everyone. It's Wednesday, October 26th. Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING.
COSTELLO: Yes. Good Wednesday morning. Only two days until Friday.
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: Good morning. We begin with police and Occupy Wall Street protesters mixing it up in two cities. In Oakland, riot police sprayed demonstrators with tear gas after the crowd hit them with paint.
In Atlanta, police made dozens of arrests as protesters defying the mayor's order to vacate the downtown park where they've been camping out.
CNN's Dan Simon is following developments for us in Oakland, California. Are the protesters still out there, Dan? DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Still a few protesters behind me, Carol. I'm going to step out of the way here. And you can see some from front of the barricades set up by Oakland police. Oakland police still in riot gear, about a dozen or so police officers here behind me. This is sort of the line in the sand. No protesters are going to be allowed past this point.
Just behind those barricades is city hall. That's where these protesters spent the last two weeks as part of an Occupy Wall Street demonstration. At a certain point, authorities here in Oakland got concerned about the safety and the security situation over there at city hall. So they wanted the protesters to disband.
There were 15 days where protesters were over there. So yesterday afternoon police broke up the protest. And that caused a bit of anger. So several hours later about 500 of them tried to reclaim their space, if you will. And that's where they met police with riot gear. Some of the protesters threw paint, threw water bottles at the police, and that's where things got really ugly. You saw tear gas being used by police. There's still a bit of a haze of tear gas in the air. We can feel it. Our CNN crews can feel it.
But things are a bit calm right now, but you get the sense that there's still this passion among these protesters that something could erupt at any moment, because there still are some folks downtown. But right now, things much calmer. Carol?
COSTELLO: So, Dan, did police just want to clean up the area where these protesters have been camping out, or did they want to clear the protesters out for good?
SIMON: They wanted to clear out that area in particular. This is right in front of city hall where people go to work, and it had become a disruption. There was a bit of a tent city and they were worried about the conditions, because they were worried about both the safety over there and they were worried about some of the deteriorating health conditions with people being over there for so long. So they felt like it had gone on long enough and told everybody to leave.
And the protesters felt like you know it was their right to be there. So that's why they descended back on city hall. Unclear where they'll go or how things will sort of development, you know, today and in the hours ahead.
ROMANS: We'll see. Dan Simon, live in Oakland, California this morning.
Here in New York City Occupy Wall Street protesters responding to complaints from residents near Zuccotti Park because of the noise. They agreed to limit drumming to just four hours per day.
COSTELLO: And it may fly in the face of what the occupy movement is all about, but a suburban couple trying to trademark the slogan "Occupy Wall Street" with the intent to sell sweatshirts, T-shirts bumper stickers, and other merchandise.
VELSHI: Well, this afternoon President Obama turns his attention to the struggling college grads who have taken on more debt than they can afford. The president arrived in Denver last night on the last stop on his three day trip out west. This afternoon he'll announce a new plan that amongst other things is designed to reduce student loan rates by allowing grads to consolidate their federal loans. Brianna Keilar is live at the White House with more on this.
Good morning, Brianna. How's this plan going to work?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ali, what the president is really going it announce today is speeding up changes that Congress has already put into effect, changes that were supposed to go into effect in 2014. The president will tout at the University of Colorado that by executive order with executive authority he will accelerate the changes to go into effect next year, so for the class of 2012.
So if you have student loans, if you have kids with those student loans, listen up. Here's how it's going to change. It would reduce monthly payments on those loans to 10 percent of discretionary income. On this repayment plan based on income right now it's at 15 percent. So you can see dropping that to 10 percent will have some effect.
And then also after 20 years of paying on these loans, the debt would be forgiven. Right now that's at 25 years. So it would go to 20 year.
And, also, there are a lot of people who have multiple kinds of federal loans, and if they have two or month kinds this would allow them to actually consolidate those loans with a lower interest rate.
And, again, Ali, this would kick in starting 2012, so for the class of 2012. And something that's very interesting for folks who are unemployed, and paying on student loans. They would actually see certainly in 2012 and beyond, they would actually not have to pay that monthly payment while they're unemployed and, and therefore they wouldn't be at risk of default, would be the hope.
VELSHI: Let's talk about the process for a second. How is it the president does this and gets it by Congress?
KEILAR: Well, he just bypasses Congress. That's the point. And this is what the White House is touting, that he's using his executive authority to do this. We've also seen him do this on housing this week. It's part of the president's slogan, as he's on this three-day western swing called "We can't wait."
As you know, the president is under a tremendous amount of pressure to do something on the economy, but of course he does have opposition in Congress from Republicans who say they don't like some of his approaches. And so he's basically saying, you know what, I'm going right by you. I have some authority to do certain things. I'm going to do it. We can't wait. I'm being stymied by Congress, but I'm not going to let that get in the way. You can see that is the political argument certainly he's making this week, Ali.
VELSHI: Brianna, we'll follow that closely with today. Thanks so much. Brianna Keilar in Washington.
Coming up next hour we'll talk more about President Obama's student relief plan with education secretary Arne Duncan.
COSTELLO: President Obama sitting down with Jay Leno during his three-day swing through Colorado, Nevada, and California. He made his fourth appearance on "The Tonight Show" last night, his second as president. Jay joked with the president about his sagging approving rating and also asked what the first lady plans to give to trick-or- treaters next week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY LENO, HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW": The approval rating, the bad news is your approval rating is 41 percent.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Right.
LENO: The good news is you're still three times better than Congress. They're at 13 percent.
(LAUGHTER)
LENO: So explain -- you're killing, killing!
(LAUGHTER)
OBAMA: Halloween's coming up, and she's been giving for the last few years kids fruit and raisins in a bag. And I said, you know, the White House is going to get egged.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(LAUGHTER)
ROMANS: The president was about 10 minutes late for this taping. His motorcade got stuck in a traffic jam on Highway 101. For some reason, the security team failed to shut down the freeway. Oops.
VELSHI: Get egged. I like that.
COSTELLO: I don't think so, though.
Rick Perry may be having second thoughts about his decision to resurrect the birther debate. The Texas governor recently told "Parade" magazine he still has doubts about the authenticity of the president's birth certificate. But Listen to Perry deflect the issue where confronted at a campaign stop in South Carolina by CNN's Jim Acosta.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIM ACOSTA, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Just curious, what will it take you to convince you that the president was born in this country?
GOV. RICK PERRY, (R-TX) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'll cut you off right there. That is one of the biggest distractions that there is going. We need to be talking about jobs. Somebody wants to see my birth certificate, I'd be happy to show it to them. But the fact is that is a distraction.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: When asked why he raised the issue of the president's birth certificate in the first place, Perry said, quote, "It's fun to poke at him," meaning the president.
VELSHI: Also new this morning, another dramatic rescue as crews work nonstop in the search for survivors of Sunday's devastating earthquake. Overnight a 27-year-old woman was pulled from the ruins of a building, that rescue coming 66 hours after the 7.2 earthquake demolished the eastern part of country, killing more than 460 people. We're also learning of an 18-year-old who was pulled alive from a collapsed building. He'd been trapped for almost 61 hours.
ROMANS: Former "60 Minutes" commentator Andy Rooney is said to be in stable condition after suffering what CBS calls serious complications during minor surgery. The 92-year-old made his last regular appearance on the newsmagazine earlier this month.
COSTELLO: This morning, the defense of the Michael Jackson death trial will attempt to repair what the prosecution spent more than two weeks tearing down, presenting witness whose will attest to the that can't Dr. Conrad Murray saves lives. CNN's Ted Rowlands is in Los Angeles.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: When court resumes we expect the defense to bring in character witnesses to try to rehabilitate Dr. Conrad Murray's reputation in front of the jury. We were expecting them yesterday. They didn't get to them so they'll do it today.
Yesterday we did hear from a nurse, Cherilyn Lee. She had a bit of a shaky time on the stand. In fact for a while she had to get off the stand because she wasn't feeling well. She did tell the jury that Michael Jackson asked her for Propofol in February of the year he died. The defense is using her to establish Jackson was seeking this Propofol from multiple people and was after it and would get it at any cost. That's the theory. The prosecution used this witness it to establish once again that nobody should have been giving Jackson Propofol at all.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You were not willing to give Michael Jackson the Propofol or IV drip, correct?
CHERILYN LEE, NURSE: Absolutely not.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because what you had learned is that it could kill him potentially.
LEE: Yes. It wasn't used for home setting. It wasn't a sleep aid.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And after this meeting, in your observations and the conversations you relayed on April 19th, you never saw Mr. Jackson again, did you?
LEE: No.
ROWLANDS: The other big witness yesterday for the defense, Randy Phillips, the CEO of AEG, the company that was putting on the Jackson concert promotion. He testified what was going on in weeks before Michael Jackson died. And specifically he told the jury that he became so concerned about Jackson's behavior that he actually told Dr. Conrad Murray about Dr. Arnold Klein.
RANDY PHILLIPS, CEO, AEG: This one meeting he just seemed a little distracted, not focused. After the meeting as we were leaving, I asked Michael Amir Williams, I said, if everything OK? Out of concern. And he said, no. He just came from Dr. Klein's office. And I didn't know what that meant. But that's what he said.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You didn't know what kind of treatment or -- what Dr. Klein was giving Michael Jackson?
PHILLIPS: No. I just said he had seen Dr. Klein, he's his principle physician I thought he should know in case Michael hadn't told him, he should know he was seeing another doctor.
ROWLANDS: Janet Jackson was back in court yesterday along with most of Jackson family. We expect that the defense will wrap up the case on Thursday when they bring on their expert witness, Dr. Paul White. We then expect either a rebuttal case from the prosecution or possibly closing arguments on Friday. Guys?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI: Still to come this morning, hurricane Rina is gaining strength. It heads towards Mexico's Caribbean coast and its most popular tourist destination. We'll have a live report from Cancun just ahead.
ROMANS: And which GOP candidate would people most like to have dinner with? The answer is ahead.
You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. It's about 12 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. Hurricane Rina on the verge of becoming a category three. That's a major storm, and it's headed right for Mexico's most popular tourist areas. This is what Rina looks like from space. She's big. Meantime, they're battening down the hatches in Cancun. That's where CNN's Rafael Romo is this morning. He joins us on the phone. So what are people doing to prepare for this storm? This monster looks like it will hit some very popular tourist destinations there.
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SENIOR LATIN AMERICAN AFFAIRS EDITOR (via telephone): That's right, Christine.
Well, there was an emergency meeting last night where officials said that there are about 83,000 tourists in the Cancun area. Not only here in the City of Cancun where I am, but also in what is known as the Riviera Maya. Many of those tourists, Christine, are Americans.
And I was at the airport last night and I saw that many of them are just trying to get out as fast as they can. The bad news is that if they didn't arrange a flight yesterday afternoon, chances are that they wouldn't be able to get out today. I was talking to a tourist from Spain who told me that she tried very, very hard last night to get a flight and she wasn't able to.
And so right now the fear is that Hurricane Rina packing winds of 110 miles an hour may become a Category 3 hurricane, which would be devastating for this part of Mexico. Residents here remember Hurricane Wilma in 2005, how it paralyzed this beach resort. It was -- it took a year for them to recover. So they're just hoping that it will go in a different direction and not hit Cancun and especially Cozumel, which by the way has been evacuated already, and so that they wouldn't have to face this directly, Christine.
ROMANS: Two questions, Rafael, when are they expecting landfall, first, and second, if these American and foreign tourists can't get out, what are they supposed to do? We'll they be hunkering down in their hotels?
ROMO: There's about 54 shelters open in the City of Cancun itself. There are shelters in 11 hotels in the main tourist area. So officials are really not concerned that these tourists are not going to have a place where they can be protected when the hurricane comes here, but the reality of it, like I said, if they haven't made any flight arrangements by now, chances are they're going to have to stay here.
Regarding the other question, it's just very difficult to tell at this point. Officials here say that it's -- landfall is expected to happen anytime between midnight tonight and sunrise Thursday morning. And, again, there's still a chance that it may turn to the east and not be as severe to this part of Mexico as it can be, but, still, almost a Category 3 packing winds of 110 miles per hour -- Christine.
ROMANS: I mean, reaching back to comparing anything with Wilma, you know, that people are very, very worried. Rafael Romo, thank you so much, Rafael.
VELSHI: All right. It's 18 minutes after the hour. Time to check in with Rob.
Rob, there's some chance of this -- of this hurricane moving east again, and getting parts of Florida.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That's true. And, you know, it develop -- and you speak of Wilma. It developed in the same spot Wilma developed six years ago. Didn't quite intensify as quickly, but it's becoming -- rivaling that strength, may become a Category 3 storm or higher in the next day or two.
And the initial course of this is going to bring it towards the Eastern Coast of the Yucatan, which is very, very Wilma-like. We'll hopefully keep it below Wilma strength, that is likely to happen, and hopefully we'll keep it away from the U.S. We can't guarantee that yet, right?
Right now, winds of 110 miles an hour westly (ph) moving at five. Here's the forecast track. Pretty confident over the next two days. And like Rafael spoke of, we expect this to make landfall early tomorrow as a Category 3 storm. Cozumel, Cancun right in the eye of it and then likely steering off towards the east and weakening somewhat.
But if it maintains its strength, it's likely that it goes a little bit farther north. That's the bad news. So we're hoping for a weakening and keeping it farther to the south. But a lot of uncertainty here. A lot of uncertainty once we get this thing past Cancun, Mexico.
All right, a little bit closer to home of more immediate interest, showers rolling across parts of the Great Lakes, and a snowstorm, that would be typical of November or even December, in parts of Colorado. And these are some of the high plains. This isn't in the front range or in the higher terrain. Really, Colorado over 10 inches of snow already and Loveland seeing seven inches of snow as well. And we'll see probably a lot more than that as we go through the day today. Especially along the front range where we could easily see over a foot.
Just two days ago we were up and over 80 degrees in Denver; 31 degrees with a high temperature today, with winter storm warnings posted. So there's your storm, kind of combined with a little bit of energy the next couple of days and a potential for seeing some snow across the interior parts of the northeast does exists although it will be far away from larger cities. So if you're traveling from the larger cities today, New York, Philly, Denver, those are going to be the problem spots because of the showers and, of course, the snow.
And -- well, the President of the United States, scheduled to be in Denver today. I think he may have some issues as well with travel there, guys.
COSTELLO: What was it? Eighty degrees in Denver a couple days ago?
MARCIANO: Yes, yes. Love this time of year. COSTELLO: It's weird.
ROMANS: Thanks, Rob.
MARCIANO: See you.
COSTELLO: Thank you, Rob.
Now's your chance to "Talk Back" on one of the big stories of the day. The question for you this morning -- can rich politicians relate to ordinary Americans?
Rick Perry thinks not. On CNBC, Perry went there to describe Mitt Romney.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICK PERRY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I would say that he ought to go look in the mirror, I guess. I consider him to be a fat cat.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Oh, Perry called Romney a fat cat. That term is quite toxic these days.
A CNN/ORC Poll proves that. The vast majority of Americans think Wall Street bankers are dishonest, greedy and overpaid. And although Romney is not a banker, he's as rich as one, worth up to $250 million.
Something not only Perry points out but Liberals, too. Check out the cover of "New York" magazine. That's Romney in his younger days promoting his former company, Bain Capital. He's got money bursting from his suit jacket.
But hold on. Just because a guy is rich doesn't mean he's heartless. Romney says his business savvy can create what working Americans need the most.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: For me, one of the key criteria -- criteria in looking at tax policy is to make sure that we help the people that need the help most, and in our country, the people who need the help most are not the poor, who have a safety net. Not the rich, who are doing just fine, but the middle class.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: But the left and the right hope that toxic term will stick -- Mitt Romney, fat cat.
"Talk Back" question for you this morning -- can rich politicians relate to ordinary Americans? Facebook.com/AmericanMorning, Facebook.com/AmericanMorning. I'll read your comments later this hour. ROMANS: All right. Still to come this morning, if you're in the market for a new car or maybe an SUV, we have the new list of the most reliable vehicles right now on the market. We'll have that for you.
VELSHI: You'll be surprised what's --
ROMANS: The number one.
VELSHI: -- what's making the list on that one.
Plus, the world is watching and waiting for the outcome of an emergency meeting in Europe. What it means for your finances and for America's recovery.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Twenty-five minutes after the hour. "Minding Your Business" this morning.
Right now, U.S. stock futures are trading higher. Markets took a hit yesterday. The Dow dropped 1.7 percent as fears about Europe's debt kicked up again towards the end of trading day.
Today is the day investors have been waiting for. All 27 leaders of the European Union will meet in Brussels to come up with a grand plan to save the eurozone. The big question, how much of the debt burden from faltering countries like Greece and Spain will be transferred to Europe's largest banks? Details of the plan are expected to be announced later this afternoon.
Ford Motor Company just announced that it earned $1. 6 billion in the third quarter, that is the ninth straight profitable quarter for the company. Ford is the tenth largest corporation in America. It's one of those blue chip stocks that could be in your 401(k).
Consumer reports is out with a list of most reliable cars, trucks and SUVs. Among the cars that ranked the highest in their category, the Mazda 3 was named the most reliable small car. The Ford Fusion Hybrid, the top family car and the Toyota Highlander, the most reliable mid-sized SUV.
"Harry Potter" films may soon magically vanish from store shelves. According to "Entertainment Weekly," Warner Brothers will soon stop shipping "Harry Potter" videos. The idea makes it possible for the studio to re-release the films for a limited time.
What's the "it" gift this year for Christmas? A tablet computer. Study shows at least that's the top choice for gadget. And get this, tablet computers actually beat out peace, happiness and money this year on people's wish lists.
Don't forget, for the very latest news about your money, check out the all-new CNNMoney.com.
AMERICAN MORNING right back after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: All right. Welcome back to the half hour. Top stories now, it's been a night long a game of cat and mouse between riot police and "Occupy Wall Street" protesters in Oakland.
Police tear gased the crowd after getting hit with paint. You can see the paint on some of the helmets of the riot police. Demonstrators have defied a ban that formed outside of city hall.
Meantime, dozens of "Occupy Atlanta" protesters were arrested after they refused the mayor's order to leave a downtown park.
VELSHI: Today, President Obama is expected to announce a plan to help college graduates who are drowning in debt. Among the proposals, encourage students to consolidate their federal loans and reduce their interest rates.
COSTELLO: And Hurricane Rina gaining strength as it heads towards Mexico's Caribbean Coast. It's near Category 3 strength right now with winds almost 125 miles an hour. It's expected to reach the Mexican Resort City of Cancun sometime tomorrow.
ROMANS: All right, during a reign of terror standing four decades, Moammar Gadhafi was able to reach far beyond the borders of Libya to spill the blood of Americans.
Now that he's gone, there's dancing in the streets of Tripoli. A battle has been won there with real hope for a better tomorrow.
VELSHI: There's an interesting twist here. For hundreds of victims of Libyan-sponsored terrorism living here in the United States, the fight is just beginning.
CNN's Alina Cho with a special "In-Depth" report this morning. I didn't even about - -- I haven't really thought this side of the story.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and you know, all you have to say is Lockerbie.
VELSHI: Right.
CHO: Pan Am 103, the flight that exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland. You know, we're talking about nine terrorist attacks in all, more than 200 victims.
You know, back in 2008, the U.S. government under President George W. Bush made a deal with the Libyans. Gadhafi gave up $1.5 billion to compensate U.S. victims of Libyan-sponsored terrorism.
In exchange, the victims who had filed lawsuits against Libya agreed to drop those claims. At the time, it seemed like a pretty good deal, but now some are calling this a deal with the devil.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHO (voice-over): These victims came to us with their stories of horror.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I saw people dying in front of me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My kids ask about him a lot, and --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I look at my hand, I had skin and blood.
CHO: Maria Diaz was just 15 when she and her aunt were caught in the crossfire in the 1972 airport attack in Tel-Aviv. Diaz was hit way grenade. Her aunt, just six years older, 21, and newly engaged, was killed.
MARIA DIAZ, LIBYAN TERROR VICTIM: I would have given anything for that to happen to me, not to her.
CHO: After all these years, this is Diaz' first TV interview.
DIAZ: Four minutes, and it changed my whole life.
CHO: In the nearly 40 years since, Diaz says she still has pain in her legs, has endured eight surgeries and has not seen a penny of the money the U.S. government promised she would get.
Money that is supposed to be taken from a $1.5 billion fund set up to compensate victims of Libyan-sponsored terrorism. Instead what Diaz got was this letter from the U.S. Treasury Department saying she would eventually get a pro-rated payment, 20 percent of what she is due.
(on camera): How much of the money have you seen?
DIAZ: At this point, I haven't seen any.
CHO (voice-over): The problem, say these victims, is that the government miscalculated, and that there's not enough money left in the compensation fund for more than 200 victims, an estimated shortfall of $350 million.
But the State Department says it's too early to say there will be any shortfall. The State Department would not go on camera, but told CNN, quote, "it is premature to determine that there will be a shortage of settlement funds. Roughly half the claims are still being processed."
(on camera): Some of the money was distributed to some of the victims.
JONATHAN POLLACK, LIBYAN TERROR VICTIM: Lockerbie, and Labelle Discotheque, which at the time, as you probably recall were the attacks that most people knew about.
CHO: The most high profile.
POLLACK: The most high profile attack. There were a lot of attacks that most people don't recall.
CHO (voice-over): Like the one in which Jonathan Pollack was injured at the Rome airport in 1985.
POLLACK: If you were injured, you are entitled to $3 million. If were you killed, $10 million, your family, of course, for wrongful death.
CHO (on camera): So you thought, OK, eventually I'll get this money.
POLLACK: I did.
CHO (voice-over): Pollack has received $600,000, but it's 20 percent of what he's owed.
SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: That's insulting. To say you'll get a prorated amount now and not guaranteeing that you'll get the whole amount later is insulting.
CHO: Neither Pollack nor Diaz were among those who sued Libya for damages, but they are entitled to claims from the same fund under a law Congress passed to cover victims of state-sponsored terrorism.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We did fight in federal court.
CHO: Alex Alemanestianu was a litigant in the historic case that led to the U.S.-Libyan agreement to compensate victims. He lost his father on UTA Flight 772 when it exploded over the African desert in September 1989. His family has been paid $2 million of the $10 million that was owed to them.
ALEX ALIMANESTIANU, LIBYAN TERROR VICTIM: I blame the U.S. government. I mean, clearly, they didn't do their homework and were rushing to make a deal with the devil. The amount of the money is no really the issue. It's really about justice.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: What is interesting about this case is that the victims say there is actually an easy solution, easy for them, at least. Senator Charles Schumer and others told us, there's $32 billion in frozen Libyan assets. And that some of that money should just go to the victims. It amounts to about 1 percent of the $32 billion, if you're talking about --
VELSHI: There are a whole lot of Libyans who were saying, we'd really like some of the money.
CHO: Well, of course, and in fact, the National Transitional Council, they are transitioning to democracy in Libya. Of course, they want that money. COSTELLO: But who froze the assets? I mean, did the United States? And if the United States froze the assets, do we have the power to hold some of that money back?
CHO: Well, it's still being worked out. Right now, what the State Department tells us is that the Libyan government lays claim to those assets. Things could change, of course, as these claims get adjudicated.
But, you know, these victims, you see this man who lost his father. It was 22 years ago, and I said to him, you know, it really never does go away, does it?
And he still chokes up. He's a man who's 52 years old. What they tell me is that, this is more than just about the money. This is Gadhafi's money. This is our one way of getting back at this man.
VELSHI: Right.
CHO: And at the time that we interviewed them, Gadhafi hadn't been killed. It was just a few days earlier and they said, he'll get his.
VELSHI: And they'd like to get their money.
CHO: They would like to get their money.
VELSHI: Alina Cho, thank you.
COSTELLO: In other news this morning, Vice President Joe Biden is going after a reporter from a conservative news organization who confronted him last week about using a rape reference in a speech.
Reporter Jason Mattera questioned Biden about his claim that rape and other crimes would rise if Republicans voted down the president's jobs bill.
Biden is now asking a Senate official to investigate whether the reporter misrepresented himself to get access to the vice president.
ROMANS: Herman Cain solidifying his position as the frontrunner in the GOP presidential polls. He just finished first in a CBS/"New York Times" poll, four points ahead of Mitt Romney.
Here's something else to consider. In another poll, Cain finished seven points ahead of Newt Gingrich and 12 points ahead of Romney when GOP voters were asked which candidate they most likely to have dinner with. We guessed it.
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: I know.
VELSHI: An Arizona couple didn't wait for the dust to settle before saying their I do. Check out what happened while they were getting married. Look at that, a huge dust storm. As I like to say, a haboob crashed their wedding ceremony. Look at that.
I mean, honestly. The couple refused to go inside. They made it through, even though the bride was no longer wearing white. The video made the newlyweds an internet sensation. Look at that.
COSTELLO: Her hair is remaining pinned up on her head. That's amazing.
VELSHI: That part that is pinned.
ROMANS: Look at the bridesmaid handing her flowers.
VELSHI: Look at the umbrella. Look at the dirt. That's crazy.
ROMANS: It's a good wedding --
VELSHI: -- haboob.
ROMANS: It will be a good story for years to come.
COSTELLO: Trick or treat. A Connecticut state lawmaker wants to change the date of Halloween to ensure it always falls on a weekend.
ROMANS: What?
COSTELLO: Bear with me now. He's proposing the last Saturday in October be designated as Halloween. He says the day would be less stressful for parents.
VELSHI: That's true.
COSTELLO: Safer for trick-or-treaters and good for the economy.
VELSHI: There would be parties because you know, grown-ups without kids are not having a Monday night party for Halloween. And if it were the last Saturday in Halloween, this year it would fall on a Saturday, the 29th of October, which is -- what else is going on the 29th? It's a big day. The 29th of October this year. It's my birthday.
ROMANS: You turn 60!
VELSHI: And I don't look a thing over 50. So I would love that. Just have a big Halloween party. We can dress up like each other and celebrate.
ROMANS: Wear a bald wig if you like Ali Velshi.
VELSHI: A pretty standard procedure these days. But today, FDA is examining the risks associated with having an MRI. We're going to talk to Elisabeth Cohen about it.
COSTELLO: And it's being called a game changer in the skies. Boeing's Dreamliner finally made its maiden voyage.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) VELSHI: Republicans are putting some job proposals of their own on the table. Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy says one of them would make it easier for small businesses to grow and to hire more Americans.
Joining me now from Washington is republican Congressman Kevin McCarthy, the majority whip. He's also the co-author of "Young Guns." He's a member of the Financial Services Committee. Congressman McCarthy, thank you for joining us.
REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY (R), CALIFORNIA: Thanks for having me.
VELSHI: You are attempting to address one of the biggest complaints that we constantly hear out there. Christine and I are constantly listening to people saying one of the problems that small businesses have in expanding right now is the inability to raise money. You want to tackle that with your bill. Tell me how?
MCCARTHY: I want to tackle it with my bill because fundamentally, we have a law on the books from 1933 that if you have a great idea, and I started my first business when I was 20 years old.
But the rule says if I want to go find capital outside of a bank, I have to have a pre-existing condition or relationship with any of these individuals.
I didn't know people from the other side of the track, so I have to register with the SEC. We're going it wipe that away. Allow the idea to find the accredited investor to invest in the idea to spur the economy.
VELSHI: Just so our viewers know. An accredited investor is typically the one that invests in venture capital or a hedge fund. It's an investor that has --
MCCARTHY: A credit investor has a million dollars in assets and makes at least $200,000 a year.
VELSHI: Which is what I'm saying that's the typical investor that invests in a hedge fund or a venture capital. They're not the kind of investor that invests in your local small business. So what kind of businesses are you hoping to spur with this?
MCCARTHY: Well, this is the idea. You can now go out, advertise, solicit individuals that have capital like that to invest in your small business.
My small business happened to be when I was 20 years old, a deli. I wanted to expand it. The government was going to hold me back, cost me thousands of dollars to register with the SEC.
Instead of using the internet, going out and say, somebody with money, I have a great idea. Invest with me different than a bank. So I don't have to pay monthly payments. I set the term where it goes and I start new businesses. VELSHI: OK, so it's an interesting idea. Here's my question. Of those businesses that are not expanding, there are a couple of reasons why, right? One is, I don't know how much of it is true, but some say there's uncertainty in health care relations, I'm not expanding. Others say I can't get money from the bank, I'm not going to expand. Others say the demand is not there, I'm not going to expand. How much of the problem of businesses not expanding do you think changing this law will have an affect upon?
REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY, (R-CA), HOUSE MAJORITY WHIP: It's not the end-all, but a big beginning of it. What you'll find, if you go back to the end of the last recession, the beginning of this recession, 2001 to 2007, a good time in America, and you measure job growth, well, if you were a company with 500 employees or fewer you added seven million new jobs. If you had a company with 500 employees or more, you cut one million.
VELSHI: Right.
MCCARTHY: Of those seven million new jobs, 60 percent came from companies five years old or younger. The entrance to the market is too great, you won't have the job growth. If you measure today, start-ups in America are at the 16-year lowest point.
VELSHI: Right.
MCCARTHY: The interest to market is too great. One of that is regulation, one is access to capital. If have a great idea, you want to make sure capital finds its way.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: Let me ask you this then. Let's say you're talking about this deli, for instance.
MCCARTHY: Sure.
VELSHI: We're looking for investors for this deli. You're trying to expand into five delis. Why would that investor, that accredited investor with $1 million or more, why would they choose the deli when that's not really a high-growth industry. And the point I'm trying to make is a lot of the companies that can't get loans from banks are companies that are not high-growth industry and the bank says you're not a great bet.
MCCARTHY: What about when you start out the first deli of a Subway? Stephen Jobs starting out in a garage?
VELSHI: Right.
MCCARTHY: What about Facebook starting in a dorm room? A good idea will find the capital if you unshackle it and allow it to happen. Right now, government makes you register to --
(CROSSTALK) VELSHI: You just gave three examples of companies that did start from virtually nothing and did get all the capital in the world that they needed.
(CROSSTALK)
MCCARTHY: Yes, and how many -- how many thousands of them that had ideas that couldn't get there? How many people had to sell out ahead of time? I'll tell you, in my business itself, when I was going out, the government told me I could not talk to the individual unless I already had a relationship with them.
(CROSSTALK)
MCCARTHY: You know what? I came from the wrong side of the tracks.
VELSHI: You can have family and friends invest in your business. You're saying, if you don't know who they are --
(CROSSTALK)
MCCARTHY: Yes, but if you know my family, we don't have much money.
VELSHI: I hear what you're saying.
MCCARTHY: I needed to have a different family.
VELSHI: I love the fact you're thinking creatively about this. And this is how we have to think about dealing with our jobs problem in this country. But what some accuse the president of doing right now is tinkering around the edges. In fairness, this is tinkering around the edges. I think it's neat.
MCCARTHY: Well, yes --
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: And if you tinker around the edges with 20 different programs, you might create a lot of jobs, right?
MCCARTHY: If small business creates seven million jobs and those big corporations cut one million during those times, I think enhancing anything to small business will help creation.
VELSHI: Which means --
(CROSSTALK)
MCCARTHY: But the other thing --
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: OK, go ahead. MCCARTHY: -- you make a good point. We have an overall plan with the American job creators. We have the forgotten 15 bills sitting in the Senate that would help not only our energy policy but job creation as well. This is just one element that's passing through Financial Services and it comes to the point. These bills can continue to pass and send over to the Senate, nothing will happen. We need to have a long-term plan. This is a small thing that can help long term.
VELSHI: Right. I think sometimes small ball is the way to win it, too. You come up with a lot of small ideas and some big ones, and we've got to attack the problem any way we can.
So, Representative McCarthy, I appreciate you coming on and telling us about the plan. I think it's creative and interesting and we'll watch with interest.
Kevin McCarthy is a Republican from California. He's Majority whip, making him the third-highest ranking Republican Congressman, member of the Financial Services Committee and the co-author of "Young Guns."
Interesting discussion.
ROMANS: Oh, yes. Absolutely.
COSTELLO: Still to come this morning, you probably don't think of the risks when you have an MRI. You might be shocked to learn some of the things that could go wrong.
ROMANS: And today's "Romans' Numeral," 10 years. Here's a hint. If you're a college grad, it's about giving back to get ahead financially, and not dying with student loans still to be paid.
It's 49 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: All right, welcome back. This morning's "Romans' Numeral," a number in the news, something I'm passionate about -- student loans. The number is 10 years, and that's the amount of time a college grad needs to work in a nonprofit or public service to have all of their federal student loans forgiven. This is something that was passed under health care reform. The president wants to speed it up. This would be graduates starting next year, 2012. So, future graduates, you have a shot to, you know, pay off those law school degrees, if you work for a public defender.
VELSHI: And the options --
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: And for nursing school if you work in an under-served hospital.
VELSHI: The options of what you can work in are very broad. ROMANS: Oh, yes. Absolutely. There's a lot in here called income-based repayment, as well. They want to limit how much of your discretionary -- how much of your pay you're going to be saddled with paying your student loans to, to 10 percent. And after 20 years, for just the run of the mill federal student loans, after 20 years, your student loans will be wiped away.
COSTELLO: It sounds like a great program, if you can, of course, find a job somewhere.
ROMANS: There's always an "if."
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: I'm sorry.
(LAUGHTER)
ROMANS: There's always an "if," Carol. But there you go. Now you know.
COSTELLO: We asked you to "Talk Back" on one of the big stories of the day. This is the question for you this morning, can rich politicians relate to ordinary Americans?
This from Kelly, "Of course, they can. Whether or not their wealth distances them from the average American is reflected in how they operate in their vote/work record, their state of morals and how they debate, respond to questions and foreign policy."
This from Debbie, "No, they cannot. How in the world can they relate when they have been so isolated from the struggles of ordinary Americans? I bet you couldn't even find one who could tell you, without one of their staffers, the cost of a gallon of milk."
And this from Jane, "Of course, FDR certainly did. In fact, he was called a traitor to his class by many wealthy Americans. Don't you think it's time for individuals to be judged on their own assets, deficits and not by simple stereotyping"?
Keep the conversation going, Facebook.com/americanmorning. We'll read more later on.
VELSHI: All right, in this morning's "House Call," more people than ever are having MRI scans. They can be life savers diagnostically, but when used improperly, the results can be dangerous and, in some cases, even fatal. Today, the FDA is holding a workshop on preventing MRI accidents.
Senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, is in Atlanta this morning to explain what kind of mistakes these are and how they happen.
I'm claustrophobic, so I'm scared of MRIs to begin with, but I didn't realize something could go wrong in them. ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I know. I think a lot of people don't realize that, Ali. Your doctor tells you to get an MRI, you show up, you lie down, you're done. You don't really think about the fact that accidents do happen.
As you said, MRIs are a terrific technology and the vast majority of the time things go well, but sometimes things go wrong. and the reason that they often go wrong is because the "M" in MRI stands for magnetic. MRI machines have these huge magnets and they attract any metal in the room, which is why there's not supposed to be any metal in the room. What happens is if there is metal in the room, you can see that, if someone brings in an oxygen canister, even across the room, it will fly into the machine. And some researchers did this as a demo to show what could happen. Imagine if instead of a watermelon that was a person. That would be terrible. So, as I said. The magnet in these machines can be very, very strong and can attract any metal in the room. So, there's some concerns that technicians aren't being as careful as they should be about making sure there's not only no metal in the room, but no metal in your body, as either.
VELSHI: Wow.
COHEN: Like a stent or an aneurism clip.
VELSHI: I'm assuming there are rules that are already in place that generally prevent these things from happening. So, what are you supposed to do? If you're scheduled for an MRI, what do I have to make sure? Do I have to ask the technician whether they're checking that there's no metal?
COHEN: Let me answer that. First, I want to explain what these photos are. These are photos from a web site, MRI Metal Detector Blog, that show you what can happen. These are metal objects like beds and chairs that show you they could be attracted to that magnet, which could have devastating results for the person in there. There are rules about what could happen in an MRI suite, but they vary from state to state. Experts tell us that some states really do very little, if anything, to regulate what happens. And the technicians really are the ones in charge and we're told the technicians get less training than beauticians.
VELSHI: Wow. OK, this is interesting. This is entirely new. I'm glad you were here to tell us about it.
Elizabeth Cohen, our senior medical correspondent.
COHEN: Thank you.
ROMANS: I recently did a shoot at Duke University in an MRI suite and, I have to tell you, we went through maybe 45 minutes of paperwork and double checking and triple checking, and they made sure everything we brought in, we actually brought out. They were very, very careful about it for this very reason. They didn't want us coming in there with all this gear that could eventually cause a problem.
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: So, I was actually impressed by how -- plus it ruins their machine, which costs a lot of money, too.
VELSHI: Right. Right.
COSTELLO: The bottom line there.
(LAUGHTER)
ROMANS: I'm just saying.
COSTELLO: No. Oh, that's just scary.
ROMANS: I know.
COSTELLO: I hope I never need an MRI.
Ahead in the next hour, from coast to coast, Occupy chaos. Police and protesters clashing. Cops hit with paint, firing back with tear gas. It's getting uglier. We'll have a live report coming up.
ROMANS: The president offering a shovel to students buried in debt. We'll ask the education secretary about the new plan. That's just minutes away.
You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. It's 57 minutes after the hour.
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