What's Happening on Wall Street; Tavis Smiley and Dr. Cornel West Discuss Their Poverty Tour
MALVEAUX: We asked based on the income of family of four, what is the poverty guideline set by the government: $22,000 a year, $32,000, or $42,000? The answer, $22,000. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, a family making below that amount means it meets the definition of poverty. Well, here is a rundown on some of the stories that we are working on. Next, two men who think President Obama is not doing enough to get millions of Americans out of poverty. My conversation with Cornel West and Tavis Smiley. Then, a Texas town that is bone dry from drought turns its desperate eye to what some call a disgusting water source. And later, your answer to today's "Talk Back" question. Is Congressman Peter King right to call for an investigation into a movie on the hunt for Osama bin Laden? Well, these are tough financial times for many of us, but especially for the millions of Americans who are living in poverty. Almost 44 million people were living below the poverty line in 2009. That's according to the most recent figures from the Census Bureau. Talk show host Tavis Smiley and Princeton University Professor Cornel West are on a multi-city bus tour to draw attention to poverty in the United States. They have also been critical of President Obama, accusing him of neglecting the poor. And they're with us here in the studio this morning. Thank you very much for joining us.</s>DR. CORNEL WEST, PRINCETON: We're very blessed to be here.</s>TAVIS SMILEY, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Good to be here.</s>MALVEAUX: Appreciate it.</s>WEST: Blessed to be here.</s>MALVEAUX: I'm going to start with you, Tavis. What have you seen on the road when you talk to people and talk to families, what are they dealing with? What's poverty look like?</s>SMILEY: The new poor in this country, Suzanne, are the former middle class. The new poor are the former middle class. It's been so easy politically speaking, as you know, as you well know covering the White House for so many years, talking about the middle class. But the middle class is now falling quickly into the poor. The Children's Defense Fund put a report out there today that from year 2008 to 2009, more American children fell into poverty during that one year during any other time during recorded history. The poor are growing exponentially in this country, but at the same time being rendered invisible. Poverty is at the periphery of our political conversation and it ought to be at the epicenter.</s>MALVEAUX: And, Professor, what does it look like? Are we talking about people who don't have running water? Are we talking about people that don't have televisions? What's poverty look like in this country?</s>WEST: There's a number of different forums. We slept on the street, homeless in Washington, D.C., or it's going to be with a white poor family in Mississippi -- takes a number of different forums. But for the most part, it has to do with not acknowledging for dignity and the precious humanity of poor people of all colors. Not enough food. Not enough jobs with a living wage. Not enough housing that are decent. And, of course, we began with our indigenous people which is to say our brothers and sisters in Wisconsin.</s>MALVEAUX: Both of you have been critical of the president. But the president has put forward ideas and plans. He is talking about trying to extend unemployment benefits, provide more food stamps and stacks breaks for families. Why the criticism? Why do you say he needs to do more?</s>SMILEY: Well, I think the president ought to do more. And I hate when people try to get -- because if we are only talking about the president, I don't care how many times we call the Republicans obstructionists, how many times they got to stop say no, and how many times do we say they are so much worse than the president. People want to focus for ratings and for sensationalism on our comments about the president. Having said that, the president ought to do more. The poor ought to be a priority. He ought not to have signed that debt ceiling legislation, that raised the ceiling, but put a hole in the floor that poor people are falling through with no extension of unemployment benefits. When you say the president wants to extend unemployment benefits, why sign legislation that did not extend unemployment benefits? That's the question.</s>MALVEAUX: Well, you understand that he has to work the Republicans. He has to work with Congress. He can't unilaterally act on his own. But, Professor West, you have said before specifically to the president that you don't believe he has the backbone here to push this forward. Why see this as some sort of character flaw as opposed to just a different approach to poverty?</s>WEST: Well, it's the intensity of the fight. We just laid a wreath for Martin Luther King, Jr., Coretta Scott King, these are folks that fought intensely and for -- important to keep in mind, it's not really just president. We are talking about greedy people on Wall Street. We are talking about avaricious corporate elite who have a disproportionate amount of wealth -- 400 Americans have more wealth than 150 million Americans. That level of wealth and equality is morally obscene. There is no justification for that. So, the president has to make a stand. Are you on the side of the oligarchs and the wealthy? Are you on the side of poor and working people? And that class war, and that's ugly -- that's why King is so important, we don't want revenge. We don't hatred. We want love. We want justice. But that class war has been going on for a while and was getting worse and worse.</s>MALVEAUX: Talk about the class war. There's been a lot of attention about your criticism of the president and you have said before you called him black mascot of Wall Street, black puppet who has certain fear of free black men. Why go there? Why inject race into this?</s>WEST: It's not a matter of injecting race. It's a matter of trying to tell the truth. One, if you have Tim Geithner and early on, Larry Summers, they come right out of Wall Street -- that's why Wall Street is doing well. Main Street is not. They tilt toward oligarchs and not to what every day people. That's an objective fact.</s>MALVEAUX: But you say black mascot. You say black puppet. Why that?</s>WEST: Well, because he's a black man. He's a black man. Should I just say mascot?</s>MALVEAUX: Why not?</s>WEST: Well, because as a president who is historically unprecedented and being a black president, there is some expectation that he would have deep care for Latisha and Jamal on the corner. Maybe I was wrong about that. But he is a black man. He's also a black brilliant man. He's a black charismatic man. His wife is a brilliant black woman. She's a beautiful black woman. I have nothing wrong with saying black. If I talk about Jewish genius Stephen Sondheim. Jewish gangsters, Madoff. That's not wrong with saying -- these are objective facts.</s>MALVEAUX: Do you think it's been unfair the criticism that both of you gotten from the black community you spoke out and been so critical of this president?</s>SMILEY: I think when you talk about the poor, as Dr. West is saying all the time, and when you talk about the poor, the closer you end up on a cross. People are trying to crucify you when you try to -- there is a reason about there's not a poor people's campaign or movement in this country. Because they are disposable, they are throwaway, they are the forgotten community. When you do this kind of work, you are going to be a challenge, sometimes with merit and sometimes without merit. But it's about keeping the focus on the poor people. We don't waste our time -- I don't, Dr. West doesn't -- responding to a bunch of senseless, you know, criticism.</s>WEST: Any time in America no matter what color you are, when you talk about poor people's dignity, you better put your cemetery clothes on and be coffin-ready because you could die in a minute. That's how much you love the poor people. So, we're not in it to be popular. We want to serve. And we are Christians, so we're just bearing witness.</s>MALVEAUX: All right. Well, you guys are very popular.</s>SMILEY: Some sort.</s>MALVEAUX: But you are very popular now. We appreciate you bringing attention to this issue of poverty very much so.</s>SMILEY: Congratulations on your show.</s>MALVEAUX: Thank you.</s>WEST: Salute to the work you do.</s>MALVEAUX: Thank you very much.</s>SMILEY: Absolutely.</s>MALVEAUX: Appreciate it. A reminder to vote for today's "Choose the News" winner. Text to "22360" to vote for the story that you'd like to see. Text "1" for shoring up Navy SEALs. Military experts detail the process to replace 17 SEALs that were killed in this weekend's tragic helicopter crash. Text "2" for Libya's street artist. Libyan using his paint brush in the fight for freedom. And text "3" for U.S. agents in Mexico. Secret American agents heading south and helping fight the drug war in Mexico. Winning story will air in the next hour. Well, the desperation now for water in Texas.</s>ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: When you hear people say, oh, my God, these people are going to be drinking their own urine.</s>JOHN GRANT, COLORADO RIVER MUNICIPAL WATER DISTRICT: There was a fellow over in Midland that I heard made a comment that said at least he gets to drink his beer twice.