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American Morning

Look at What's Going on in England

Aired February 01, 2002 - 07:50   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. Every Friday on this broadcast at roughly this time we swing across the pond and check in with my friend Richard Quest, who's the fine CNN correspondent in our London bureau to find out what it is the folks over on Fleet Street have their knickers all in a knot about. What are the - what are the foreign newspapers up in arms about besides somebody stealing your cell phone?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Important stuff this (ph) Jack, why stealing one of these could put you in prison for a very long time indeed. Now, mobile phones, Jack, has become an epidemic in Britain. Over a million phones a year are actually stolen, and Britain's top judge has now said mobile phone muggers must go to jail.

What this means is anybody caught stealing a mobile phone is virtually guaranteed 18 months in a British prison. If violence is involved, then they get five years in a British prison. Overall, in fact, one day after this announcement was made the first guy was sent away. He'd originally got six months from the magistrates, and that was increased to five years. What the judge has said is that stealing mobile phones is a serious problem undermining the criminal justice system, Jack.

CAFFERTY: Richard, you guys have any like real crime over there?

QUEST: Well it's serious business. A woman was shot in the head and left for virtually dead just because she could get rid of a mobile phone. Now, I know you've got a busy weekend ahead of you, but I know where you haven't been invited. You've not been invited, because I haven't been invited, to the Royal wedding of the year. It's taking place in the Netherlands, in Holland to be precise, where Prince Willem-Alexander and Maxima Zorreguieta are getting wed.

This is a big event. It's an important event. It's the biggest Royal wedding. They don't invite people with names like Jack and Richard and maybe Paula might get along.

CAFFERTY: With good reason - yes they'd invite Paula.

(CROSSTALK)

CAFFERTY: That's right.

(CROSSTALK) QUEST: Oh I - well, you know when you've got Maxima - but the interesting thing here, Jack, the interesting thing is she's Argentinean. Now he's from the Netherlands, she's Argentinean, and her father was part of the dictatorship back in the 1970s. So you know the old movie, "Parents of the Bride", well the parents of the bride in this case, they haven't been invited. They won't be there. As for her, they - she had to a tour around the Netherlands admiring cloak (ph) dancing, handicrafts, and looking at great interests and recipes for old waffles. It's the big event, and dear (ph) me have been left out.

CAFFERTY: Well, you know, I feel like we have no news at all here in the United States. The other big item is whether Gerhard Schroeder dyes his hair.

QUEST: This is serious stuff. Gerhard Schroeder, the German boondous (ph) Chancellor. Now that's what he looked like on the last - you can see what he looked like earlier this year. That's what he looks like now. The question is does he dye his hair? Well last night, of course, the boondous Chancellor Schroeder was at the White House with President Bush, part of a visit to Washington. And everyone - now Mr. Schroeder is very sensitive about this. He's threatened to sue people who claim that he does dye his hair. He says no, I don't. It's just a natural change.

CAFFERTY: Yes. Right.

Of course, many people do dye their hair. Some wonder, indeed, whether (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Now Jack, look men of a certain age, I'm not saying you, men of a certain age need a little bit of help. So Jack, there's nothing to be frightened, nothing to be ashamed about, but this bought just up the road. I'm sure this will do very nicely. Jack, don't worry, this won't hurt a bit.

CAFFERTY: All right Richard, call us when you get straightened out, will you? We'll talk to you next Friday. Thank you. Richard Quest live in our London bureau, obviously forgetting to take his medication, which he's supposed to take every Wednesday - Paula.

PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: But I don't see any gray hairs in the head. I don't know what he's talking about.

CAFFERTY: No ...

ZAHN: ... He's got a bad ...

CAFFERTY: ... hair left on the top of the head.

ZAHN: ... view from London over there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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