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American Morning

Pooped Pigeon

Aired June 27, 2003 - 09:48   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.


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Now to the story of a homing pigeon who is very far from home. Billie, a British racing pigeon, took off from France two weeks ago on a 375-mile race to Liverpool. At least that's what it was supposed to be. He took a wrong turn, he wound up all the way across the Atlantic, and now, here he is in Staten Island. Go figure. Joseph Ida (ph) found him, and we also have in Liverpool his owner, John Warren (ph), who is pining away for his pigeon. We're going to get to him in just a moment. But first, I want to check in with Joe.
First, it's a long story how you discovered Billie. Can you give us the condensed version? You do have homing pigeons yourself, correct?

JOSEPH IDA (ph): That's correct.

O'BRIEN: All right. How did Billie come into the picture for you?

I had my own birds out and they were on a board, and I noticed there was a stray bird there. What made it curious was that he had two countermarks on. And in this country, we don't use two counter marks, we use one.

O'BRIEN: You're talking about bands around their legs, right?

IDA: Yes. They are called counter marks. They are rubber bands that are put on when the bird is put in a race, and...

O'BRIEN: So there he was. What kind of condition was he in?

IDA: He was pretty well weather beaten. You know, he went through an ordeal.

O'BRIEN: Yes.

IDA: When I saw him, I saw that the band, the official band on his leg, the registration band, has G.B. on it, and I knew that belonged to Great Britain or England. And we investigated it and found out who the owner was, and we got the story that the bird was in a race in France and hit bad weather and wound up at Staten Island, at my coop, and he's become a celebrity since then.

O'BRIEN: Needless to say, if only Billie could talk and tell us what happened there.

Obviously, there's some kind of pigeon registry which led you to John Warren, who joins us now from Liverpool.

John, you thought Billie was a goner. When -- tell me what was going through your mind and what it was like when you heard he survived and had this incredible odyssey?

JOHN WARREN (ph): Yes, when I found out where he was I was shocked, completely shocked. What made him (UNINTELLIGIBLE) was alive, because as Joseph will tell you, he's only a young pigeon. It was his first time over the water. I sent eight pigeons, and I got seven home, and Billie was the one I never got home about. And over the news to have them report it.

I'd like to thank Joseph for what he's done for Billie while he's been over there. And not only has Billie back a celebrity over there, he's a bigger celebrity over here. It's unbelievable.

O'BRIEN: Well, quickly, guys, if you could kind of speculate, is it possible that Billie flew the whole way, or did he catch a ride on a freighter or something?

IDA: Well, speculate all you want.

O'BRIEN: Let's go with Joseph first, then we'll go to John.

Go ahead, Joe?

IDA: You can speculate all you want. All I know is he was in France and now he's in Staten Island. However he got here, that's 3,300 miles.

O'BRIEN: Forget about the rest.

What's your best guess, John? Do you think he possibly could have flown that far? What's the record for a pigeon flying?

WARREN: Well, what I think is, you know, if only the pigeon knows what happened, if he could talk, he could tell us.

And I personally think he's landed on a container ship part of the way and ended up in New York. But then again, he could have flown the whole way. Nobody will ever know, but the pigeon.

O'BRIEN: All right, and he's headed back, as I understand it, first class, British Airways, pretty much, right?

WARREN: Yes, what's happened is British Airways have very kindly stepped in, and said that they're going to bring Billie back in luxury.

But I think your listeners should know, Billie is no longer called "Billie." I got a phone call to ask me would I call Billie after our prime minister because it's taken up in New York, they christened him Tony Blair. So what I did is...

O'BRIEN: Is that because he got lost? Or because he's a survivor? WARREN: No, what it was is, because Tony Blair stepped in and helped the American people with Iraq, and we thought, because he had courage, determination and showed a lot of will to get where he was, that we'd nickname it Tony Blair.

So what I did, is I phoned Tony Blair's private secretary on Downing Street, and I got a phone call back Tuesday afternoon to say that our prime minister would be very honored to have Billie called after him. So he's now going to be called "Tony Blair."

O'BRIEN: Of course it won't rhyme with his girlfriend "Millie" as well. But all right, Tony Blair, Billie, we wish you well on your journey back.

Congratulations, John, on quite a story. Joseph, good job nursing Billie back to health.

He looks no worse for the wear right now. Thank you, gentlemen. And thank you, Billie, And Tony. Excuse me.

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 June 27, 2003 - 09:48   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Now to the story of a homing pigeon who is very far from home. Billie, a British racing pigeon, took off from France two weeks ago on a 375-mile race to Liverpool. At least that's what it was supposed to be. He took a wrong turn, he wound up all the way across the Atlantic, and now, here he is in Staten Island. Go figure. Joseph Ida (ph) found him, and we also have in Liverpool his owner, John Warren (ph), who is pining away for his pigeon. We're going to get to him in just a moment. But first, I want to check in with Joe.
First, it's a long story how you discovered Billie. Can you give us the condensed version? You do have homing pigeons yourself, correct?

JOSEPH IDA (ph): That's correct.

O'BRIEN: All right. How did Billie come into the picture for you?

I had my own birds out and they were on a board, and I noticed there was a stray bird there. What made it curious was that he had two countermarks on. And in this country, we don't use two counter marks, we use one.

O'BRIEN: You're talking about bands around their legs, right?

IDA: Yes. They are called counter marks. They are rubber bands that are put on when the bird is put in a race, and...

O'BRIEN: So there he was. What kind of condition was he in?

IDA: He was pretty well weather beaten. You know, he went through an ordeal.

O'BRIEN: Yes.

IDA: When I saw him, I saw that the band, the official band on his leg, the registration band, has G.B. on it, and I knew that belonged to Great Britain or England. And we investigated it and found out who the owner was, and we got the story that the bird was in a race in France and hit bad weather and wound up at Staten Island, at my coop, and he's become a celebrity since then.

O'BRIEN: Needless to say, if only Billie could talk and tell us what happened there.

Obviously, there's some kind of pigeon registry which led you to John Warren, who joins us now from Liverpool.

John, you thought Billie was a goner. When -- tell me what was going through your mind and what it was like when you heard he survived and had this incredible odyssey?

JOHN WARREN (ph): Yes, when I found out where he was I was shocked, completely shocked. What made him (UNINTELLIGIBLE) was alive, because as Joseph will tell you, he's only a young pigeon. It was his first time over the water. I sent eight pigeons, and I got seven home, and Billie was the one I never got home about. And over the news to have them report it.

I'd like to thank Joseph for what he's done for Billie while he's been over there. And not only has Billie back a celebrity over there, he's a bigger celebrity over here. It's unbelievable.

O'BRIEN: Well, quickly, guys, if you could kind of speculate, is it possible that Billie flew the whole way, or did he catch a ride on a freighter or something?

IDA: Well, speculate all you want.

O'BRIEN: Let's go with Joseph first, then we'll go to John.

Go ahead, Joe?

IDA: You can speculate all you want. All I know is he was in France and now he's in Staten Island. However he got here, that's 3,300 miles.

O'BRIEN: Forget about the rest.

What's your best guess, John? Do you think he possibly could have flown that far? What's the record for a pigeon flying?

WARREN: Well, what I think is, you know, if only the pigeon knows what happened, if he could talk, he could tell us.

And I personally think he's landed on a container ship part of the way and ended up in New York. But then again, he could have flown the whole way. Nobody will ever know, but the pigeon.

O'BRIEN: All right, and he's headed back, as I understand it, first class, British Airways, pretty much, right?

WARREN: Yes, what's happened is British Airways have very kindly stepped in, and said that they're going to bring Billie back in luxury.

But I think your listeners should know, Billie is no longer called "Billie." I got a phone call to ask me would I call Billie after our prime minister because it's taken up in New York, they christened him Tony Blair. So what I did is...

O'BRIEN: Is that because he got lost? Or because he's a survivor? WARREN: No, what it was is, because Tony Blair stepped in and helped the American people with Iraq, and we thought, because he had courage, determination and showed a lot of will to get where he was, that we'd nickname it Tony Blair.

So what I did, is I phoned Tony Blair's private secretary on Downing Street, and I got a phone call back Tuesday afternoon to say that our prime minister would be very honored to have Billie called after him. So he's now going to be called "Tony Blair."

O'BRIEN: Of course it won't rhyme with his girlfriend "Millie" as well. But all right, Tony Blair, Billie, we wish you well on your journey back.

Congratulations, John, on quite a story. Joseph, good job nursing Billie back to health.

He looks no worse for the wear right now. Thank you, gentlemen. And thank you, Billie, And Tony. Excuse me.

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