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tv   Piers Morgan Tonight  CNN  July 2, 2012 9:00pm-10:00pm PDT

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we know in our gut and in our heart that the only pledge that should ever really matter is the pledge of allegiance. that's the declaration of independence we need to see from our elected officials in a way of honoring our founding fathers on this fourth of july. tonight, she's leading the charge against obama care. >> this is the first time anything like this has happened. this is a turning point in american history. we'll never be the same again with this denial of liberty. >> now surprising poll results on how americans feel about the supreme court decision and the race for the white house. i'll ask michele bachmann will this change the course of the election. >> the american people are seeing a clear contrast between obama's failed policies and mitt romney's expertise and know how. >> will the obama and romney race be about big ideas or about dollars and cents? also life in the fast lane, one of the biggest and most ike
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onic american bands of all time. now glen fry is back. ♪ get your kicks on route 66 >> this is "piers morgan tonight." good evening. our big story tonight dead heat. i'm not talking about the weather. i'm talking about americans opinions on the supreme court decision on obama care. take a look at the first poll. 50% agree with the decision. 49% disagree. well within the poll's margin of error. you would think a win would be reflected in poll numbers. take a look at this second cnn poll on registered voters choice for president. no change since may. president obama still at 49%. mitt romney at 46%. what is going on here? what does it mean for the race for the white house? joining me now for our story, one of the leading voices speaking out, michele bachmann. congresswoman, thank you for
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joining me again. why are you so opposed to universal health care for all? >> we want health care for everyone. we want it at the cheapest possible price for the american people and for everyone involved. we want the highest possible quality for the greatest number of people and part of the problem with obama care has been that it is absolutely exploded cost. president obama promised that every american would save $2,500 a year on their health care premium and the reverse happened, going up by $2,200 so that's a $5,000 swing from what the president promised. costs are exploding. we're beginning to see denial of care by the obama care board so this is not a very good scenario where we're spending more money and we're getting less for it. i think that's why it's been very unpopular with the american people especially with senior citizens because medicare is
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actually losing $575 billion. it's been cut by that amount of money. so we still have the same amount of senior citizens if not more so. there's just a lot less money in medicare. that's also made it very unpopular. >> if it is so terrible, such a ghastly idea, why was the deciding vote taken by a conservative chief justice, john roberts? why has he flown against conservative thinking if that's what it is? >> well, absolutely no one can fathom why he came up with the decision that he did. to me clearly this was an unconstitutional requirement from government. never before has the federal government demanded of every american just because we breathe that we have to buy a product that government tells us we have to buy at a certain price that the government tells us we have to pay for it. of all places insurance companies. we're forced to buy a product
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that private insurance companies offer and we should be able to make our choices and not have the federal government make the choices for us. the good news is we really can have positive health care reform. we can do this and we can bring down the cost of health care and we can make sure that we have affordable, assessable health care for all americans. the current situation won't work. in fact, what a lot of americans aren't realizing quite yet is that there's over 20 new taxes in obama care and just one of the taxes will be a tax on when people sell their homes. it's 3.8%. for many americans, they'll have to pay in addition to all of the other costs at the closing when they sell their home, the seller will have to pay 3.8% of the closing costs to the government for obama care so if you have a $500,000 house, you'll be having to give something under $20,000 to the federal government to pay
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for obama care. that's just one of the new taxes that's about to take place. >> do you have car insurance? >> yes, i do. >> who told you to ? >> i have car insurance because i have an investment in my car and i want to make sure i can hold onto that investment. car insurance is a very different thing from health insurance. no one is forced to buy a car if they don't want to. here in the case of obama care, every american is forced to buy a health insurance policy just because they breathe. >> hang on. let me jump in. receipt me jump in. you just hit it on the head. you talked about buying health insurance. you have to buy car insurance. if you want to drive a car in america, you have to buy insurance or you will be driving illegally. you will be fined. if you keep defying it, you'll be put in jail.
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what's the difference ideologically to a republican like you that's so opposed to this? what's the difference between americans being forced by law to have insurance to drive a car and being forced by law to have insurance for their health? >> i said it in the beginning of my remarks. no one is forced to buy a car. you don't have to buy a car. if you buy a car, you need to be responsible and have insurance. in america, this isn't a matter of buying something. this is being forced to purchase a product that government tells us to. this is a tremendously radical decision, piers, because now previously we've had choices in health insurance and now we give all of that up. now all of the powers put in government's hands and government decide exactly what health insurance policy all americans have to buy. we don't have a choice anymore. that's just been taken away from us.
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now government chooses. it's far beyond that. now government will be telling doctors what their decisions need to be on health care as well. this is very different from what we've had before. this is a massive loss of our own decision making over some of the most personal decisions in our lives. now government makes the choice. >> it's not that unique. only in the sense at the federal level. >> it's highly unique. >> not at a federal level but at the state level a very different thing. let's play a clip from governor of massachusetts mitt romney in 2006 talking specifically about a health insurance mandate. >> with regards to the mandate, the individual responsibility program, which i proposed, i was very pleased to see that the compromise from the two houses includes the personal responsibility principles. that's essential for bringing health care cost down for everyone and getting everybody
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the health insurance they deserve and need. >> you can call me bemused of the british isles, but what's the difference? >> compare and contrast couldn't be more stark between barack obama and mitt romney. when voters go into the polls this november, they can vote for barack obama who will keep government health care, which is government control over our lives in health care and what is called a taxmageddon coming upon us. the largest tax increase in american history will come to us with obama care. that we know we will have with a second term with barack obama versus mitt romney who will repeal obama care on day one. he wants choice for all americans. and also -- let me just finish, piers. let me just finish. mitt romney wants choice -- mitt romney wants choice for all americans but he also wants lower costs in health care for
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all americans. we know we won't have that in obama care. we will if mitt romney becomes the next president of the united states. >> just to get back to how would you crystallize the difference between that clip of mitt romney in 2006 and the individual mandate he was talking about in relation to health insurance? what is the ideological difference between that and what barack obama has done? >> well, that's simple. very simple. because what mitt romney was talking about was one state, massachusetts. what barack obama is talking about is every single american in the nation. mitt romney couldn't have been more clear. he said i would never put this program in massachusetts -- i would never apply this to the entire country. it would be wrong. he couldn't have been more clear. and so that's why i say in november the decision will be very stark. barack obama will not deviate from this program that's already been proven a failure because again --
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>> if i may jump in. let me jump in and play you a clip from mitt romney in 2009 on "meet the press" because he was asked specifically on whether this could apply on a national level, his individual health mandate. listen to this. >> the right way to proceed is to reform health care. that we can do as we did it in massachusetts as is proposed at the national level and we can do it for the nation and get everyone insured and get the cost of health care down but we don't have to have government insurance and government running health care to get that done. >> see, i'm even more bemused now. unless i'm going completely mad, he's saying what he did in massachusetts could be done just as effectively on a national level, isn't he? >> no, that isn't what he said at all. we said we can have dramatic reform at the national level which we can. that's the good news. the biggest problem with obama care is that it will laterally send millions of jobs outside of the country because once that
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decision was announced last thursday, i will tell you, people all across the united states who run companies made a decision. they said we have the highest tax rate for companies in the world. we have the worst banking laws in the world in america because of dodd-frank. we have very expensive cap and trade legislation that was just uphold by the appellate court and now the biggest tax increase in american history with obama care. people who own companies will send millions of jobs outside of the country. that's the biggest tax we could have. >> let me just read this back to you. i don't think you heard this correctly. he said in relation to reform of health care that we can do as we did it in massachusetts doing it at the national level. what does he mean by that unless i'm going -- as i say crackers -- he can do what he did in massachusetts bringing the individual health mandate he was heard talking about in my previous clip to a national
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level which is exactly what barack obama has done. >> well, during my bid for the presidency, i made the repeal of obama care the centerpiece of my message. i've had numerous conversations with mitt romney about the issue of obama care. he has said to me repeatedly as he has said on television repeatedly, he wants to seek reform of our health care system because it's broken and in need of reform. and so what he's saying is on the national level we can have reform but he's also said repeatedly he would not put in place on a national level what they put in place in massachusetts because what we need is more options, more choices and lower costs in health insurance. that's the opposite of what we're getting already as the result of obama care. >> okay. let's take a short break. when we come back, i want to talk about how you would handle health care and what it would take to get the country's economy going again. [ manager 1 ] out here in the winds,
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for making atms and branches appear out of thin air. simple to use websites, tools, and apps. for making your financial life a little bit easier. >> for us to say that you've got to take a responsibility to get health insurance is absolutely not a tax increase. what it's saying is that we're not going to have other people carrying your burdens for you anymore than the fact that right now everybody in america just about has to get auto insurance. nobody considers that a tax increase.
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>> president obama back in 2009 on abc's "this week" saying health care is not a tax. we have a more bemusing picture involving the president. he says that it's not a tax very firmly. now it's a tax. he's saying it's a great idea. it was always going to be a tax because it suits them politically. what do you think? is this a tax or is it a penalty? >> well, it's very clear from the legislation it was not called a tax. president obama didn't call it a tax. nancy pelosi didn't call it a tax. harry reid didn't call it a tax but the effect of this is that we will have the largest tax increase in american history. why? because it's a requirement. so we have all of the law professor arguments from the supreme court but the real pragmatic practical issue for all of your viewers tonight, piers, is people will pay more
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for their health care. they're going to get a lot less in return unfortunately but the biggest tax of all will be that millions of jobs are about to be shipped overseas because of this but what's even more concerning to me is that millions of americans are going to be thrown off their employer sponsored care because companies can't afford to pay for it anymore and then people will have to go out into the private market and spend on average $20,000 for a family policy. i'm a tax lawyer. that's what i did for a living. people receive their health insurance from their employer tax free but now they'll have to go out and buy it with after-tax money. this is going to be a very different america with this decision. one that won't bode well for people in the future. that's why i know and have every confidence that mitt romney will repeal obama care on his very first day in office. >> part of the problem for republicans is you all say it's a tax as are many republicans but mitt romney today has come
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out through his spokesman and said clearly it's not a tax, the mandate. it's a penalty. there is a real divide there over the language that's being used by your party. which is it? is it a tax or as mitt romney says a penalty? >> well, i've already answered that question. i said that the language of the statute does not refer to it as a tax nor did the leading democrats that were pushing this bill. john roberts and liberals on the supreme court called it a tax. it doesn't matter. that's something for law professors to argue. what does matter to your viewers is what it's going to mean for them and the bottom line, obama care will mean very expensive health care denial of services but it's also going to mean the biggest job tax we've ever seen because millions of jobs are about to be shipped overseas. that's not what i want to see for people. i want to see health care reformed so that costs can go down and we can do all of that.
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i have a very simple bill that i have on my website at bachmann.house.gov, let every american buy any health insurance policy they want anywhere in america and let every american pay for that health insurance with their own tax free money and then have true medical malpractice reform. that doesn't cost the taxpayer a dime but it drives down the cost of health care for every american. it gets the bureaucracy out of it but it puts choice in the hands of your viewers. today government holds all of the cards. government gets to choose what's in our health insurance. government has control over what the doctors' decisions are and government chooses my doctor. that's not what i want for my 81-year-old mother. i want them to own their own health insurance and want them to choose their doctor. i don't want some government bureaucrat to decide if my mother gets health care or not. that's not what i want for future of the cnn viewers.
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>> let's turn to tweets from rupert murdoch who is a leading light of the republicans. he met romney last week. tough o chicago pros will be hard to beat unless he drops old friends from his team and hires some real pros. doubtful. romney people upset at me. of course i want him to win. save us from socialism. but should listen to good advice and get stuck in. does mr. murdoch have a point? >> i think american people are seeing the clear contrast between barack obama's failed policies and mitt romney's expertise and know how. >> i don't think that was the point that rupert murdoch is making. i was asking you about the specific point he was making. the specific point that rupert murdoch is making that barack obama has tougher and better people around him than mitt romney and that could cost mitt
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romney the election. do you agree with that? >> i don't agree with it at all. if you look at mitt romney's history, very smart guy with a very optimistic savvy message and people know they can trust him on dealing with the economy. if you look at his life's history, mitt romney has accomplished a lot. he's been extremely successful via his own smarts and also the fact that he surrounded himself with the best possible people. >> finally, if mitt romney was to call you after this interview and did a very good job there, michele bachmann, and i missed you on the public stage. i think it's time you came back at a high level. i would like you to be my vp. what would you say to him? >> one thing i know about mitt romney is he's made excellent decisions in the past when it comes to running organizations. i have no doubt whoever he chooses to bring in as his vp it will be a highly competent person who could step in at a
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moment's notice and i have faith in the decisions mitt romney will make as president. >> are you being vetted at the moment? >> that's something for the campaign to answer on. that's not for me to make that decision and that announcement. >> that is not as we say in the journalistic trade a denial, congresswoman. >> well, again, i'm just looking forward to seeing the country turn around and to seeing the economy improve and that's something i trust mitt romney to do. he can do it very well. >> michele bachmann, thank you for coming back on the show. i appreciate it. >> piers, thanks again. always great to be with you. >> when we come back, what promises to be a lively debate of top political insiders on what they just heard from michele bachmann and what it all means for november. the postal service is critical to our economy,
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delivering mail, medicine and packages. yet the house is considering a bill to close thousands of offices, slash service and layoff over 100,000 workers. the postal service is recording financial losses, but not for reasons you might think. the problem ? a burden no other agency or company bears. a 2006 law that drains $5 billion a year from post office revenue while the postal service is forced to overpay billions more into federal accounts. house bill 2309 is not the answer. so how much do we owe you? that'll be $973.42.
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>> this is now a time for the american people to make a choice. you can choose whether you want to have a larger and larger government and more intrusive in your life separating you and your doctor, whether you're comfortable with more deficits, higher debt we pass to upcoming generations or whether you want to return to a time when the american people will have their own choice in health care. >> mitt romney reacting to the supreme court decision on health care last week.
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you heard what michele bachmann had to say about it. now i want to bring in a couple political observers who are fired up. joining me is republican strategist kelly ann conway and blogger tanya acker. welcome to you both. kelly ann, michele bachmann spray gunned the armageddon end of the world facts as she saw them. of course these are open to how can i put this, the old fashioned fact checking. for example, she repeated this claim that basically every american under this obama care will face an extra 3.8% tax on home sales, et cetera, et cetera, and of course that is simply not true. if you actually study the facts on this, it would only apply when the household income is greater than $250,000 and the profit on the home is more than half a million dollars, which means 99.9% of all americans are ruled out of this. so the scare mongering tactic i think is being overdone. what do you say? >> i would say, piers, there's a
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reason that a vast majority of americans oppose obama care. they did when it was passed and did when the supreme court issued its decision last thursday and they do today. why is that? they see it for what it is. >> hang on. there you go again. you have bachmann disease. it's not the vast majority of americans. the latest polls say that half of americans are in favor. half are against. >> one of the polls does. but, piers, let's talk about the opinion and the impact on the population -- >> you can't just repeat the vast majority of americans oppose it when the clear evidence from the latest polls is that's not true. >> one poll. piers, the fact is that we know tax is a four-letter word to americans. this is why the left is trying to say it's not a tax. it's a penalty even though it was found constitutional under congress's taxing power.
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>> let me stop you here. it's not just the left saying it's a penalty. mitt romney today, his spokesman, said it's a penalty and not a tax. >> i'm going to tell you what the supreme court said. here's what the supreme court said. >> hold on. your guy, mitt romney, said today they don't see it as a tax. they see it as a penalty. how can you blame the american public for being confused when half of the republicans say it's a tax and the other half say it's a penalty. >> piers, here's the implication. as the supreme court held, they say the fact that congress, the people who wanted to fool us into believing it was good for us called it a penalty, does not mean it's a penalty for constitutional purposes. the supreme court held that it is a tax because it's not large enough to be punitive, number one. number two, there's no requirement and number three, ding, ding, ding, the internal revenue service as congresswoman bachmann pointed out will be in charge of collecting it. if the american people whether
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they go to polls this november or in 2014 having not purchased essential minimal requirements of health care quote/unquote, they'll have to pay for it in their tax returns. everybody can call it a penalty. if people feel it's a tax, it's a four-letter word that's a tax, that's the way they're going to react to it. >> half of the republicans are calling it tax. half call it penalty. mitt romney thinks it's a penalty. i'm confused, tanya. bring me up to speed with where we are on this. i'm equally confused by barack obama. he said quite clearly a couple years ago it's not a tax and never going to be a tax. now he's saying the supreme court says i can do it through taxation. it's a great idea. is it a tax? that's the way can he do this. >> there's a good reason why you're confused. the court says very clearly at the outset that it's not a tax because if it were a tax the court could not have reached this decision. there's something called the anti-injunction act which says
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you can't challenge a tax until you actually have to pay it. what the court also said is the act could be upheld under congress's taxing powers. there are lots of exactions and lots of penalties and moneys that people have to pay under the congress's taxes power that may not necessarily be a tax. piers, i want to go back to another point you made. it's interesting what both the congresswoman and kellyanne do. it's watch watching people do this sometimes you repeat something long enough, perhaps it becomes true. even if you considered this a tax, i hear this talking point that suggests it's the biggest tax increase in the world if you believe rush limbaugh's facts or in the history of the united states. that's simply not true. the tax increase, let's call it a tax if you want to call it a tax. if you call it a tax, that increase is 33% less than the 1982 tax increase that ronald reagan passed. going back to the point about --
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if you don't like what i'm saying and don't like the fact that you are making up facts, then hear me out. >> excuse me. what facts did i make up exactly? hold on. what facts did i make up exactly? what fact did i make up exactly? >> don't be so catty. >> i'm looking at the supreme court decision. they say it's constitutional under the taxing power. the irs -- what is the irs in charge of? penalties? commerce? >> it's not the largest tax increase in the history of the united states. >> it's a darn hefty one. >> oh my. i can understand -- i can understand -- i'm trying to stick to a serious point and i would really appreciate not being interrupted. i would appreciate not being interrupted. if you want to go back -- >> let me intervene. >> you're in a bad mood tonight, my friend. >> let me intervene. >> my word.
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>> i think both sides are exposed by this. barack obama didn't fight this campaign on it being a tax. he fought it on a mandate with a penalty. exactly what mitt romney did in massachusetts. mitt romney is now distancing himself from what he did in massachusetts and clearly implying it was a terrible idea after all even though most people in massachusetts believe it works pretty well. here's the key thing. when it comes down to the level of money that we're talking about in massachusetts very few penalties have actually been administered. most people get the insurance. you can take it to the enth degree extreme but the american people aren't stupid. whatever this is, it's not the greatest taxation in history. let's try to get the argument back down to a sensible argument. >> something i didn't say on this show but let me say this. >> hold on. the congresswoman said it.
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>> hold on. >> michele bachmann said that. the question is this, do you think -- let me ask you -- wait. wait. let me ask you, as a republican strategist, when michele bachmann, a very key high profile member of the republican party, when she tosses out statements like the greatest taxation in the history of america, don't you think it's unhelpful to the debate and don't you think there's a better debate to be had here than just chucking out it's the end of the world when everybody accepts whether they are in agreement or not the 30 million plus more americans will be covered under this obama care than would have been before. no one disputes that, right? >> i've seen statistics there will be 813 billion plus in new taxes and some would say that's the largest tax increase. this is what i think is an important point on that. yesterday on tv nancy pelosi who lost her speakership over obama care, people dragged them out, tossed them out of office because of obama care in 2010,
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she's now saying that this is going to affect just the "free riders." piers, tanya, we were sold obama care being told that this is because people are victims. people need health insurance. they need health insurance. now we're being told it only effects a tiny percentage of people who are free riders. don't let them freeload off the system. this makes no sense. who are we talking about, the victims or the free riders? >> kellyanne, do you have char insurance? >> i do. >> do you see any difference between a government enforcing its citizens to take out car insurance or they face penalties and taking out health insurance? one is a car, one you could argue is even more prized. it's your body. >> i do see the difference. living in manhattan, i know many people who don't have cars and therefore don't have car insurance. what the supreme court held last week is the government can't
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under interstate commerce clause force us to buy a product. they got involved because the guy was feeding wheat to hogs. what happened here is they are saying you can't force people under interstate commerce clause to buy car insurance. but if you fail to under the taxing power of congress, you will pay a penalty. that's the difference. there in l.a. people don't have cars and don't have to buy car insurance. nobody penalizes them for not having it. >> everyone in l.a. has cars. there's no other way to get around. they can't walk. i've tried it. back to tanya. make it quick. >> i just want to go back to the way this debate has been framed. when you talk about how many americans oppose this act and you talk to people about the individual parts of the act and they can't get dumped for being sick and people under 26 can still be covered under their parents' insurance and the fact
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that there are no longer any life-long limits, these are things that are noticeably popular. it may make folks on the right very upset. this is really just a part of a continuing conversation that we've been having. >> it's an important conversation. what would be nice is to think that republicans and the democrats could come together and reach a point of consensus rather than both going to the extremities of this debate making out the other side is completely mad because actually if you cut to the quick here, mitt romney believed in a mandate with penalties -- >> as did other republicans. >> and obama believed in a mandate with penalties. stop the washington games and get on with covering americans so they all have health care. that's my simplistic view. when we come back, the man who rocked america with one of the biggest bands. on his music and parting days with the legendary eagles. ♪ if you have planned to motor
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♪ if you have planned to motor west, travel my way that's the highway that's the best friend. >> glenn fry is one of the most recognizable voices in rock 'n' roll. one of the founding members of the eagles and made a mark of his own with songs for "beverly hills cop" and joining me the legendary rocker, glenn fry. welcome. >> nice to be here. >> it's been lively tonight as you might have gathered. >> someone once said talking about music is like dancing
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about architecture but after watching the last two segments, maybe we should just talk a little music. >> i have spent much of the last seven years living in hotels in california. you have become sin ominous with my actual lifestyle. clear it up once and for all. what is "hotel california" really about? >> it's about the listener's imagination. images strung together. >> what was it to you? >> to me it was los angeles sort of represented a sort of tarnished elegance back when we were working on this record and these songs back in 1976. >> i love that phrase. tarnished elegance. >> you know what i mean. that's sort of the way california looked at me. something that was beautiful and then we managed to start messing it up and neglect it. the story of mankind really.
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but, you know, it's probably the most misinterpreted and most talked about eagles song that there is and part of that is because it's images connected together. it's just like a little movie. a lot of it doesn't have to make sense. i think what you have to do is just engage the imagination of the listener. >> i took it to mean a monument to american excess. not necessarily completely negative way but just a monument to excess. when you look at modern american and the way america has developed since the song, what do you think about now in terms of what's going on in america in terms of have people taken excess too far do you think? >> what i look at now, i grew up in detroit, michigan. my dad worked in a factory. my mom baked pies at general motors and worked as a cash register operator at a restaurant. my dad was moving forward. people came back from world war
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i and had jobs. they were able to afford a car. sometimes a second car. i always went on a summer vacation. i always had clothes. there was something, you know, that was growing and building. now what i have seen in my lifetime as an adult is really the sort of destruction of the middle class. we have rich people and poor people and now we even have a class in america called the working poor but i sort have seen this evolve and it's unfortunate because i think the strength of our country is the working class. >> is there a simple answer now? >> well, you know, when barack obama got elected, some friends of mine and i looked at each other and said we'll find out how broke it really is. what we found out is that it is broke bad. it will take time and it will take a lot of time and not be done in four years or done in eight years.
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slowly but surely we have to create jobs and we have to create a future for the working class. >> interesting debate. there is a whole debate sparked by the big speech of the first episode where the character gets angry about america and the key point he was making was that too many americans still believe that america is the greatest country on earth when statistically in many, many key areas science, education, so on, it isn't anymore. there's a lack of awareness about this. like all things in denial. until you deal with the denial and accept reality, you can't get better again. do you think there's merit to that? >> yeah. i think we're very distracted. i think it's hard to keep focus on the problems because life is so chaotic and there's so many things coming at you all the time. you know, i'm happy i'm a musician.
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it's fun to play music every day. fun to go to the studio. >> to be an eagle. it must be great thing in history to say you're one of the eagles. isn't it. >> it's been very good to me. the eagles have been very good to me. i think we all really appreciate that now. we're in a very fortunate position. the eagles is like a big mother ship. we kept the band together now for 18 years. >> here's the amazing thing. i know the statistic. since your reunion, you've been back together twice as long as you were the first time around. >> right. >> let's take a break and come back and talk about the reunion. the mother ship of all reunions and your great new album which by the way i love. ♪ if there was an easier,
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i tell mike what i can spend. i do my best to make that work. we're driving safely. and sue saved money on brakes. now that's personal pricing. ♪ route 66 from the new album. glenn frye is back with us now. the eagles greatest hits has overtaken thriller as the greatest selling american album. isn't that amaze something. >> it's incredible.
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it's really about the material. and i -- >> could you just retire and lived off the proceeds of hotel california, the single? >> i would have had to be frugal, but. >> it must be playing every second somewhere in the world. >> that's the one thing about this song. people tell me, i was hiking in nepal and checked into this hoss tell and guess what was playing. it becomes the soundtrack of people's lives. >> how has the industry changed most dramatically for you. given that you've been reunited for quite a long time, but you broke up for a while. how has it exchanged? >> in the '70s, when you put a record out it was a simple formula. if you had singles they went to a.m. radio, if you had great album tracks they went to f.m. radio. you did some interviews, there were a couple television shows you could do, and then you went
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on the road and promoted your album. now it's a many tentacled thing with the internet. >> it's all about life before. >> so many of the other bands keep growing up. >> you make a lot of money playing concerts. the way to promote your music now is television. if you would ask someone what they'd hope? i'd like to get a car commercial. it helps, it broadcasts over and over and over again. >> what is the song, of all the songs you've been involved with. what is the one, i said, can you play one song to be remembered by, the defining song? >> well, i have my favorite records. >> what's your number one. >> i loved one of these nights,
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i thought it was cowboy r & b. great soul singer, don henley. cool chord progression, mine. that was with one of my absolute favorite eagles records. >> who of all the acts out there now, who's the one that excites you, the modern crowd? >> well, you know, i love adele. and i think if -- i watched the grammy's this year, and the grammy's there was a lot of glamour, dancers, there was a lot of flash, and then adele came on, and everybody was dressed in black, and they only had white light on her, and she just stood there and burned. >> two girls were born around the same time period, the same year, in the same block of north london. adele and amy winehaus.
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>> it seems to me that neither of them cared about having hit records. what they loved was music, and the music that spoke to them was the music that they wanted to perform and be a part of. amy winehaus was out of sight. adele is genuine. there's not a lot of packaging going on there. >> eagles, one my favorite bands this is a superb album. when i go home tonight, i want to crack open a bottle of chateau margot and listen to this album. >> that's why i made this, so people like me, friends of mine can have something to play on car trips. >> it's the perfect supper club album. i commend everyone to go and buy it. it's been a real pleasure. there are not many legends around these days, you are one of them.
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>> i'm going to frame that moment. coming up, only in america, three women who embodied the true olympic spirit. ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] we believe you're at your best when you can relax and be yourself. and at thousands of newly refreshed holiday inn hotels, you always can. holiday inn. stay you. and now stay rewarded with vacation pay.
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tonight only in america, what it takes to be a true olympian. exhibit a is dara torres, postage heats are long retired by the time they're 45. not dara. she refused to let anything dim her spirit, not age, not motherhood. she gave it absolutely
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everything. and the 50 meter freestyle final today broadcast on nbc, but she came in fourth and didn't quite make the team. then there's exhibit b, extraordinary drama between sprinters. an unprecedented exact photo finish between the two. both ladies agreed to a runoff for the coveted slot. hours before the scheduled race, jeneba pulled out moaning it was all terribly unfair and she should have gone through the first time. the truth, allyson felix is a much faster sprinter. example c, nastia's olympic hopes crashed when she fell on the bars. rather than walk away in tears, she dusted herself down, wiped powder on her hands and went back with her team.