Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Headlines Making News 'Over There'

Aired May 09, 2003 - 07:54   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: A British businessman is making news after making an offer he thought a couple couldn't refuse. A rich guy tried to buy another man's wife.
More on that and other stories with from across the pond with our first postwar edition of "Over There," with our man about London, my buddy, Richard Quest.

How are you doing, partner?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Jack.

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife.

CAFFERTY: Wasn't there a movie like this with Redford and Demi Moore?

QUEST: There was indeed. It was called "Indecent Proposal."

CAFFERTY: Yes.

QUEST: And proving that real life is stranger than fiction, he is Brian MacCaba, and he offered a couple $1 million if the husband would let the wife leave the husband and go and live with him the rest of his life. He said she was his soul mate.

Look, you've got bear in mind. He'd never really known this couple. He happened to be the chairman of the board of governors of the local school, where she was a teacher. He was infatuated with her. He said, "I will pay" -- wait for this -- "I will pay $1 million, the golden key to set her free."

CAFFERTY: In the movie, though, didn't Redford just want to buy the woman, like, for a couple of days or a night on the boat or something? I mean, this guy wanted him for the rest of her life?

QUEST: Absolutely. He said it would allow the husband to buy bachelor freedom. Again now, this is really interesting, because it gets better. It gets better. They're all very high up and very senior in the North London Jewish community.

CAFFERTY: Yes.

QUEST: Now, the local rabbi has got involved in this, and he is alleged to have said that the man involved, Brian MacCaba, is a serial adulterer of newlywed brides. He is now suing the rabbi. The rabbi is countersuing. It's all before the rabbinical court. CAFFERTY: And they thought it was tough getting peace done in the Middle East, right?

QUEST: And best of all, Alan and Natalie Archer (ph), the couple involved, were so distressed, they moved to Israel.

CAFFERTY: Yes, there you go. What kind of dope you got running the city of London?

QUEST: His name is Ken Livingstone.

CAFFERTY: Oh.

QUEST: And according to a speech he gave yesterday, he described your president as being the most corrupt president since Harding, an illegitimate president because of the election, and he said he would happily see him overthrown and be as happy as he was to see Saddam Hussein overthrown.

Now, now Livingstone is notoriously on the left, but even so, these remarks have outraged many people in London, because 30 percent of our tourist money comes from your lot. So, we went on the streets to find out what people thought about Mayor Livingstone.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not very patriotic, and I think anything against their president would be seen as being a slap in their face. They could offense to that. They've done it to the French.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Americans are quite loyal to their country, so it might set them off a bit, yes. It's probably not a very good thing for him to say.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, they're loyal, but if (UNINTELLIGIBLE) the holiday, they're really not going to be that passionate about it, I wouldn't have thought.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: And after our program talking about that this morning, Jack, we got an e-mail from Jennifer in Plano in Texas in the United States, telling us that she had made plans to take a summer vacation in Britain with her family. She'll just bypass London. Don't. The mayor does not speak for all!

CAFFERTY: Well, the other thing he needs to know is, in light of this, the radio stations over there may quit playing his records.

QUEST: I beg your pardon?

CAFFERTY: Remember the Dixie Chicks? They got busy bad-mouthing President Bush, and all a sudden they couldn't get their records played on some of the radio stations over here.

QUEST: I think that Mayor Livingstone is going to have more than enough problems, because the man is basically so left-wing that most people think that he's fallen off the edge.

CAFFERTY: Yes.

QUEST: And the big question is, of course, what the White House had to say about it. The White House said, who is the mayor of London? And the London -- the U.S. Embassy in London said, we really don't care what the mayor has to say about anything.

CAFFERTY: Probably the right answer. Richard, it's good to see you. Don't be a stranger around here, and I'll look for you next Friday. Richard Quest live in jolly old England.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.






Aired May 9, 2003 - 07:54   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: A British businessman is making news after making an offer he thought a couple couldn't refuse. A rich guy tried to buy another man's wife.
More on that and other stories with from across the pond with our first postwar edition of "Over There," with our man about London, my buddy, Richard Quest.

How are you doing, partner?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Jack.

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife.

CAFFERTY: Wasn't there a movie like this with Redford and Demi Moore?

QUEST: There was indeed. It was called "Indecent Proposal."

CAFFERTY: Yes.

QUEST: And proving that real life is stranger than fiction, he is Brian MacCaba, and he offered a couple $1 million if the husband would let the wife leave the husband and go and live with him the rest of his life. He said she was his soul mate.

Look, you've got bear in mind. He'd never really known this couple. He happened to be the chairman of the board of governors of the local school, where she was a teacher. He was infatuated with her. He said, "I will pay" -- wait for this -- "I will pay $1 million, the golden key to set her free."

CAFFERTY: In the movie, though, didn't Redford just want to buy the woman, like, for a couple of days or a night on the boat or something? I mean, this guy wanted him for the rest of her life?

QUEST: Absolutely. He said it would allow the husband to buy bachelor freedom. Again now, this is really interesting, because it gets better. It gets better. They're all very high up and very senior in the North London Jewish community.

CAFFERTY: Yes.

QUEST: Now, the local rabbi has got involved in this, and he is alleged to have said that the man involved, Brian MacCaba, is a serial adulterer of newlywed brides. He is now suing the rabbi. The rabbi is countersuing. It's all before the rabbinical court. CAFFERTY: And they thought it was tough getting peace done in the Middle East, right?

QUEST: And best of all, Alan and Natalie Archer (ph), the couple involved, were so distressed, they moved to Israel.

CAFFERTY: Yes, there you go. What kind of dope you got running the city of London?

QUEST: His name is Ken Livingstone.

CAFFERTY: Oh.

QUEST: And according to a speech he gave yesterday, he described your president as being the most corrupt president since Harding, an illegitimate president because of the election, and he said he would happily see him overthrown and be as happy as he was to see Saddam Hussein overthrown.

Now, now Livingstone is notoriously on the left, but even so, these remarks have outraged many people in London, because 30 percent of our tourist money comes from your lot. So, we went on the streets to find out what people thought about Mayor Livingstone.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not very patriotic, and I think anything against their president would be seen as being a slap in their face. They could offense to that. They've done it to the French.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Americans are quite loyal to their country, so it might set them off a bit, yes. It's probably not a very good thing for him to say.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, they're loyal, but if (UNINTELLIGIBLE) the holiday, they're really not going to be that passionate about it, I wouldn't have thought.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: And after our program talking about that this morning, Jack, we got an e-mail from Jennifer in Plano in Texas in the United States, telling us that she had made plans to take a summer vacation in Britain with her family. She'll just bypass London. Don't. The mayor does not speak for all!

CAFFERTY: Well, the other thing he needs to know is, in light of this, the radio stations over there may quit playing his records.

QUEST: I beg your pardon?

CAFFERTY: Remember the Dixie Chicks? They got busy bad-mouthing President Bush, and all a sudden they couldn't get their records played on some of the radio stations over here.

QUEST: I think that Mayor Livingstone is going to have more than enough problems, because the man is basically so left-wing that most people think that he's fallen off the edge.

CAFFERTY: Yes.

QUEST: And the big question is, of course, what the White House had to say about it. The White House said, who is the mayor of London? And the London -- the U.S. Embassy in London said, we really don't care what the mayor has to say about anything.

CAFFERTY: Probably the right answer. Richard, it's good to see you. Don't be a stranger around here, and I'll look for you next Friday. Richard Quest live in jolly old England.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.