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American Morning

Campbell Smeared By Press

Aired March 29, 2002 - 07:43   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.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Leaving the seriousness of the morning's news for a moment, and focusing instead on a regular feature of the Friday edition of AMERICAN MORNING, we are going to link up with our pal, Richard Quest, who is at our CNN London bureau.

And he usually takes a look at two or three stories that are getting Fleet Street's attention, and he begins today with Naomi Campbell, the model, who went to court seeking some privacy. And apparently, she won a victory, but, well, not exactly. And kids are doing a lot of things with their thumbs that they used to do with their index fingers, and you think about that until Richard explains it. And the queen has met Camilla again, which causes the hair on the back of my neck to stand up.

Richard, how are you doing? Happy Friday, partner.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well a very happy Friday to you, and some day, Jack, you may actually learn to speak properly. It's not privacy, it's privacy. Please, let's get the words right, once and for all.

This is an example of how to win the battle, but lose overall. This is a case of Naomi Campbell, the supermodel. You'll remember, she went to battle over the privacy or privacy, because the newspapers reported that she had been to a Narcotics Anonymous meeting, and basically she was a drug addict.

Well, what happened was, now she has been grounded all over the newspapers: "Judge Gives Lying Drug Abuser" -- how would you like to have that in your morning paper when you wake up over your corn flakes? She only won three-and-a-half thousand pounds -- it's about $5,000 -- because basically the judge said that, yes, although that the rules had been broken and the her confidentially was broken, she was indeed a drug addict. She had indeed lied about it, and therefore, she was entitled to some damages.

All the papers went absolutely berserk. "Naomi wins but the Judge Calls Her a Liar," is the way another one put it. It was the big talking point in the papers. It's a classic example of how you can win a battle, but successfully manage to lose the war.

Now, Jack, I understand you are a Philistine when it comes to modern technology.

CAFFERTY: It's Philistine.

QUEST: There is some -- now, you say it that way. I say tomato, you say tomato.

CAFFERTY: It's Philistine.

QUEST: But you have never done it right, so why bother?

CAFFERTY: By the way, we won the war over here. We can talk however we want now.

QUEST: If you wish to go over petty details from a few years ago, that's a matter for you.

CAFFERTY: All right.

QUEST: But I can tell you, having just come up Oxford Street here, there are many more of you over here, so I'm not sure who is winning today. Look, these are the latest gadgets, of course, that just about everybody has, everybody that is, except Jack. They are the mobile phones, and they have given rise to a new generation. They are called the thumb generation, because over here, people are sending text messages to each other all the time.

And what the latest survey shows is that large numbers of youngsters are now using their thumb instead of their index or middle finger as their main digit on their hand. Apparently, we are doing so much on PlayStations and Nintendos and Xboxes that now the thumb has been our main digit of choice.

So while, Jack, you would push the doorbell with your finger or use that for the phone, there is an entire generation of people, who are only using their thumb. And in actual fact, in Japan, they have a word for them, oyaubisadai (ph), they are called, which I know with your highly trained Japanese knowledge, it means the thumb generation.

CAFFERTY: Let me ask you...

QUEST: And finally...

CAFFERTY: Let me ask you a question.

QUEST: ... I want to get to -- yes.

CAFFERTY: With that story in mind, would this gesture possibly have a new meaning? Just asking.

QUEST: Well, I can imagine what the -- I can imagine what the gesture was, and we'll leave it right there. Look at that. Isn't that a picture that would warm the cockles of your heart? It's dear Charles and Camilla. And now, apparently, Camilla has had a meeting with the queen. It's her second meeting with the queen. Apparently, wedding bells are not on the horizon, but according to one cartoon in the national newspapers, Charles is reported to have said, "Don't worry, my mother loves you. After all, why else would she have named one of the dogs after you?" Jack, have a lovely Easter.

CAFFERTY: All right. Thanks, Richard -- enjoy the weekend. I'll talk to you next Friday. Richard Quest live in London.

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