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American Morning

Headlines 'Over There'

Aired August 02, 2002 - 07:48   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Time to go "Over There," and a rather large embarrassment for the British military caught spinning its wheels during exercises in the desert. That's one topic. Also, a game show scandal that would make Regis blush, we are told, and the man whose every meal comes wrapped in newspaper. It's all happening "Over There."
And Richard Quest is here on a Friday morning to fill us in.

How are you doing, Richard? Good afternoon to you in London.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you.

HEMMER: Thank you, sir.

QUEST: This is the story of an absolute embarrassment. Here you've got George W. and Tony Blair, who are plotting and planning possibly invading or attacking Iraq. And guess what? The British have military maneuvers to see if their -- basically their equipment is up to snuff, and it's not.

Apparently, in military maneuvers in Oman, British tanks failed, because they got clogged up in the sand. The radios failed, because they couldn't work in the heat. The rifles jammed, because of the dust in the desert. And get this, best of all, the shoes that they have are designed for Bosnia and Kosovo, where it's cold, and in the sun, they actually melted.

So if you don't mind, can we please cancel any invasion for the next few weeks, while we go out and buy a couple of billion dollars worth of stuff?

HEMMER: Well, Richard, hang on. Why would this go this way? The Brits have fought in the desert before. They had a role in the Persian Gulf War 11-12 years ago. Why now the massive problems?

QUEST: Because they didn't bother to check that the stuff was fit for the desert. It sounds bizarre, I know, but the auditor's office said what they have done is changed everything for use in other parts of the world, and now it was useless when it came to actually fighting in the desert.

Now, how would you like to win a million pounds, about $1.5 million? You are familiar, of course, with "Who Wants to be a Millionaire."

HEMMER: Yes, I am. QUEST: Now...

HEMMER: I'm sorry, I didn't know that was my cue. Yes, we are.

QUEST: Please, try and keep up, for goodness sake. We haven't got all morning, you know.

HEMMER: It's Friday.

QUEST: Charles Ingram went on the program. Now, Charles Ingram, Major Charles Ingram, his wife had already won about 50,000 on the program. He went on the show. He actually won a million. But now, the program producers have refused to pay out for the simple reason they say he cheated on the program. They say that every time the right answer was mentioned, somebody, his wife, in the audience, gave him a bit of help. Basically, she coughed every time there was the right answer.

Now, it's given a whole new meaning. The man has been charged with deception and trying to steal money from the program producers. But we have decided it gives a new meaning to the lifelines for "Millionaire." You now have, of course, "phone a friend," you've got "50/50," you've got "poll the audience," and of course, you've got "cough." That's how you win a million. But of course, if he's prosecuted, if he's convicted, the man will go to prison.

Finally...

HEMMER: But no money has been given out, right?

QUEST: No, they have refused to give him any money pending, of course -- it's very good -- pending of course...

HEMMER: Very good. Well, hey, Richard, what would she do, given an A, B, C, D or a 1, 2, 3, 4, that would be how many times she coughed in the audience? Is that how it worked?

QUEST: No, as the presenter, Chris Tarrant, went through, you know, what's the right answer, A, this, B, that, C, (COUGHS), that's what would happen. She would cough. And of course, they have cameras pointing at the audience. And what they have managed to see is that actually he gave the answer, she was coughing away. So...

HEMMER: Yes. Who is the man behind the curtain, by the way, Richard?

QUEST: We can't show him.

HEMMER: You can't, OK, all right.

QUEST: We'd have to...

HEMMER: Continue...

QUEST: We'd have to kill him if we showed him on television, and we'd also have to pay large amounts of money. Finally from me, now, look, how about -- a couple of weeks ago, we talked about eating baked beans on toast. Now, there is a man in Britain. His name is Jeffrey Smitt (ph). He says basically he has eaten fish and chips out of paper every day for the past 40 years, 40 years of fish and chips. We make that 14,000 portions of fish and chips. That's an enormous...

HEMMER: There's nothing else to eat in London, is there?

QUEST: Oh, very funny.

HEMMER: Unless you hit one of your fine Indian restaurants in central London?

QUEST: So, would you like to have any fish and chips?

HEMMER: Yes, that would be wonderful. That would be a yes.

Hey, thank you, Richard -- nice stuff. And I guess we'll see you next week. Ever try mayonnaise with those fries, by the way?

QUEST: Please!

HEMMER: It's a Dutch thing. Hey, Richard, have a good weekend.

QUEST: Have a good one.

HEMMER: We'll see you, pal -- bye-bye.

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