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American Morning

Talk With Vacationers in New York

Aired May 27, 2002 - 09:35   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: With so many Americans traveling to London as the summer vacation season gets under way, Richard Quest has fled the crowded streets of London, and he is "over here," in the colonies, relaxing, in New York's Times Square. You picked quite a spot to relax, although it looks very quiet there, I guess given it's a holiday.

If you had been there tomorrow morning at this time, you would be run over, you would be trampled.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jack, this is revenge. I've come to take back what we lost all those hundred years ago. This is mine. I claim knit the name of her majesty.

Now listen.

CAFFERTY: You fit right in down there, Times Square, people like you all over those sidewalks, especially late at night.

QUEST: My cardboard box and crates are over there. I was too mean for the hotel.

Jack, I've been traveling across the United States from Los Angeles to Atlanta to the mothership, right here, to New York, to find out about tourism and why people are traveling. The foreigners those people, who are keeping your economy afloat at the moment, let's meet some of those people at the moment.

Elsa, she is from Ethiopia.

Good morning to you. Good morning.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good morning.

QUEST: Now you weren't worried about coming to United States or coming to New York, were you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I was not worried about it. I actually was looking forward to coming to New York.

QUEST: You were telling me about your own country and about some of the problems.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I was telling you that my chances of being here compared to the things that are happening in Ethiopia is very minimal, so I enjoy my stay in New York. It's very nice.

QUEST: We hope you are enjoying your stay here. How long are you going to be here for?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I will be here today, the whole day. That's all I have.

QUEST: That's enough. That's enough. You only need an hour or so in New York.

Angie and Ian are here.

Good morning to you.

Now, Angie and Ian, listen to this noise. Why have you come here?

QUEST: Honeymoon.

Oh, Jack, honeymooners -- do you remember that time in your life?

CAFFERTY: Only vaguely.

QUEST: Well, they remember it very well.

Why did you come to New York? Were you worried? There's so many alerts, terrorist threats we hear every day, that somewhere else we shouldn't be going to?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. I don't think so. I think it's fairly safe. I mean, these things can happen anywhere, you know. So nope.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It it's going to happen, it's going to happen. It could happen in London, it could happen here.

QUEST: Let me ask you a serious question. Do you think the Americans are now starting to realize or to learn something that we in Europe have lived with for a very long time, that there are people who want to do things like that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, definitely.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I do think so. I think it's been -- they have been sheltered from it. We've had bomb threats and things like that in the UK for a long time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's just one of these things.

QUEST: Give her a kiss on the cheek. It's a honeymoon, come on.

All right. I finally -- thank you very much. Have a lovely honeymoon. Don't I get a kiss on the cheek.

She's being funny already. Now, Jack, finally, before we leave you, I've been promising a question of the day. Look at this. How would you like to be the proud owner of this, Jack, because I brought it all the way from London just for you? It's the queen's golden jubilee this week. And I'll give you, or indeed a viewer, this mug if you can tell me the relationship between Queen Victoria and our current Queen Elizabeth II.

CAFFERTY: I have no idea.

QUEST: No idea?

CAFFERTY: None.

QUEST: I guess I am going to schlep this mug all the way back in my luggage.

CAFFERTY: I mean, it's a lovely mug, and I would like to have it, but I don't know.

What is the answer?

QUEST: The answer is, of course, Queen Elizabeth is Queen Victoria's great, great-granddaughter. And you don't get the mug.

CAFFERTY: All right, well, but I learned something, so it's worth the tradeoff.

Richard, thank you. Nice to have you with us, as always.

Richard Quest in Times Square.

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