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CNN Live At Daybreak
'Talk of CNN'
Aired September 24, 2002 - 05:55 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.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Time now for the talk of CNN, where we find out what people are talking about across the country. So what are the topics in Tennessee?
Let's check in with Andy and Alison. They're the morning crew from radio station WIVK in Knoxville. There they are, their lovely pictures.
Good morning, guys.
ALISON, WIVK RADIO HOST: Oh, hello.
ANDY, WIVK RADIO HOST: Hi. Good morning. How are you?
ALISON: They are lovely pictures, aren't they?
CALLAWAY: Yes, they are.
You know, I hear you guys have been talking about the Stella Awards a lot there. We've got to tell everybody what they are first. It's on the frivolous lawsuits.
ALISON: Well, the...
CALLAWAY: And we've even got a Web site that we found on the Stella Awards.
ALISON: Yes, the Stella Awards are basically named after a woman named Stella Liebeck, who sued McDonald's after she spilled coffee on herself and was awarded a large amount of money, just one of many frivolous lawsuits that have been filed.
CALLAWAY: $2.9 million she received. I wonder how much of that she got.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know, but we've tried that six times since then and we haven't gotten a dime.
CALLAWAY: You've been running through the McDonald's drive thru, have you?
ALISON: My coffee is never hot enough.
CALLAWAY: What are some of the lawsuits that stand out in your mind as pretty much ridiculous?
ALISON: Well, there is a woman in Philadelphia, a Philadelphia restaurant was ordered to pay Amber Carson of Lancaster, Pennsylvania $113,000 after she slipped on a soft drink and broke her tail bone. Well, the beverage was on the floor because she threw it at her boyfriend 30 seconds earlier during an argument.
CALLAWAY: Did she win?
ALISON: She won. She won $113,000.
CALLAWAY: Oh, my goodness, that's crazy.
ALISON: Ridiculous.
ANDY: She would have won more if she had hit him.
CALLAWAY: I like the one about the Winnebago.
ANDY: Oh, gosh, yes. Read that one.
ALISON: The Winnebago, there was a man who bought a Winnebago and apparently it was a 32 foot Winnebago...
CALLAWAY: That's a big one.
ANDY: Yes.
ALISON: And on his first trip home he decided to put it on cruise control and then go back and make himself some coffee. And then, of course, the Winnebago went off the road and tipped over and turned over and he sustained some injuries. And he said he was really made because it didn't say in the handbook that you couldn't do that.
CALLAWAY: What did he...
ANDY: He thought it drove itself.
CALLAWAY: Yes, he thought it would drive itself. He didn't understand the whole thing about cruise control.
ALISON: Right.
ANDY: And he won his lawsuit.
CALLAWAY: He won?
ALISON: Yes, he won $1,750,000 and he got a new Winnebago on top of that.
CALLAWAY: I wonder how that would have played out if he had actually hurt someone else.
ANDY: Oh, good question.
(CROSSTALK)
CALLAWAY: If you got up and walked away from the steering wheel, you were pretty much liable. ANDY: Well, there's a big warning label on the outside of all Winnebagos.
ALISON: Well, Winnebago actually changed their handbook on the back of it, saying you're not allowed to do this and it doesn't work, because of this lawsuit.
CALLAWAY: Amazing.
Andy and Alison, have a great day.
ANDY: Hey, thank you. You, too.
CALLAWAY: Tell everyone hello in Tennessee, will you?
ANDY: You got it. Thanks.
CALLAWAY: Anyway, bye-bye.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired September 24, 2002 - 05:55 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Time now for the talk of CNN, where we find out what people are talking about across the country. So what are the topics in Tennessee?
Let's check in with Andy and Alison. They're the morning crew from radio station WIVK in Knoxville. There they are, their lovely pictures.
Good morning, guys.
ALISON, WIVK RADIO HOST: Oh, hello.
ANDY, WIVK RADIO HOST: Hi. Good morning. How are you?
ALISON: They are lovely pictures, aren't they?
CALLAWAY: Yes, they are.
You know, I hear you guys have been talking about the Stella Awards a lot there. We've got to tell everybody what they are first. It's on the frivolous lawsuits.
ALISON: Well, the...
CALLAWAY: And we've even got a Web site that we found on the Stella Awards.
ALISON: Yes, the Stella Awards are basically named after a woman named Stella Liebeck, who sued McDonald's after she spilled coffee on herself and was awarded a large amount of money, just one of many frivolous lawsuits that have been filed.
CALLAWAY: $2.9 million she received. I wonder how much of that she got.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know, but we've tried that six times since then and we haven't gotten a dime.
CALLAWAY: You've been running through the McDonald's drive thru, have you?
ALISON: My coffee is never hot enough.
CALLAWAY: What are some of the lawsuits that stand out in your mind as pretty much ridiculous?
ALISON: Well, there is a woman in Philadelphia, a Philadelphia restaurant was ordered to pay Amber Carson of Lancaster, Pennsylvania $113,000 after she slipped on a soft drink and broke her tail bone. Well, the beverage was on the floor because she threw it at her boyfriend 30 seconds earlier during an argument.
CALLAWAY: Did she win?
ALISON: She won. She won $113,000.
CALLAWAY: Oh, my goodness, that's crazy.
ALISON: Ridiculous.
ANDY: She would have won more if she had hit him.
CALLAWAY: I like the one about the Winnebago.
ANDY: Oh, gosh, yes. Read that one.
ALISON: The Winnebago, there was a man who bought a Winnebago and apparently it was a 32 foot Winnebago...
CALLAWAY: That's a big one.
ANDY: Yes.
ALISON: And on his first trip home he decided to put it on cruise control and then go back and make himself some coffee. And then, of course, the Winnebago went off the road and tipped over and turned over and he sustained some injuries. And he said he was really made because it didn't say in the handbook that you couldn't do that.
CALLAWAY: What did he...
ANDY: He thought it drove itself.
CALLAWAY: Yes, he thought it would drive itself. He didn't understand the whole thing about cruise control.
ALISON: Right.
ANDY: And he won his lawsuit.
CALLAWAY: He won?
ALISON: Yes, he won $1,750,000 and he got a new Winnebago on top of that.
CALLAWAY: I wonder how that would have played out if he had actually hurt someone else.
ANDY: Oh, good question.
(CROSSTALK)
CALLAWAY: If you got up and walked away from the steering wheel, you were pretty much liable. ANDY: Well, there's a big warning label on the outside of all Winnebagos.
ALISON: Well, Winnebago actually changed their handbook on the back of it, saying you're not allowed to do this and it doesn't work, because of this lawsuit.
CALLAWAY: Amazing.
Andy and Alison, have a great day.
ANDY: Hey, thank you. You, too.
CALLAWAY: Tell everyone hello in Tennessee, will you?
ANDY: You got it. Thanks.
CALLAWAY: Anyway, bye-bye.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
