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Obama at APEC Summit in China; U.S. is Ebola Free, While Africa Still Struggles with Outbreak; Rosetta Mission - Landing on Comets
Aired November 12, 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: Hi. I`m Carl Azuz. We`ve got an international and interplanetary show for you today. Ten minutes of commercial free current
events starts now.
First up, to Asia. China is host to an APEC summit, APEC for Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation. It works to improve the economies and trade between
its 21 member countries. President Obama is scheduled to meet with Chinese president Xi Jinping today. These two men are the leaders of the world`s
two largest economies, but at any international meeting between world leaders others subjects are bound to come up.
Iran, Syria, Ukraine - three topics that the U.S. and Russia have been at odds over were discussed when President Obama crossed pads with Russian
President Vladimir Putin.
Relations between the U.S. and Russia aren`t the only thing on these leaders` minds.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With China staging a dazzling summit to showcase its economic might, President Obama is eager to prove for lame duck in
Washington, all is not fowl on the world stage.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: There should be no doubt that the United States of America remains entirely committed when
it comes to Asia.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The president is walking a diplomatic tight rope, both competing for business in Asia and pressuring China over its human rights
record in places like Hong Kong.
OBAMA: We believe in freedom of speech. We believe in freedom of association. We believe in openness in government.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But Mr. Obama started this three nation journey with a new foreign policy notch on his belt. The release of American prisoners
from North Korea, a top secret operation he insisted was no diplomatic mission.
Administration officials said it was the North Koreans who controlled the timing.
OBAMA: We have an indication that there was the possibility of the release of these two hostages. And we pursued it.
VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (speaking Russian)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Flexing his own muscle in Asia, Russian President Vladimir Putin is cutting deals with China to bolster his economy after
sanctions stemming from the crisis in Ukraine. But Putin was a little more than a destruction for Mr. Obama who was lining up more support for the
battle against ISIS, after he doubled the number of U.S. troops on the ground in Iraq.
OBAMA: We are recognizing the need for us to ramp up Iraqi capabilities.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The key question for the president on this trip is whether his standing on the world stage is diminished by this shrinking
status back in Washington.
As One Chinese newspaper said, the lame duck president will be further crippled by the midterms. A political defeat the president now concedes is
on him.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AZUZ: There are lots of questions surrounding a recent airstrike in Iraq. It happened over the weekend, targeting the ISIS terrorist group. Reports
from Iraq`s government suggest the leader of ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi might have been hit. So is he injured? Who launched the airstrike? Where
in Iraq did it happen? We told you there were a lot of questions.
Experts say that even al-Baghdadi is injured or killed, ISIS is too well organized to follow that up without him. It has a cabinet of advisors, it
has a religious cancel that ensures ISIS is sticking to its interpretation of Islamic law.
Analysts say there`s probably a clear line of succession for ISIS leadership so the U.S.-led fight against it will likely continue.
Eight of nine Ebola patients who`ve been treated in the U.S. have survived the dangerous virus. That includes Dr. Craig Spencer. Officials say he`s
cured of the disease less than a month after he was diagnosed with it.
Dr. Spencer had contracted Ebola while treating victims in Guinea, but he didn`t show symptoms until after he`d gotten back home to New York.
At this time, there are no other people in the U.S. with the hemorrhagic fever. That`s not the case in Africa. In this year`s outbreak, more than
13,000 Ebola cases have been reported, half of those who`ve gotten it in Africa have died.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In a region desperate for good news, some progress in the fight against the Ebola epidemic. At treatment centers in Liberia,
there are more empty beds and fewer burials. A sign that the number of cases is down.
The surprising slowdown was confirmed by the World Health Organization. Health officials say they are cautiously optimistic, but warn against
declaring a premature victory.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This are slowing down. But are we there yet? No. Do we need to do more? Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Even more treatment centers are being built, as international aid continues to arrive in the region.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We just entered the high risk area in Monrovia medical unit.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This one of the kind treatment center built by U.S. troops is set to open. U.S. health workers have been training extensively
at the 25 bed facility to trade medical workers infected with the virus.
A different scene in neighboring Sierra Leone where the number of Ebola cases continues to climb. Treatment centers in Freetown are still crowded
with the sick.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Abu Bakr ..
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And outside the capital, aid workers are busy delivering food to rural villages that remain under quarantine.
And in Ghana, West African leaders were screened with the laser thermometer for signs of the virus as they gather to talk about how to fight the
epidemic. They say despite some short term gains, economies in the hardest hit nations are still suffering, and much more international help is
needed.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AZUZ: We are dedicating the first part of today`s "Roll Call" to the home schoolers out there. We know a lot of you in the U.S. and abroad are
watching this with the parent who teaches you. So, thank you for making us part of your day.
Next, we are visiting the capital of Colorado. It`s good to see the White Tigers watching in Denver at Joan Farley Academy at Lowry.
And on the Big Island of Hawaii, the Hilo High School Vikings are online. Hello, to everyone at Hilo.
At 48 miles long and 37 miles wide, Rhode Island is the smallest U.S. state. But it has the biggest name - but Carl, you might say Rhode Island
has 11 letters in it. North and South Carolina, each have 13. We`ll check it. Rhode Island`s official name is State of Rhode Island and
Providence Plantation.
That`s huge and that`s random.
It`s called the Rosetta Mission. For the first time ever, scientists are attempting to land a manmade spacecraft on a comet. You are looking at an
animation of our Solar System. The comet we are talking about has the purple orbit on your screen. It`s named comet 67-P. Rosetta is the
spacecraft that`s been traveling to it. It has the red orbit. It`s a $1.7 billion project by the European Space Agency.
It`s taken ten years for Rosetta to meet up with comet 67-P. Now, it`s on the break of releasing its small lander. About the size of the Washing
machine, under the comet surface e.
Scientists are hoping it will gather all kinds of information. The density in heat on comet 67-P. The chemicals that might be there.
They want to know what comets are made of, and how they react when they get close to the Sun. But landing this really hard to do. Researchers say it
has to land at the right time, in the right direction, with the right velocity. If it doesn`t, the mission could come to a crashing halt.
If the lander hits a boulder or a crevice, it could tip over. It will take half an hour for the lander`s signal even to reach Earth, letting them know
if this worked. As one European space agency scientist put it, everything is knew.
Finally today, jetpacks: the kind that let you soar above the Earth are hugely impractical, they can cost $200,000. But the water kind, which
attached to a jet ski, are closer to 9,000 plus the jet ski. But they are making it easier for average folks to jet.
(VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: Not as much fun in cold water unless your jet suit is a wet suit. But if jets suit you, and the wet suits you, and your curiosity if wet by
wet jets, what are you waiting for? Get up, stood (ph) up, pack up and jet up - wherever a jetpack backpack packs jacks - jack - CNN STUDENT NEWS jets
back tomorrow.
END
