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American Morning

Headlines Making News 'Over There'

Aired September 05, 2003 - 07:40   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: Illusionist David Blaine, that guy who pretended to cut off part of his ear a few days ago, begins his latest stunt in London tonight. But the people of the "Guinness Book of World Records" say that they're not going to get into their book no matter what he does.
Let's go "Over There" now and hear from our regular Friday contributor and my friend from London, Richard Quest.

Good morning. What's up with the "Guinness Book of World Records?" Getting a little picky, aren't they?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they say that David Blaine is not doing anything particularly exceptional.

CAFFERTY: Oh,

QUEST: Now, the fact that the man is suspending himself in a glass Perspex box, 7-by-7-by-3, for 44 days without any food and only water isn't good enough. Mr. Blaine is going to be -- you know, it's true. Just to show you. He's only going to have a couple of tubes -- one to feed him water...

CAFFERTY: Yes.

QUEST: ... and one to get rid of the waste.

CAFFERTY: Yes.

QUEST: Now, I wanted to show you, Jack, what it must look like to be -- you can imagine. This is what it's going to be looked like suspended over the river Thames. It's a long way down there, and if you're really clever -- I'll show you the tubes, but perhaps...

CAFFERTY: Well, no, that's all right. We can do without the tubes. I understand how that might work.

QUEST: Now, the reason that Blaine won't get into the "Guinness Book of World Records" is because they say they don't encourage people to fast. They don't encourage anything. As the "Guinness Book of Records" said, what happens if he drops dead? Is that a success?

Then, they also say, in actual fact he's not in the smallest box ever. The smallest box was a barrel in South Africa, where a man was in for over 60 days. So, frankly, show me something new. They're not impressed by David Blaine.

CAFFERTY: Yes.

QUEST: But he will be in that box in eight hours.

CAFFERTY: Well, good. That's a good place for him.

The British have announced now they're going to tighten up the requirements for becoming a British citizen. That's assuming, of course, anybody is interested in doing that. Tell me about the...

QUEST: Oh!

CAFFERTY: Tell me about the new rules.

QUEST: Well, basically, David Blunket, our home secretary, the equivalent of the Justice Ministry I suppose, has decided that people aren't British enough. Immigrants need to take a test to learn about culture, about parliament, about the courts. Best of all, also the test will tell them how to pay a bill.

Now, you already do this sort of thing in the United States. It's called the "check's in the mail." But the other questions that you ask, for example, what are the colors of the flag? How many states in the union? Hard stuff this!

CAFFERTY: Yes.

QUEST: And what country did we fight during the Revolutionary War? What's the name of the president's official home?

CAFFERTY: Wait a minute. Excuse me. That question about the Revolutionary War should read: What country did we fight and whip rather substantially and badly in the Revolutionary War? They need to expand the wording of that question.

QUEST: Now, let's put some pretend questions to you, Jack, Soledad and the team to see if you would even pass should we even (UNINTELLIGIBLE) to allow you to become British.

CAFFERTY: Calm yourself.

QUEST: First of all, Jack, what is "spotted Dick?"

CAFFERTY: It's a pudding.

QUEST: All right. He's halfway across the Atlantic. Why does the queen have two birthdays?

CAFFERTY: I have no idea.

QUEST: Good. Send him back. Ship him home, all of them. Because one is her official birthday, one is her real birthday.

And finally, are there any animals in Piccadilly Circus?

CAFFERTY: I know the answer to that one.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Yes.

CAFFERTY: Only when you're there.

HEMMER: How about the pigeons, Richard?

QUEST: You know, they're in Lester Square (ph), and we tried to get rid of them, because apparently they're nothing more than flying rats. So, the mayor has been basically putting out rat poison to try and get rid of them, but tourists still come and feed them regularly.

If you if you fail the citizenship test when it's introduced, you will not be deported. Oh, no, that would be too cruel to send you back to the United States. No, you will be allowed to stay. You just won't get a British passport.

CAFFERTY: All right, Richard, it's nice to be with you. This ruins, of course, my plans for next summer when I was going to immigrate from the United States and take up residence in your neighborhood, but I guess that will have to be put off until I learn more of your customs there.

Richard Quest joining us from London "Over There." Thank you, my friend. See you in a week.

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 September 5, 2003 - 07:40   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Illusionist David Blaine, that guy who pretended to cut off part of his ear a few days ago, begins his latest stunt in London tonight. But the people of the "Guinness Book of World Records" say that they're not going to get into their book no matter what he does.
Let's go "Over There" now and hear from our regular Friday contributor and my friend from London, Richard Quest.

Good morning. What's up with the "Guinness Book of World Records?" Getting a little picky, aren't they?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they say that David Blaine is not doing anything particularly exceptional.

CAFFERTY: Oh,

QUEST: Now, the fact that the man is suspending himself in a glass Perspex box, 7-by-7-by-3, for 44 days without any food and only water isn't good enough. Mr. Blaine is going to be -- you know, it's true. Just to show you. He's only going to have a couple of tubes -- one to feed him water...

CAFFERTY: Yes.

QUEST: ... and one to get rid of the waste.

CAFFERTY: Yes.

QUEST: Now, I wanted to show you, Jack, what it must look like to be -- you can imagine. This is what it's going to be looked like suspended over the river Thames. It's a long way down there, and if you're really clever -- I'll show you the tubes, but perhaps...

CAFFERTY: Well, no, that's all right. We can do without the tubes. I understand how that might work.

QUEST: Now, the reason that Blaine won't get into the "Guinness Book of World Records" is because they say they don't encourage people to fast. They don't encourage anything. As the "Guinness Book of Records" said, what happens if he drops dead? Is that a success?

Then, they also say, in actual fact he's not in the smallest box ever. The smallest box was a barrel in South Africa, where a man was in for over 60 days. So, frankly, show me something new. They're not impressed by David Blaine.

CAFFERTY: Yes.

QUEST: But he will be in that box in eight hours.

CAFFERTY: Well, good. That's a good place for him.

The British have announced now they're going to tighten up the requirements for becoming a British citizen. That's assuming, of course, anybody is interested in doing that. Tell me about the...

QUEST: Oh!

CAFFERTY: Tell me about the new rules.

QUEST: Well, basically, David Blunket, our home secretary, the equivalent of the Justice Ministry I suppose, has decided that people aren't British enough. Immigrants need to take a test to learn about culture, about parliament, about the courts. Best of all, also the test will tell them how to pay a bill.

Now, you already do this sort of thing in the United States. It's called the "check's in the mail." But the other questions that you ask, for example, what are the colors of the flag? How many states in the union? Hard stuff this!

CAFFERTY: Yes.

QUEST: And what country did we fight during the Revolutionary War? What's the name of the president's official home?

CAFFERTY: Wait a minute. Excuse me. That question about the Revolutionary War should read: What country did we fight and whip rather substantially and badly in the Revolutionary War? They need to expand the wording of that question.

QUEST: Now, let's put some pretend questions to you, Jack, Soledad and the team to see if you would even pass should we even (UNINTELLIGIBLE) to allow you to become British.

CAFFERTY: Calm yourself.

QUEST: First of all, Jack, what is "spotted Dick?"

CAFFERTY: It's a pudding.

QUEST: All right. He's halfway across the Atlantic. Why does the queen have two birthdays?

CAFFERTY: I have no idea.

QUEST: Good. Send him back. Ship him home, all of them. Because one is her official birthday, one is her real birthday.

And finally, are there any animals in Piccadilly Circus?

CAFFERTY: I know the answer to that one.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Yes.

CAFFERTY: Only when you're there.

HEMMER: How about the pigeons, Richard?

QUEST: You know, they're in Lester Square (ph), and we tried to get rid of them, because apparently they're nothing more than flying rats. So, the mayor has been basically putting out rat poison to try and get rid of them, but tourists still come and feed them regularly.

If you if you fail the citizenship test when it's introduced, you will not be deported. Oh, no, that would be too cruel to send you back to the United States. No, you will be allowed to stay. You just won't get a British passport.

CAFFERTY: All right, Richard, it's nice to be with you. This ruins, of course, my plans for next summer when I was going to immigrate from the United States and take up residence in your neighborhood, but I guess that will have to be put off until I learn more of your customs there.

Richard Quest joining us from London "Over There." Thank you, my friend. See you in a week.

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