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Kenya Holds Its Second Election in Three Months; President Trump Announces a Public Health Emergency; A U.S. Woman with Hearing Loss Succeeds as a Singer
Aired October 27, 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: Fridays are awesome! And on this last Friday in October, we`re thankful you`re watching CNN 10.
The East African nation of Kenya just held its second presidential election in less than three months. On August 8th, voters reelected Kenya`s
incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta. But the main opposition candidate who was running against him said the results of the August vote were
electronically tampered with.
Kenya`s supreme court said the election had irregularities and illegalities. It declared the results null and void, and it ordered the
second election that took place yesterday.
Between the two votes, violence flared up in some areas, and dozens of people were killed. And even though yesterday`s voting was reportedly
peaceful in most of the country, there was some fighting between police and protesters in areas where opposition leader Raila Odinga had a lot of
support.
He`d actually dropped out of the race, saying changes haven`t been made to ensure the second vote would be fair. Kenya`s election commission denied
that, but Odinga urged his supporters to boycott the new vote. And while that was expected to result in a win for President Kenyatta, there was low
turnout and the votes likely to face legal challenges.
Kenya is the largest economy in East Africa, and this is being watched closely around the world because it`s an indicator of stability in a region
where some other countries are struggling.
U.S. President Donald Trump has declared a public health emergency. Its focus: fighting a nationwide crisis of opioid drug abuse. Earlier this
year, the president called the crisis a national emergency.
There`s a difference, declaring a national emergency would have immediately directed money from FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, to fight
the drug crisis. But that funding is normally used for natural disasters like hurricanes. Calling the crisis a public health emergency doesn`t
immediately trigger more government funding, but it does pave the way for that if Congress approves.
And officials from both the Trump and former Obama administrations say declaring the public health emergency is more appropriate. It has less
immediate action, but it`s more tailored to the drug crisis. Health and medical officials call the president`s declaration an important step in
addressing the problem.
The Centers for Disease Control says that last year alone, more Americans were killed by drug overdoses than in the entire Vietnam war.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Every 19 minutes, someone dies from an accidental drug overdose. Most of the time, it`s from
prescription drugs like Oxycodone or Hydrocodone. These drugs all belong to a family drugs called opioids.
SUBTITLE: Why are opioids so addictive?
GUPTA: They are prescribed to dull pain. But they also boost dopamine, giving some people a high. They can also slow down your breathing and are
highly addictive.
So, why is it so easy to get hooked?
Well, for one, our body can build up a tolerance. So, the more you use, the larger dose you need to get the same effect. Secondly, you can become
dependent on them. In fact, your body creates natural opioids that are released when you`re hooked yourself. But if you habitually use
painkillers, your body stops producing its own, and relies on the drugs instead. If you try and stop then, the body goes through withdrawal.
Consider this: in 2012, there were 259 million prescriptions written for opioid painkillers, nearly enough for every American adult and child to
have their own bottle of pills. Look, we need to treat pain, but we also don`t need to treat everything with the pill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AZUZ: Not a record U.S. retailers wanted to set. Since January 1st, more store closings have been announced in America than in any other year in
history. So far, company plans have included the closings of more than 6,700 stores, according to Fung Global Retail and Technology, which
analyzes retail organizations.
The results: more empty space and shopping areas. Fewer stores options to browse.
The reasons: an increase in online shopping an a rise in popularity of fast fashion, places like H&M and Forever 21, which sell cheaper clothes and
threaten the business models of other stores.
Some of the chains that have announced closings this year includes Sears, Ann Taylor, The Gap, The Limited and Staples.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: Coldest temperature ever recorded on earth was in Antarctica, of course. It was either minus 138 degrees or minus 128 degrees Fahrenheit,
depending on whether you trust satellite or ground measurements.
OK, what about the coldest inhabited place on earth? Well, that would be Oymyakon, Russia, where in 1924, a record was set with a temperature of
minus 96 degrees Fahrenheit.
Fun fact: most of the bathrooms there are outhouses, because the ground is too frozen for plumbing.
Now, that`s cold -- and random!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: Got a new "Great Big Story" this Friday, awesome. It`s about 29- year-old Mandy Harvey, who was born with a deformity in her ears that made it hard for her to hear without hearing aids or reading lips. Her hearing
loss eventually got worse, but Mandy credits her faith, muscle memory, visual toners and divine pitch with helping her become an award winning
singer-songwriter.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MANDY HARVEY, SINGER/SONGWRITER: I wanted to be a choir director. Every hope, every dream that I had had was wrapped around that center idea that I
could hear. And when that left, I had no idea how to live anymore.
SUBTITLE: Singing without sound.
HARVEY: Hi, I`m Mandy Harvey. I`m a singer-songwriter.
I lost my hearing when I was 18, and that`s where listening to music stopped. I`ve never heard Taylor Swift sing. I`ve never heard Adele sing.
I work really hard to feel things.
I always have my shoes off when I perform because as the drums go or the bass goes, you feel it through the floor, and that keeps me in time.
And I was born with near perfect pitch, so I use that skill, mixed in with muscle memory to feel where I am, and then just sing.
I create songs all the time. I just have something in my head, so I just sing it in my recorder, and then I`ll send it off to other people and they
can chart it for me, and they can tell me what the notes are, because I can`t tell.
I wouldn`t be able to close my eyes and tell you what it was.
It`s just a ghost. Music is a ghost.
I spent a really long time of my life being afraid. But sound still exists. You can feel music everywhere. You just focus.
(singing): Come walk my friend with me, to a place that we always dreamed. You will know how it feels, to be right where you`re supposed to be. All I
see is you holding me, forever.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AZUZ: In the spirit of fall, a corn maze for fans of classic arcade games. Yes, it`s Pac-Man and yes, you`re expected to find your way through it.
It`s actual name is Pac-Maize with maize spelled the corny way. And 18 acres, it`s about the size of 18 football fields, and it`s this year`s
design at the Farmstead, a farm in Meridian, Idaho.
The man who designed it says he did not use GPS, that he measured and check the maze by hand, which is pretty amazing.
Now, if you`re a fan of corny puns, lend me your ears.
Smooth as silk (ph) mazes like this become the stalk of the town because there`s more than a kernel of truth to the fact that they`re rooted in hard
work, they take deep-seeded determination, and to be worth the tassel, you can`t just plant yourself, crop a few parts of it and left before the job
is done.
I`m Carl Azuz and that`s CNN 10.
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