Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live Today
Senators Want Pentagon to Release Videos, Photographs of Abuse in Iraq Into Public as Quickly as Possible
Aired May 10, 2004 - 11:30 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.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Members of Congress return to the controversy of the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal this week. And the Senate Armed Services Committee will meet tomorrow to discuss the matter. Joe Johns is on the Hill right now with the latest -- Joe.
JOE JOHNS, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, this hearing we're told, mainly is to focus on intelligence. And they're going to try to bring up at least one, possibly two people who testified at Friday's hearing. We have pictures of that hearing obviously.
Some of the people they'd like to get before the committee on Tuesday, Lieutenant General Lance Smith, the deputy commander of U.S. Central Command, the Undersecretary for Intelligence Steve Cambone and General William Boykin, the chief of military intelligence at the Pentagon.
Meanwhile behind the scenes here we're told there's an ongoing negotiation. A number of senators would really like to get the Pentagon to release as much of the videos and photographs, which have not been seen of the allegations of abuse in Iraq, into the public as quickly as possible. We've been told the Pentagon is willing to release some of those things, particularly one video, perhaps several hundred photographs.
Nonetheless we're told right now the negotiation is over whether to make those photos and the video classified or declassified. A number of senators have said they are very interested in getting as much out into the public as quickly as possible so that there's not this trickle effect where the photos and videos come out here and there, week after week and they're very hard to control politically.
So while all of that is going on a number of members of Congress are interested in getting to the bottom of this. They are also saying, of course, there are differing opinions on whether Secretary Rumsfeld, the defense secretary, should stay or go.
A number of Democrats, as you know, have called for him to resign or be fired. Then, again, no Republican has called for him to resign or be fired. That continues.
We do hear as we've been reporting all day the president is expected to once again give his support to Secretary Rumsfeld. Daryn, back to you.
KAGAN: Joe Johns on Capitol Hill. Joe, thank you. More now on this issue. Some Republicans are accusing Democrats of politicizing the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal. "INSIDE POLITICS" anchor Judy Woodruff right here with me in Atlanta. What a treat for that.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Daryn. Good to be here.
KAGAN: And you're looking at how this is affecting the presidential campaign.
WOODRUFF: It is, Daryn. Although it's a little difficult to separate the campaign at this point from what's going on at the hill and what you just heard Joe Johns describing. In fact there are several threads taking place right now.
You do have senators on Capitol Hill, Democrats and some Republicans, who are still looking at whether Secretary Rumsfeld can survive. You have other senators saying, this is a larger systemic problem. Even if Donald Rumsfeld were to walkout the door tomorrow, they would still have a policy that is leading to what in Iraq?
This is a country the United States, the Bush administration said was going to become a democracy within a short period of time. People are asking where is the evidence of that? And particularly with these prisoner pictures.
So you also have activity going on in the presidential campaign. But much of that, I would say, is on hold right now as we watch the Senate.
KAGAN: Let's look what senator Kerry is doing this week. He's talking about health care in America. I have a couple of questions on that. First of all, what is he proposing?
WOODRUFF: A couple things. And I'm going to read from this because I was just given a copy of what the campaign is talking about.
Talking about controlling costs by giving relief to businesses and passing savings on to workers. They're talking about saving employees up to a thousand dollars a year. They are talking about cutting administrative costs by eliminates waste, fraud and abuse.
They are also talking about cutting costs by making prescription drugs more affordable, including allowing reimportation.
But all in all, this is couched, Daryn, very much in a criticism of President Bush in saying the president has not done enough over the last four years to keep an eye on skyrocketing medical care...
(CROSSTALK)
KAGAN: ... that what Kerry's really proposing is getting rid of the tax cuts and adding more government and more government programs.
WOODRUFF: that's right. And they're saying this is just another way to spend money that Americans ought to be spending on their own. It is a familiar argument on the part of the Republicans.
I do think -- it's interesting to point out, Daryn, that at a time when so many of us in the media are focused so much on Iraq and on the prisoner scandal, John Kerry is out there talking about a domestic issue that he says of importance to Americans.
KAGAN: Which some people might give him credit for. But a lot of bad press on John Kerry over the last week in national media. Talking about the guy is missing major opportunities. So why when the nation is focused on the Iraqi prisoner abuse is he off talking about health care?
WOODRUFF: You almost -- somebody said to me the other day he's damned if he does and damned if doesn't because if he does talk about it, he's going to be criticized for politicizing the Iraqi war prisoner problem.
In fact today the Republican National Committee had scheduled a new conference to go after him on that. We just learned a few minutes ago they've downgraded that to a conference call they're going to have reporters. So interesting they are rethinking in the Bush campaign what they ought to be doing about all this.
So a lot of gaming, a lot of trying to figure out what works on the part of both campaigns. You still have a lot unfolding.
KAGAN: And getting into the thick of things. Judy, thank you. We'll see you later today.
(CROSSTALK)
KAGAN: Florida Congresswoman Katherine Harris, who oversaw the disputed 2000 election there as secretary of state, isn't afraid to admit her own voting mistake. Harris forgot to sign her absentee ballot in a recent election, so her vote didn't count. Harris says said she was in a hurry to catch a flight to Washington.
A possible cancer drug may have side effect sure to make it an even bigger success. That's next. Find out what it's doing that might just have the medical world buzzing.
And speaking of cancer, just how can you adjust your diet and help fight cancer and other diseases? We're talking to one man who says he knows. The author of "The Detox Revolution" is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: In our "Daily Dose" of health news, fighting disease by ridding the body of toxins. There's a book out called "The Detox Revolution." It explains how eating healthy and having healthy eating habits can strengthen the body's immune system. It's now out in paperback. The author, Dr. Thomas Blaga, joins us from Denver. Good morning. Thanks for being with us.
DR. THOMAS BLAGA, "THE DETOX REVOLUTION": Thank you. It's a pleasure being with you. KAGAN: What is the biggest thing you see people do and put in their bodies that makes you cringe the most?
BLAGA: Probably the biggest thing is french fries. It's listed as a vegetable, obviously. But when you french fry it in the wrong fats and that's where you're getting your fruits and vegetables it's not very good.
KAGAN: Not a good thing. You know, here in the south macaroni and cheese is also considered a vegetable. But that's a discussion for another day.
You talk in your book about super foods. These are good things you can eat.
BLAGA: Yes. There's a number of them. And obviously, you know, there's a large number of studies saying that there's over 200 different publications showing the benefits of fruits and vegetables.
And I just pick out those that have shown a lot of protective effect against people, you know, in preventing cancer as well as other chronic diseases.
Probably at the top of the list is cruciferous vegetables. And broccoli, sprouts, I list. And watercress because they contain so many healthy phytochemicals that help to aid our body in detoxification in various different processes.
KAGAN: But, doctor, eating vegetables, eating good foods, this is hardly groundbreaking stuff, we knew this.
BLAGA: Right.
KAGAN: You're talking also about foods like chocolate and coffee, some sinful foods that are good for you?
BLAGA: Right, a number of them are you know classical foods, like blueberries and tomatoes and on and on, but there are other drinks like a coffee which comes from a coffee bean that has a lot of important phytochemicals in it. When it's roasted, it has phytochemicals to get into your body that help our detoxification system. You know, you have heard that green tea and black tea do that, but coffee, in many respects, is even better because these type of compounds in coffee are absorbed very readily.
KAGAN: You also single out watercress. Why is watercress so good for you?
BLAGA: Well, watercress is part of the cruciferous vegetables, and it contains a lot of --a chemical called isothiocynate, as well as some called glucarate. So it's a blend of different sulfur-type compounds, as well as non-sulfur compounds, like glucarate, and endo III carbonal, which are very effective in detoxifying a lot of carcinogens that may cause cancer, as well as decreasing chemicals in your body that you may overproduce, like estrodyle, which could lead to breast cancer. KAGAN: And you also recommend that you put water filters on your kitchen, and also on your bathroom sink, as well?
BLAGA: Yes. If you decrease your burden of things that come into your body, be it pesticides, herbicides and all different types of chemicals, you help your own detoxification system to do a better job. And obviously one needs to wash and prepare fruits and vegetables so that they're not contaminated with a lot of different things. And the same way with your house, you need to have pure water and not to have bad air and different things so that you decrease the stress on your body from all kind of environmental chemicals.
KAGAN: So let me ask you personally, do you not just talk the talk, do you walk the walk? This is how you live your life?
BLAGA: Yes, I state very emphatically I do. I exercise daily. I try to manage stress control. Sometimes that's difficult. There's always a few people that overstress you, but -- and on top of it, I eat between six and eight serves of fruits and vegetables a day. I really don't believe in this low-carb, low-fat type of approaches to diet, because there are some essential fats and you have to get those from the right things. And the same way with carbohydrates, these very important complex carbohydrates that your body needs that contain a lot of vitamins, minerals and different types of fiber, be it soluble or insoluble.
So by having the right blend of fruits and vegetables, whole grains and legumes, eating lean meat is fine, as long as you keep the proportion size down.
KAGAN: And I imagine there's a lot more in the detox revolution. Doctor, thank you for being on with us today, Dr. Thomas Blaga, called "The Detox Revolution." Hope coming on with us today hope didn't add to your stress level. Hope we were more of a detoxifying experience.
Thanks for your time doctor.
BLAGA: Thank you very much.
KAGAN: Appreciate it.
We are standing by waiting for President Bush to make an appearance at the Pentagon. He has been there today meeting with military leaders in light of the Iraqi prison abuse scandal. More on that just ahead.
Also, we will be checking in on business. Right now, a quick break here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: We are standing by. We expect to hear from President Bush live from the Pentagon. When that begins, you'll see it live here. We also expect to see the Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld by his side.
(BUSINESS UPDATE)
KAGAN: You can apparently eat your way to -- apparently, some people think you can eat your way to happiness on your next vacation. You can savor the sound, the smell, the taste, and the texture of other cultures.
"Travel & Leisure" samples culinary getaways in its new issue. Heidi Mitchell is an editor at the magazine, and she's at Time Warner Center in New York.
Good morning, Heidi.
HEIDI MITCHELL, "TRAVEL & LEISURE" MAGAZINE: Good morning, Daryn.
KAGAN: First of all, of all the cooking vacations out there, how did you narrow it down? How did you pick?
MITCHELL: Well, it was tough, but we had experts all over the world, and they have checked out a lot of these places, and they came back with 34 of the best across the world. So you have 34 places, different countries, lots of different cuisines to choose from.
KAGAN: All right, let's look at some of them. First of all, Morocco.
MITCHELL: Well, if you've eaten Moroccan food, I'm sure you're a fan, but there's an experience called "The Feast for the Senses," which is at the Ginnan Tomesna (ph) in, which is in Merakesah (ph) and in Ecnobotan (ph). It's called Gary Martin takes guests on a tour of all the soups, where you learn about the different spices and the spice trade, and you go back to the inn and you learn how to make things like tagine (ph) and kus kuses, and all the different cuisines that are typical in Morocco.
KAGAN: My notes say that it's 10 days, but it doesn't tell me how much it costs.
MITCHELL: It's about $3,800, but it includes the hotel stay, 380 bucks a night.
KAGAN: Something that's a little bit closer to home, New Orleans.
MITCHELL: Yes, New Orleans, of course, amazing food in New Orleans, and The New Orleans Cooking Experience is actually only $150 a day, and this course also takes through the different markets in New Orleans and teaches you about the different cuisines, and a student of Chef Paul Krudon (ph) teaches a class where you learn to make crawfish e tusa (ph) and salman niar (ph) and other classics from The Big Easy. And you take five course meals inside a courtyard or in a wine cellar, a lovely experience, 150 bucks.
KAGAN: And heading overseas once again to Thailand for six days.
MITCHELL: Four Season Chamai (ph) runs a really interesting course, where -- I'm sure you are familiar with Thai cuisine, but this teaches 16th century royal Thai cuisine. So you learn pork spare ribs, soup, and banana blossom shrimp and other really interesting cuisines. And also you learn to take place in the contoke (ph) cuisine, which is you eat the sticky rice with your hand and different dishes with just your hands and sort of teach you the etiquette of that. And that's six days for $435 at the Four Seasons Chamai.
KAGAN: Heidi Mitchell, from "Travel & Leisure" magazine. Thank you so much. You have whetted our appetite this morning. Much more information online and in the magazine. Appreciate it.
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 May 10, 2004 - 11:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Members of Congress return to the controversy of the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal this week. And the Senate Armed Services Committee will meet tomorrow to discuss the matter. Joe Johns is on the Hill right now with the latest -- Joe.
JOE JOHNS, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, this hearing we're told, mainly is to focus on intelligence. And they're going to try to bring up at least one, possibly two people who testified at Friday's hearing. We have pictures of that hearing obviously.
Some of the people they'd like to get before the committee on Tuesday, Lieutenant General Lance Smith, the deputy commander of U.S. Central Command, the Undersecretary for Intelligence Steve Cambone and General William Boykin, the chief of military intelligence at the Pentagon.
Meanwhile behind the scenes here we're told there's an ongoing negotiation. A number of senators would really like to get the Pentagon to release as much of the videos and photographs, which have not been seen of the allegations of abuse in Iraq, into the public as quickly as possible. We've been told the Pentagon is willing to release some of those things, particularly one video, perhaps several hundred photographs.
Nonetheless we're told right now the negotiation is over whether to make those photos and the video classified or declassified. A number of senators have said they are very interested in getting as much out into the public as quickly as possible so that there's not this trickle effect where the photos and videos come out here and there, week after week and they're very hard to control politically.
So while all of that is going on a number of members of Congress are interested in getting to the bottom of this. They are also saying, of course, there are differing opinions on whether Secretary Rumsfeld, the defense secretary, should stay or go.
A number of Democrats, as you know, have called for him to resign or be fired. Then, again, no Republican has called for him to resign or be fired. That continues.
We do hear as we've been reporting all day the president is expected to once again give his support to Secretary Rumsfeld. Daryn, back to you.
KAGAN: Joe Johns on Capitol Hill. Joe, thank you. More now on this issue. Some Republicans are accusing Democrats of politicizing the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal. "INSIDE POLITICS" anchor Judy Woodruff right here with me in Atlanta. What a treat for that.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Daryn. Good to be here.
KAGAN: And you're looking at how this is affecting the presidential campaign.
WOODRUFF: It is, Daryn. Although it's a little difficult to separate the campaign at this point from what's going on at the hill and what you just heard Joe Johns describing. In fact there are several threads taking place right now.
You do have senators on Capitol Hill, Democrats and some Republicans, who are still looking at whether Secretary Rumsfeld can survive. You have other senators saying, this is a larger systemic problem. Even if Donald Rumsfeld were to walkout the door tomorrow, they would still have a policy that is leading to what in Iraq?
This is a country the United States, the Bush administration said was going to become a democracy within a short period of time. People are asking where is the evidence of that? And particularly with these prisoner pictures.
So you also have activity going on in the presidential campaign. But much of that, I would say, is on hold right now as we watch the Senate.
KAGAN: Let's look what senator Kerry is doing this week. He's talking about health care in America. I have a couple of questions on that. First of all, what is he proposing?
WOODRUFF: A couple things. And I'm going to read from this because I was just given a copy of what the campaign is talking about.
Talking about controlling costs by giving relief to businesses and passing savings on to workers. They're talking about saving employees up to a thousand dollars a year. They are talking about cutting administrative costs by eliminates waste, fraud and abuse.
They are also talking about cutting costs by making prescription drugs more affordable, including allowing reimportation.
But all in all, this is couched, Daryn, very much in a criticism of President Bush in saying the president has not done enough over the last four years to keep an eye on skyrocketing medical care...
(CROSSTALK)
KAGAN: ... that what Kerry's really proposing is getting rid of the tax cuts and adding more government and more government programs.
WOODRUFF: that's right. And they're saying this is just another way to spend money that Americans ought to be spending on their own. It is a familiar argument on the part of the Republicans.
I do think -- it's interesting to point out, Daryn, that at a time when so many of us in the media are focused so much on Iraq and on the prisoner scandal, John Kerry is out there talking about a domestic issue that he says of importance to Americans.
KAGAN: Which some people might give him credit for. But a lot of bad press on John Kerry over the last week in national media. Talking about the guy is missing major opportunities. So why when the nation is focused on the Iraqi prisoner abuse is he off talking about health care?
WOODRUFF: You almost -- somebody said to me the other day he's damned if he does and damned if doesn't because if he does talk about it, he's going to be criticized for politicizing the Iraqi war prisoner problem.
In fact today the Republican National Committee had scheduled a new conference to go after him on that. We just learned a few minutes ago they've downgraded that to a conference call they're going to have reporters. So interesting they are rethinking in the Bush campaign what they ought to be doing about all this.
So a lot of gaming, a lot of trying to figure out what works on the part of both campaigns. You still have a lot unfolding.
KAGAN: And getting into the thick of things. Judy, thank you. We'll see you later today.
(CROSSTALK)
KAGAN: Florida Congresswoman Katherine Harris, who oversaw the disputed 2000 election there as secretary of state, isn't afraid to admit her own voting mistake. Harris forgot to sign her absentee ballot in a recent election, so her vote didn't count. Harris says said she was in a hurry to catch a flight to Washington.
A possible cancer drug may have side effect sure to make it an even bigger success. That's next. Find out what it's doing that might just have the medical world buzzing.
And speaking of cancer, just how can you adjust your diet and help fight cancer and other diseases? We're talking to one man who says he knows. The author of "The Detox Revolution" is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: In our "Daily Dose" of health news, fighting disease by ridding the body of toxins. There's a book out called "The Detox Revolution." It explains how eating healthy and having healthy eating habits can strengthen the body's immune system. It's now out in paperback. The author, Dr. Thomas Blaga, joins us from Denver. Good morning. Thanks for being with us.
DR. THOMAS BLAGA, "THE DETOX REVOLUTION": Thank you. It's a pleasure being with you. KAGAN: What is the biggest thing you see people do and put in their bodies that makes you cringe the most?
BLAGA: Probably the biggest thing is french fries. It's listed as a vegetable, obviously. But when you french fry it in the wrong fats and that's where you're getting your fruits and vegetables it's not very good.
KAGAN: Not a good thing. You know, here in the south macaroni and cheese is also considered a vegetable. But that's a discussion for another day.
You talk in your book about super foods. These are good things you can eat.
BLAGA: Yes. There's a number of them. And obviously, you know, there's a large number of studies saying that there's over 200 different publications showing the benefits of fruits and vegetables.
And I just pick out those that have shown a lot of protective effect against people, you know, in preventing cancer as well as other chronic diseases.
Probably at the top of the list is cruciferous vegetables. And broccoli, sprouts, I list. And watercress because they contain so many healthy phytochemicals that help to aid our body in detoxification in various different processes.
KAGAN: But, doctor, eating vegetables, eating good foods, this is hardly groundbreaking stuff, we knew this.
BLAGA: Right.
KAGAN: You're talking also about foods like chocolate and coffee, some sinful foods that are good for you?
BLAGA: Right, a number of them are you know classical foods, like blueberries and tomatoes and on and on, but there are other drinks like a coffee which comes from a coffee bean that has a lot of important phytochemicals in it. When it's roasted, it has phytochemicals to get into your body that help our detoxification system. You know, you have heard that green tea and black tea do that, but coffee, in many respects, is even better because these type of compounds in coffee are absorbed very readily.
KAGAN: You also single out watercress. Why is watercress so good for you?
BLAGA: Well, watercress is part of the cruciferous vegetables, and it contains a lot of --a chemical called isothiocynate, as well as some called glucarate. So it's a blend of different sulfur-type compounds, as well as non-sulfur compounds, like glucarate, and endo III carbonal, which are very effective in detoxifying a lot of carcinogens that may cause cancer, as well as decreasing chemicals in your body that you may overproduce, like estrodyle, which could lead to breast cancer. KAGAN: And you also recommend that you put water filters on your kitchen, and also on your bathroom sink, as well?
BLAGA: Yes. If you decrease your burden of things that come into your body, be it pesticides, herbicides and all different types of chemicals, you help your own detoxification system to do a better job. And obviously one needs to wash and prepare fruits and vegetables so that they're not contaminated with a lot of different things. And the same way with your house, you need to have pure water and not to have bad air and different things so that you decrease the stress on your body from all kind of environmental chemicals.
KAGAN: So let me ask you personally, do you not just talk the talk, do you walk the walk? This is how you live your life?
BLAGA: Yes, I state very emphatically I do. I exercise daily. I try to manage stress control. Sometimes that's difficult. There's always a few people that overstress you, but -- and on top of it, I eat between six and eight serves of fruits and vegetables a day. I really don't believe in this low-carb, low-fat type of approaches to diet, because there are some essential fats and you have to get those from the right things. And the same way with carbohydrates, these very important complex carbohydrates that your body needs that contain a lot of vitamins, minerals and different types of fiber, be it soluble or insoluble.
So by having the right blend of fruits and vegetables, whole grains and legumes, eating lean meat is fine, as long as you keep the proportion size down.
KAGAN: And I imagine there's a lot more in the detox revolution. Doctor, thank you for being on with us today, Dr. Thomas Blaga, called "The Detox Revolution." Hope coming on with us today hope didn't add to your stress level. Hope we were more of a detoxifying experience.
Thanks for your time doctor.
BLAGA: Thank you very much.
KAGAN: Appreciate it.
We are standing by waiting for President Bush to make an appearance at the Pentagon. He has been there today meeting with military leaders in light of the Iraqi prison abuse scandal. More on that just ahead.
Also, we will be checking in on business. Right now, a quick break here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: We are standing by. We expect to hear from President Bush live from the Pentagon. When that begins, you'll see it live here. We also expect to see the Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld by his side.
(BUSINESS UPDATE)
KAGAN: You can apparently eat your way to -- apparently, some people think you can eat your way to happiness on your next vacation. You can savor the sound, the smell, the taste, and the texture of other cultures.
"Travel & Leisure" samples culinary getaways in its new issue. Heidi Mitchell is an editor at the magazine, and she's at Time Warner Center in New York.
Good morning, Heidi.
HEIDI MITCHELL, "TRAVEL & LEISURE" MAGAZINE: Good morning, Daryn.
KAGAN: First of all, of all the cooking vacations out there, how did you narrow it down? How did you pick?
MITCHELL: Well, it was tough, but we had experts all over the world, and they have checked out a lot of these places, and they came back with 34 of the best across the world. So you have 34 places, different countries, lots of different cuisines to choose from.
KAGAN: All right, let's look at some of them. First of all, Morocco.
MITCHELL: Well, if you've eaten Moroccan food, I'm sure you're a fan, but there's an experience called "The Feast for the Senses," which is at the Ginnan Tomesna (ph) in, which is in Merakesah (ph) and in Ecnobotan (ph). It's called Gary Martin takes guests on a tour of all the soups, where you learn about the different spices and the spice trade, and you go back to the inn and you learn how to make things like tagine (ph) and kus kuses, and all the different cuisines that are typical in Morocco.
KAGAN: My notes say that it's 10 days, but it doesn't tell me how much it costs.
MITCHELL: It's about $3,800, but it includes the hotel stay, 380 bucks a night.
KAGAN: Something that's a little bit closer to home, New Orleans.
MITCHELL: Yes, New Orleans, of course, amazing food in New Orleans, and The New Orleans Cooking Experience is actually only $150 a day, and this course also takes through the different markets in New Orleans and teaches you about the different cuisines, and a student of Chef Paul Krudon (ph) teaches a class where you learn to make crawfish e tusa (ph) and salman niar (ph) and other classics from The Big Easy. And you take five course meals inside a courtyard or in a wine cellar, a lovely experience, 150 bucks.
KAGAN: And heading overseas once again to Thailand for six days.
MITCHELL: Four Season Chamai (ph) runs a really interesting course, where -- I'm sure you are familiar with Thai cuisine, but this teaches 16th century royal Thai cuisine. So you learn pork spare ribs, soup, and banana blossom shrimp and other really interesting cuisines. And also you learn to take place in the contoke (ph) cuisine, which is you eat the sticky rice with your hand and different dishes with just your hands and sort of teach you the etiquette of that. And that's six days for $435 at the Four Seasons Chamai.
KAGAN: Heidi Mitchell, from "Travel & Leisure" magazine. Thank you so much. You have whetted our appetite this morning. Much more information online and in the magazine. Appreciate it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
