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American Morning

'Over Here': California Recall, Blaine's Stunt

Aired September 30, 2003 - 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: The California recall election, you know, compared to the activities of the royal family, this thing out in California kind of pales by comparison. Nevertheless, CNN picked exactly the right correspondent to cover the recall in California, our man, Richard Quest, who usually joins every Friday from over there. He's over here today.
Does Tom Ridge know you're here? He's the head of Homeland Security, you know.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I got in on this occasion, but I may not get out.

Now, look, this is not difficult.

CAFFERTY: OK.

QUEST: This is an election. You have them every so often. People decide who they want to lead them and to be in power. What is so hard about that?

CAFFERTY: Have you seen who's running?

QUEST: And why do Americans have such difficulty with a simple process like voting a leader? There. That's it. Thanks.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Wow!

CAFFERTY: Well, brevity is the soul of wit or something.

Americans with British accents versus Brits who come over here and lose their accents, there is some discussion of people like Madonna who think it's -- what, how should we say? Stylish to imitate you folks from the Isles?

QUEST: The number of people who have the so-called trans- Atlantic accent, and they think it is clever -- now, I lived in this country for 10 years and managed to keep my British accent, because I was working for a British organization.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, and you worked hard at that it.

QUEST: I worked hard, yes. Well, you end up with these horrible "y'alls," and you end up with "sures" and "cools" and all of those things. But, frankly...

HEMMER: Y'all is a much easier way than saying "you's guys." QUEST: Well, frankly...

HEMMER: And you must admit that.

QUEST: I have never said -- I mean, if one more American says to me, would you like a spot of tea? I have never asked for a spot of tea in my life. I never say, "Tally ho," and certainly "cheers." But Americans are obsessed.

And when they come to Britain, they like to -- Americans, I think it must have something to do with your national insecurity about being a relatively young country.

CAFFERTY: What do you mean, "national security? Remember, the war? We won.

QUEST: Insecurity.

CAFFERTY: What insecurity? We kicked you guys around the block pretty good back there a few years ago.

QUEST: It was a few.

CAFFERTY: Well, tell me about this clown hanging over the Thames River. That's not turning out exactly the way they'd all wanted it to, including David Blaine, who is the guy hanging over the river.

QUEST: Let us remember, he's an American.

CAFFERTY: Well, you know, we're not all sane and stable. Just...

QUEST: David Blaine is now starting to show the first examples of hallucinations. They believe his body parts may be starting to fail, his liver and his kidneys, because he's now halfway through his 44 days.

HEMMER: Twenty-two days?

QUEST: Yes, he's just over 22 days (UNINTELLIGIBLE) on Friday. And he's starting to do things like rearranging his duvet and doing all of that sort of stuff.

CAFFERTY: Rearranging his what?

QUEST: Duvet, Jack, duvet.

CAFFERTY: What's a duvet?

QUEST: That's the thing you sleep under.

CAFFERTY: Oh, OK.

QUEST: You'd call it the Brooklyn Bridge. And he's starting to do things like that. He's starting to tap his fingers on the glass. And now, people are starting to say his mental state may be starting to be done, which means he could be just about ready to run for governor of California.

CAFFERTY: That's true. Now, people have been downright nasty. They've been throwing things at him and being hostile.

QUEST: So hostile to him, in fact, that they've had to have extra policing. And as a result of that, David Blaine is now going to get the bill for that, because it's going to cost a great deal more money. He has to get security, and the Metropolitan police in Britain have decided they've got to give him more security. And he's going to have to pay hundreds of thousands of pounds.

HEMMER: Yes, but he says it's the freaks of London that are keeping him awake at night. They're the ones giving him the motivation to continue.

CAFFERTY: In this case, the freak is in the cage, not out of it.

QUEST: But the best of all is the people who are cooking hamburgers and sausages underneath him, so the smell wafts up, and thus making his ordeal far worse.

CAFFERTY: How do you staff the armed forces? Do you have a draft in England?

QUEST: No.

(CROSSTALK)

CAFFERTY: Voluntary?

QUEST: I'm sorry?

CAFFERTY: Voluntary?

QUEST: A completely voluntary force. Britain's had that for decades.

CAFFERTY: We obviously, because of this thing in Iraq, which you were so kind, your nation, to help out with, it's stretching us a little thin. We'll talk to you, I assume on Friday from out there, not over there, but out there in California.

QUEST: It may be back here.

CAFFERTY: Yes?

QUEST: Yes.

CAFFERTY: OK, well, wherever and whenever, I'll look forward to our next visit.

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 30, 2003 - 07:50   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: The California recall election, you know, compared to the activities of the royal family, this thing out in California kind of pales by comparison. Nevertheless, CNN picked exactly the right correspondent to cover the recall in California, our man, Richard Quest, who usually joins every Friday from over there. He's over here today.
Does Tom Ridge know you're here? He's the head of Homeland Security, you know.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I got in on this occasion, but I may not get out.

Now, look, this is not difficult.

CAFFERTY: OK.

QUEST: This is an election. You have them every so often. People decide who they want to lead them and to be in power. What is so hard about that?

CAFFERTY: Have you seen who's running?

QUEST: And why do Americans have such difficulty with a simple process like voting a leader? There. That's it. Thanks.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Wow!

CAFFERTY: Well, brevity is the soul of wit or something.

Americans with British accents versus Brits who come over here and lose their accents, there is some discussion of people like Madonna who think it's -- what, how should we say? Stylish to imitate you folks from the Isles?

QUEST: The number of people who have the so-called trans- Atlantic accent, and they think it is clever -- now, I lived in this country for 10 years and managed to keep my British accent, because I was working for a British organization.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, and you worked hard at that it.

QUEST: I worked hard, yes. Well, you end up with these horrible "y'alls," and you end up with "sures" and "cools" and all of those things. But, frankly...

HEMMER: Y'all is a much easier way than saying "you's guys." QUEST: Well, frankly...

HEMMER: And you must admit that.

QUEST: I have never said -- I mean, if one more American says to me, would you like a spot of tea? I have never asked for a spot of tea in my life. I never say, "Tally ho," and certainly "cheers." But Americans are obsessed.

And when they come to Britain, they like to -- Americans, I think it must have something to do with your national insecurity about being a relatively young country.

CAFFERTY: What do you mean, "national security? Remember, the war? We won.

QUEST: Insecurity.

CAFFERTY: What insecurity? We kicked you guys around the block pretty good back there a few years ago.

QUEST: It was a few.

CAFFERTY: Well, tell me about this clown hanging over the Thames River. That's not turning out exactly the way they'd all wanted it to, including David Blaine, who is the guy hanging over the river.

QUEST: Let us remember, he's an American.

CAFFERTY: Well, you know, we're not all sane and stable. Just...

QUEST: David Blaine is now starting to show the first examples of hallucinations. They believe his body parts may be starting to fail, his liver and his kidneys, because he's now halfway through his 44 days.

HEMMER: Twenty-two days?

QUEST: Yes, he's just over 22 days (UNINTELLIGIBLE) on Friday. And he's starting to do things like rearranging his duvet and doing all of that sort of stuff.

CAFFERTY: Rearranging his what?

QUEST: Duvet, Jack, duvet.

CAFFERTY: What's a duvet?

QUEST: That's the thing you sleep under.

CAFFERTY: Oh, OK.

QUEST: You'd call it the Brooklyn Bridge. And he's starting to do things like that. He's starting to tap his fingers on the glass. And now, people are starting to say his mental state may be starting to be done, which means he could be just about ready to run for governor of California.

CAFFERTY: That's true. Now, people have been downright nasty. They've been throwing things at him and being hostile.

QUEST: So hostile to him, in fact, that they've had to have extra policing. And as a result of that, David Blaine is now going to get the bill for that, because it's going to cost a great deal more money. He has to get security, and the Metropolitan police in Britain have decided they've got to give him more security. And he's going to have to pay hundreds of thousands of pounds.

HEMMER: Yes, but he says it's the freaks of London that are keeping him awake at night. They're the ones giving him the motivation to continue.

CAFFERTY: In this case, the freak is in the cage, not out of it.

QUEST: But the best of all is the people who are cooking hamburgers and sausages underneath him, so the smell wafts up, and thus making his ordeal far worse.

CAFFERTY: How do you staff the armed forces? Do you have a draft in England?

QUEST: No.

(CROSSTALK)

CAFFERTY: Voluntary?

QUEST: I'm sorry?

CAFFERTY: Voluntary?

QUEST: A completely voluntary force. Britain's had that for decades.

CAFFERTY: We obviously, because of this thing in Iraq, which you were so kind, your nation, to help out with, it's stretching us a little thin. We'll talk to you, I assume on Friday from out there, not over there, but out there in California.

QUEST: It may be back here.

CAFFERTY: Yes?

QUEST: Yes.

CAFFERTY: OK, well, wherever and whenever, I'll look forward to our next visit.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.