Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live Today
CNN Explains Technical Glitch Getting Internet Buzz; Travelers Hoping to Avoid Bad Weather
Aired November 22, 2005 - 11:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, HOST: Let's go ahead and check the markets. They have been open not that long this morning, about an hour and a half. The Dow is down 17 points and the NASDAQ not really moving much at all. It is down 0.03. And we'll continue to watch the market and business news with Susan Lisovicz out of New York City.
All right. Now I have gotten up off the anchor desk, come back into the control room because we want to explain something to you that happened on this newscast yesterday.
During our live coverage of a speech by Vice President Dick Cheney, there was a technical malfunction. You're going to see it here. It involved a switcher, something we call a switcher. We'll get to that in a minute. It's a machine that we use to switch between visual elements.
Now, that glitch resulted in that "X" that you saw being flashed briefly across the screen as the vice president was speaking.
The story has made it onto the Internet and various blogs in there. In response, CNN has issued this statement. "Upon seeing this unfortunate but brief graphic, CNN senior management immediately investigated. We concluded this was a technological malfunction not an issue of operator error."
And joining me to explain exactly what happened, Steve Halpern, our CNN director of technical operations.
So we're putting you on the hot seat here. People at home, they're watching Vice President Dick Cheney, talk about his speech. That got a lot of attention, and the big "X" pops up.
STEVE HALPERN, CNN DIRECTOR OF TECHNICAL OPERATIONS: Right.
KAGAN: What happened? What were we trying to create behind the scenes?
HALPERN: What was getting ready to happen was at the end of the speech the plan was to do, to have a CNN logo up on the screen and use that as sort of the way of getting back from the speech back to you on camera and...
KAGAN: One of the many graphics we use here at CNN.
HALPERN: One of the many graphics. And the majority of graphics we use on the air, we do use a big "X" as a way of being able to identify at what point should the tape be cued up.
KAGAN: This is an "X" that you see back here in the control room and the technical people see but that is never meant to be seen on the air.
HALPERN: Exactly. It's being used. The control room will use that "X" as a way of being able to cue up the CNN logo to get it ready for air and as you see there, getting it ready.
KAGAN: We're doing this now, live. We're showing what you're trying to do...
HALPERN: Exactly. That's what was being prepared during the speech. And due to the technical glitch that happened with the switcher, it accidentally, you know, got on the air because of the switch. And it's the sort of thing that just like your computer will glitch and will suddenly lock up and do something weird, our equipment does the same thing on occasions. Not something we can re-create to show you how it happened.
KAGAN: Which is a really important point. First of all, a switcher is a machine, a computer. It's not a person.
HALPERN: Correct.
KAGAN: And when we were talking about doing the segment and doing it, I said, "Let's do it again." You can't make it happen on purpose.
HALPERN: That's correct.
KAGAN: So for all the conspiracy theories out there and who want to think that we have our computers or someone who's trying to make a statement about the nature of Vice President Cheney's speech, that's not what this was about.
HALPERN: Not at all.
KAGAN: It's a computer bug that people deal with every day. It's just that ours was in front of millions of people.
HALPERN: That's absolutely correct.
KAGAN: As it goes. So, we're getting it fixed, I hope?
HALPERN: Yes, well, much like you have to reboot your computer from time to time to clear things up, we're going to be rebooting our equipment from time to time on a regular basis to make sure it doesn't happen again.
KAGAN: We're hoping for that. Steve, thank you...
HALPERN: sure.
KAGAN: ... for the explanation. We hope that gives people behind the scenes and at home an idea of what happened, and for the bloggers and web sites out there, there you have it, a complete computer glitch. We're back after this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, "ANDERSON COOPER 360" (voice-over): As the world kicked off 2005, memories of a massive tsunami still lingered in our minds, memories swept away by additional epic natural disasters. From hurricanes to earthquakes, Mother Nature made us recognize her power, and for this we recognized her as a candidate for "TIME" magazine's person of the year.
NANCY GIBBS, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, "TIME" MAGAZINE: In the first weeks of the year, our attention was still completely riveted to this astonishing unfolding story of loss and shock and aid and rescue, and that certainly was the defining story at the beginning of the year.
Then the hurricane season here that was like none other we'd ever had and then, finally, the earthquakes in Pakistan. From beginning to end, the year seemed to be a year of disaster.
JAN SIMPSON, ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITOR, "TIME" MAGAZINE: I think a lot of people have said that, because of the way Mother Nature has affected the year, people have stepped back and reflected on what's important. I think it's given us, all of us, a lot to think about in how we're living in this world.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Well, hello, Atlanta. Isn't that a pretty picture? Live picture from our affiliate WSB. It's still a little cloudy and windy following some overnight storms. About 25,000 homes in suburban Atlanta lost power. Parts of north Georgia's mountains even got a little bit of snow.
And as we bring Jacqui Jeras in, of course, we're interested in Atlanta weather. Most people are interested because what happens in Atlanta affects so much what happens with airplane travel across the country.
(WEATHER REPORT)
KAGAN: Jacqui, thank you for that. Travelers depending on the weather, I hear actually today is the second busiest travel day of the year, not tomorrow. Let's check in La Guardia. Allan Chernoff is standing by there.
Allan, have you heard that? That today, actually more people travel than tomorrow?
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, I've heard the opposite that tomorrow will be more crowded, and just judging from right behind me, I would say that's probably going to be the case, although earlier it was quite crowded here, lots of people coming over trying to get an early jump on the Thanksgiving travel. But as they say in New York, forget about it. Partly because of the weather. We've had intense thunderstorms here. Jacqui just referred to some of the rain we've been having. In fact, so intense that on the way out here car alarms were going off because of the thunder. That is leading to significant delays here, up to an hour and a half.
We're at the American Airlines terminal of La Guardia, and over here about two-thirds of the flights arriving are delayed, about one- third departing are delayed. So people are having to wait quite a bit, and they're finding it frustrating.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I confess that the first place that I looked was the monitor. But so far so good. We'll see. I don't have high hopes just with the weather.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The weather is pretty bad. I rushed to work out of office so I could get here as fast as possible because I heard of all the traffic and all the delays that were going on on the way to La Guardia. So I'm trying to beat the snow storm supposedly coming in tomorrow.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHERNOFF: So, things could be getting even worse around here. But, also, keep in mind La Guardia is used to these sorts of delays. So far this year, one-third of the flights coming into La Guardia have been delayed. That is one of the worst records of any major airport around the country -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Lovely. That is something to be thankful for right there. Allan, thank you so much. Allan Chernoff.
And we're going to check in on world news just ahead, including the latest out of Iraq. We're back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: And now the latest developments in the fight for Iraq.
A mortar explosion rattled nerves today during a ceremony attended by U.S. and Iraqi officials. Senior international correspondent Nic Robertson follows the latest developments. He joins us live now from Baghdad.
Nic, hello.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Daryn.
Well, the mortar didn't cause any injuries when it landed in Tikrit. It landed in the middle of a handover ceremony at a large U.S. military base just as it was being handed over for Iraqi control.
It was one of Saddam Hussein's former presidential palace compound areas. Eighteen palaces, about 1,000 acres. But the insurgents were still able to know when the ceremony was going on and still able, it appears to, at least, to fire this mortar very close. It landed about 300 yards away from the ceremony.
Attending that ceremony were some very senior figures. The U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. general in charge of coalition forces, General George Casey, were both in attendance. Some very high level dignitaries at that hand over.
So, very luckily, the mortar not causing any injuries, but perhaps an indication insurgents did have an idea that this ceremony was going to take place and where it was going to happen and just when -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Nic, we of course have heard a lot of discussion here in the U.S. about a time table for withdrawal for U.S. and other foreign troops. But now you're starting to hear some of that in Iraq, as well, I understand.
ROBERTSON: It's certainly sharpening debate, if you will. And this certainly gives fuel for the U.S. officers here, who are dealing with Iraqi troops helping them rebuild the Iraqi army. And there are about just under 100,000 Iraqi troops now falling into about 130 battalion.
But the feeling is here that this is something that should not be rushed. The danger is if you rush it, you get it wrong and that the army that you would build wouldn't be strong, wouldn't be able to withstand when the U.S. troops leave.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEN. MARTIN DEMPSEY, MULTINATIONAL FORCE, IRAQ: We're losing soldiers. They're losing soldiers. They're losing civilians. And, so, time will always be a factor in our decision making. On the other hand, it cannot be the primary factor because what we're looking to produce is something that will actually be fully capable and last and will be something that is an institution of national cohesion, as opposed to, you know, 212,000 men and women running around with rifles.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTSON: That's 212,000, including the Iraqi army. One of the problems General Dempsey says he's come up against here in trying to build the Iraqi army quickly is that the politicians in Iraq keep changing, and that keeps changing policies. It keeps changing the debate on what should be done and when and how, and that, he said, slowed down rebuilding the army -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Nic Robertson live from Baghdad. Nic, thank you.
Just ahead we're going to talk about bird flu and the effect it might have on the chicken that you can buy at the market, just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) KAGAN: To health news now. U.S. officials have imposed a ban on poultry from British Columbia after a duck there tested positive for bird flu. Officials are waiting for more information before deciding whether to continue that ban.
Canadian authorities say the duck tested positive for the H5 strain of bird flu, but it's not yet clear whether it's the lethal strain that has caused human deaths in Asia.
A consumer group says contaminated fruits and vegetables are causing more illnesses among Americans than raw chicken or eggs. The report is from the Center for Science in the Public Interest. It found that fruits and vegetables accounted for 31 outbreaks between 2003 and 2004, compared with 29 for chicken and other common poultry. Common sources of food illnesses include bacteria and salmonella and e-coli.
And ladies, pregnancy is no excuse to sit on your duff. A new survey shows most expected mothers aren't breaking a sweat nowadays. Researchers studied the habits of 150,000 women since 194. Just one in six pregnant women got enough exercise. A full third did no physical activity at all.
Brisk walking 30 minutes a day will do the trick. Of course, any exercise program assumes no complications, so you want to check with your obstetrician before you start in.
To get your daily dose of health news online, logon to our web site. You'll find the latest medical news, a health library and information on diet and fitness. The address: CNN.com/Health.
I'm back with more news after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Let's check in on the markets. When we saw a little earlier Susan Lisovicz, it was the Dow and the NASDAQ looked like it was already snoozing after Thanksgiving dinner.
(STOCK REPORT)
KAGAN: Thank you for that. I'm Daryn Kagan. International news is coming up next. Stay tuned for "YOUR WORLD TODAY." Michael Holmes and Zain Verjee will be along after a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
