Chimps Lawsuit; Tablet Ordering; Impact Your World
BOLDUAN: We're both.</s>CUOMO: Welcome back to "NEW DAY". An unprecedented lawsuit has been filed in New York Supreme Court on behalf of chimpanzees living as pets in the state. The suit calls for the court to grant chimps legal person status and release them from captivity. "Early Start" anchor John Berman is clearly the perfect man to take this up. Look at the picture behind him. Look at the picture of him. You see the similarities. Maybe there is bias in you looking at this</s>BOLDUAN: John -</s>JOHN BERMAN, ANCHOR, CNN'S "EARLY START": He's much more attractive. That's a good looking pic right there.</s>BOLDUAN: John, do not --</s>CUOMO: That was a handsome monkey.</s>BERMAN: That is a handsome chimp.</s>BOLDUAN: Monkey of the day. That is one -</s>BERMAN: So I appreciate that. I appreciate that. No, look, in some ways, this is a classic habeas corpus case. It's about wrongful imprisonment. Classic, except for the fact that it involves a chimp here. A 26-year-old chimpanzee named Tommy. He's at the center of this lawsuit brought on by a group called the Nonhuman Rights Project. They say that based on scientific evidence, chimpanzees are proven to be very self-aware and they want chimps, some at least, in captivity, to be released.</s>BERMAN (voice-over): It may seem like an unusual statement, that an animal should be recognized in some ways as a person.</s>STEVE WISE, PRESIDENT, NONHUMAN RIGHTS PROJECT: They understand that they have choices that they can make in how they want to live their lives.</s>BERMAN: Steve Wise founded the Nonhuman Rights Project, a group that says, based on scientific evidence, chimps deserve some of the same rights as humans.</s>WISE: We want to show that the chimpanzees also have autonomy. And that means that they can choose to live their lives in the way that they want, similar to the way that we can choose to live our lives the way we want.</s>BERMAN: I a landmark lawsuit filed in New York Supreme Court, they want civil liberties for chimps held in captivity.</s>LONI COOMBS, FORMER CRIMINAL PROSECUTOR: They're using a time-tested legal maneuver called habeas corpus, which essentially means free the body. And it's been used throughout the years to free people from what's been considered an unjust incarceration. Essentially under the law, a legal person doesn't even have to be a human being.</s>BERMAN: The suit was brought on behalf of four chimpanzees being held in the state of New York. One of the chimps is 26-year-old Tommy, who lives caged on his owner's property in Gloversville.</s>WISE: No chimpanzee should live the way Tommy lives. He is essentially in a chimpanzee, you know, solitary confinement jail. All he can see is one bleak day after another in front of him, just the way we would if we were in solitary confinement.</s>BERMAN: CNN reached out to Tommy's owners but have received no response. The 91-page memorandum filed by the NHRP refers to Tommy as a "person" illegally imprisoned, demanding he and the others be relocated to sanctuaries and says, "this court must recognize that Tommy is a common law person, entitled to the common law right to bodily liberty."</s>WISE: We intend to file a wide variety of cases in which we argue again and again that a certain -- nonhuman animals at least -- such as Tommy, are so cognitively complex, are so autonomous, that they should no longer be seen as legal things without any rights.</s>BERMAN: Now we should say that CNN has reached out to four of the chimp owners in New York State. We've only heard back from one out at the Stony Brook University where they have two chimps living in a research center. They told us, quote, "Stony Brook University has not seen any legal papers related to this matter and, therefore, is unable to comment on the referenced lawsuit."</s>BOLDUAN: Why isn't this just an animal welfare case?</s>BERMAN: Well, they're arguing something very different.</s>BOLDUAN: I know.</s>BERMAN: They're not saying they need to be treated better, they're saying they have certain rights.</s>CUOMO: Right.</s>BERMAN: Which is, you know, it's a complicated documented case in this matter that hasn't been thrown out yet.</s>BOLDUAN: OK.</s>CUOMO: The supreme court is a legitimate trial thing (ph). Look, the good news here is, no matter where it happens with the lawsuit, the policy involved is the right one, which is trying to get animals better protection rights because usually it takes too much, usually it takes too long, there's too much abuse before something happens.</s>BERMAN: And again, they're not arguing that chimps are human beings. They're arguing that their "legal persons," which the councilor here can tell you is something very different than actually being a human like you and me allegedly.</s>BOLDUAN: Good to know, because there was a question there for a moment.</s>CUOMO: Because corporations could be</s>BERMAN: Yes.</s>CUOMO: And I should disclose, I have been called often "vanilla gorilla," so maybe I am biased on this</s>PEREIRA: And it was not by me, btw.</s>PEREIRA: I was giving you an opportunity to change the image behind the fellows over there -</s>BOLDUAN: I knew it was coming.</s>PEREIRA: Because now we're going to talk about something entirely different. Ah, well done. Are waiters being replaced by technology? Well, Applebee's, the nation's largest casual dining chain, is announcing plans this morning to place tablets in all of their restaurants by the end of next year, 2014. You, if you're there, you can use the tablets to order appetizers, drinks, desserts. You'll play video games. Let's talk about it with the host of "Techbytes" Brett Larson and, you know, why not, Mr. Berman is here with us.</s>BRETT LARSON, HOST, "TECHBYTES": Right. I'm in.</s>BOLDUAN: Are you pro-tablet?</s>LARSON: I'm pro-tablet.</s>PEREIRA: Is this another tool for restaurants or do you think it's actually going to do away with waiters entirely?</s>LARSON: I don't think it will do away with waiters, because we still need people to bring the food from the kitchen to the table.</s>PEREIRA: Yes.</s>LARSON: I actually see this being -</s>CUOMO: Drones.</s>LARSON: If we cause use those Amazon drones.</s>PEREIRA: Robots.</s>BOLDUAN: Right.</s>LARSON: They'll just fly over and drop the food at your table. Hope for the best.</s>PEREIRA: Drop your fries (ph).</s>BOLDUAN: Is this next - is this next</s>LARSON: I don't know that I want to eat at that Bezos</s>CUOMO: Yes.</s>LARSON: In terminals because it speeds up. It reduces the need for people. It reduces errors. If you're sitting down and you've got 20 minutes to catch a flight, they can bring you a cheeseburger in 10 minutes and they know where you're sitting. I - so I see something like this being good in terms of speeding things up. I don't see it as, it's going to replace the waiter.</s>PEREIRA: Is there evidence that it's being used? I've seen them and I actually tried one out in an airport once.</s>LARSON: Yes. That's right.</s>PEREIRA: Are they being widely used, though?</s>LARSON: Yes, I've - I've only seen them in airports. So this is new that we're going to see them in an actual restaurant and in a restaurant chain. Now, they have test marketed them. They've test marketed them in over 1,000 Applebee's and what they've found --</s>BOLDUAN: That's what I was wondering, what do people -- do people like it?</s>LARSON: Well, yes, what they found was people are ordering more deserts and more appetizers and I think that's because -</s>PEREIRA: Wow.</s>BOLDUAN: Because of the picture menus.</s>LARSON: The picture menu and also when you're like, I want the blooming onion, you know the waiter's like, OK.</s>BERMAN: The tablet never</s>LARSON: The tablet doesn't judge you. It's not like it raises its eyebrow when you're like, I would like the $2,500 -- or 2,5000 calorie chocolate lava cake.</s>BOLDUAN: But that -</s>CUOMO: It does change the dining experience in some meaningful ways.</s>BOLDUAN: Right.</s>PEREIRA: It does.</s>CUOMO: One, you don't get any feedback about what it is.</s>LARSON: Right.</s>BOLDUAN: What's your favorite - what's your favorite thing?</s>CUOMO: And when you want other stuff -</s>PEREIRA: Right. I knew (ph) that.</s>CUOMO: Like, oh, I need salt. Oh, I need another</s>BOLDUAN: Yes.</s>BERMAN: When you order off the menus at Applebee's --</s>BERMAN: You know, you mean -</s>CUOMO: No, when it says -</s>PEREIRA: It could happen. Hold the mayo.</s>LARSON: Well, if you want dressing on the side or if you like - I don't know, should I get the steak or the chicken fried steak or -</s>CUOMO: Can I have dressing on the side. Thank you very much, Brett.</s>PEREIRA: Is there a buzz in the tech community? Are they saying yea, yea, yea, this is the way of the future, or what are you hearing out there?</s>LARSON: What I think is big is this really solidifies the tablet's place in our world.</s>PEREIRA: They're here, people.</s>LARSON: I mean if you look like five, six years ago, we weren't even talking about tablets. They've really struggled to find their place. And then we had the iPad. Now we have all these Android tablets. So we're seeing them pop up in more and more places. The backseat of a cab, I understand, because you're a captive audience.</s>BOLDUAN: Right. Right.</s>LARSON: The rest - this is a new - this is a new twist.</s>BERMAN: It's got to be way easier to pay. I mean you don't have to sit there and wait anymore to hail a waiter. That's going to have to be -</s>LARSON: That's the other benefit.</s>PEREIRA: Right, the bill.</s>LARSON: Is they have - they'll have the credit card swipe on the top. So when you're done --</s>CUOMO: That is the - that's one of the best parts of the airport is that you're in a rush and - you're right.</s>LARSON: Right.</s>BOLDUAN: I like it in the airport. I was thinking the dining experience though.</s>BERMAN: I think in some of the restaurant that you frequent, the John George's (ph) of the world, I think will keep their wait staffs no doubt.</s>BOLDUAN: Applebee's is my go-to.</s>CUOMO: Preaching to the golden arches over here. What are you saying?</s>BERMAN: Well, no. But, no, but my favorite restaurant hasn't ever had waiters as far as I know. I don't think McDonald's -</s>BOLDUAN: Which is that?</s>BERMAN: McDonald's.</s>BOLDUAN: Oh.</s>BERMAN: There are no waiters at McDonald's. In some ways I think this is sort of -</s>LARSON: Yes. Like McDonald's I could see doing something like this because -</s>PEREIRA: Sure. Roll up to the drive through.</s>LARSON: It would speed up the process completely because it's like, I what this, I want this, I want this, swipe and go. I also see though, as we saw when they put credit card machines at gas stations, an increase in credit card fraud because now there's no one to look at you, there's no one to take your</s>ID. PEREIRA: Yes. Yes, yes, yes.</s>LARSON: It's, you know, it's, hey, there we go. We're good. Let's go.</s>BOLDUAN: Yes, exactly.</s>PEREIRA: We've had a two-fer today, Brett Larson and John Berman. Monkeys and Applebee's.</s>BERMAN: Thanksgivukkah.</s>PEREIRA: Thanksgivukkah.</s>BERMAN: A late Thanksgivukkah present.</s>PEREIRA: Thank you so much, gentlemen. Really a delight.</s>BOLDUAN: Thank you.</s>PEREIRA: You've got to salute (ph).</s>CUOMO: Stick around, fellas. In this morning's "Impact Your World," country music star Dierks Bentley is giving back, helping change the lives of sick children and their families. Here's how.</s>DIERKS BENTLEY, MUSICIAN (singing): I hold on.</s>CUOMO (voice-over): With a stack of Grammy nominations, it's hard to deny Dierks Bentley's status as a superstar. But in spite of all the fame, Bentley stays grounded.</s>BENTLEY (on camera): It's really a never ending question, how can you give back, what can you do? I mean there's so many people even, you know, in our country that are suffering day to day just with food and work and health care and all that, you know? So you</s>CUOMO: So several years ago he created an annual event called Miles and Music for Kids.</s>BENTLEY: It's a combination of motorcycles and country music and it's all to raise money for the Vanderbilt Children's Hospital.</s>CUOMO: Bentley and some of his famous friends lead a pack of thousands on an hour-long motorcycle ride that ends in downtown Nashville for a star-studded concert. He's even taken his show on the road to benefit other children's hospitals.</s>BENTLEY: Anything, you know, you go to a children's hospital and see these kids, these families, you know, the last thing you want them to worry about is paying for it. And I've had three kids since we started this and so it obviously takes on more importance. You never know when you could be in someone else's shoes and need the assistance of a bright (ph) medical staff and team and hospital like Vanderbilt Children's Hospital. So I just feel really honored just to be the - kind of the face of the whole deal.</s>BOLDUAN: Remember, you can help, too. Go to cnn.com/impact. Coming up next on NEW DAY, do you remember that research that said you can be obese and healthy at the same time? Well, a new study says there's no such thing. We're talking to a doctor about it, next.