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American Morning
"Now or Never" to Resolve Euro Weakness; New "Occupy" Clashes; Interview with Education Secretary Arne Duncan; CNN Source: Ex-Goldman Exec To Face FBI Charges; IBM Hires First Female CEO; President Appears on "The Tonight Show"; Journalist's Question Provokes Angry Response from Vice President; California Home Elaborately Decorated for Halloween; Waiting for a Bone Marrow Match
Aired October 26, 2011 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Germany's chancellor warning it is now or never when it comes time to solving Europe's debt crisis.
I'm Christine Romans.
As we speak, talks of finally getting a handle on the region's debt problems are entering their final stretch. What it means for you and the global economy.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And "Occupy" chaos.
I'm Carol Costello.
Anti-Wall Street protesters tossing paint at riot police in Oakland who sprays the crowd with tear gas in return. Hundreds of demonstrators have now been arrested.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Ali Velshi.
President Obama about to unveil a plan to help students with the crushing cost of higher education.
We'll break down the president's proposal -- on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(MUSIC)
ROMANS: All right. Everybody, good morning. It is Wednesday, October 26th. Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.
COSTELLO: Yes, good morning to you.
Up first this morning: what's happening in Europe right now will no doubt weigh heavily on the U.S. markets and your investments. European leaders are trying to hammer out a plan to fix the region's debt problems. As we wait for word of the deal from Brussels, U.S. stock futures are trading higher.
VELSHI: Let's go straight to Nina dos Santos. She's live in Brussels, Belgium.
Nina, this is the fourth meeting, I think, in the course of a few days -- a combination of either European leaders or finance ministers or Eurozone leaders. What's the hold up? And is there a chance of breakthrough and some progress today?
NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we're limping ever closer towards the finish line. They've got a few hurdles to clear before the negotiations finish this evening. And the big question is: they've promised us many times that we'll have a deal to solve the Eurozone's debt crisis. By the end of today, question is, will we and what happens if we don't? The question is, really, if we don't, we could be in unchartered territory.
Let's have a look at the issues that are at hand here, Ali. It's obviously complicated. I'll be brief.
On the one hand, they've got to boost the Eurozone bailout fund to refinance the Greek problem. They've also got to impose a hair cuts or write-down on private investors to make the private sector bear some of the pain of bailing Greece out and shore up the capital of the Euro zone banks. Difficult subjects to discuss. Difficult subjects to report on, but imagine if you are 17 countries having to decide on this altogether, Ali.
VELSHI: Nina, there's some sense of consequence if there isn't a deal or is there overwhelming expectation that there will be a deal?
DOS SANTOS: Well, I've heard the word catastrophe mentioned to me several times over the last couple days. That may be a little bit farfetched because what we've already seen is the be all and end all summit slipped already. That was supposed to be three days ago in Brussels on Sunday. I've been in the Belgium capital myself since then waiting for a decision. They promised us we will have something in place by today.
But, realistically, what we're starting to hear already is that the details of whatever they may or may not agree on when they do eventually come to some kind of conclusion after today's talks may be sketchy at best and that might not be enough for the markets. Of course, I should remind you that what is at stake here is the single currency, the stability of the euro and accounts for 25 percent of the world's trade, big reserve currency. And so, it could affect all sorts of things from the dollars, to trade with the United States.
Now, just for a little bit of fun, I wanted to show you three of these. They are Belgium waffles. This town as this summit continues is continuing to be increasingly synonymous with more waffle. The big test is, will we see any later today?
VELSHI: We have a truck outside Columbus Circle. Have you guys seen it?
COSTELLO: The waffle truck?
VELSHI: You can see it on this camera behind us. But there's actually a truck that sells those. It's a Belgium waffle cart. And they sell hot ones and they call them dinghies or dinghies or something and they put sauces on them. You know, it's delicious.
COSTELLO: Where are we going with this?
VELSHI: We're not going anywhere.
ROMANS: Nina dos Santos, thank you.
VELSHI: Nina, excellent work. Thank you so much. Great explanation.
ROMANS: And the question is, when they do get a deal, what does the deal look like?
VELSHI: Right.
COSTELLO: Hopefully not a waffle.
ROMANS: You're right. Lots of little nooks and crannies.
VELSHI: Right. U.S. markets are indicating a higher open. This is one of the things that they're thinking about. So, I think there's a bit of a feeling of optimism that could deteriorate.
ROMANS: And does it matter? It's 25 percent of the world's trade -- yes, it matters.
VELSHI: Yes, it matters.
COSTELLO: In other news this morning, "Occupy Wall Street" protesters taking it to the streets in Oakland, California, and getting tear gas in return. The protesters defying a ban and returning overnight to their camp at city hall plaza. Police sprayed the crowd with tear gas after getting hit with paint and other objects.
CNN's Dan Simon is live in Oakland with more on this.
How many arrests went down, Dan?
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: About 100 people arrested, Carol. Things getting ugly when police decided to throw the protesters out where they're hanging out near city hall. They've been there for about 15 days and police decided that the situation was getting unsafe. They thought there was some health problems that could develop with everyone being there in sort of this tent city.
So, yesterday afternoon, they made the decision to hit the road and so, they disbanded. And then, several hours later, these protesters, about 500 of them, decided they wanted to come back. And that's where they were met with police who were in riot gear, tear gas was dispelled. It was a very ugly situation.
As I said, about 100 people arrested. There were some minor injuries.
Behind me -- I'm going to step out of frame -- you can see a live picture now. You can see that there are some barricades set up. A minimum, a minimal police presence, a few protesters in front of these signs. It seems like things right now are under control.
But, of course, police still here just making sure that the violence, if you will, doesn't erupt, again -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Yes. We'll have to wait and see what happens later today. Dan Simon live in Oakland, California -- thank you.
VELSHI: Protesters also clashing with police in Atlanta. Fifty or so demonstrators were arrested there. They refused the mayor's order to leave Woodruff Park in downtown Atlanta. The park had been home to the "Occupy Atlanta" movement for several weeks. Take a look at those pictures.
ROMANS: All right. Meantime here in New York City, the occupation of Zuccotti Park continues. You're looking at live pictures now. And protesters are listening to complaints from local residents about the noise. They've agreed to limit drumming to just four hours a day. So, demonstrators will drum between 12:00 noon and 2:00 p.m., and then from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m.
VELSHI: I didn't realize the drumming was such a constant feature. You know?
COSTELLO: Oh, yes. Oh, yes, I went down there last week and they constantly drum. That would drive you insane after a while.
ROMANS: If you lived down there.
COSTELLO: Oh, if you lived down there, could you imagine?
But to the tourists coming down and looking at them, they're enjoying it.
VELSHI: Sure. In Times Square, they give you money if you drum or dance or something like that.
COSTELLO: I'm glad they have come to some sort of compromise down there.
An education lasts a lifetime, and in some cases so do the bills. That's why today, President Obama will again bypass Congress and announce new executive actions to help ease the burden of student loans.
Joining me now to talk about the plan, Education Secretary Arne Duncan.
Welcome.
ARNE DUNCAN, SECRETARY OF EDUCATION: Good morning. Thanks so much for having me.
COSTELLO: Oh, thanks for being here. We appreciate it.
The average student debt for people graduating from a four-year college is nearly $24,000. It is so bad that our combined student debt now eclipses all of our credit card debt. It's just astounding to me.
So, how will these changes that the president is proposing help?
DUNCAN: This is a big deal.
Basically, what we're doing -- we're just going to do this by ourselves. We can't wait for Congress. We're just going to act -- is we're going to reduce those monthly payments, depending on the individual, by as much as a couple of hundred dollars.
So, if we can reduce those monthly payments, we'll reduce defaults, will strengthen the economy.
And, Carol, you know, people are hurting out there. Families are struggling. It's hard for recent college graduates to get a good job. We have to help out. We're thrilled to be able to do this and just to do it now, and not to wait.
COSTELLO: Well, let's look at an example you gave us on how this plan will affect a "real person" -- I'll put that in quotes.
We have a nurse earning $45,000 a year with $60,000 in federal student loans. Under the standard payment plan, she'd paid $690 a month. Under the revised pay-as-you-earn plan, that would drop -- that would drop to $239. That would save that woman, that nurse, $451 a month.
And after 20 years, if she hasn't paid off all of the debt, that debt will be forgiven.
So, I guess, my question is -- why would you ever choose to pay off all of the debt, if the debt will eventually be forgiven?
DUNCAN: Well, people want to do the right thing. We want to encourage them to do this. That is really about reducing that debt -- putting more disposable income in people's pockets, helping them pay the rent or buy the car or buy groceries or pay the electric bill, whatever it might be.
This is trying to help people now. It ultimately by reducing that debt each month, lowering those payments, we're going to reduce default rates for the country.
COSTELLO: Of course, the biggest problem here is the cost for the college education. It just keeps going up. It increased, what, Christine is my encyclopedia of consumer knowledge, what, college --
ROMANS: Another 5 percent to 8 percent defending on where you go.
COSTELLO: Another 5 percent to 8 percent. That's crazy.
Is there anything -- anything -- the government can do to try to control the cost of a college education?
DUNCAN: Well, I don't know if we can control the cost.
We tried to do a couple things. We've already had historic increases in Pell grants on the front end, an additional $40 billion for low-income families to send their children to college. We did that without going back to taxpayers for a dime, simply stopping subsidizing banks, putting all that money into young people. That was controversial here in Washington. We thought it was absolutely the right thing to do.
We're also announcing today much greater transparency. As young people are applying to college, they're going to get much more information on what they'll pay over the four years.
We have the best system of higher education in the world. People are smart, they're savvy. We want them to shop and compare, and everyone wants a good education and they want a good value for that money.
COSTELLO: Give them some -- give them some advice because, you know, it's public universities because states are having so many problems with their budgets. Tuition at state university is going up, too. I mean, nobody can afford anything any more. It's insane.
So, give us some advice. What should we do? What should parents do to ensure that their kid can get a college education?
DUNCAN: Again, shop and compare. There are different things going on. Some universities are raising their tuition much higher than inflation. Other universities are keeping their tuition flat.
They're going to three-year programs. They're going to no-frill universities. Community colleges are great, great value. Great bargain. We're doing everything we can to support those.
So, there's a range of great options. Be smart, think about it. Weigh all those options.
You want to get a good education. You want to look at graduation rates. You want to look at potential majors and you want to look at what those costs are going to be, not just the first year, but over the four years until you complete.
COSTELLO: So, going back to community college, I think many parent out there would say, I just don't think having a degree from a community college would get my kid a good job.
DUNCAN: I would beg to differ. The community colleges are this unpolished, unrecognized gem along the education continuum. There are many people who actually have four-year degrees going back to community colleges to get the next good job -- green energy, health care, technology, whatever it might be, whether it's going directly into the workforce or going on to get a bachelor's degree once you complete the community colleges degree.
We think those community colleges a great, great option. And with our Pell grants, you can basically go there with almost no out- of-pocket expenses. Go there at zero additional costs.
COSTELLO: Well, on the subject of Pell grants, there are some Republicans who don't much like the idea of Pell grants. And I know that universities across the nation have been sending out these letters saying, "Help us protect the Pell grant because they're in real danger of going away."
DUNCAN: To me that's -- anyone who would take away from Pell grants, I just fundamentally reject that. It makes no sense to me.
We have to educate our way to a better economy. The American Dream has always been not just to graduate from high school, but some form of higher education. That's the only way we're going to strengthen our nation long haul. We need many more young people going on to college.
Just in the past two years, we had a 50 percent increase in the number of people benefitting from Pell grants. We have to fight to maintain those.
Anyone who wants to reduce Pell grants is not just hurting young people, but hurting our country.
COSTELLO: Arne Duncan, thank you so much for joining us this morning. We appreciate it.
DUNCAN: And thanks for the opportunity.
ROMANS: And that second question you asked him was so good. I mean, if you're going to stretch it out and have someone forgiven in any way -- I mean, when I graduated from school, the first thing I did for two years is every cent went to pay a student loan I had from my senior year. I couldn't rest knowing it was there.
Was that the right thing to do? Should I have stretched it out for a long time and use that to invest in something else? I don't know.
VELSHI: We have this argument a lot.
ROMANS: I know. And you were actually right on that one.
But another thing is a lot of families ask me -- so, wait a minute, we haven't upgraded our house. We're only driving two used cars. We're trying to save every penny and the student loan office is going to see all the money that we've saved and we're going to pay 100 percent of the tuition.
VELSHI: Right. That's a big issue. If you're a saver and you're responsible -- and this has been the issue for years here, right? That savers and people who've done the right thing are not getting these special services and provisions.
ROMANS: I mean, they're not going to get -- there's no student loan debt for them to have.
VELSHI: But sadly, it is not paying to be a saver in America right now.
ROMANS: No, it doesn't. You're right.
COSTELLO: No.
ROMANS: You're right.
COSTELLO: That's the saddest thing in all.
VELSHI: Well, still ahead -- why a former Goldman Sachs director is expected to surrender to the FBI this morning.
ROMANS: Plus, Hurricane Rina aims for Cancun. Rob Marciano has been tracking this big storm from the CNN hurricane headquarters.
It's 14 minutes after the hour.
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ROMANS: Rob Marciano is in the extreme hurricane headquarters this morning. Good morning, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, good morning, guys. I want to start you of with this cool vantage point of Hurricane Rina, which is almost a Category 3 storm. This taken from the International Space Station which cruises a lot lower than our typical weather satellite. So, you get a close-up look of the eye, the outflow, the well-structured storm that is Rina with, right now, winds of 110 miles an hour.
All right. Back to our typical spot as the camera 4 continues to move. All right. Freeze it up there. Frame it. Perfect. All right. That's good. This storm has got winds of 110 miles an hour. It's drifting off the west of about three towards the Yucatan Peninsula. This satellite is infrared, and it's about 22,000 miles.
We expect this to make landfall at the Category 3 major hurricane, close (ph) them up over towards Cancun early tomorrow and then drifting into Gulf of Mexico. Once it does that, we really don't know what's going to happen.
If it continues to be strong and just not knocked down by the jet stream, it gets picked up into the South Florida if it gets knocked down by the jet stream, it will weaken and maybe trip into the Florida straits or even into Cuba, but we really don't know what's going to happen. Right now, all eyes are on Cancun and Yucatan Peninsula.
American tourists travel advisory there. You wouldn't want to be going there for the next couple of days. That's for sure. All right. Closer to home, we've got a couple of fronts to speak of. One is creating some rain across parts of the Great Lakes. That will eventually get into the northeast, and this storm is creating some snow across parts of Colorado, and these are not high elevation snows.
These are the high plains at about 5,000 feet. Ten inches in Greeley, and it's still snowing there along I-25. We expect to see more in the way of snowfall at the higher elevations along the front range. This is more of a front range event, meaning, easterly winds cooling that air and dumping the snow along the lower elevations east of the continental divide.
Thirty-one degrees, the high temperature in Denver after a high temperature just two days ago of 80. Got to love this time of year. We have an early season snowstorm and a late season potential major hurricane brewing in the Northwestern Caribbean. Guys, we'll keep a track on Rina. It's going to be a problem, I think, certainly, for Mexico and maybe the U.S. here in the next several days.
COSTELLO: Thank you, Rob.
MARCIANO: All right.
VELSHI: This next one is a little tricky. Christine and I haven't -- we haven't drawn into this yet, Carol, but we are going to draw you in right now. I am very excited. Today is a milestone. It is history in the aviation industry. Christine has a slightly different take on this.
ROMANS: It is history. It is history. Finally, after all kinds of delays and billions of dollars of overrun, something has become a reality.
VELSHI: That is what you would call raining on one's parade. The Boeing 787, the Dreamliner, a nod to Christine, three years of delays, that plane landed in Hong Kong a few hours ago. It was the plane's first commercial flight. The Dreamliner is being sold as a game changer. It's got wider aisles.
It's got bigger windows. It's got energy saving technology. It's got a different kind of lighting. The pressurization in the plane -- you know, no plane actually has ground level pressurization. That's why nobody one ever feels terrific in one. This will have ground level pressurization. Normally, it's like 8,000 feet or something --
COSTELLO: Yes. So, how much does it cost to get a ticket to board this Dreamliner?
(LAUGHTER)
VELSHI: In theory, lots of people will order these, and it will cost the same as a plane ticket on any other plane.
ROMANS: There's a window in the lew (ph)
COSTELLO: Oh.
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: Here's where I come in. So, this has been an outsourcing nightmare. So, Boeing wanted to turn Seattle into sort of like the headquarters where they would outsource and farm out to all of this other --
VELSHI: (INAUDIBLE)
ROMANS: Right. So, they wanted to find all the best bids around the world to take the best of every country's, you know, manufacturing prowls and put it all together. One thing after another didn't work. One company couldn't come up with the parts on time. Another one, oh, it didn't fit, you know?
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: You don't have control of the manufacturing right under your nose on something this complicated.
VELSHI: Well, it's the game-changing planes. The 747, the Concorde, this seems all had delays. A new plane has never been delivered on time.
COSTELLO: I can't believe you guys are arguing over this.
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: I know, it's bad. It's like an aviation fight, but I will say --
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: We're in mediation.
ROMANS: But it's been really interesting to follow, and business schools are following, you know, how Boeing trying to do something new and big and bold and --
VELSHI: I'm very excited about it.
ROMANS: I'm excited, too, but I think they learned a lot of lessons along the way. sorry, Carol. I didn't mean to drag you in.
COSTELLO: I'm not getting in the middle.
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: Now is 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)
GOV. RICK PERRY, (R-TX) 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 literally 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 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: Oh, but the left and the right hope that toxic term will stick Mitt Romney fat cat.
So, the talk back question for you this morning. Can rich politicians relate to ordinary Americans? Facebook.com/carolcnn. Facebook.com/carolcnn. I'll read your comments later this hour.
ROMANS: All right. A check at the early markets next and why everyone is so worried about Europe and why that worry may finally be behind us. It's 23 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Twenty-seven minutes after the hour. "Minding Your Business" this morning.
Today is the day investors have been waiting for. All 27 leaders of the EU are meeting in Brussels to come up with a grand plan to save the Euro zone. The big question, how much of the debt burden from faltering countries like Greece and Portugal will be transferred to Europe's largest banks? Details of the plan are expected to be announced this afternoon. We hope.
Right now, U.S. stock futures are trading higher ahead of the opening bell. Wall Street was watching that EU summit very closely as well as economic reports on the U.S. housing market and manufacturing to come out later on this morning.
Plus, one of the blue chip stocks that could be in your investment portfolio. Ford Motor company just announcing it earned $1.6 billion in the third quarter. That is the ninth straight profitable quarter for the company.
Former Goldman Sachs director, Raja Gupta, is expected to turn himself in to the FBI this morning. Sources tell CNN he'll face several charges related to the insider trading trial of hedge Fund founder, Raj Rajaratnam.
Samuel Palmisano is the CEO of IBM. He's stepping down at the end of the year. IBM shares have soared 73 percent since Palmisano took office about ten years ago. He'll be replaced by long- time executive, Virginia Rometty. The first woman to take the top spot at the company.
Apple's next big product may be a TV that can do pretty much everything. Steve Jobs talked about it. He just realized -- in his just realized authorized biography saying, "I finally cracked it." Right now, apple TV is just a web streaming device, not a stand-alone television.
And still ahead, Vice President Joe Biden is not happy after that confrontation with a reporter got ugly last week and then went viral. New developments up next. AMERICAN MORNING is back after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: All right, it's about 30 minutes past the hour. Top stories this morning. More reports of amazing rescues today at the site of that devastating earthquake in Turkey. Just hours ago crews pulled a 27-year-old teacher from the ruins of a building. That rescue coming 66 hours after a 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck in the eastern part of the country, killing more than 450 people.
COSTELLO: Cancun in the crosshairs. Hurricane Rina gaining strength and heading on a path towards a path towards resort areas on Mexico's Yucatan peninsula, expected to make landfall late tonight or tomorrow morning possibly as a major category three storm.
VELSHI: Coast to coast clashes between Occupy Wall Street protesters and police. In Oakland riot police tear gassed demonstrators after the crowd hit them with paint. In Atlanta dozens were arrested after refusing to leave a downtown park that they occupied for several weeks.
ROMANS: Today President Obama is expected to announce a plan to help college graduates who are drowning in debt. The new proposal encourages students to consolidate their federal loans and reduce their interest rates.
COSTELLO: Vice President Biden is now asking for a Senate official to investigate the conduct of a reporter from the conservative news organization "Human Events" after a confrontational interview last week. That reporter, Jason Mattera, questioned Biden about his claim that rape and other crimes would rise if Republicans voted down the president's jobs bill.
Joining me now is Howard Kurtz, the Washington bureau chief of Newsweek and "The Daily Beast." He's also host of CNN's "Reliable Sources." good morning, Howard.
HOWARD KURTZ, HOST, CNN'S "RELIABLE SOURCES": Good morning, Carol.
So let's talk about what sparked the problem and then we'll talk about it on the other side.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATTERA: Do you regret using a rape reference to describe Republican opposition to the president's Bill?
JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I didn't use -- no, no, no. Let's get it straight, guys. Don't screw around with me. Let's get it straight.
MATTERA: You didn't use a rape reference?
BIDEN: Listen to me.
MATTERA: I'm listening.
BIDEN: I said rape was up three times. They are the numbers, go look at the numbers. Murder is up, rape is up. That's exactly what I said.
MATTERA: If the Republicans don't pass this Bill, then rape will continue to rise?
BIDEN: Murder will continue to rise, rape will continue to rise, all crimes will continue to rise.
MATTERA: Do you think it's appropriate for the vice president to use language in such a --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm sorry, we got to go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Howard, the reporter appears to be asking for a photo with the vice president like he was a member, you know, just a member of the public before he asked that question. I mean, is all fair in love getting your question answered, or was this guy out of line?
KURTZ: It was a minor league deception to be looking for a photo op and then spring that question. But it was in a public place in a Senate hallway. He was wearing press credentials, and the vice president of the United States should be able to handle that kind of question, which, by the way, was a perfectly legitimate question that a lot of reporters and commentators have asked, including CNN's Candy Crowley when she talked to the vice president on "STATE OF THE UNION" on Sunday.
COSTELLO: Some might say though this guy, this Jason Mattera, had an agenda. He works at "Human Events." What do we know about him and the organization that he works for?
KURTZ: Sure he had an agenda. He's a conservative journalist who works for a conservative magazine and who styles himself on his web site as an ambush journalist. So, you know, these kinds of things happen. A candidate or high officials at a rally and somebody pops out and asks a question.
But, again, I thought he asked a question respectfully. I thought the question about vice president's use of the word "rape," rape will go up if the bill isn't passed, was a legitimate question. And the idea that the vice president's office is now questioning his credentials and going to the Senate committee that actually gives authorization to reporters to go into places like the Senate strikes me as a pretty severe overreaction and makes the administration look thin-skinned.
COSTELLO: Why do you suppose Joe Biden is even bothering with this?
KURTZ: Well, by the way, I thought Biden's response was fine, too. He got a little testy, don't screw around with me. Let's look at the facts. But he is entitled to push back hard when somebody asked an aggressive question.
I think this whole incident, which has kind of gone viral and been replayed on cable television a million times and all over the Internet, has gotten under their collective skin. And so I think the natural human instinct is to say, well, we're going to retaliate. We're going to find out who this guy is and maybe get his credentials.
But it's really punching down. He's a relatively minor figure in the journalism world. And I think, you know, the smarter strategy would have been just to move on. Now, you and I are talking about it. There will be more stories. So it keeps alive this whole incident that the vice president would probably prefer most people forget.
COSTELLO: It does make you think of the style of reporting these days, that, you know, you're almost required to get into the face of a politician and to question him so stridently that you evoke some sort of response that is going to become controversial. Is that right or wrong?
KURTZ: Well, at the same time, I could remember Sam Donaldson 20, 25 years ago shouting questions at Ronald Reagan when the helicopter engines would start going so that Reagan wouldn't have to take questions from the press. Reporters are aggressive, and they don't have access to high officials like the vice president or the president or governors, and so they try to take any opportunity they can to shout. Now, I'm not approving of this. Posing for a picture was definitely deceptive. But I think on the scheme of journalistic deceptions, it wasn't that big of a deal. Joe Biden should be able to handle this with ease. And now he's just extending the story by appearing to try to retaliate against the journalist.
COSTELLO: Well, you know, the end result of all of this is that maybe politicians will just avoid reporters altogether, because why get yourself into that mess when you don't have to. You can go on MSNBC or FOX and say your line of whatever and you don't have to be concerned about being challenged in any way. You'll just remove yourself from the situation for good.
KURTZ: Well, I think that would be a dangerous development, not just from my point of view as a member of the press who thinks that public officials should be accountable and available to answer our questions, not because we're so important but because we ask questions on behalf of the public, but also for public officials who are in danger of retreating further and further inside a bubble.
One of the reasons that Rick Perry in the Republican presidential race has gotten so much negative attention for his uneven performances in these debates is that he hasn't made himself available until yesterday when he held a big news conference on his flat tax proposal to reporters. And the more you stay away from reporters, the more every gaffe or every line that doesn't necessarily reflect well on you gets blown up because so little access.
So I think if the vice president answered questions more regularly maybe there would be fewer incidents like this. Again, I'm not defending what this reporter did. But it's the major leagues. You have to be able hit major league pitching.
COSTELLO: Howie Kurtz, thanks for joining us this morning. Interesting conversation as usual.
ROMANS: I do remember Sam Donaldson yelling those questions over the rotors. "Mr. President, Mr. President!"
COSTELLO: I can see a few of our own reporters here at CNN doing the same thing.
VELSHI: It's an interesting discussion.
All right, Herman Cain is shoring up his position as the frontrunner, yes, the frontrunner in the GOP presidential race. He just finished first in a CBS/"New York Times" poll four points ahead of Mitt Romney.
In another poll, Cain finished seven points ahead of Newt Gingrich and 12 points ahead of Romney when Republicans were asked which candidate they would most like to have dinner with, which is an entirely different question as who you would like to have as president of the United States. But I think Herman Cain --
COSTELLO: He's leading the pack in that area, too. VELSHI: Definitely seems like the most fun to have dinner with. He says unexpected things in a generally jovial fashion, seems happy about everything he says. Even things he's critical of, he never loses his -- he's a charming guy.
ROMANS: President Obama carving out time for a chat with Jay Leno during his three-day swing through Colorado, Nevada, and California.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY LENO, HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW": Please welcome the 44th president of the United States, President Barack Obama.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: The President making his fourth appearance on "The Tonight Show" last night, his second as president. He told Leno he shares the frustration of Americans who are fed up with politicians putting their party ahead of their country. And when it comes to serving a second term, the president didn't seem too concerned about the competition.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LENO: Have you been watching the GOP debates?
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I am going to wait until everybody is voted off the island.
(LAUGHTER)
Once they narrow it down to one or two, I'll start paying attention.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: I bet he's paying attention right now, but that was a great answer. It was funny. The president was about 10 minutes late because his motorcade got stuck in a traffic jam on Highway 101. For some reason his security team failed to shut down the freeway.
VELSHI: Still ahead, Halloween, October 31st, right? Maybe not for long. A Connecticut lawmaker wants to change the date every year. We'll tell you why on the other side. It might be interesting.
ROMANS: Plus, words cannot describe. Check this out, a man has turned his house into a stunning Halloween light extravaganza, but his neighbors are not exactly enjoying the treat. Up next, the best Halloween house light show ever and the meanest, baddest, and unhappy neighbors next door. It's 39 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Eerie music to be playing over the shots of the capitol.
VELSHI: Days away from Halloween.
COSTELLO: I get it now.
It is mostly cloudy in Washington, 53 degrees, showers expected later.
ROMANS: My kids say it's spooky.
VELSHI: It's a spooky proposal. A Connecticut lawmaker better hope he doesn't have any skeletons in his closet.
(LAUGHTER)
VELSHI: He wants to change the date for Halloween so that it always falls on the last Saturday in October. Why is he going there? Why mess with Halloween? He believes it will make the experience easier for parents, safer for kids, and good for the economy as well. I don't mind it. I think Saturday Halloween is a nice idea. I love Halloween parties.
COSTELLO: You would.
VELSHI: Exactly. I love getting dressed up and stuff.
ROMANS: But out in the burbs it's like Halloween for a week and a half. There are parties this weekend and next weekend and the actual school parade. It goes on forever and that's good for the economy, too.
Meantime, this house in California is attracting crowds with a Halloween light show that makes pumpkin seem paltry. Awesome, or awful? Jeanne Moos has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's no motion detecting, anti-burglary device. This is a talking house, practically a dancing house. The website Gawker christened it the awesome Halloween light show you're glad isn't on your block.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In a place perhaps you've seen in your dreams.
MOOS: Or in your nightmares. The house plays one number taken from the Tim Burton film "The Nightmare before Christmas."
(MUSIC)
MOOS: Here's the house version.
(MUSIC)
MOOS: This is the family that lives in the Halloween house in Riverside, California. Kevin, he prefers we not use his last name isn't doing any TV interviews at the moment. But we did have a nice long phone conversation with him.
(voice-over): At his day job he installs fiber optics for Verizon. But he takes a week off to put up the 5,000 or so LED lights on his own house. And he uses his spare time over a period of months to program them. He started the tradition back in 2008 with "Thriller".
He does something different every year. And this year's grave yard smash is party rock anthem from LMFAO. Cars cruise by. Kevin's house attracts a crowd of 300 or so people standing around watching the nightly show. One night a teenage girl showed up on his doorstep around midnight and asked if this was the house with all the lights and could he please turn them on. Kevin declined.
To us it may be funny, are the neighbors amused?
One we've talked to said folks seem to like it, although she was a bit worried it would get too popular. Online it's a smash, epic, incredible, awesome. That is Kevin's daughter departing the singing house mid-performance.
(on camera): Kevin says doesn't do Christmas because he's too tired from Halloween. Take your pick is it an eye sore or an eyegasm?
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: An eyegasm? Where did she get --
VELSHI: She's funny. That's a funny story. That's a -- I would like it if it were on my street.
COSTELLO: You would?
VELSHI: I totally would. It's whimsical
ROMANS: Of course you would. Of course you would.
VELSHI: I like whimsical.
COSTELLO: That would drive me insane. It looks cool from afar.
"Morning Headlines" is coming your way next. Its 46 minutes past the hour.
VELSHI: Oh sure I'd like it --
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ROMANS: It's 48 minutes after the hour. Here are your "Morning Headlines".
Right now U.S. stock futures are trading higher ahead of the opening bell. Wall Street will be watching the EU Summit very closely today as well as the economic reports on the U.S. housing market and manufacturing. Those are all out later this morning.
Just in to CNN, former Goldman Sachs director Rajat Gupta has turned himself in to the FBI. Sources tell CNN he'll face federal charges related to the insider trading conviction of hedge founder Raj Rajaratnam.
Things got nasty in Oakland overnight as "Occupy Wall Street" protesters who've been ousted from their city hall camps returned to square off with riot police. The crowd was tear-gassed after the cops say they were hit by paint.
Today President Obama is expected to launch a new plan to lower the cost of paying back those student loans. Among the proposals allowing millions of graduates to consolidate their federal loans and reduce their interest payments.
It's a waiting game for people in Cancun and Cozumel as Hurricane Rina takes aim at the Mexican vacation spot. The storm is nearly a Category 3. That means she's packing 110-mile-per-hour winds. Forecasters say it'll get stronger before it hits late tonight or early tomorrow.
Weather permitting, the Rangers and Cardinals will play game six of the World Series tonight. There is an 80 percent chance of rain in St. Louis. The Rangers are up 3-2 in the series and they are looking to clinch their first championship ever.
That's the news you need to start your day. AMERICAN MORNING back right after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: All right. So welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.
Every year 130,000 people are diagnosed with an illness that could be cured with a bone marrow transplant. But finding the right donor, as we know, is challenging for anyone.
ROMANS: Right.
VELSHI: Particularly challenging for mixed race Americans. What an interesting story. Here's Soledad O'Brien.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IMANI CORNELIUS: One of my birthdays at Chuck E Cheese.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes your mom was telling me you love birthdays at Chuck E Cheese.
(voice-over): Imani Cornelius just wants a normal childhood.
(on camera): You look like the perfectly healthy 11- year-old girl.
CORNELLIA: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Do you feel OK?
CORNELLIA: Yes, I'm OK. Sometimes I get my ups and downs. You have aches and pains everywhere. But it still hurts.
O'BRIEN: Imani has myelodysplastic syndrome or MDS which means her bone marrow doesn't produce enough blood cells. It could lead to leukemia, if she doesn't get a bone marrow transplant.
(on camera): How did it feel when they first diagnosed her?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, as a dad, it took everything out of me.
O'BRIEN: Finding a donor match is always difficult, but it's more difficult for Imani because she's biracial.
LEILA JONES: Now, with mixed race people why it's so difficult is that there's so many possible combinations. So, just tissue type is very complex. That's one level.
And then if you match that with half of one ethnicity and half of another ethnicity, the number of possible combinations just explodes into the millions.
O'BRIEN: Outreach groups like Mixed Marrow are trying to lower those odds.
ATHENA ASKUPIADIS: Me being mixed race myself I know there's -- there wasn't any current organization or outreach specifically targeting the mixed race community. We do community events we also do college events and then do the donor drive there.
JONES: If you're of a mixed race background, consider joining. It's really a wonderful --
O'BRIEN: Ok, all right I'm in. You talked me into it.
JONES: Perfect.
O'BRIEN: Ok that wasn't that hard.
The cheek swab is easy. Waiting for a match is the hard part. How does that make you feel?
CORNELIUS: It feels like you're cut off from the rest of the world, what they get to do and what you can't do.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We don't want a pity party and we don't want any sympathy case. We want a cure.
O'BRIEN: That's a bone marrow transplant.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And that's the only cure, a bone marrow transplant.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So we need a donor.
O'BRIEN: Reporting for "In America", Soledad O'Brien, CNN, Minneapolis.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Coming up next our "Talk Back" question of the day. "Can rich politicians relate to ordinary Americans?" I will read some of your responses, next. Its six minutes until the top of the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Oh I like that music. Time for our "Talk Back" question. We asked you this, this morning. "Can rich politicians relate to ordinary Americans?"
This from Beth, "It's possible but not likely. That would require some empathy. We have politicians painting the poor and unemployed as a bunch of lazy bums who get what they deserve. While it is convenient for them to present such a two-dimensional picture of people who are struggling financially it clearly demonstrates that at best, these politicians only have a superficial understanding of what those who can't afford to buy their votes are going through."
This from Pat, "Of course, especially those who were poor and became rich. I'd rather take advice from a self-made millionaire like Herman Cain than a poor person who constantly complains about how much the systems stinks."
And this from Michelle, "No, they can't. They talk a good game but of course, that's what they're paid to do. They use trickery and manipulation to get our votes and then go right back to their own agenda. They are self-serving. We should put a salary cap on public office. If you're in the one percent, you are out of touch and should not be allowed to represent the 99 percent."
Keep the conversation going. CNN.com/AmericanMorning. Thanks, as always, for your comments.
ROMANS: It's interesting. The whole wealth and the acquisition of wealth and the people who feel like the system is rigged so that they can't get into that group, I think that will be a hallmark of this entire election.
VELSHI: I mean let's just look back at American history. I suppose there have been times when people who were closer in their income and their social economic status to the general population were elected but, ultimately, this has largely been a game for wealthy people, not just in America, everywhere. Generally speaking, elected politics are --
COSTELLO: I think people would not have a problem with that if they felt that those who held public office were better able to relate to the problems of ordinary Americans. And since -- you know, I'm just going by our Facebook responses this morning -- a lot of people seem to be more disenfranchised with those who inherent wealth than those who made them money on their own. You know, pulling themselves up by the boot straps because that's really the American dream.
They can take those kind of rich people it seems, but not that other kind.
VELSHI: A different guy. Interesting discussion that we had this morning.
ROMANS: All right. That's going to do it for us, though. "CNN NEWSROOM" with Kyra Phillips starts right now. Good morning Kyra.
