Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
'Minding Your Business'
Aired February 05, 2004 - 07:22 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: When it comes to SUV rollovers, what vehicles now are at the bottom of that list?
Andy Serwer is back today minding your business.
We missed you, man.
How are you doing?
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good to see you.
HEMMER: Welcome back here.
SERWER: Yes, we missed each other a couple of days and it is great to be back. I was down in Texas. Ran into a lot of folks who watch the show.
HEMMER: Say hello. Give 'em a shout out.
SERWER: Yes, howdy down there.
Anyway, we're talking about SUVs, roll-overs. Obviously this is big news to everyone out there who owns these things or is thinking about buying one. The federal government coming out with new ratings yesterday, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and basically the scale works like this. Five is the highest score. None of the SUVs tested got that. Most of them got fours and threes in this scale. Only one got a two, however, and that is the Ford Explorer, which is bad news for Ford. They're not going to be very happy about this. A lot of them got threes and fours, like I said, the Buick Rainier, Chevy Trail Blazer, Subaru Outback, which they're calling an SUV.
And Ford responded by saying that the test doesn't accurately reflect real world driving behavior, based on Ford's research, of course. But the other SUVs did fare better so...
HEMMER: That was one of the best selling SUVs in the country for a long time, Explorer.
SERWER: Absolutely. It has been for many, many years.
HEMMER: Let's stick with our auto theme today.
SERWER: Yes?
HEMMER: Dodge is in hot water. For what? SERWER: They are. They have a new concept car out, Bill, and it's called the Kahuna. Now, I've used the word Kahuna many times and little did I know that it's offensive to some people in Hawaii, because it's loosely translated as priest. You could see here, there is the Dodge Kahuna. It's kind of based after the Woodies, the surfer cars there with the panel on the side. And there is a Web site where you can sign up and say that you're offended by this. But, you know, I've called you a big Kahuna before.
HEMMER: That's right.
SERWER: I've called Jack Cafferty a big Kahuna. I think there's a guy on one of the competing cable television networks...
HEMMER: As a matter of fact...
SERWER: ... who called the Kahuna...
HEMMER: In fact, he's on the air right now.
SERWER: ... the Kahuna and the brain. If you're going to tell Kahuna the brain, you'd better watch your nickname here, dude.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: When that word is used in connection with me, it's with a kind of a priestly...
HEMMER: No question.
SERWER: A priestly Jack Cafferty Kahuna.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Of course it is.
HEMMER: Clearly.
SERWER: That's how I've always felt it is.
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 February 5, 2004 - 07:22 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: When it comes to SUV rollovers, what vehicles now are at the bottom of that list?
Andy Serwer is back today minding your business.
We missed you, man.
How are you doing?
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good to see you.
HEMMER: Welcome back here.
SERWER: Yes, we missed each other a couple of days and it is great to be back. I was down in Texas. Ran into a lot of folks who watch the show.
HEMMER: Say hello. Give 'em a shout out.
SERWER: Yes, howdy down there.
Anyway, we're talking about SUVs, roll-overs. Obviously this is big news to everyone out there who owns these things or is thinking about buying one. The federal government coming out with new ratings yesterday, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and basically the scale works like this. Five is the highest score. None of the SUVs tested got that. Most of them got fours and threes in this scale. Only one got a two, however, and that is the Ford Explorer, which is bad news for Ford. They're not going to be very happy about this. A lot of them got threes and fours, like I said, the Buick Rainier, Chevy Trail Blazer, Subaru Outback, which they're calling an SUV.
And Ford responded by saying that the test doesn't accurately reflect real world driving behavior, based on Ford's research, of course. But the other SUVs did fare better so...
HEMMER: That was one of the best selling SUVs in the country for a long time, Explorer.
SERWER: Absolutely. It has been for many, many years.
HEMMER: Let's stick with our auto theme today.
SERWER: Yes?
HEMMER: Dodge is in hot water. For what? SERWER: They are. They have a new concept car out, Bill, and it's called the Kahuna. Now, I've used the word Kahuna many times and little did I know that it's offensive to some people in Hawaii, because it's loosely translated as priest. You could see here, there is the Dodge Kahuna. It's kind of based after the Woodies, the surfer cars there with the panel on the side. And there is a Web site where you can sign up and say that you're offended by this. But, you know, I've called you a big Kahuna before.
HEMMER: That's right.
SERWER: I've called Jack Cafferty a big Kahuna. I think there's a guy on one of the competing cable television networks...
HEMMER: As a matter of fact...
SERWER: ... who called the Kahuna...
HEMMER: In fact, he's on the air right now.
SERWER: ... the Kahuna and the brain. If you're going to tell Kahuna the brain, you'd better watch your nickname here, dude.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: When that word is used in connection with me, it's with a kind of a priestly...
HEMMER: No question.
SERWER: A priestly Jack Cafferty Kahuna.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Of course it is.
HEMMER: Clearly.
SERWER: That's how I've always felt it is.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
