|
Return to Transcripts main page
NEXT@CNN
Space Station Running Short of Food; Green Gifts
Aired December 18, 2004 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Police say a Kansas woman has confessed to a brutal crime. They say Lisa Montgomery admitted to strangling a pregnant woman, then cutting her unborn baby out of her body. Bobbie Jo Stinnett was found dead in her Missouri home. The baby was recovered and is in good condition at a hospital in Topeka.
The former top figure in Saddam Hussein's government was interrogated by a panel of judges in Iraq today. Ali Hassan al-Majid, also known as chemical Ali, was questioned along with Saddam's former defense minister. Al-Majid will be the first of the Saddam-era leaders to go on trial in Iraq.
A law enforcement source says three more men have been arrested in connection with an arson case in Maryland. Dozens of homes in an up scaled development were damaged or destroyed by fires earlier in the month. A security guard also admitted to being involved.
New concerns over the arthritis drug Celebrex has the Food and Drug Administration advising doctors to consider alternatives for their patients. A new study shows the painkiller could increase the risk of heart attacks for some users. Another painkiller, Vioxx, was recalled just over two months ago.
Rob Marciano is with us now with a look at the weekend weather.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Big weather story this weekend, not so much big storms, but big-time cold air that's going to be driving down from Canada. It's doing this afternoon, moving quite rapidly. And it will get down to the south by later on tonight and tomorrow. A lot of folks are going to feel -- although it will hit the brakes on the east coast.
Strong, northwest cold winds. Wind chills easily down in the single numbers, some below zero in the next day and a half. Lake- effect snow will be a big issue in some spots east of the Great Lakes. Boston, New York and Philly, balance looking seasonal, a mix of some rain and snow showers tomorrow. Colder Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.
Atlanta, Charlotte gets colder tomorrow as does Detroit and Chicago, Minneapolis cold today, tomorrow's highs only 7. Dallas 63. Denver will see a high of about 60. Actually, much of the west, especially west of the Rockies, will see pretty warm conditions. It will be warm and windy in Los Angeles for the balance of today. Tomorrow's high, about 75 degrees.
I'm Rob Marciano. That's a quick weather check. Enjoy your weekend. WHITFIELD: All right thanks a lot Rob. I'm Fredricka Whitfield at the CNN Center in Atlanta. More news at the bottom of the hour. NEXT@CNN begins right now.
DANIEL SIEBERG, HOST: Hi. I'm Daniel Sieberg. Today on NEXT@CNN, the crew aboard the International Space Station are short of food. Find out what they're doing as they await a re-supply ship.
In case you still haven't finished your holiday shopping, we've got some gift ideas for both the techie and the tree hugger in your life.
And visit an island that is the subject of a custody battle between the United States and Canada. And the fight is over more than just a few puffins. We'll tell you what's at stake. All that and more on NEXT.
During the holiday season, a lot of us tend to eat more than usual. But on board the International Space Station, they're being told to eat a bit less. You see food is running low. And a re-supply ship isn't due for another week. More from Miles O'Brien.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): There's no question they live a high life. But the food on the space station, well, it isn't exactly cuisine.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This represents one day's worth of food for one person.
O'BRIEN: One day?
SEAN RODEN, FLIGHT SURGEON: Yes.
O'BRIEN: All right. They're doing a lot of eating up there, aren't they?
RODEN: Yes, they are.
O'BRIEN: Sean Roden is a NASA flight surgeon. It is his job to watch what the astronauts eat.
RODEN: Sweet and sour chicken.
O'BRIEN: And eat.
RODEN: Here we have some dried apricots.
O'BRIEN: And eat.
RODEN: Chicken with peanut sauce.
O'BRIEN: And this is the scaled-down diet. Before the cupboards began going bare, station keepers Leroy Chiao and Salizhan Sharipov were scarfing up 3,000 calories a day. They have trimmed 500 calories out. So this is not a diet to recommend to the masses?
RODEN: No, I would not recommend this to the masses. But if you would compare the astronauts, they are elite athletes. And they live a fairly elite athlete life.
O'BRIEN: They are gym rats by necessity. Two, two and a half hours a day of aerobics and isometrics to keep muscles from atrophying and bones from becoming brittle.
PEGGY WHITSON, ASTRONAUT: The muscle control that you have just in standing up is not present in space. So we have to compensate with these exercises.
O'BRIEN: Astronaut Peggy Whitson spent six months on the station in 2002 where, believe it or not, food is not taken lightly.
WHITSON: Our selection and our variety is very limited. So, you know, the first eight to ten days is not a big deal. The next eight to 10 days is not too much a big deal. After a few months, it gets boring. Food is a huge deal in orbit.
O'BRIEN: Chiao and Sharipov are eagerly awaiting 3,000 pounds of Christmas presents including food, water and fuel scheduled to aboard an unmanned Russian supply ship on Christmas Day. If the ship does not dock as planned, the space station will be abandoned.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SIEBERG: Sticking with space news NASA administrator Sean O'Keefe announced his resignation this week, he is accepting the job of chancellor at Louisiana State University and says he needs the higher salary to pay his oldest daughter's college tuition. O'Keefe says he'll stay on at NASA until a successor is named. Again, here's Miles O'Brien.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN (voice-over): Sean O'Keefe is not a rocket scientist. And he makes no bones about it.
SEAN O'KEEFE, NASA ADMINISTRATOR: My oldest son is 12 years old said, "Gee, I thought you had to be really smart to be in that job."
O'BRIEN: All joking aside, this career public servant beltway operator and two-generation Bush loyalist came to NASA from the White House budget office with a fairly down to earth charter, explore the costs and launch some new accounting.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When people call you bean counter, those fighting words? Oh, no, shoot.
O'BRIEN: But the bean-counter's equation changed in seven heartbeats on February 1st, 2003, one year into his tenure, O'Keefe was dealing with tragedy. The shuttle "Columbia" and her crew of seven lost on reentry.
O'KEEFE: Well we're filled with sorrow now, there's so much about these historic and heroic astronauts for us to be grateful about.
O'BRIEN: Many at NASA were grateful O'Keefe was there in the wake of the disaster. He left the doors open, kept the public informed, offered genuine empathy and fully embraced the accident investigation.
KEITH COWING, NASA WATCH: His reaction to a lot of this was extremely honest and simple. And I think that helped the agency, you know, climb out of that problem and move on to where it is now.
O'BRIEN: It is now an agency with a budget increase, with success on Mars and around Saturn, and a lofty goal to send humans back to the Moon and on to the red planet.
COWING: They have a presidential mandate to get back to the stuff that the agency is best at doing and a lot of people are feeling that can-do attitude again.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SIEBERG: Well another federal agency on our beat lost its head this week so to speak. On Monday, President Bush tapped EPA Administrator Mike Leavitt to head the Department of Health and Human Services. No word on a successor at the EPA yet. But environmentalist say President Bush's choice will signal the direction of environmental policy during the administration's second term.
Also in Washington, talks on whether you should be able to use your cell phone while flying on an airliner. The FCC met on Wednesday to discuss whether that might interfere with cell use on the ground. The FAA meanwhile, is concerned about how cell phones affect electronics on board an airplane while it's in flight. The agency has commissioned a private study to be completed by 2006 and says it won't decide anything until after that time.
So could an active cell phone cause a crash? A question on a lot of people's mind. Well you can just think of the people who have packed their cell phone and carry on luggage and left it on without incident. But some experts say there is a chance, however remote, that something could go wrong.
Speaking of cell phones, you may have gotten an e-mail warning lately that telemarketers are about to access your cell phone number. Well, like so many mass e-mails out there, this one is a hoax. Julie Vallese explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JULIE VALLESE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The latest e-mail making its way into inboxes across the country reads in part: "Starting January 1, 2005, all cell phone numbers will be made public to telemarketing firms. So this means as of January 1, your cell phone may start ringing off the hook." That, says the Federal Trade Commission is...
LOIS GRACEMAN, FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSSON: Absolutely bogus. VALLESE: But it seems real. So real the numbers added to the Do Not Call Registry have spiked. From just 100,000 or so a day into the millions.
GRACEMAN: Dating back to about three weeks ago. We saw first about 1 million numbers being added. Then another 2 million last week, 5 million numbers were registered on the Do Not Call List.
VALLESE: And then the total for just one day, Monday, December 13th, 1.5 million new numbers.
PATRICIA KACHURA, DIRECT MARKETING ASSOCIATION: It is against the DNA guidelines and ethical business practice to call consumers on their cell phones because that is a call they must pay to receive.
VALLESE: Marketers say they know it's against the law, and they won't do it. So what prompted an e-mail with so many untruths? No one is quite sure, but it may have something to do with the publicity of a national cell phone directory. But in order to have your name on that list, you have to sign up. Being on the do not call registry is a matter of choice. But for your cell phone, you don't really have to make the choice. Even if a cell phone directory is created.
KACHURA: Directory or no directory, telemarketers may not call consumers on their cell phones.
VALLESE: The e-mail also says consumers have until December 15 to sign up. That's also not true. It's an open registry and will remain that way.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: Up next, this paralyzed toddler can now communicate thanks to a new use for some not so new technology.
Also ahead, gifts for greenies, ideas for holiday presents for the environmentally conscious.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SIEBERG: Control a computer with just the blink of an eye? Well, it's possible, thanks to technology developed for the disabled. But now it's being used in novel ways to help very young children. Kathleen Koch has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Which one of these shall we put on first?
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Eighteen month-old Aiden Morris of Chicago was born with a very rare muscle disorder that was cognitive skills are normal, he can't move or speak.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nice shaking your head and telling me yes.
KOCH: Six months ago, Aiden's speech therapist told his mother about a computer technology called Eye Gaze, it could help the boy for the first time communicate and learn. Eye Gaze was invented in the early 1980's it uses an infrared light and camera to lock on to eye movements, track them and allow the use to control a computer with the blink of an eye. It had never been tried on a child so young.
CHRIS LANKFORD, EYE RESPONSE TECHNOLOGY: I was like well not yet but we can give it a shot. Let's try it out.
KOCH: So Eye Response Technologies, maker of Eye Gaze simplified the system, and Aiden caught on immediately.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good job, Aiden. Do wheels on the bus? The door on the bus gets open wide, open wide, open wide
ANN HEAVEY, PEDIATRIC SPEECH THERAPIST: Aiden can calibrate the camera. He can calibrate the screen. He can make independent selections. He can play a Simon says and control the actions of the sister. It's just opened up a whole new avenue for him.
SHELLEY MORRIS, AIDEN'S MOTHER: He's happier because, you know, you say, "you want to play the computer?" And I just see, you know, personality wise that he's a much happier kid because he has something to do. Want to do feelings?
KOCH: Aiden's family has also created a feeling screen so he can share his needs and emotions.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's up, pal?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey, is that better?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm better now.
GARY MORRIS, AIDEN'S FATHER: Just incredible to have my son call for me. He and I are very close. We do a lot of things together. But for him to actually specifically call for me to come to him was just an unbelievable feeling. Thank you.
KOCH: Eye Gaze is also opening new doors 800 miles south in Charlottesville, Virginia. Researchers at the University of Virginia are using it for the first time to track young children's eye movements to see where they look when adults are reading to them.
LAURA JUSTICE, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: What it provides us is a window into the inner workings of the child's mind, where their attention lies, what they're interested in. And that information hasn't been available to us.
KOCH: The study has found that, unless adults draw children's attention to printed words by pointing to them or talking about them, 98 percent of children only look at the pictures.
JUSTICE: This technology allows us to look at children who are very young and understand what they do with print to understand more about their strengths and weaknesses as they engage with print and potentially design interventions that can help children. KOCH (on camera): This Eye Gaze system bought three years ago cost about $20,000. The price of the newest model has dropped to under $8,000. Not exactly cheap, but it is still becoming more affordable for disabled children and educators.
KOCH (voice-over): The Morris' Eye Gaze system is on loan. They hope the state will eventually pay for a system Aiden can use in school.
MORRIS: I want to be able to teach him and know that he's learning.
GARY MORRIS: He's a smart little boy. Very smart little boy. And we have to really do whatever we can to allow him to develop that.
KOCH: Aiden's therapist is already helping him create more fields to learn to use on the computer.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, that's silly. Who's silly in your household?
AIDEN: Me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Taylor is silly.
KOCH: While doctors still haven't been able to find the key to cure Aiden's mysterious illness, his family is encouraged that Eye Gaze technology is unlocking his thoughts and feelings for all to share.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SIEBERG: Clearly, quite a gift for Aiden and his family.
Now switching gears a bit, we have some ideas for holiday gifts. While they may not be as life-changing as the gift of communication for a paralyzed toddler, eco-minded people will probably be pleased with them. Veronica De La Cruz has this green gift guide.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From appliances to automobiles, computers to clothing, eco experts say cool gifts with a natural twist is a growing trend.
JEANIE PYUN, EDITOR, ORGANIC STYLE MAGAZINE: Green gifts are really great because they are gifts that give back somehow either to the environment or to people or communities around the world.
DE LA CRUZ: Want to walk on the wild side? How about adopting an animal or an acre of land? Groups like the defenders of wildlife and the nature conservancy offer the chance to preserve endangered species and forests around the world. For those on the run, companies like Voltaic Systems and Eclipse have a bright idea on the market. A solar back pack that lets you charge cell phones, PDAs and other devices without missing a step. And on the home front, the EPA says consumers who switch to more efficient energy star appliances and electronics saved $9 billion in utility costs last year alone.
TRAVIS SALLEY, BEST BUY: Energy star is actually now a selling point with a lot of customers who are coming in more educated. And we actually have those products to fit their needs.
DE LA CRUZ: Many companies say consumer demand is driving their bid to offer more natural selections. And a growing population is choosing to spend their greenbacks on green gifts.
DAVE WHITE, HOME DEPOT: Certainly there is a move towards the greener products. We're seeing a lot more sales in the greener items.
DE LA CRUZ: Now, as you can see there's a wide variety of unique eco friendly gifts for everybody on your holiday list from solar- powered backpacks, organic foods, clothing, there are even some cool games for the kids. Most online vendors say there's still time to mail your gifts to reach loved ones just in time for the holidays.
Know someone with a need for speed? Gas, electric hybrid and fueled cell cars are on the fast track at many car companies. They're rolling out vehicles that feature similar style and comfort as standard models with the added bonus of amazing fuel economy.
For the high-tech toy fan, e-stores like pfyslink.com offer cool eco based experiment kits geared to inspire curious kids of all ages. And lets not forget the food lover on your list, grocers like whole foods and even online vendors like EcoExpress feature organic products that can satisfy even your most finicky friend or family member. If saving energy or the environment is on your wish list a green gift could be a very natural choice.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SIEBERG: If you want to find any of these items or other green gifts go to our Web site at CNN.com/next, and we'll tell you where to look.
Later in the show, we'll have gift ideas for tech heads out there. So stick around.
But after the break, we'll introduce to you some paramedics who will take care of your snake bite and the snake.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SIEBERG: North America's wild animals and plants are already reacting to global warming. That's according to a report out this week. The study says there are direct threats to animals ranging from polar bears to songbirds and that many species of plants and animals are already starting to shift their range northward as temperatures climb. Some species may not survive the shift because it pushes them into urban areas or for other reasons. Warming could also put predators and prey out of sync. And disrupt ego systems in other ways. The report was prepared for the wildlife society by a panel of wildlife biologists and academic researchers.
Well, a daily penguins raise their chicks on Antarctica's icy plateaus. This year they are facing a huge problem a giant iceberg is blocking their access to the open ocean where they catch fish. Normally the adult bird only have to walk a couple of miles for food to bring back to the babies. This year because of the iceberg the round trip will be more than 100 miles. Scientists are afraid that thousands of the chicks will starve. And other groups of penguins just won't breed this year.
All right well penguins are pretty cute. If you discover a snake where you don't want one or, worse yet get bitten, who you going to call? No not snake busters, if you live in south Florida, you call Venom One. John Zarrella has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Two hundred times a year. Captain Al Cruz and Lieutenant Ernie Jillson respond to calls about a snake in the grass. In this case, a python loose in a backyard.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ready?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
ZARRELLA: Cruz and Jillson, Miami-Dade paramedics, run Venom One. The county's anti-venom unit. When they're not rounding up snakes, they're teaching first responders how to identify what they're dealing with.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is what we call a carpet python. That was taken -- it was caught locally here. It was somebody's pet.
ZARRELLA: But the paramedics are more than just snake handlers. They save lives. They keep on hand at all times 40 types of anti- venom. They have responded to calls for help from across the country.
LT. ERNIE JILLSON, MIAMI DADE ANTI VENOM UNIT: The amount of antivenin we have on hand at one particular location is probably the largest anywhere in the United States.
ZARRELLA: And it is needed. There are more species of snakes in Florida, about 70, than anywhere else in the country. From water moccasins to rattlesnakes. In fact, south Florida has been called the Ellis Island of exotic animals. Many like this non-venomous albino python are not native. They were pets that got too big and were simply let loose.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Got a call that said an individual had this snake in their yard. It was chasing their cat in the backyard, trying to eat him. ZARRELLA: There are about 250 snake bites a year in Florida, 25 percent are venomous. Mario Tabraue (ph) runs Zoological Imports was bagging a cottonmouth for shipment when he was bitten. Crews rushed the serum to the hospital.
MARIO TABRAUE, SNAKE BITE VICTIM: Sometimes you got bit by a snake, and nobody knows what it is. They know what it is, but they don't have the antivenin, they have to make a wild goose chase to find it.
ZARRELLA: There have been no deaths in Florida since the anti venom unit was formed in 1998. The team knows there will always be another urgent call because there will always be another snake in the grass.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: In our next half hour, a mysterious collapse in lobster catches off parts of the East Coast.
And lobsters play a key part in a land dispute between the United States and Canada. Those stories, more ahead when NEXT@CNN returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SIEBERG: Welcome back to NEXT@CNN. The lobster population is dropping quickly in southern New England. That's bad news and not just for people who like to eat the crustaceans with some (UNINTELLIGIBLE) butter, scientists think it may be a sign of wider environmental problems and may be spreading. Dan Lothian reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN BOSTON BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): Pat White...
PAT WHITE, LOBSTERMAN: There's a keeper.
LOTHIAN: ... has been hauling up lobsters for almost 50 years.
WHITE: It's a wonderful way of life.
LOTHIAN: If this boat is his desk, the Atlantic Ocean off Maine is his office, where lobstermen have been riding a record wave, 62 million pounds of lobsters caught two years ago. That was the peak. And the boom for now continues.
WHITE: Yesterday, I got 230 pounds.
LOTHIAN: But some worry Maine, showing signs of the slowdown along parts of the coast, may be next to face a mysterious problem clawing its way north from New York to New Hampshire.
(on camera): In some areas, south of here, the catch has collapsed by more than 70 percent. And no one really knows why.
MICHAEL TLUSTY, AQUACULTURE SCIENTIST: It could be water. It could be pollution. It could be the return of cod, one of the major predators.
LOTHIAN (voice-over): Michael Tlusty researchers lobsters at New England Aquarium's hatchery.
TLUSTY: Very small age.
LOTHIAN: He believes compounding factors, triggered in part by rising water temperatures tied to global warming, could be to blame.
TLUSTY: Everything in a lobster is temperature dependent.
LOTHIAN: Some government scientists say overfishing is also a major problem. White admits that could be a factor, but he says most lobstermen are responsible, throwing back egg-heavy females and other catch vital to a healthy population.
WHITE: It's amazing how much stuff we don't know, and we need to know if we're going to manage this -- manage our oceans properly.
LOTHIAN: Ultimately, experts say, everyone should pay attention to these bottom dwellers.
TLUSTY: When a lobster population starts having trouble, that just means that there's very serious things going on in the environment.
LOTHIAN: Scientists are studying these waters, hoping to find definitive answers just under the surface.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SIEBERG: Well, a little further up the coast, there's a lobster war going on between U.S. and Canadian fishermen. It centers around a little island inhabited mainly by birds, but what's at stake is the rich fishing grounds around the island. Mark Stevenson has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARK STEVENSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a small rocky sanctuary that's home to thousands of puffins, now gone for the winter, and a couple of Canadian lighthouse keepers, it's an unlikely place for an international conflict.
JOHN NORTON, TOURIST BOAT CAPTAIN: It's named Machias Island and Machias is in the United States.
STEVENSON: Claiming the island for the Americans is a Norton family mission. John Norton is the fifth in his family to carry on the fight.
NORTON: Well, we own it. The Canadians are trying to take it away from us.
STEVENSON: Norton runs puffin-watching tours to the island. He lobbies American politicians to take control of Machias, and he has a letter from the state department... NORTON: You can pan through this if you'd like.
STEVENSON: ...saying the U.S. doesn't recognize Canadian claims to the island. But Canadian lighthouse keepers do not defend Machias by force, but they do live there.
(on camera): According to the United States, this is American territory, and the Canadian lighthouse here, which has been here longer than Canada has been a country, is a violation of American sovereignty.
STEVENSON: Welcome to...
PAUL CRANFORD, CANADIAN LIGHTHOUSE KEEPER: Machias Island.
STEVENSON: Machias Island...
CRANFORD: Oh, John would say USA, we all know it's Canada.
STEVENSON (voice-over): Paul Crawford is the Canadian lighthouse keeper stationed here for more than a decade. While an automated beacon could warn ships of the rocky shore...
CRANFORD: The loyal Canadian flag.
STEVENSON: ...he says it takes actual Canadians to defend their country's sovereignty. But Cranford says Canada pretty much looks the other way when people like Norton arrive here without official Canadian permission.
CRANFORD: There is no real conflict. It's a very amicable situation that everybody wins at. No, everybody is content with the situation.
STEVENSON: Everyone except fishermen like Lawrence Cook of Grand Manan, New Brunswick and his counterparts in Maine.
LAWRENCE COOK, FISHERMAN: Very strained, I guess, would be a good way to put it.
STEVENSON: Strained because the real conflict is on the water around Machias.
COOK: There's more to it than pretty puffins on a rock.
STEVENSON: That's because disagreement over ownership of the island extends to the water around it. A 100-square mile area known as the "gray zone." Rich fishing grounds and possibly oil and gas.
COOK: A lot of it has to do with -- you know, natural resources.
STEVENSON: But, the fight right now is about fishing.
NORTON: The Canadians are very smooth. They can pat you on the back, stick the knife in, and leave it and you say, "gee, thanks." COOK: And there's other ones that are -- you know, goddamn Canadian "ay," (UNINTELLIGIBLE) -- you know, and there's even a few that will go hunting for trouble.
NORTON: They're fishing down as far as there on the U.S. side.
STEVENSON (on camera): So they're the aggressors?
NORTON: That's the way it looks to me.
STEVENSON (voice-over): But Canadians say Americans are taking most of the lobster catch that's supposed to be shared.
COOK: I know in Canada, there's some hard feelings for the guys in the states.
STEVENSON: They also accuse each other of sabotage.
COOK: There's been quite a lot of cutting and intentional snaring and I'm sure the Americans will tell you that there's Canadian guys that have done the same thing. I'm not too sure that there aren't.
STEVENSON: The conflict is building. Canada allows its fishermen to set their traps in the gray zone in a season when Canadians aren't normally permitted to set their traps, but Americans are.
COOK: They threatened to kill me that day, which actually seemed to trigger the Canadian Coast Guard to be quite protective and put for vessels in the area.
STEVENSON: If something isn't done, both sides say the fishery will soon collapse.
COOK: The (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and Lobster Fishery isn't just another sad story from the East Coast to me. It's how I pay the mortgages, how I pay for my vehicles, keep my kids in school and if you talk to an American lobster fisherman and that's his living, he'll tell you the same thing.
STEVENSON (on camera): Talks between Canada and the U.S. on the gray zone are expected sometime in January. Ownership of the Machias itself, however, is not on the table.
CRANFORD: All right. Good to see you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Take care.
CRANFORD: Have a good winter, John.
NORTON: You, too.
CRANFORD: OK, John.
STEVENSON (voice-over): For John Norton, it means coming to terms with the idea that the fight to reclaim an island for his family is unlikely to end anytime soon. (on camera): No one's going to go to war.
NORTON: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) I think there's other things that are a little higher on the list of priorities than a bird colony.
STEVENSON (voice-over): As for Crawford, he's not losing any sleep, even though he's essentially the first line of defense on an island claimed by the United States.
CRANFORD: Worst-case scenario, I'd lose my job because they'd end up automating the place if they took it over.
STEVENSON: Protecting Canadian sovereignty is good work, if you can get it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: Just ahead, the coming war of the big airliners between the two biggest airplane makers.
And speaking of big, check this out: We'll show you the world's tallest bridge.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SIEBERG: World champion surfers said they hadn't seen anything like it, gigantic waves up to 40 feet high hit Hawaii's north shore this week, creating a surfer's paradise. The conditions actually allowed surfers to hold a completion that happens only when such huge waves hit. A contest held only six times in the last 19 years. And in case you follow these things, Bruce Irons of Kauai won first place.
Onto another surfing story, of sorts: Google is working on a deal to put millions of books and periodicals on the web. This means one day you'll be able to surf through five major libraries, Michigan, Stanford, Harvard, Oxford and the New York public library without ever leaving your computer. It's a possible first step in creating a global virtual library. But it's not going to happen overnight. The process involves turning books into digital files by scanning every single page. It would likely involve a machine like this one from Curtis using a vacuum arm to gently turn the pages. But Google is using its own in-house scanner and wouldn't elaborate on it. Books should start appearing in search results in the coming months. But the project is years away from completion.
By the way, Google won a major victory this week. On Wednesday, a judge ruled that the search engine's advertising policy doesn't violate trademark laws. The insurance company, Geico, had sued Google because ads for rival insurance companies appear whenever people do a search for Geico. Ads are how Google makes much of their money.
Well, if you do a Google on "world's tallest bridge," you'll come up with this: The steel and concrete span crosses the Tarn River in France. The tallest pillar tops 1,100 feet, that's actually 53 feet taller than the Eiffel Tower. French president, Jacques Chirac, dedicated the bridge on Tuesday. It opens a new link between Paris and the Mediterranean. And it will make it easier for tourists to reach the Riviera, tourists who don't have a fear of heights that is.
While we're talking about heights, move over Boeing Dreamliner, Airbus is about to give you competition. Boeing's 7E7, which is currently under development, is designed to be super fuel efficient, but so is the Airbus A350. More from Andrew Carey.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDREW CAREY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): No one could accuse Airbus of lacking confidence. Their main Toulouse assembly site is currently putting together what will be the world's biggest plane, the double-decker A380. They'll soon be looking to find space to build their latest project, the A350.
RAINER HERTRICH, CEO, EADS: Entry into service is scheduled for 2010. We expect, rather early next year, the final launch decision, and then we will start the full-scale development.
CAREY: The A350 will be based on an existing plane, the A330, so development costs will be kept down. It will have a range of 1,600 kilometers and will seat up to 285 passengers. The plane is Airbus's response to Boeing's all-new 7E7 and like the Dreamliner, as Boeing calls it, will be lighter and thus cheaper to fly than existing aircraft. It certainly turns up the heat on the American manufacturer.
CHRIS AVERY, J.P. MORGAN: The lack of confirmed airline orders for 7E7 has clearly shown Boeing that Airbus have a product of some sort that it's trying to compete against them. And quite a lot of the airline customers have been deferring decisions on the E7 until they find out exactly what Airbus is doing with the A350.
CAREY: The U.S. government is also watching Airbus closely. And this decision looks to fuel that further, the dispute between Washington and EU over aircraft subsidies. The United States says development loans from the EU give Airbus an unfair advantage. And warn it wouldn't wait long before taking legal action to have them removed.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: Coming up, some hot-ticket items for the gadget junkie on your holiday gift list.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SIEBERG: It seems that all of us have at least one gadget-head on your wish list, and here to help us out is our resident gadget-head, Marc Saltzman.
MARC SALTZMAN, CNN GADGET-HEAD: Hi.
SIEBERG: Marc, we're going to have a range of products here from some ones that fit in your pocket to some ones that might fit under the tree.
SALTZMAN: That's right, instead of the stocking. Yeah. SIEBERG: Right.
SALTZMAN: Why don't we start with those portable gadgets first and then we'll move up to the bigger ticket items.
SIEBERG: Sure.
SALTZMAN: Let's start off Blackberry 7100t. This is, of course, a redesign of the very popular Blackberry hand-held device, a messaging device and some PDA-like functionality. As you can see, the keyboard is very different. It is a QWERTY keyboard still, but it sort of deviates from the thumb keyboard we're used to. Takes getting used to, so it's more designed for those who like to talk first and type second. Looks more like a cell phone than a Blackberry, but it is a great device, beautiful screen and some other bells and whistles, it's an exclusive with T-Mobile.
SIEBERG: OK, that's the crack -- Blackberry...
SALTZMAN: Right.
SIEBERG: Which can be addictive for some people.
SALTZMAN: Very addictive.
SIEBERG: Now, music on the go. Apple's iPod has become ubiquitous with that. What is the latest one all about?
SALTZMAN: Sure. Well, there's a couple new wins, there's the iPod Mini, the iPod U2 and the one I've got here is the iPod photo. So, as the name suggests, not only do you have access to thousands of your songs on this tiny hard drive inside this great looking device, but when you start a song, you can then set it to a slide show of your favorite photos. It's got a color LCD screen. Here you can see thumbnails of all photos, just press in and you can set how long you want it to take to transition to the next photo. And what great -- you know, what better way to share your memories by setting it to music. And it comes with cables, by the way, to watch it on a big-screen TV. Comes in a 40- gigabyte model or a 60-gigabyte model.
SIEBERG: All right, well the iPod has become synonymous with traveling with digital music, but other companies are certainly getting on that bandwagon.
SALTZMAN: Yeah, Creative is one of my favorites for that, and they have their answer to the iPod Mini called the Zen Micro. Comes in one of ten different colors. Here's the blue one here. And this has a 5-gigabyte hard drive inside, in this little device, and that can store about 2,500 songs in total. And what I like about it is that not only does it store a lot of music, but it also has an FM radio inside and an FM radio recorder. So, by simply pressing a button, you can now archive your favorite songs and listen to it. Now, the quality, of course, is not as good as ripping from your CDs but it does sound great, retails for about 250.
SIEBERG: OK, so smaller, but still packs a lot in. Now this next one we've got here, this looks like a traditional camera, sing of-lens reflex camera from Nikon. Is it?
SALTZMAN: It is. It is, but it's digital. So, digital SLRs, or single lens reflex cameras, are getting popular. So, you've got sort of the convenience of digital, but in a device, an SLR is where you look through the viewfinder and that's really what the lens sees, it's a lot more precise, a lot more accurate photos...
SIEBERG: So, you really get the benefits of both together?
SALTZMAN: Yeah. Yeah, prices are starting to drop right now. This is the Nikon D70. It's one of the higher-rated cameras this year. It's a 6-mega pixel camera with good zoom and you get the Nicore (sic) lens with it and that comes off if you have another lens that fits on there as well. It's your choice.
SIEBERG: All right, this camera might fit in cargo pants that I own, but these next technologies aren't exactly pocket-sized, though you might need some deep pockets to pay for the next one.
SALTZMAN: Yeah, especially this one here. It's -- you know, if you've got it, it's worth it, it's from Toshiba called the Kozmeal. This is a new line of laptop computers. Not only does it have, of course, the 16 by 9 widescreen, that looks great even outdoors, and has the Windows operating system with the media center edition, so use it as a DVR by connecting your TV to it and...
SIEBERG: DVR is...
SALTZMAN: Personal video recorder, sort of like TiVo where you can pause live TV and use your hard drive, really, to store all that footage.
SIEBERG: OK.
SALTZMAN: It's a great convergence device. But, what I like it is that it actually has a built-in TV tuner, so without even booting up Windows, you can connect the device to the back, like a videogame system, camcorder, or a TV and you can watch it on the screen without even booting up the operating system. So, it's quite convenient and I think it looks great. This is, of course, some camcorder footage. And, yeah, a little bit steep, it retails for about $2,600 to $3,000, depending on the configuration.
SIEBERG: All right. Well, you mentioned DVRs. Does this next one have anything to do with that?
SALTZMAN: It sure does. That's product from a company called Humax, a little known company, but they're got a great product. It's really two products in one. It is a DVR, it's a TiVo-based hard drive recorder and it's got a DVD burner in one box. So, the advantage there is that you can use either to record your favorite TV shows and movies. But, if you've got all that content on your hard drive, you can now -- you now have the means to copy it over to a disk that you can now take with you to go, one of the down sides to TiVo is that you're sort of stuck with it in that home, instead of being able to bring it elsewhere. This has the best of both worlds in one box. It retails for $399 and TiVo service is $12.95 a month.
SIEBERG: All right, Marc Saltzman, barer of good tidings and good gadgets. Thanks for helping us out.
SALTZMAN: Thanks.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: Still to come, some swinging pachyderms get the high- fashion treatment from some of the world's top clothing designers.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SIEBERG: You know, you need to be careful when you stop beside the road with a flat tire, especially if you're in a national park in Thailand. You could be ripped off by elephants. A truck driver hauling tapioca, last weekend, came back from getting a tire fixed and found his rig attacked by elephant. The elephants pulled the canvas cover off the load to get at the tapioca. Eventually park officials shooed the pushy pachyderms away.
Meanwhile, in India, a 3-month-old orphaned elephant seems to be thriving at a zoo. The baby, named "Tara," was brought to the does after her mother died of anthrax in a nearby forest. She joins a group of 20 elephants, all of whom were rescued from bad situations in the wild.
And while the wild elephants in Asia scramble for food or just to stay alive, some elegant elephants in New York have been models designer duds. Never seen an elephant in a pink corset? Well, you're about to. As Jeanne Moos explains, it's all for a good cause.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): These aren't Christmas balls, they're earrings for an elephant, Chanel earrings. Anyone who's ever tried to dress up a dog will tip their hat to elephants dressed head to toe in Chanel, or Isaac Mizrahi or Ballenciaga (ph), some of the world's top designers.
(on camera): This is sort of like chain-mail.
DENNIS FREEDMAN, CREATIVE DIR. "W" MAGAZINE: These are chain-mail -- oh, yeah.
MOOS (voice-over): Plus size has never been this plus.
(on camera): And the elephants didn't mind?
FREEDMAN: No, they had the best time.
MOOS (voice over): It was a shoot for a layout called "Trunk Show" in "W" magazine. Photographer and elephant lover Bruce Webber dreamed up the idea. All the designers got was a set of measurements to work from.
FREEDMAN: Which was basically the circumference all around the elephant.
MOOS: Dixie here, ended up squeezing into a Dolce and Gabbana corset. Women all know how those pesky straps slide off. But the Chanel hat stayed on even if Rosie dropped her parasol. Their behinds may not have the same appeal as say JLo's, but Ti, here, knows how to shake it.
(on camera): None of the clothes were eaten?
FREEDMAN: None of the clothes were eaten.
MOOS (voice-over): Actually, Ti tried but ended up spitting out her Ballenciaga (ph) chains, opting instead to swing them.
Not since Dumbo donned hat and collar, have elephants looked so fashionable, Even their feet shod in Manolo Blahniks.
"W's" creative director called the shoot a nice break from humans.
FREEDMAN: Because there's -- no one talked back.
MOOS: Mark Jacobs even took the same dress a model wore for his spring collection and expanded it. For a sportier look there was Ralph Lauren.
FREEDMAN: This was the wet T-shirt shot.
MOOS: A T-shirt featuring the couture clad elephants is for sale at elephantfamily.org. to raise money for elephant conservation, but one thing what wasn't conserved was this pink corset.
FREEDMAN: And when she took it off, it was a sort of strip tease.
MOOS: More strip, less tease.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SIEBERG: Well, at least they won't be asking if they look fat in the clothes. And, I know they can't help it, it's in the genes.
Anyway, that's all we can squeeze into this show. Here's what's coming up next week.
This historic ship, almost a century old, came close to ending up in the dumpster. We'll show you how it was rescued and how it will be restored.
That's coming up on NEXT. Until then, let's hear from you. You can send us an e-mail at NEXT@CNN.com. And don't forget to check out our Web site, that's at cnn.com/next.
Thanks so much for joining us, for all of us, I'm Daniel Sieberg, we'll see you next time.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
|
