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Earthquake Strikes Central Mexico; President Trump Delivers His First Address to the U.N. General Assembly; Fascinating Discovery in Egypt
Aired September 20, 2017 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 ANCHOR: I`m Carl Azuz for CNN 10. And we welcome our viewers from around the world.
It caused widespread devastation on the island of Dominica, and last night, Hurricane Maria was roaring toward the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico as a
category 5 storm. We are closely watching this and we`ll bring you and in- depth report in tomorrow`s show. Meantime, CNN.com has the latest.
Another natural disaster has struck the North American nation of Mexico. A little over a week after a magnitude 8.1 earthquake occurred near the
country`s southern coast, a magnitude 7.1 tremor hit yesterday. This one in central Mexico and it caused some buildings to collapse in the capital
of Mexico City, about 75 miles away.
Initial reports indicated that dozens of people were killed nationwide, but we don`t know yet how many. Information was pouring in as we produced this
show.
Schools were closed in the Mexican capital. The airport was closed. Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto ordered the evacuation of damaged
hospitals with patients being moved to other medical facilities.
This earthquake came exactly 32 years to the day after another tremor killed about 9,500 people in and around Mexico City.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: The depth was about 32 miles. That may not seem that deep to you, but that plays a very important role in
terms of the vicinity. So, again, here is where it`s located, just for some reference point, not quite, a little bit further to the north and west
from where that 8.1 earthquake happened about a week ago.
Here is a look at the population, about 28 million people felt sometime of weak shaking, 20 million felt some type of moderate shaking and you have
about 9 million people that experience some type of strong shaking. We talked about the depth, OK? Thirty-two miles, which is about 51
kilometers, OK? Up to 70 kilometers, it`s still considered a shallow earthquake.
So, even though that may not seem like it would be at 32 miles, it is and this grand scheme of earthquakes, that is still considered a shallow
earthquake. That`s important because shallow earthquakes often cause the most damage, compared to the ones that are deeper, regardless of the
strength. But this also was a relatively strong earthquake.
When we talk about fatalities, it`s estimated to be in this orange range, where it could be anywhere from 100 to 1,000. All of this information, by
the way, coming from the U.S. Geological Survey, in terms of economic losses as well.
Now, frequency. We often get about 15 earthquakes that are between seven and 7.9 every year. So it`s not uncommon to get this.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AZUZ: The world was watching yesterday when U.S. President Donald Trump made his first address to the United Nations. Its general debate is taking
place this week at the U.N. headquarters in New York City.
President Trump has repeatedly criticized the organization for not taking enough action to achieve its goals, which include international governments
working together to solve world problems. In his address yesterday, the U.S. leader said America hoped the U.N. would be more accountable and
effective in the days ahead. And he echoed a phrase he used during his presidential inauguration speech on January 20th.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I always put America first. Just like you, as the leaders of your countries, will always and should
always put your countries first.
The United States will forever be a great friend to the world and especially to it allies. But we can no longer be taken advantage of or
enter into a wide-sided deal, where the United States gets nothing in return.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: One such deal the president mentioned was the international nuclear agreement with Iran, which was reached in 2015. He also spoke out against
terrorists and the countries that support them and he took aim at North Korea and its dictator Kim Jong-un.
President Trump controversially called him rocket man and said that if the U.S. were forced to defend itself or its allies, it would, quote, totally
destroy North Korea. But he added that he hoped this wouldn`t be necessary and he thanked the other U.N. members involved in imposing new economic
penalties on North Korea. Those haven`t been affected in the past, to stop the nation`s weapons programs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Breaking news right now out of North Korea. The country has carried out another missile test.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: North Korea releasing pictures of Kim Jong-un inspecting what it claims is a hydrogen bomb.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, what happened in North Korea? Why have sanctions failed so badly?
GORDON CHANG, AUTHOR, "NUCLEAR SHOWDOWN: NORTH KOREA TAKES ON THE WORLD": Sanctions, obviously, have not worked. You would almost have to say that
they were designed to fail, because they have been so ineffective.
REPORTER: And they`ve been effective for a number of reasons. The first is the extreme and complete control that the Kim family wields over its
people. So, as a comparison, take Iran. It`s widely accepted that the economic sanctions placed by America and other countries crippled the
Iranian economy and there were major reasons why Iran agreed to limit its nuclear program. The Iranian government didn`t wield close to the amount
of power its people than North Korea does.
DURSUN PEKSEN, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS: They still have elections. And also they still pay attention to
what the general public thinks.
ROGIN: The total and brutal nature of North Korea`s control over the media, over its citizens, it protects the regime from the consequences that
sanctions have on its people.
Another reason the sanctions haven`t worked, Kim Jong-un has managed to protect the North Korean elite from them.
PEKSEN: We are basically talking about the control of a small coalition of high ranking military officials, Korean worker`s party leader and top
bureaucrats. Some strategists estimate we are talking about somewhere between 3,000 to 5,000 people.
REPORTER: By doling out money and power to that small group, Kim has kept them loyal. In some ways, sanctions have even helped him do that. The
poorer and more insulated North Korea is, the more its leadership depends on Kim for things like food and housing and luxury goods. So, what would
effective sanctions look like? One word could be key, exports.
There`s a common misconception that existing sanctions have already shut off North Korea`s economy from the rest of the world. Not so. They still
export billions of dollars worth of goods. That`s coal and clothing and even food being exported out of North Korea and bear in mind, this is a
massively impoverished country with food shortages. Those goods are being traded for cash that ends up in the hands of the Kim regime.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With North Korea, the regime does not use export earnings for the welfare of the people. So, the welfare of the people, I
think, should be considered irrelevant to the sanctions issue. And so, we should be trying to essentially, shut down North Korean trade.
REPORTER: The money that North Korea gets from its exports helps the Kim`s regime in a number of ways.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Those revenues are used for two purposes, both of which are essential for regime maintenance. One of them is the development of
missiles and nukes. And the other is to keep regime elements loyal to Kim Jong-un.
REPORTER: Cutting that export money could drastically hurt Kim Jong-un`s ability to control North Korea. The problem is that the vast majority, 75
percent of North Korea`s exports are to China. For those sanctions to have any effect, the world needs China onboard. How that happens is another
question.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ (voice-over): Ten-second trivia:
Which of these cities is located next to the Nile River?
Baghdad, Iraq, Luxor, Egypt, Tripoli, Libya, or Pretoria, South Africa?
The ancient city of Luxor is on the banks of the Nile in southern Egypt.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUBTITLE: This ancient Egyptian tomb has just been found.
CNN was granted first access to the discovery located in Luxor, Egypt.
It is 3,500 years old and was the tomb of a goldsmith and his family.
A partially damaged statue was found of the goldsmith and his wife, along with funerary masks and sarcophagi. The tomb also appears to have been
reused with sarcophagi from later years.
This isn`t the first tomb to be discovered in 2017, leaving archeologists optimistic for further discoveries.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AZUZ: Scoring a perfect "10 Out of 10" today, a pet that pays for itself. You`ve heard of a cash cow. This is a cash cat.
He has a quirk that`s really rich, he collects money. At a business in Oklahoma, people pass by, slip a dollar through the door and what`s now
known as the cash nip kitty jumps and saves. But it`s not being spent on some Fancy Feast. The business owner has been donating the kitty`s cash to
a charity for the homeless.
So, all that money for the kitty doesn`t just become litter y`all. They`re keeping close tabbies on it and donating it to a good claws.
I`m Carl Azuz, covering history, arcateology, and metameowtics (ph) for CNN 10.
END
