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Coming Midterm Election in U.S.; Protective Equipment against Ebola Can Fail; NASA Building New Unmanned Spacecraft
Aired October 15, 2014 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CARL AZUZ, CNN ANCHOR: Less than three weeks away from the U.S. midterm elections, we are exploring what exactly Americans will be voting for.
First up today on CNN STUDENT NEWS. Five things to know about the midterms.
One, they are called midterms because they happen in the middle of a president`s four year term. So, voters aren`t choosing a president this
year.
They are choosing their representatives in Congress as well as many local and state offices. Two, the U.S. House of Representatives elected
officials serve two-year terms. That means, all of the chambers` 435 seats are up for election this year.
Three, Republicans currently control the House by a significant majority. They are expected to stay in control after this year`s midterms.
Four, the U.S. Senate. Elected officials there serve six year terms, so about a third of the chambers` 100 seats are up for election.
Democrats currently control the Senate, but by a slim majority.
So, five, many analysts are saying Republicans have a good chance of taking Senate control this fall. The date of the vote, November 4.
Next today, we`ve heard from the nurse at a hospital in Dallas, Texas, who apparently caught the Ebola virus from the victim she was treating.
26-year old Nina Pham says she`s doing well and thanks everyone for their kind wishes and prayers.
She also says she`s blessed by the support of family, friends and the care of doctors and nurses at the hospital.
Pham also received a blood transfusion from American Ebola survivor, Dr. Kent Brantly. It`s possible that antibodies from a survivor`s blood could
help someone else with the disease.
According to the World Health Organization, almost 9,000 cases of Ebola have been reported. Mostly in West Africa. About half of those people
have died.
The World Health Organization expects that by December between 5,000 and 10,000 new cases will be reported every week in West Africa.
In the U.S., the CDC is preparing an emergency response team, that it says can be at any American hospital within hours to help treat Ebola and
prevent it from spreading.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta explains how that can happen to health care workers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, I want to give you an idea of what the CDC is recommending in terms of how to protect yourself with this
personal protective gear.
I`m also going to show you how to take it off, which some say is the most dangerous part. I will point out as we start to do this, I work in an
operating room every week, this is different than what most doctors I think are used to, at least in the operating room.
I do want to point out, this is a little different than how I suited up when I was in Guinea, but we are following CDC protocol. And I want to
show you how I`m going to take this protective equipment off, and I`m also going to put a little chocolate sauce in my hand, which could represent a
possible Ebola contamination. Take a look.
This is the mask (INAUDIBLE). So, here will be the most likely contaminated area. It would be my gloves. Maybe the front of my gown, a
bit like this.
OK, now I`ve got to treat this as if I`m potentially contaminated. I come out. What I do with this particular gown, then I`m ripping all off
together, and everything is going to come off simultaneously.
But if part of the glove sort of brushed against my hand, my arm there, like it potentially - be an exposure. If the glove didn`t come off
properly, I would reach underneath here as best I could and get underneath there, but perhaps if I didn`t do it exactly right, there could be another
potential exposure there.
I`m reaching behind now, as well as I can, but let`s say the side of my face shield was contaminated, and I touched here. That could potentially
be an exposure. Same thing here now with the face mask.
So, now take a look. Right there, see a little bit of chocolate sauce, one possible exposure and over here on my neck, one possible exposure.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: See if you can I.D. me. Here are your clues. I was formed in 1907 as a division of the U.S. Army signal corps. Then I became
in independent branch of the military in 1947. By far, I am the youngest branch of the U.S. Armed Forces.
I`m the Air Force, responsible for air defense, air warfare and the U.S. military`s research in space.
AZUZ: That research includes the X-37B. It`s 29 feet long, about the length of an RV. It`s 9.5 feet high. It has zero pilots, and as far as
its capabilities are concerned, they are classified. The Air Force originally said that an X-37B mission that started in 2012 would last about
nine months. It lasted more than 22. Why?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RACHEL CRANE, CNN CORRESPONDNT: There`s a mysterious robotic space plane that has been orbiting the Earth for the past 22 months.
It`s the Air Force`s X-37B, also known as the orbital test vehicle. And it`s set to return to Earth this week to Vandenberg Air Force base in
California. The Air Force has two X-37B space planes in its fleet, and has been sending them into space on secretive mission since 2010.
The latest mission is the third of its kind. And this plane remained in space much longer than its predecessor.
So, what kind of information are they gathering and why is the secrecy? The theories out there are countless. I mean spy satellites capturing
images of political hot spots. Space weaponry being tested, the rumors go on and on.
However, the Air Force maintains that this is solely an experimental test vehicle.
The primary objective of the missions are officially to test spacecraft technologies for America`s future in space. And operating experiments
which can be returned to and examined on Earth.
Sounds pretty vague? Here`s what we do know.
The plane resembles NASA space shuttles, but are about a quarter of the length and have payloads the size of a pickup truck pad. They use an Atlas
5 rocket to blast off, and then land on a runway.
They can also stay in space for such long periods of time because they are unmanned, and use a solar array for power.
Boeing built the planes, but because it`s a classified project, we don`t know the price.
We know when they take off, we know when they land. These missions are not a secret, but what happens in between is shrouded in mystery.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AZUZ: Coast to coast, east to west, roll to call. Del Campo High School is here today. For Fair Oaks, California, we are shouting out the cougars.
Tommie Spear Middle School is also present. Hello to the black diamonds of Sallisaw, Oklahoma.
And in Hopelade, Massachusetts, we`ve got the blue raiders watching. Good to see you all, Hopedale Junior -Senior High School.
Forward to say, you`re about to see some racing. You might think track. This is faster. You might think NASCAR, this is faster. You might think
Formula One, guess what? Faster!
AZUZ: It`s a moto sport, but it`s off road by about 80 feet or more. It`s against the clock by milliseconds, and if you want to do it, you`ll need to
start with the pilot`s license.
(VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: Rockets, planes and now automobiles. Cali Foster is a veteran of the Iraq war. After his first tour of duty, he bought this 1965 Mustang.
He`s been paying little by little to have it restore and beat by beat.
Well, a stranger heard the story and decided to speed things up. She covered most of the restorations, 20,000 price tag and surprised Foster
with his newly restored vintage car. The reason - just to thank a veteran for serving his country.
AZUZ: The idea was restorative, the sentiment constructive, the force driving, the story a classic.
People hold the keys to kindness. Make no Mustang about it. I`m Carl Azuz for CNN STUDENT NEWS. We hope your teachers will steer you back this way
tomorrow.
END
