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CNN Saturday Morning News
Top Newsmakers Remain Top Internet Searches
Aired January 18, 2003 - 08:21 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.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: From the front page to the Web page, what's making news is getting lots of hits on the Internet. We're finding out what you're wanting to know the most about.
Regina Lewis, AOL's online adviser, is joining us now with more from Washington.
Good morning to you, Regina.
Thanks for being here.
REGINA LEWIS, AOL'S ONLINE ADVISER: Hi, Heidi.
COLLINS: What's going on? Obviously we are talking about Iraq, weapons inspections, right, on the Internet?
LEWIS: Oh, absolutely. That's No. 1. Firmly in first place as those discussions intensify. Interestingly, No. 2 is Bush's approval rating on news that it's slipping. People have found, are lobbying that he is simply the best and others are saying I told you so.
No. 3 is the war on SUVs and American reliance on oil, sort of related to number one. No. ...
COLLINS: What are -- I've got to ask you, Regina, what are they saying about that, the SUV ad campaign?
LEWIS: Well, about 72 percent of people polled online said look, driving them is fair game. A lot of people wrote messages saying I thought I was helping the economy buying one of these. Now I feel guilty driving it. So a lot of discussions about that and the ad campaign, the very controversial Huffington ad campaign.
No. 4 came out of nowhere this week. It's about the Beltway sniper case on news that John Lee Malvo will be tried as an adult and therefore eligible for the death penalty.
Which gets us to No. 5. No. 5 is down from first place position, and that has to do with the death penalty.
COLLINS: I have to make mention of it. I was reading one of the quotes, I think, that you found on the Internet. It says, "How many of us can honestly say we made adult decisions at 17? How many turned out to be responsible people in spite of the dumb things we did at 17?" Dumb things?
LEWIS: I was really struck by that, as well.
COLLINS: Yes.
LEWIS: About 88 percent of people polled say they support the judge's decision. But when you start reading the message board postings, the minority is very vocal and very powerful. A lot of moms saying exactly what you just read, you know, he's a baby, for goodness sake, 17. And the more you think about that, the harder it is to swallow.
COLLINS: All right, what else are we talking about?
LEWIS: Well, a lot of different things. Nos. 6 through 10 are interesting. No. 6 is deployment. The military community is one of the tightest knit groups online. No. 7, on a lighter note, is reality TV, the big three -- "Joe Millionaire," "Star Search," which takes voting online, and "The Bachelorette." No. 8 ...
COLLINS: Whooo-hooo!
LEWIS: Yes.
COLLINS: No, I'm kidding. We discovered last week that we're not watching any of that, right, Miles?
LEWIS: I know. I know you guys aren't. But I'll tell you what, if you listen to ratings...
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That was my new year's resolution, no reality programming.
LEWIS: But if you look at the ratings and you do the math, it seems like almost everyone in America has watched one of those shows and we're certainly seeing a lot of online interest.
No. 8 was a business story, the Kmart firings. A lot of employment issues. A lot of people trying to get online resources to help make ends meet.
No. 9 was the controversy around Pete Townsend and No. 10...
COLLINS: Right.
LEWIS: Yes, No. 10 really sets up your house call program, people trying to keep those resolutions...
COLLINS: That's right.
LEWIS: ... particularly dieting.
COLLINS: That's right. And we are going to be talking about that a little bit later on with Sanjay Gupta here in just a little while, in about five minutes or so. Regina Lewis, thank you so much for giving the online chat topics.
LEWIS: OK.
Take care.
COLLINS: All right.
Thanks.
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 January 18, 2003 - 08:21 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: From the front page to the Web page, what's making news is getting lots of hits on the Internet. We're finding out what you're wanting to know the most about.
Regina Lewis, AOL's online adviser, is joining us now with more from Washington.
Good morning to you, Regina.
Thanks for being here.
REGINA LEWIS, AOL'S ONLINE ADVISER: Hi, Heidi.
COLLINS: What's going on? Obviously we are talking about Iraq, weapons inspections, right, on the Internet?
LEWIS: Oh, absolutely. That's No. 1. Firmly in first place as those discussions intensify. Interestingly, No. 2 is Bush's approval rating on news that it's slipping. People have found, are lobbying that he is simply the best and others are saying I told you so.
No. 3 is the war on SUVs and American reliance on oil, sort of related to number one. No. ...
COLLINS: What are -- I've got to ask you, Regina, what are they saying about that, the SUV ad campaign?
LEWIS: Well, about 72 percent of people polled online said look, driving them is fair game. A lot of people wrote messages saying I thought I was helping the economy buying one of these. Now I feel guilty driving it. So a lot of discussions about that and the ad campaign, the very controversial Huffington ad campaign.
No. 4 came out of nowhere this week. It's about the Beltway sniper case on news that John Lee Malvo will be tried as an adult and therefore eligible for the death penalty.
Which gets us to No. 5. No. 5 is down from first place position, and that has to do with the death penalty.
COLLINS: I have to make mention of it. I was reading one of the quotes, I think, that you found on the Internet. It says, "How many of us can honestly say we made adult decisions at 17? How many turned out to be responsible people in spite of the dumb things we did at 17?" Dumb things?
LEWIS: I was really struck by that, as well.
COLLINS: Yes.
LEWIS: About 88 percent of people polled say they support the judge's decision. But when you start reading the message board postings, the minority is very vocal and very powerful. A lot of moms saying exactly what you just read, you know, he's a baby, for goodness sake, 17. And the more you think about that, the harder it is to swallow.
COLLINS: All right, what else are we talking about?
LEWIS: Well, a lot of different things. Nos. 6 through 10 are interesting. No. 6 is deployment. The military community is one of the tightest knit groups online. No. 7, on a lighter note, is reality TV, the big three -- "Joe Millionaire," "Star Search," which takes voting online, and "The Bachelorette." No. 8 ...
COLLINS: Whooo-hooo!
LEWIS: Yes.
COLLINS: No, I'm kidding. We discovered last week that we're not watching any of that, right, Miles?
LEWIS: I know. I know you guys aren't. But I'll tell you what, if you listen to ratings...
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That was my new year's resolution, no reality programming.
LEWIS: But if you look at the ratings and you do the math, it seems like almost everyone in America has watched one of those shows and we're certainly seeing a lot of online interest.
No. 8 was a business story, the Kmart firings. A lot of employment issues. A lot of people trying to get online resources to help make ends meet.
No. 9 was the controversy around Pete Townsend and No. 10...
COLLINS: Right.
LEWIS: Yes, No. 10 really sets up your house call program, people trying to keep those resolutions...
COLLINS: That's right.
LEWIS: ... particularly dieting.
COLLINS: That's right. And we are going to be talking about that a little bit later on with Sanjay Gupta here in just a little while, in about five minutes or so. Regina Lewis, thank you so much for giving the online chat topics.
LEWIS: OK.
Take care.
COLLINS: All right.
Thanks.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
