Transcripts For CNNW Piers Morgan Tonight 20111031 : vimarsa

CNNW Piers Morgan Tonight October 31, 2011



certificate, and when it came out, as you know, check out the internet, many people say it is not real. okay? that it's a forgery. >> and the republican candidates. donald trump for the hour. this is "piers morgan tonight." donald, thank you for inviting me into your -- well, this is almost the kind of lair of the 1%. or even the 1% of the 1%. >> thank you for being here. it's my honor. >> what do you think about this whole occupy wall street thing? you, i guess, are in the target range. you're the prime example of capitalist success in america. what do you make of them? do you think that they have justification for their anger? >> i think some are very serious people. i think some are down there for dating purposes and i have said, you know, they're down looking for girls, looking for women, looking for men. they're looking for anything. some are very serious people and they should be serious because the economy is terrible. i personally think wall street isn't their target. i think their target is the white house and certainly washington. but they are some very serious people. and it was interesting. somebody called me before from cnn, actually, and they want me to do -- i have a big building right there. 40 wall street. it's actually the tallest building in downtown manhattan. and unfortunately because it used to be the world trade center, but it's now the tallest building in downtown. and it's very interesting because they want me to do an interview with representatives from the group, occupy wall street. >> how do you feel about that? >> i sort of think it's cool. there's something i like about it. >> i had michael moore on my show on tuesday night. a live kind of town hall thing with an audience. >> right. i saw that show. >> right. he has a view. i asked him to cut up a pie chart of who's to blame for the financial crisis. i said, come on. the public, wall street collectively, all financial institutions, the government, the white house. and he said, it's 100% wall street. >> well, i disagree with that. i sat next to michael years ago. i really like him. i was with him. he's like a whole different guy. i watched him on your show. whoa, whoa, is that the same guy? we all do our thing in life. right? i disagree with that. a lot has to do with politics, a lot has to do with the president, a lot has to do with bad decisions that have been made. and we'll see what happens but it's a mess. and i'm not sure that, you know, they've been there a long time. and perhaps they shouldn't be allowed to stay that long. a lot of decisions have to be made because it's getting bigger and bigger and businesses are very much being affected in downtown manhattan around the wall street area. they're really being affected. >> and other cities now. oakland, there's been a lot of unrest in the last couple of days. how much do you blame the ordinary man and woman on an average american street? in other words, how much has personal responsibility got to come in to play when it comes to finances? >> well, you always say that but they were duped in to doing mortgages. i used to give speeches of success. they'd ask me about success and they pay me a lot of money. i give a lot of money to charity. and i felt guilty when i don't take it. and i'd say -- four or five years ago i'd say, don't go for these -- i used to call them exploding mortgages. that's what they were. they were exploding mortgages. i was right and i have so many letters from people thanking me because they didn't do it. they didn't do the exploding mortgage. 150% of what they're asking for. you move in to a beautiful house. a house you can't afford but like you've never seen before. you don't have to pay interest the first year. don't worry about it. you have to blame everybody but you have to blame government. you have to blame wall street. you have to blame the bankers in particular, and i think today the bankers are a big problem. because they're not loaning money. you know, they did get bailed out. >> not only are they not loaning money, but my anger to the bankers is that they seem to have learned nothing about how to behave in this crisis. in the sense that having been responsible, certainly partly responsible for bringing the country to its financial knees, when they get bailed out by the taxpayer, the first thing many of them have done is stick their noses straight back in the bonus trough and give themselves billions of dollars again. they don't seem to get it. you work with these guys day in and day out. what do you think of that, in particular? >> some of the banks are asking fees to keep your money. all of a sudden, you know, we are getting fees for keeping money so i don't like that. i don't like a lot of things that bankers have done. when you talk about the occupy wall street protesters, i mean, they do have some points. and i'm -- >> which are the points that you -- >> i'm a conservative guy, a republican guy. >> what do you agree with? >> the biggest problem i have with what's happening with the system is the banks, unless you're like somebody like me, if i want to borrow money, i can borrow all the money i want at a very -- at the rates that are the lowest rates i've ever seen. that's because i don't need it. if you need money or want a house in phoenix, arizona, you can't get it. you can't get any money. they'll give you a 25% loan. a 30% loan and tied up like a sardine. >> they have the money, right? >> they have the money. they have cash. they're not using it. >> what's the way to unlock this? you're one of the smartest businesspeople i know. how do you get through this apparently immovable wall now where the banks have the money but don't want to lend it and the economy is just trapped in hell? >> part of the problem that the banks have in all fairness, piers, i'm not a huge fan of the banks. because i see what's happening. i'll sell apartments to people and then they tell me, i can't get financing, mr. trump. i said, well, you got to get your financing. it's one of those things. or pay me cash. but people can't pay cash. most people. i think there are a lot of different problems with the banks, but one of the things is regulation. the regulators are making it so tough on banks. i called a couple of banks of friends of mine and they said the problem we have is the regulators are literally watching every line of every statement. if we loan this guy money to build a building or if we loan this one -- unless he puts up, like, 60% or 70% equity, which is ridiculous, that's not even a loan, he said, we can't give him the money. they're telling me the regulators are literally running the banks. the banks are afraid and rainy -- really not even afraid. the banks can't make the deal. i think that's a big part of the reason but i can tell you this. the banks have money. they're not loaning it and especially to people that want to buy houses. >> is there more that barack obama can do as president to unlock this to remove the paralysis? >> you have to let the banks do their thing. you have to tell the regulators, look, some of the deals will be bad but they have to do their thing. not everything's going to be an aaa person with a perfect rating and much more money. you know, if you have a lot of money, they'll give you all the money you want. if you don't have that much money, they're not loaning, so i think if i were president obama, id say, fellows, you've got to ease up a little bit because they're not loaning the money to people to buy houses. now, i tell this to people, friends of mine and other people and young people. and this is a great time to buy a house but not from you or me. this is a great time to buy a house from a bank and you can get the money because they own the house. they have no choice. they have to get rid of it because these houses are being vandalized. people don't even realize. first of all, the group leaves and they hate the bank because they were forced out. so they vandalize the house and then everybody else gets in to the picture. the banks are desperate to sell houses. they're not desperate to loan money. but when they already have the house, they'll give you a purchase money mortgage. they'll take back financing. this is a great time to buy houses but only from banks. >> did you agree with the bailing out of the banks after lehman brothers collapsed? >> well, i'll tell you this. look. i'm a very conservative person and i'm a republican, but i watched banks that were the strongest banks in the nation and i'm friendly with many of the heads of those banks and those people were scared. they thought it was over. and i'm talking about goldman sachs, i'm talking about the biggest banks. these people thought it was over. there was going to be a run on every institution. and you can have the strongest bank in the world, but if there's a run on that bank, it's not strong. because the numbers, you know, it's just a very simple leverage. >> what would have happened? >> you don't know. >> how bad would it have been? the counterargument is, well, they deserve to have a run on them. >> you're right. you don't know how bad it would have been been. it may not have been as bad as i think. but i think it would have been very, very bad. now, there are certain industries when you talk about banks, you're talking about the entire financial system. could have collapsed. when you talk about loaning money to, you know, make solar panels where it makes no sense or loaning money to make cars in finland, or loaning money or not even loaning money, giving money to china, hundreds of millions of dollars a year to china when they're, in fact, so rich and making -- so they're making trillions. we're losing trillions. that's a whole different thing. as far as the banks are concerned, you're talking about the financial system of this country, piers. and i'll tell you what. i was there, and i watched big, powerful bankers, arrogant guys, guys that were hot stuff, guys that thought they'd go into a restaurant, they were the kings. and i watched them and they were like weak, poor, pathetic men. they really thought it was over. so -- and they're smart. so when you say, did they do the right thing? and i know it's not popular. in some circles. i think you probably had to do it. >> well, the argument from someone at goldman sachs would be, look, we were in the situation we were in. it was important we didn't go under. yes, we got bailed out, but we've paid it back. the taxpayer doesn't suffer. there's another argument that resonates with occupy wall street. what do you say to that? >> they didn't really -- when you think of it, they got cheap money and they paid it back. but they're not loaning it out now. and don't forget, there was an argument that you save the banks but you take over the banks. in other words, yes, give money to goldman sachs, but we own it. >> should the government have done that? >> that was the other argument. i argued that. >> they could be ordering them to release the money. >> i argued that. frankly, you could have -- no. you sell it as soon as things get normal. but shareholders came out rather well with the bailout. now, usually when something bad happens the shareholders are wiped out. not necessarily the bondholders but the shareholders get wiped out. so there was a question for a period of time and thinking about it that if we're going to give bank of america, you know, billions and billions of dollars and citi but almost all of the banks, if we're going to give them money, congratulations. we own the bank. we own the bank. 100%. we're going to run the bank with the same people or different people, but we're going to run the bank. and when times get better we're going to make a lot of money and sell the bank at a tremendous profit. so they did a very, very tiny version of that. the case could have been made that you do that. >> let's take a little break and then talk to you about the republican debates, republican candidates, the tax plans they're putting up there. what do you think of all of your friends in the gop? >> okay. when you're a sports photographer, things can get out of control pretty quickly. so i like control in the rest of my life... especially my finances. that's why i have slate, with blueprint. i can create my own plan to pay down large purchases faster... or avoid interest on everyday items. that saves me money. with slate from chase, i'm always in control. financially, anyway. get slate with blueprint and save money. call 855-get-slate today. at aviva, we wonder why other life insurance companies treat you like a policy, not a person. instead of getting to know you they simply assign you a number. aviva is here to change all that. we're bringing humanity back to insurance and putting people before policies. aviva life insurance and annuities. we are building insurance around you. mr. trump is the type of person that if he wants to endorse you, you don't have to ask him. if he happens to get to that point, and i happen to believe, i would do the same, he's waiting for the field to narrow down a little bit more before he decides whether or not he wants to put his endorsement on any particular candidate. we didn't get in to that. >> donald, let's talk about politics and in particular the gop. you've become whether you wanted to or not the kind of godfather of the gop. they're all running up here to see you, to get your blessing, to get your advice, to get your opinions. why is that? why have you become thissal is man for them and what are you making of the republican race at the moment? >> well, i think first of all they have some very good people running and i've become friendly with some of them. but i don't think they want so much me. i think they want my ideas, what i represent. because i represent a large group of people, many millions of people, that feel that this country is certainly not what it used to be, which is -- that's an understatement. but because they look at what's going on with china, with opec, with india, with mexico, with so many -- with everybody. the entire world is ripping off the united states. we don't make good deals anymore. it used to be years ago we'd never make a bad deal. we were smarter, tougher, better. we had all the cards. and now we never make a good deal. i mean, you look at -- >> how much of this -- i'm going to back to this later the foreign aspect of this but how much of this is due to america just being at the moment oddly, inherently weak. >> we're weak. we're pathetic. it all stems from leadership. it's very simple. >> how many leaders? how far do you go back? >> look. >> i was never a big fan. i'm very proud of you and the job you did and thank you "celebrity apprentice" and donald trump. the truth is you have done a good job and you know me. i have never been a fan of george bush. >> i remember you telling me once he put back america 50 years. >> well, he put it back a long way so i was never a fan but we have taken it to a whole new level with obama. obama could have straightened it out. now it's gotten so bad it's not just deficits. we're not respected anymore. we're at a level we never have been at in terms of this country. >> i think americans feel strangely vulnerable at the moment. they're not used to this. when you've been the superpower for my entire lifetime and now the emerging superpowers to compete with you and successfully. >> we created those superpowers. we created our competition. so-called free trade which turned out really to be unfair trade. china is going to make $350 billion on us this year and they're laughing at us. they're building george washington bridges but much bigger all over the place. when is the last time you saw america doing that? >> why has america stopped doing that kind of thing? >> well, the environmental approvals are impossible. >> bureaucracy is crazy here, right? >> the bureaucracy is unbelievable. i mean, if you want to build a bridge today, i have had many islands i was going to buy near new york, near manhattan. i say how long would it take to get a bridge built. they say maybe 20 years and not sure we can get it. 20 years. in china, they build a bridge. you know what it's called? build a bridge. next day they start working. >> why can't the bureaucracy be eliminated? why can't somebody get a grip on this? >> it can't be eliminated but it certainly can be made a lot quicker and better and efficient. we just don't do that. it's getting much worse. the epa is really, really tough. i know the head of the epa. she used to be in new jersey and i really like her. terrific. but you know what? it's gotten so bad. i have friends, they want to do things, piers. they can't even think about it. >> which of all the republican candidates at the moment do you think has it in him to get america out of this mess? >> i have to start off saying i think any of them would be better than what we have now. we really have got a chief campaigner. you look at obama. and i don't know him. i never met him. and i think he's really a nice guy. he looks to me like a nice guy. but all he does is campaign. he should be sitting behind his desk making sure that china stops with the rips. that all of these other countries, that opec -- i mean, every time, every time i see on your show or any other show that the economy's getting better, i say, watch what happens with oil prices. the next day oil prices go up $3 a barrel and all of the sudden the economy comes back. oil is such a power. bigger power than interest rates in a way. >> clearly america will have a choice within a year now of which way to go with their president. and they're going to need the republican party, a candidate. the interesting thing about the race is that mitt romney has barely put a foot wrong, but he's kind of flatlined around the 25% mark in all the polls. can't seem to make the jump to being the outright front-runner and we're seeing lots of people -- >> it's amazing. >> rick perry and herman cain coming along and seizing that kind of tea party vote. the guy that most people think is probably the best option can't get the right kind of traction. >> well, look. i've gotten to know mitt romney very well, and i'm very impressed by him. i think he's a terrific guy and i think he's a much different guy actually in person than what you watch on television. though i have to say, even watching on television he was great in the debates. so i think he does come along. i think he's doing fine. but you're right. you know, why isn't he at 60% instead of 23%. >> why is it do you think? >> nobody knows. who, why. >> is he not sexy enough? >> he's actually a very handsome guy. he's got the look. he's got the brains. >> is he a bit dull? >> i don't think so. i mean, i have to tell you, i've gotten to know him very well and i don't think so at all. but for some reason it's not quite resonating yet. and the word "yet" is important. 90% of the people, believe it or not. i saw this poll this morning on your station, on your channel, 90% of the people haven't even made up their mind yet in terms of the race. which is shocking to me. but they haven't really definitively made up their mind. i think he's going to do well. he'll do well if he ended up winning. i met with herman cain. >> what do you think of him? he's very charismatic. he seems to be weak on what he thinks about stuff. >> you know what? you also get people. okay? you get people. i get you for certain things. i get somebody else. i mean, one of the problem that we have with our leader currently is that if you look at our trade negotiators, i know the top 25 killers in -- let's say wall street. i mean, i don't like to use the term because wall street is a -- >> financial business. >> i know the wall street -- i know the killers of the world. they're better than -- we have the greatest businesspeople in the world. nobody close. and i

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