it's. ordinary people are not going to stand. for corporate greed anymore and now we're getting up and we do something about it one of the many messages behind the occupy wall street movement this is protesters in america say they're following in the footsteps of those involved in the arab spring so after hundreds of arrests a brooklyn bridge shutdown and allegations of police brutality has this season for change finally arrived in the u.s. . only way to get the media to notice is to disabuse you of the story. to people notice and stirred up is exactly what's going on as the occupy wall street gets bigger and louder so with the movement expanding from coast to coast

and as inequality has expanded over the years is civil disobedience the only way people in america can have their voices heard. and from bridging the gap of income inequality to fighting corruption to wall street's control over washington tensions continue growing between main street and wall street so as the seeds for revolution are planted we'll explore the root causes behind these protests. that afternoon it's monday october third it's four pm here in washington d.c. i'm lauren lyster and you're watching r t well occupy wall street protests continue in new york despite a weekend that saw more than seven hundred activists arrested and jailed for marching on the brooklyn bridge today protesters remain can. doubt lower manhattan

they're not going away they're going into a third week standing their ground over their grievances towards wall street now aside from questions over whether police were too aggressive with the weekend's arrests the questions remain about just what we're seeing here is this the radical left answer to the tea party is this a turning point in american history or could we be seeing the start of a true of aleutian channeling the arab spring that the occupy wall street movement claims to be inspired by in response to the inequality poverty joblessness and corporate power in america but we'll get to all of those questions but first i want to brief you on exactly what happened over the weekend has our teaser rate of course was there. i new season in a different nation the arab spring has become america's autumn and on saturday new york's brooklyn bridge reminded many of the scenes from egypt to here square.

nearly eight hundred protesters were trapped caught arrested and jailed as thousands of activists continued their second week of occupy wall street demonstrations a grassroots movement is campaigning against social inequality and for influence over us politics in the interim police conduct against peaceful protesters has come into question. just last week a new york city police officer attacked occupy wall street protesters with pepper spray prompting public outrage and an internal affairs investigation many didn't believe that there would be you know there dramatic confrontation this weekend after what happened last weekend after four women were pepper sprayed while they were corralled by the police after the n.y.p.d. used heavy handed tactics punching some protesters i think many people didn't expect that there would be something like that again this weekend though i have

heard no reports of pepper spray being used there were thousands of people stopped and hundreds arrested arrested after this were charged with disorderly conduct and summons to appear in criminal court. by sunday hundreds appeared back on wall street determined to continue their fight against corporate domination once you are not a breed to be arrested anymore the whole entire control of the police state disappears and when that happens there are credible possibilities that are open to us and suddenly you can imagine a different world and you believe you can be an agent of change the group says it means to raise national awareness and and change. because economic disparity occupy wall street describes itself as a resistance movement inspired in part by counter we can. believe our brothers and sisters all over the world arab spring in the breeze in spain we

can see that it did send a powerful message ordinary people are not going to stand for corporate greed anymore we're getting up and we're doing something about it. and the reason these activists are doing something on wall street rather than washington is because they say you have to follow the money begin where the largest campaign contributions donations and lobby groups come from. we were told it was for three. or four years. before that is. corporate greed goes all the way to the president i think. it starts. it is true that these demonstrators come here with a variety of different messages but what is uniting what unifies them is a growing frustration over the u.s. economy social inequality and corporate influence on u.s. politics these protesters say if american leaders can't act it will be the american

citizens that stand up for their rights reporting from wall street or you know for not artsy. and here now to talk about this is allison kilkenny she is a reporter for alter net who has been covering the wall street protests and she was on the brooklyn bridge saturday so she can tell us exactly what happened thank you so much for being on the show i've been following all your coverage and you've been doing such a good job it's great to talk to you thanks very much and actually covering it over the nation excuse me i'm so sorry about it ok well for the nation now first of all i know that you were out there on the brooklyn bridge and there's been a lot of confusion and different accounts over just what happened that led police to arrest more than seven hundred protesters. why were so many people arrested you were there i actually i wasn't there but from what i gather from other reports and other journalists i know are there so that the protesters are claiming that the well we. have heard of them actually on to the bridge and they were never told at

any point to turn around or to stop now the n.y.p.d. directly contradicts that claim that that they did tell the protesters that they were to stop them going to captain i believe at some point use the full horn telling them to turn around so if you've got this is there's been video emerging online showing that indeed the protesters or excuse me the families either but the protestors across the bridge or were quickly marching at the front of this group believing that at some point it happened did you suppose they weren't telling them that they would be arrested but it's unclear when that happened but protesters say that a little worn the first time a person were to appear to lose and so netting had already been pulled behind them and there was no way for them to retreat so of course during the contradicting claims right now the n.y.p.d. putting the burden on for truckers on the protesters that are saying that the n.y.p.d. actually let them across the bridge a lot of questions and we don't know exactly how that's going to shake out who's

going to win that p.r. war but it's interesting that the transport workers union is going to court to try to stop the city from forcing bus drivers to transport wall street protesters arrested by the n.y.p.d. of course last week the union voted to support the protesters i'm curious if you think union support is going to be a turning point for this movement yeah that's an interesting question and it's an exciting time for the movement because the central criticism. occupy wall street has been that you know they're scattered ideologically they're not very organized and unions are actually known for their organization and their ability to tens of thousands of individuals. in a very rapid manner so this could address the central criticism that occupy wall street has not directed at them but it'll be interesting to see what happens you know the yeah you would getting involved if you you as you said so october is actually the big union involvement there is going to be

a march and i will be without and we will see what happens of course unions are a large reason why we see so many protesters out on the streets in europe and in other countries that have strong union labor movements i'm curious could you touched on the kind of key criticism of this movement that it's disorganized and kind of lack serious structure and policy demands you've been covering this i know you've talked to so many people out there in the report that all reporter did you have people comparing that to the arab spring drawing inspiration from that how do you see this movement well typically you know on the scale of the arab spring of course you know i had been through the originally when they put up a call for people so occupied wall street were expecting twenty thousand people to show up right that didn't happen right now we have you know two to three hundred individuals who have been occupying the liberty plaza first fifteen days now which in itself is a remarkable feat. but you know it is interesting. we we

definitely are seeing an arab spring movement right now but that doesn't mean it's not going to get there. because of the youth revolutionary spirit behind it there although i don't want to say that this is purely a you based movement there are different types of people in liberty plaza but i do want to address the criticism from the mainstream media that you know what it's gathered ideologically i thought that but when you speak to these protesters there is a definite theme go you know it was a criticism against wall street it is an anti-corporate message they want to get the corporate money out of politics that's the big message so i'm really trying to time again but i think that you know we don't know why they're there and in my mind that's really lazy journalism because if you go down there and you ask people you do start to get this theme it's not a democratic movement i'm promoting that a lot see that you know these are angry liberals jaded liberals ron paul supporters

there and time and time again i'm talking about and they're saying we don't trust republicans we don't trust the democrats i heard from a lot of people that they're very angry with her at obama this really is an anti that was and the media doesn't really know how to handle that because it doesn't have a traditional hierarchy the way it would surely democratic movement they vote on absolutely everything they do but when the media shows up and they say where are your leaders where are your demands these are really the wrong questions but it's really the only question that the media know how to ask because the media is used to covering these sort of things like a horse race like the politician are you going to throw your support behind so when the people say well we're not going to approve politician we don't support the party and we don't have traditional leadership that really put the mainstream media on and i want to get to some of the things you touched upon about it being anti-establishment a little bit later but because you brought up the mainstream media i want to just play an example of some of the attention that the protests are getting because they're finally getting attention by the mainstream media but as you mentioned it's

kind of odd the way that they're characterizing it i want to play a little clip and then come back you. i think woodstock needs burning man needs people with absolutely no purpose or focus might know wonder they have nothing to free time to be down there they make up a slogan or a cause as they go along and that just put things like go out there dirty the streets and they really don't have any idea about what they're doing there wow is that fair. you know in the media nothing more than on ship the if so when you know there is a drum drum circle there you can't deny the fact that there are newbies down there but you personally don't hold anything against you know if you haven't done as much damage to those countries they will open back. further there is sort of you know a natural byproduct of having a large primarily liberal gathering you know where it didn't show up because yes but if you look at protests. i would never you know discount the fact that the media has low quotas there are people there who are into drum circles the cameras

rush over to them the film that you can't deny that that isn't and that there's this movement but you also can't say but you know surely. you have to interview with a range of different individuals and lead a journalist and like to do that would be journalists trying to find the craziest person i was brought up like that and call them the deep breath and bathwater of the entire movement which is really a better and which we've seen with a number of outlets now getting to what you were saying about this being anti-establishment and protestors feeling failed by both republicans and democrats and feeling perhaps like they don't have the power that corporations do they can get all this money to politics and does get power as a result one of our reporters looked at if that means that civil disobedience and protesters like we're seeing is really the only way for people that bill disenfranchised to try to affect change and i want to say that report and then we'll come back to you alison. taking the big apple by storm.

getting arrested by the hundreds. getting netted and pepper sprayed in the face. spending night and day on the far from welcome the streets of the financial district. that's the price these demonstrators are paying to get their outrage across to those holding reins of financial and political power coming americans who make up most of this country who don't have access to corporate power and the media don't have many options to get their voices heard those who take specific steps fight for change in the west are largely getting ignored and marginalized this artist and activist has been arrested twice i didn't expect to be arrested i didn't expect to get beat by the police i didn't expect to get locked up and incarcerated for i was and i was and i was with a. good cause and for this movement. i ignored for the first two weeks of

occupying wall street the peaceful movement started taking tougher measures by getting bigger and louder the only way to get the media to notice is to be disobedient. to the people who noticed. the mass arrests have built up popular support for the movement but you know them for putting us through some type of abuse because it's helping you know it's bringing more and more people out here some have sacrificed more than ours in jail to fight against wall street many people have quit their jobs that have come here that's already happened the corporate media we three into the campout either does not pay much attention here the sunday front pages of some of america's most read newspapers or ridicules both before and the substance of the gathering it is equal parts for truly body odor and urine they're more concerned with. brainwashing people american idol and sports drama and. much anything to serve as your traction the important issue. right now

this is a big board unnoticed but of course for a template of elite it's tougher than ever for those against the system to get attention with even some police officers ready to admit this protest is the way. the only. way to do it or. the occupy wall street movement promise is to grow in the months to come and history shows that the voice of the people can't be neglected forever this ensure cannot r.t. new york so alison i want to bring you back in a conversation and ask if you think that for people that feel the political system is failing and feel disenfranchised is civil disobedience really the only way for people to get noticed and have their voices heard. yes and it's not just my opinion and you know people i asked them you know do you happen either political party and they say no corporate cash as you know influence or politics to the point where it's completely corrupt they just represent the one percenters they don't represent

what they call the ninety nine percent which is. so absolutely they feel like this is our wash off and a lot of these people you know they are transients some of them are unemployed some of them are homeless so when i see if that which media you know making fun of what they're wearing it's the most superficial nod as form of coverage we could possibly have to meet a really good journalism should be had but answer questions about the world below them and when i see coverage like what we're seeing on fox news i'm not learning anything and i don't think anybody could learn anything from that coverage we don't understand that activists motives we don't understand well why are they dressed that way you know who are these people or what interest they represent and the reason that we never get those questions answered is because the establishment media pieces of the wreck you know many times their defenders against massive corporate interests like what we see in liberty fries are essentially media times

covered by that and really dismissive manner so i expect this kind of coverage from the establishment media surprised me actually that the coverage has begun to change since these mass arrests i'm seeing journalists who are normally very disappointing in the kind of coverage going down there talking the protesters and offering a somewhat more balanced profile of what's going on there so that's very encouraging and then the question becomes where does this lead because in wisconsin for example we saw thousands of people protest on the side of public unions yet governor walker still arguably won by stripping them of their collective bargaining power so my question to you know is is there any evidence that it works. well yeah i mean a parameter that says is inspiring other franchises if you will you know popping up across the country well already seeing that in chicago and l.a. and santa active in the heart of the country we're seeing other occupy movements

beginning you know occupy boston is hosting critters a little gathering with setting up time and whatnot so they have fired other movements you know the special media originally that the reason we're not covering those protests is because there's not enough people there's not enough prominent people involved and it's too small and it's too isolated but now we're seeing thousands of people showing up we're seeing the involvement of prominent unions we're seeing the involvement of prominent individuals like michael moore's random mark russell oh we're seeing these franchises are not across the country so these the media won't be able to be at the midst of it anymore you can't ignore it anymore we'll have to see it amounts to any actual change we certainly appreciate you being on the show that was allison kilkenny reporter for the nation we've been covering these last three protests bank. now it's not just occupy wall street it's occupy a lot more than that the movement has spread across the country it's inspired people

to occupy cities from los angeles to chicago boston denver and seattle all in protest demonstrations are also expected in phoenix san francisco and here in washington d.c. in the coming days to archie's among the lindo was at occupy los angeles over the weekend where he said more than a thousand people showed up and hundreds camped out listen to what one of those protesters said. the points that are worth. i think it's worth it whether we have that or not. that's. so he's talking about revolution and earlier i caught up with ramon and asked him if this protest struck him as a flash in the pan a one time kind of demonstration or if he got the feeling that this could turn into something bigger like the woman he interviewed said well or and i had this conversation with many of the people at this protest and and many shared the same sentiments as that young woman that this could be something bag just prompts

a revolution here in america whether that's a peaceful revolution prefer relief from these protesters who are peaceful but a lot of people are still unsure i mean it seems like there's still some fear over whether people should stand up but what we're seeing is that this occupy wall street protest it's going nationwide it's not just happen in los angeles in new york it's happening in over one hundred cities now i mean there's going to be demonstrations in d.c. in los angeles throughout this week and in over one hundred cities in america it seems like this occupy wall street said to me is really gravitating so whether we'll see a revolution like a young woman said it is going to be up to the people but obviously it is a very strong movement that a lot of people can stand behind and as you're talking about a growing movement some of the protesters we've seen in and i know i've seen in new york i don't know if they were in l.a. too they had signs saying american spring kind of contrary to what we've seen an arab spring and even an occupy wall street web site based say that they're inspired

by what we've seen in the arab world and the revolutions there did people talk about that in l.a. . oh most definitely laura now a lot of the people that i talk to you mention the middle east a lot of people got their inspiration from the protesters in greece who are. austerity measures just you wrote in their way of life and people talked about egypt talked about tunisia and the similar problems that those people were facing when it comes to economic suppression social suppression civil rights things of that nature and they see the similar problems having here in america perhaps not to the same degree yet these people see that these problems are global and they really really draw a lot of inspiration from this and those are the types of people that really do see this as a possibility of an american revolution happening here at all and you're saying with something possibly that bad i'm curious i know you were out there were

covering this but what kind of media attention is this getting and l.a. from the mainstream i know today at least from what i can see on the t.v. they seem to be most fascinated by the trial of michael jackson's doctor. well that's right lauren over the weekend demonstrations here got minimal coverage some of the news outlets kind of downplayed the numbers and downplayed the significance of it we saw a little bit more coverage of it today that people are actually camping out but it seems like the media is only fixated on the michael jackson the conrad murray trial the doctor who is accused of killing michael jackson i mean we see media from all over the world right across the street there are hundreds of people camped out which no one is paying attention to but it appears that the more they stay camped out there the media will not be able to ignore in the end and even then just this morning well reporters from across the country were trying to do their live reports on the conrad murray trial we saw the occupy los angeles demonstrators marched down

to the courthouse and with their chance they drowned out the live reports of reporters from c.n.n. and the local thrilly it's here in los angeles so even if the media the mainstream media refuses to pay attention to the message refuses to pay attention to this movement it appears that the occupy wall street protesters and those showing solidarity with occupy wall street are definitely letting their voices be heard that's one way to do it just jumped in front of another reporter's live shot if you feel like you're not in a tent and that was our team correspondent rym uncle and now we've heard a lot about the protesters but what is the reality of the issues that they're rising up against wall street unrestrained political power crony capitalism those are some of the issues they bring up and asking is this creating the inequality that people are protesting against or is everyone so glad for taking on too much risk in contributing to the financial crisis which is what york mayor bloomberg

said in an interview here to break it down for us is business insider deputy editor license. thanks for being here so ok protesters we hear they're concerned about. corporate wall street power and greed justice to bits was out there over the weekend nobel prize winning economist talking about it i want to talk to you from that economic perspective can you argue that the u.s. economy has become a kind of socialism for the rich the every very much so. you know we the systems assert too big to fit a lot street institutions is it fact it's not just indian and it's bad it's today in the sense that there's no way that a large. financial situation could go without it you know in a in a way that would just be normal and then you know you think well you thirty of what's happened right now you know we have the crisis in the coming collapse and

now you have like corporate leaders in an exchange that you have cers less taxes and less and title spending so cutting back you know social safety nets and you can see why the people who are hurting are particularly right now absolutely and when we talk about socialism for the rich has that created inequality because bailouts went to the banks and not to average people. yes i think it is certainly look a clue as to the financial crisis we've seen any quality because we look i don't know what will turn into the scenario would have been i think a large extent the government the right thing during the crisis now but it's everything go down chaotic looting but the first ration of people is pretty legitimate given how much the status quo has been maintained pretty instant crisis and speaking of that in the legitimate claims that you're saying are making i want to bring up what mayor bloomberg said and it interview because he doesn't think the

protesters have legitimate claims it doesn't sound from what he's saying he says the protesters are protesting against people who make forty to fifty thousand dollars a year and are struggling to make ends meet that's the bottom line we all share blame for taking on too much risk not just the financial industry and he seems to be talking about the financial crisis joe who are these people on wall street making forty to fifty k. struggling to make ends meet it was a really bizarre quote if it wasn't it yeah i mean you know you are one who worked at a bank like including just people who said i guess it could be something clerical it still would be more that for you to fifty thousand and you know that there's not going to protesters are protesting against i mean i could understand you know become jordan to the protesters there and turn cochins this isn't necessarily an effective tactic the people who they're going against aren't necessarily being affected any way by this but this idea that they're just totally misguided wrong

about everything kind of search it absolutely i think it's something that is such a bizarre statement today and along those lines i'm curious if you think the big banks are getting a little worried why did jamie dimon the c.e.o. of j.p. morgan recently give an unprecedented four point six million dollars donation to the n.y.p.d. . i don't know i'm going to i suspect that there is not that much there in terms of the donation to the n.y.p.d. but it's from just being nervous about a book and then turning against the banks banks only should be i mean you can see it you can see it in congress and politicians are way less than anything to support the banks right now and although the you know the people who are protesting may not have that much actual political clout i think there is a line to be drawn between the protesters and the political climate right now even if it's kind of the tea party wing that's driving it there are threads that connect

them all and none of it is particularly good but you know it's interesting that you brought up congress because i was curious about this you think that regulations since the financial crisis are part of the problem that they have not reigned involves three you know. that's certainly possible and i think you could really make a case that it was an opportunity to do something much more aggressive with respect to breaking down the large banks splitting them up so that on their own they would be systemically risky i would say the bigger threat to the bank isn't so much the regulation or what not but just you know and bank sentiment the fact that the bailouts are not going to be forthcoming spend be needed again the fact that the fed is on that much worse for me than it was prior to the crisis so the ability for the fed to do come quietly a lot of disaster very limited and i think with a big i don't know how to stand on the ratings agencies don't think that the banks are going to bail out again but i think that we would have to see if that action.