>> we're against greed and we're against the fact that the 1% could get nine slices of the pie and the other 99% are supposed to fight over the last slice. that is un-american, that is not democracy. >> the self-proclaimed champion of the 99%. he's made a career and a fortune fighting for the little guy. now michael moore is here with me to take your questions about the economy -- >> i've always considered myself a member of the middle class. now i consider myself a member of the lower class. >> the election. >> we still have the republican party that's taking care of the rich. we have the democratic party that's taking care of the poor. people in the middle are being totally forgotten here. >> and yes, those protesters. >> a happy day for me is when i'll be unemployed, when i don't have to make another one of these god damn movies or write another one of these books, when the real people of this country are in charge. that's my nirvana. >> a town hall event. who is to blame and who is going to fix what's broken in america? this is a special edition of "piers morgan tonight." [ applause ] >> good evening. you're looking at live pictures of wall street. and here in new york i'm joined by oscar winning filmmaker michael moore, pinup for the dispossessioned of the wall street protests. last time he came on this show a few weeks ago, he promised to come back and tackle in front of a live audience the issues tormenting america and the grievances of the ordinary people left high and dry by the economic crisis. those people the self-styled 99% are here tonight, om of them. they want to know why the rich got richer, the poor got poorer and they were left bearing the burden. we'll find out what the wall street protesters are, what they want and how they get it. how do we fix america? we'll be taking questions here in the studio, by phone and on twitter providing a realtime response to bigtime problems. get hold of me @piersmorgan or use the #piersmorganlive. michael, welcome. >> thank you. [ applause ] can i just say, first of all, thank you for letting the people in to time warner here and to have this chance. >> well, i said we'd do it. i think it will be a very interesting exercise. >> i know it's not quite "america's got talent." >> we might have a few red buzzers tonight. >> more like america's got no middle class. >> let's quut to the quick. who are the 99%, who are the 1%? >> the 1%, they have about 40% of all the wealth in this country. the 99% are essentially, most of them, people who you used to call the middle class. and, of course, a good chunk of them, sadly in this country are part of the poor. we have 46 million people living in poverty right now in this country. but this large middle class that we used to, people that worked for a living, that put in a hard day's work, got their pay for that, and with that pay were able to purchase a home, were able to send their kids to college, had health care, had vacation time, had all these things that just a decent middle class life and those in charge, the 1% decided that they needed to take some of that away because the 1% didn't have enough money. they needed more money. and this level of greed that's taken place here, it's really started back almost 30 years ago. i say this started really when reagan fired the air traffic controllers. that was the first volley that was thrown at the middle class. and they have succeeded over these 30 years of making life harder and harder and harder for people. >> let me ask you this. is this really a protest against capitalism, as some have been saying, or is it a protest against capitalist greed and a b -- abuse of capitalism. >> when you say 99%, there's a whole bunch of reasons why people feel a part of this movement right now. for some people this is a protest against capitalism. some other people they think that capitalism has become a system of greed and needs to be reformed or we need to put the controls back on it that used to be there. then people have specific concerns. students who are saddled with incredible debt who won't pay that off until their 40s. millions are in foreclosure, millions more their homes are under water. they're trapped as prisoners in their home. they won't be able to sell it. they are stuck there essentially or they could file for bankruptcy and have their credit ruined and then have more of their life ruined. we have 50 million people with no health insurance in this country. the number one cause of bankruptcy in this country are medical bills. you have that whole group of people. you have people who are concerned about our educational system that we've placed this on the lowest rung of our ladder. and as a result right now in this country, we have 40 million functional illiteral adults in this country. >> we've established that. and it's a mess. and we're going to try to solve some of the issues as the evening goes on. here is an immediate fweet for you, just to show we're impartial on this sew. this is from @gatewaypatriot. you've benefited greatly from capitalism yet you are one of its biggest critics. how do you scare that? >> isn't that amazing? really, i'm here talking against my own interests. >> what's the matter with you? >> what's wrong with me. >> you crazy man. you're in the 1%? >> i'm not in the 1%. >> probably 0.2%? >> no. >> you're one of the most successful filmmakers in the country. >> no, i'm not. for a documentary filmmaker, i'm doing well. >> you're splitting hairs. >> there's a big difference between a documentary and "avatar." >> there is. >> i'm not that. let me just say -- >> there are people watching that say michael moore, rich guy. >> well, i'm able to do what i want to do and i have the money to make my films in exactly the way i want to make them. i don't answer to anyone. i can't be bought because these people have spent $10 at the movie theater to buy tickets to my movies or $3 at the old blockbuster when there was a blockbuster. and as a result of that i get to keep making these movies. here's the thing. because i've also -- i've had a peek behind the curtain because these books i write, these movies i make are made for essentially large corporations. the only reason they allow this to happen is because i make them a lot of money. >> and yourself. >> no. they don't want me to have any money. i'm a dangerous person with a lot of money. the fact that i make money, what am i going to do with my money? spend it at brooks brothers? i put a lot of my effort in trying to change the system and to make these films. and that, i'm sure those in charge don't like that part, but they do like the part where i make them money and they're convinced -- this is what i really think it is. they're convinced that the people out there, the people watching this on tv, even if they see my movie, they're not going to rebel, they're not going to stand up. they're so convinced that they have dumd down and numbed the american public to a point of utter despair that they can't get off the couch. and they've made a huge mistake letting me on tv and putting my films in theaters and publishing my books. and i'm so grateful for that. >> i maight have made a mistake putting you on tv. >> live! never put me on live. >> i need you to admit the obvious, i need you to sit here and say, i'm in the 1%. >> well, i can't. because i'm not. >> you are, though. >> no, i'm not. i'm not. >> you're not in if 1%? >> of course i'm not. how can i be in the 1%. that's not true. i do really well. i do well. but what's the point, though? >> because i find it more interesting if you're in the 1% because i think you probably qualify, that you are railing against a lot of capitalist ideals. >> then if you believe that about me, then that's really something, isn't it? that even though i do well, that i don't associate myself with those who do well. i am devoting my life to those who have less and who have been krapd upon by the system. and that's how i spend my time, my energy, my money on trying to up-end this system that i think is a system of violence, a system that's unfair to the average working person of this country, and it was a mistake to ever give me a dime from the day time warner actually gave me money to buy "roger and me." no, this place essentially is where i began. >> let's go to somebody who is in the 99 -- >> i hope they rue the day they ever allowed me up on a movie screen. >> i'm sure we will. i want to go to our first question. this is from monica. where is monica? >> hi. hi, piers, hi, michael. >> before you said that, i wanted to confirm a new cnn poll among moderates, 32%, viewed the occupy wall street protests favorably. 26% were against it. a third or fewer weren't sure either way. where do you sit? you've been down there. one of the questions i heard about occupy wall street, what are they really protesting about? what is this movement at its core really trying to achieve? what do you think the answer is? >> well, for me, i'm a person with a master's degree who has been unemployed since i graduated. haven't had health care for years. so i understand where the anger and the frustration of many americans is coming from. i get that angle. and that resonates with me. but i'm also concerned about corporate influence on government in particular. but that's a message that a lot of protesters are talking about. in particular for me, it's corporate influence on the criminal justice system. but when i go down to occupy wall street, the feeling that's there is not one of anger, it's not one of frustration, it's a feeling of hope. it's a feeling of optimism. it's a feeling that this can make a difference this time. this is really working. and it's like what michael said, we can actually do it. maybe this is the time that we can actually change things. we can actually make things change. >> do you feel personally angry to the people that work in wall street? are you instinctively against, do you feel the mood of the people there is against very wealthy bankers and so on? do they blame them for what happened? or is it more general than that? are there lots of people to blame? >> i think there is some of that. i think there is some feeling of personal enmity. what can we do? how can we all be inspired together to make social change? and that's the general takeaway. >> michael, do you share that? is it more optimistic? i'm surprised by that. i sort of got the sense that it was angrier than that. >> well, underneath all of that, yes, there's a general anger about what's happened to our country. we love our country. and so we're very upset that the promise of america seems now to be something way back in the distant past. >> give me a pie chart here, if you can, of blame between the members of the public for overspending, for getting too much credit, for buying stuff they couldn't afford, the government for the policies that may have precipitated economic crisis and the wall street element of this. if you were slicing a pie up, how would you fairly do it? >> okay. there's nothing scientific behind this. >> no. >> but i would -- >> we won't hold you to the exact figures. but just a sense of where you think the majority of blame lies here? >> okay. i think i would say that 100% of it is the fault of corporate america. and i'll tell you why. i'll tell you why i don't assign any blame to washington, d.c. because the politicians in washington, d.c., are paid for by corporate america. so they're just the employees. they're there to act as the servants of wall street. so why would you blame the servants for the situation? you blame the core, you blame where -- what is essentially the base of where this problem comes from. as far as blaming the american people, i mean, haven't they been through enough really? >> well, they have. but the fact that they're not to blame at all? no one in america overspent? nobody went against probably all the guidelines from their parents, don't spend what you can't afford? there has to be some sense of self-blame? personal responsibility. >> personal responsibility is a good thing. and our main personal responsibility in this is to be responsible citizens. and the important thing you have to be as a citizen is you have to be active and you have to be involved. that's what this occupy thing is happening all across the country is because people are standing up and being responsible citizens. to blame people whose wages have not gone up more than 1% and when you account for inflation and everything, in 30 years there's been stagnant wages. do you remember how it was with your parents, how they had paid vacations? do you remember paid vacations? all they get now is you got to cut back on your health care and benefits, we'll take away these benefits, we're taking away these sick days, we're taking away this, we're taking away that. and now by the way, we're going to move your job to mexico. that's what everyone has had to tolerate and put up with. >> hold that thought. we'll take a quick break and come back and talk about president obama. has he got the right ideas perhaps belated to get america out of this mess? because that will be key to how the next few months and years progress. i'm not a number. i'm not a line item on a budget. and i'm definitely not a pushover. but i am a voter. so washington... before you even think about cutting my medicare and social security benefits... here's a number you should remember. 50 million. we are 50 million seniors who earned our benefits... and you will be hearing from us... today and on election day. ♪ the only way that we can truly attack our economic challenges, the only way we can put hundreds of thousands of people back to work right now is with bold action from congress. that's why i'm going to keep forcing these senators to vote on commonsense paid for jobs proposals. >> president obama yesterday saying what he says is job one, putting people to work. he wants congress to act, the same congress that failed to pass his jobs bill earlier this month. michael, very quickly, has obama got it right yet, his thinking? is he going about this right way? are we going to see the jobs crisis being eased at all, do you think? what is the simple answer of getting america back to bork? >> one of the answer, yes, this jobs bill is a good bill. this is something that should be passed and we need more of that. that's one of the things that needs to be done. but we also need to put regulations back on wall street. his justice department needs to go after the people that created the crash of 2008. those were crimes that were committed. and i don't know why -- there's over a thousand of these occupy protesters who have been arrested here just in new york city. there's more all across the country. and not one single wall streeter, not one banker in jail? i mean, that just seems so off. so there's a number of things that president obama needs to do. but this is a good step. and i think lately he has started to come alive and say the things or do the things that a lot of people wish that he'd done earlier. >> let me go to mark weber. you moved to the city to find a job, to new york. what is your view of the jobs crisis and where the president now is on this? >> well, i think that it's very hard to find a job, no matter what you've got, whether you have a high school education or a master's. i have a master's in journalism. when i go on craigslist every day, i notice that everybody wants me to do work for free. i think that's a problem because there's not many jobs offering good pay. >> why do you think there are no jobs? what's your gut feeling? >> i think computers have changed the world. because so many machines are doing human-being jobs, that there's hardly any jobs left for people. if you add in china and so many people there doing jobs there, there's not much left for americans to do. >> this is the point, michael, aside from all the other factors that have caused this crisis, there is also one just called progression, technology, the world changing. what do you do about the fact that computers can now do, in some cases, the jobs of a thousand people. >> first of all, that's a good thing. technology is a good thing and advances society. one of the problems we have right now is that our corporations, our american corporations, many of them who pay no tax whatsoever are sitting right now on $2 trillion worth of cash in their bank accounts. in the old days what they'd do with that money is they'd reinvest it in their company. they'd put it into research and development. >> why is that not happening? >> why are they holding on to the money? >> yes. >> my personal theory? i think they know the other shoe hasn't dropped. i think the crash of '08 was the first shoe. they know the other shoe is going to drop because they're still downtown playing around with derivatives, credit default swaps, they want to have that cash on hand for themselves when the calamity takes place. that's my theory. i have nothing -- no evidence to back that up. >> let me go to lindsey here. you worked in corporate america. you went back to school to earn your master's in teaching. what's been your concern? >> my biggest concern, obviously, i'm not going to be able to find a job. i know all the budget cuts in pennsylvania across the board in education, i mean, i can speak nationwide. but i'm really nervous. how am i going to pay for health care and basic living expenses. >> how much debt have you wracked up? >> probably 50s hads this, 60,000. >> this to me is one of the real scandals. this can happen. a smart person who put the hard yards in to be in an increasingly competitive world, the chinese are getting educated very fast. how can america compete if the brains of the country are being treated in this way? >> and where they have to go out in the real world at 22 years old and 24 with a crushing debt. it is like a boot on your neck. and the chinese who are graduating from piqeking university this year, zero debt. how much debt do students have when they're 23. it's more now. >> it's got more of the american way. >> sadly. >> but the fact that the chinese don't is fascinating. another reason why they're going to move faster. >> you grew up in a time where that wasn't the case. and if you live -- new yorkers who are here, if you went to the suny system if you were my age, what did you pay per semester, those of you my age who went to a suny school. >> a thousand dollars. >> a thousand dollars a semester. that was a lot, actually. anybody else go to a city college here? it was about $80 to $100 in fees per semester. why have we made this such a low priority? why have we wanted to punish people who want to learn, go out and make our society a better place? you know, in many countrieses if you want to be a doctor, you know what the cost is to go to medical school? nothing. canada? why not? because society needs doctors. we need brains. we need people to do these things. and it's very hard to function when your first thought is how am i going to make money, how am i going to pay off this debt? i'm already on credit cards. >> hold that thought. we'll come back and talk more about jobs and also steve jobs because in many ways he represented the best and worst of corporate america. look, every day we're using more and more energy. the world needs more energy. where's it going to come from? ♪ that's why right here, in australia, chevron is building one of the biggest natural gas projects in the world. enough power for a city the size of singapore for 50 years. what's it going to do to the planet? natural gas is the cleanest conventional fuel there is. we've got to be smart about this. it's a smart way to go. ♪ and today, we're re-inventing aspirin for pain relief. with new extra-strength bayer advanced aspirin. it has microparticles so it enters the bloodstream faster and rushes re