Return to Transcripts main page
CNN 10
The Dow Jones Industrial Average Takes a Nosedive; Signs of Unity and Disunity Coincide Ahead of the Olympics; The Sistine Chapel Gets Its Annual Checkup
Aired February 06, 2018 - 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: Hi. I`m Carl Azuz. Thank you for watching CNN 10, your objective explanation of world events.
Investors around the world are keeping a close eye on the U.S. stock market. Yesterday, it took a nosedive. The Dow Jones Industrial Average,
an index of 30 significant stocks, dropped 1,175 points.
That was the biggest one day point drop in market history, and it followed good news that came out on Friday. The January jobs report from the U.S.
government indicated that the country added 200,000 jobs last month and that wages grew as well at their fastest pace since 2009.
So, why would that cause the market to drop more than 660 points on Friday and more than 1,100 yesterday? Fear. Investors are concerned that the
higher wages could lead to inflation, when prices go up and money buys less. And that could lead to a faster increase in interest rates, a tool
the government uses to control inflation. So, a sell-off began and the Dow dropped.
Analysts say the market is still significantly up overall in the past year and that the U.S. economy is healthy. So, whether this is a correction, a
temporary dip in the market or a sign that a bear market is ahead with more stock declines, that remains to be seen.
In Pyeongchang, South Korea, organizers say almost 3,000 athletes representing 92 countries will be competing. That would be the most ever.
And while North Korea has sent a delegation of athletes, musicians and media to South Korea, and there are signs of improved relations between the
two rivals.
There are also signs of continued tensions between them. For one thing, the night before the games, North Korea is holding a parade to show off its
missiles and rockets, an effort to show the world its military strength.
For another, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence is attending the games. The U.S. is an ally of South Korea, and according to "The Washington Post",
he`s bringing a man named Fred Warmbier with him. He`s the father of Otto Warmbier, an American student who was jailed in North Korea and who died
soon after he was released last year from a North Korean prison.
Warmbier`s parents have accused North Korea of torturing him. The communist country says Warmbier contracted botulism, a bacterial disease,
while in prison. The presence of his father at the Olympics will probably anger North Korea. So, it`s likely these games will make political
headlines, as well as athletic ones.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Dancing for joy outside a women`s ice hockey game, just days before the Winter
Olympics. Some supporters delighted about the joint team from Korea playing what`s supposed to be a friendly match against Sweden. But others
are not feeling so friendly.
Scuffles are up between police and a small crowd of anti-North Korean demonstrators. They call North Korea`s leader a dog, and they ridiculed
the Winter Games, calling them the Pyongyang, not Pyeongchang Olympics.
A flurry of diplomacy last month resulted in a last minute decision to create the first ever joint North and South Korean women`s Olympic ice
hockey team. Playing under a unification flag, they stand for a Korean folk song instead of their country`s national anthem. Twenty-three South
Korean players skate alongside 12 North Korean players under the leadership of South Korea`s Canadian coach.
(on camera): The North and South Korean players only had a few days to train together and in the end, Sweden soundly defeated them.
(voice-over): Sweden ranked fifth in the world easily beat the Koreans 3- 1. After the game, a North Korean coach and player briefly sat alongside South Korean counterparts to make a short statement about unity. But then
in surreal twist, the North Korean walked off stage to avoid answering questions from journalists. The team that`s supposed to be a symbol of
unity isn`t even allowed to live together.
SARAH MURRAY, COACH, UNIFIED KOREAN WOMEN`S ICE HOCKEY TEAM: North Korea is not going to be staying with us in the same building, in the Olympic
Village. They have their own building. So, all the North Korean athletes will be together.
In an ideal world, yes, we would be in the same building and we would stay together because we need to do team meetings. We need to be together.
We`re one team. So -- but unfortunately, it didn`t work out that way. So, we`re just going to deal with it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ (voice-over): Ten-second trivia.
Who famously said, "I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free"?
Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, or Raphael?
A poet, painter, and architect, as well as a sculpture, Michelangelo Buonarroti famously said these words.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AZUZ: He was considered the greatest artist of his time and is still seen as one of the greatest of all time. And one of his famous works stretches
across the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo completed this in 1512 after working on it for four years. He originally planned to paint
the 12 apostles, the first followers of Jesus Christ, but he reportedly didn`t think that was enough. So, his plan grew to include more than 300
figures.
They`re among the priceless Renaissance paintings getting their annual check up right now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Sistine Chapel is getting a checkup. For a whole month each year, from 5:30 to midnight,
when all the tourists are gone, a team from the Vatican comes in to clean up, check for damage and report on the health of some of the world`s most
treasured art.
It`s a painstaking process: scaffolding must be erected and taken down each night and cannot be attached to the walls to avoid damaging the paintings.
One of the biggest problems of the Sistine Chapel is humidity, 25,000 visitors a day posed a risk for the paintings.
FRANCESCA PERSEGATI, CHIEF RESTORER, VATICAN MUSEUMS: You know, our bodies are made of water. So, when we visit the Sistine Chapel, we bring in
humidity and we heat, everyone heats the environment like a bulb, you know, 80-watt bulb.
GALLAGHER: Humidity causes condensation and a veil of salt forms on the famous frescoes painted in the 1400 and 1500s, which damages the color and
the plaster it`s painted on.
A laborious technique brushing distilled water onto thin Japanese paper removes the salt layer.
To combat humidity, there are of 30 hidden sensors measuring temperature, air circulation and the number of visitors in the chapel.
Dr. Vittoria Cimino, the Vatican`s conservationist, monitors the air quality in the chapel.
DR. VITTORIA CIMINO, CHIEF CONSERVATIONIST, VATICAN MUSEUMS (via translator): The temperature must be between 22 to 24 degree Celsius.
Humidity must be medium hight. They are very precise markers and we have to verify that the system respects them.
GALLAGHER (on camera): The frescoes in this chapel are over 500 years. Now, back then, there was no artificial lighting. The only light that came
in was daylight through this upper windows. And, of course, being the pope`s private chapel, far fewer people came through here as well. So,
cleaning and restoration wasn`t really a priority then.]
Today, with new technology and lighting, not only is there better cleaning but it has revealed to restorers the true colors used by Michelangelo.
(voice-over): The world was shocked after a cleaning and restoration in the 1990s to discover that Michelangelo actually used vivid greens, purples
and reds because for centuries it was assumed that he painted in dark, subdued tones. But that was only the accumulation of dirt and grime.
The next time you`re in the Sistine Chapel, look out for this, little black marks, squares and triangles on some of the paintings. They`re called
witnesses, deliberately left as evidence for future restorers to give an idea of just how dark the paintings were before.
To make sure the colors stay vibrant, a color team measures any changes to tone by taking pictures of the frescoes with a multi-wavelength camera
which is then analyzed by a computer.
Dr. Fabio Morresi is in charge of color analysis.
DR. FABIO MORRESI, VATICAN SCIENTIFIC LABORATORY (through translator): We can see the color of every single pixel and compare it throughout the
years. It`s important because we can detect any changes even before they are visible to the human eye.
GALLAGHER: A behind the scenes labor of love so that the past may continue to brighten our future.
Delia Gallagher, CNN, Rome.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AZUZ: Sault Ste. Marie is a city in the upper peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. It`s just across the St. Marie`s River from Sault Ste. Marie,
Ontario, Canada, and it`s cold there. Annual snowfall: more than 120 inches. So, some snowmobilers recently tried to break the Guinness World
Record for largest snowmobile parade. According to affiliate WLUC, they were just a few riders and mobiles short. Nine hundred ninety-seven
vehicles participated, but 1,048 were needed.
Still, it was a grand idea. The event stayed on track, no one was misled, no one was running bored. Maybe they didn`t tread out a new record, but
the dual purpose was to have fun and getting that many riders out in subfreezing temperatures was unsnowmobelievable.
I`m Carl Azuz for CNN 10.
END
