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American Morning
'The World is Flat'; 'Freedom of the Seas' Sets Sail
Aired May 03, 2006 - 08:35 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(NEWSBREAK)
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, when Columbus set sail more than 500 years ago, we learned the Earth was round. Well, not according to Tom Friedman anymore of "The New York Times." His book is called "The World is Flat: A Brief History of the 21st Century." It's a bestseller, and now updated with a focus on oil, and China and Iraq. Tom Friedman, the author and foreign affairs columnist with "The New York Times" is in Washington D.C.
Nice to talk to you again, Tom. Thanks for being with us.
TOM FRIEDMAN, AUTHOR, "THE WORLD IS FLAT": Great to be with you, Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Let's focus on gas and oil, because really that's what the world, I think, and certainly here in this nation were focused on right now. The White House has finally said, yes, we're in a crisis. You framed that crisis, though, your op-ed in "The New York Times" as an opportunity. What do you mean?
FRIEDMAN: Well, you know, it's an opportunity to really tell the American people the truth, that gas prices are not going down any time soon. And the only way they'll go down in the long run is actually IF WE bring them up, bring up to $4 a gallon or somewhere in that neighborhood with a gasoline tax.
Because what's been the problem all these years, Soledad, is that prices go up of. And then we start to do some of these measures to invest in alternatives and renewable fuels, then and prices go down and we drop the subsidies. What investors need to know is that the price is going to go up and stay up. And if they know that, they will make the long term investments in ethanol, in solar, in wind and biofuels, in other innovative battery technologies that could actually get us off oil.
S. O'BRIEN: But if you say and you have gas at $4.50, $5 a gallon, and you're an elected politician, let's say Senator Friedman, you might be voted right out of office by the angry electorate with prices like that, while other people offering are $100 back and let's keep the price low.
FRIEDMAN: Sure. Well, that's like a pusher coming to you and offering you $100 off your latest crack purchase in order to keep you addicted. Look, if the American people are that stupid to elect people who are so stupid as to offer us $100 rebate, which would be actually if you actually thought about it, Soledad, what would OPEC do? You know, what would Jesus do? What would OPEC do right? OPEC would design the exact policy of offering Americans $100 rebate so they can stay addicted at these prices.
S. O'BRIEN: We talked to Senator Frist the other day, on Monday, about this now sort of scuttled tax plan, tax on oil companies, and also this $100 rebate. Here's what he told me on Monday:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BILL FRIST (R), MAJORITY LEADER: We have to address the supply and demand which comes around to increasing drilling and exploration, which looks at refineries, which looks at the use of hybrid cars, and increasing the incentives for the use of hybrid cars, and the legislation says let's look at the fuel economy standards of those cars today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
S. O'BRIEN: He might say, listen, this is a litany of all the things Republicans are trying to do.
FRIEDMAN: That is just such blah blah blah. We know what the solutions are. The solutions are higher gasoline tax, higher mileage standards for our auto industries. And the fact is, people like Bill Frist have refused to do this all these years, and that's why today, Soledad, Harley Davidson is worth more than General Motors. And if you want to get a hybrid, you have to import it from Japan. If you want to keep that up, stick with that kind of policy.
S. O'BRIEN: You call in your op-ed for a third party, which you make up a sort of credible sounding name for it. Why aren't the Democrats sort of filling the gap? I mean, isn't this an opportunity for the Democrats to have some kind of leadership?
FRIEDMAN: It is. But they're just as cowardly on this issue as the Republicans. They're not going to, going into an election year, tell the truth to the American people anymore more than the Republicans are willing to do. So it really cries out for a Ross Perot-like third party figure, who will come in, tell the American people the truth.
Look at the polls that, you know, we've done at "The New York Times." It shows that if you actually frame the issue, ask people, are you for a gasoline tax if it will make us independent of some of the worst regimes in the world and confront climate change? You get almost two thirds of the public saying yes. So if there were a politician actually dared to stand up and tell the truth, lead a third party, you might be shocked at where this could go.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes, but so you're saying, Americans get it, but the politicians aren't getting it. Then why do you go on to say in your op-ed, you know, the chance of a third party actually succeeding, not so great? I mean, historically we've seen that.
FRIEDMAN: Yes, historically that's the case. I think we're in a totally different moment now. I think this energy issue is really the Cold War issue, the central issue of our time. I don't think the big parties get it.
I don't want to let the American people off so easily, too. We probably have probably the politicians we deserve. We are in a crisis, OK. And a crisis is a terrible thing to waste.
S. O'BRIEN: Can I turn and ask you a quick question about Iraq...
FRIEDMAN: Sure.
S. O'BRIEN: ... before I lose you with our link here?
You said you think that Americans will really support, certainly in the polls, Iraq if we see progress. If you see the government actually get its act together in that 30-day window, Americans would support it, with their money and emotionally as well. Joe Biden has said, listen, forget trying for unity. Break it into three separate states. What's wrong with Biden's plan, do you think?
FRIEDMAN: I don't think there's necessarily anything wrong with Biden's plan. I think it's an innovative idea that he and Les Talbott (ph) put forward, but I think it's something that Iraqis will have to take the lead on. We as outsiders can't impose that. But if that's a conclusion that Iraqis themselves draw, well, I'd be all for it.
S. O'BRIEN: Tom Friedman of "The New York Times," nice to see you as always. The book is called "The World is Flat: A Brief History of the 21st Century." You know, it's -- every day this book is, you know, more and more relevant with all the chapters on China, and Iraq, and Iran and oil dependency.
Thanks for being with us. We appreciate it.
FRIEDMAN: My pleasure, Soledad. Thank you -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Severe weather flattening the Texas Panhandle in the southwest part of that state. Black clouds, heavy rain, hail, upwards of baseball-sized, certainly golf-ball sized, sending cars to body shops today. It's going to be a busy day. The roofs of two homes blown off as well in Mitchell County. And then other than that, no significant damage reported.
(WEATHER REPORT)
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(MARKET REPORT)
M. O'BRIEN: I pity the fool who didn't take my advice.
S. O'BRIEN: That's pretty good.
M. O'BRIEN: Thank you.
S. O'BRIEN: All right. M. O'BRIEN: You are a tough customer, too. Mr. T coming back to television kids, for those of you who were born after 1998. He's the blinged-out "A-Team" star. He's turning into a self-help guru now, which proves in this country everybody comes back eventually, remakes himself.
S. O'BRIEN: At least once.
M. O'BRIEN: Once or maybe more times. He's going to travel across the country giving advice.
The 'T,' by the way -- do you know what it stands for?
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: No.
M. O'BRIEN: Talking.
S. O'BRIEN: Oh, now it does. This iteration.
M. O'BRIEN: In this iteration, in this version of Mr. T.
S. O'BRIEN: What did it used to stand for?
SERWER: I don't know. Remember when he got in trouble for chopping down all those trees a while back...
M. O'BRIEN: 'T' is for tree.
S. O'BRIEN: As in not in your backyard.
SERWER: Yes, that's right.
S. O'BRIEN: Interesting, interesting. What is it? November (INAUDIBLE)? October? Fall?
SERWER: We can hardly wait.
M. O'BRIEN: On the edge of our seats.
S. O'BRIEN: I love that guy.
(BUSINESS HEADLINES)
S. O'BRIEN: Here's another number crunching for you. You know, they say a woman's work, a mother's work is never done. And really, it's not really calculated, either. Turns out mothers -- we are worth very big bucks. There's a new study released this morning that says that a full-time, stay at home mom, would earn more than $134,000.
M. O'BRIEN: Oh, she's getting robbed!
S. O'BRIEN: A hundred...
SERWER: That's interesting.
S. O'BRIEN: Hang on. Hang on. I'm going to tell you the break down.
M. O'BRIEN: There's no off time at all, no P.T. at all.
S. O'BRIEN: Well, what they did was they took ten jobs, including housekeeper, day care teacher, cook, computer operator, laundry machine operator, janitor, psychologist, a couple -- van driver -- a couple other jobs.
SERWER: That's what they do!
S. O'BRIEN: Crunched all the numbers, right, saying that how much would those jobs be worth? What are you saying maybe, maybe?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What if she doesn't do the things?
S. O'BRIEN: Oh, right. Oh, oh, interesting.
M. O'BRIEN: Oh, ouch.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes, it's true. Probably some people don't do all those things. In New York City, we don't necessarily drive, but we make it happen. Mom who works outside the home would earn an extra -- if you're being paid -- an extra $85,000. That includes a base pay and also the O.T., which we all know is around the clock O.T.
SERWER: Yes.
M. O'BRIEN: So what's a dad worth?
SERWER: $1.6 billion.
S. O'BRIEN: $1.96.
M. O'BRIEN: Thank you, Mr. McGuire (ph).
SERWER: All right, yes.
M. O'BRIEN: Back with more in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: There's a new queen of the high seas. The world's biggest cruiseliner, called the Freedom of the Seas, left port in Southhampton, England, just about two hours ago. She's heading to New York for a naming ceremony. That's when they do that official champagne across the bow thing.
Let's get right to CNN's Robyn Curnow. She's live at the Southhampton docks. Hey, Robyn, good morning.
ROBYN CURNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning to you.
Well, indeed, Freedom of the Seas is steaming your way. These docks are now empty but, wow, what an amazing sight it was to see that huge, big ship just pull out of these docks and make its way across the Atlantic. Enormous boat. I don't think you can quite understand until you see it, just how huge this boat is. Over 200 feet high and about a thousand feet long. So really, really, a massive boat.
But not just the sizes and the proportions that astound, it's also the facilities on board that are quite amazing. On the upper deck, when I went and spent time up there, there's even a wild surfing ride. There's a rock climbing wall. Down below on one of the decks, there's an ice skating rink. There's a theater. You've also got a three-story shopping mall, a boxing ring. I could go on and on and on. So, really, lots to do for the passengers who like sharing their holidays with over 5,000 crew and passengers.
S. O'BRIEN: It does sound so intimate and so nice. Let me ask you a question, though. As much as this is a biggie, and it's got all those doo-dads and fun things, it's not -- I mean, it's the biggest now, but it's not going to be the biggest for long, right?
CURNOW: Absolutely not. The cruising industry seems committed to building bigger and bigger ships. And Royal Caribbean, the owners of Freedom of the Seas, are already in the process of building a bigger sister ship. It's being built in Finland. It will be ready in 2009. And they're looking at making it, obviously, bigger proportions and more passengers.
Now, this makes business sense and it's a business strategy for a company like Royal Caribbean, because if you think about it, it's a matter of economies of scale. The more cabins, the more passengers, the less it costs for these companies and the more money they're going to make. It's happening in the airline industry, as well. So it's the same sort of thing that's happening in the cruising industry.
S. O'BRIEN: Robyn Curnow, nice to see you. Thanks for being with us. I can't believe you didn't score a little ride on that. You could be doing live shots, steamed across to New York.
CURNOW: Oh, I know.
S. O'BRIEN: Thanks.
Quick look at our top stories right after this short break. Stay with us.
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