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Iran and Israel Appear to Exchange Fire in the Middle East; A Date is Set for a Historic Meeting in Singapore

Aired May 11, 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: Wherever and whenever you`re watching CNN 10, Fridays are awesome! I`m Carl Azuz. It`s great to see you this May 11th.

We`re starting in the Middle East today where there`s been a new exchange of fire between old enemies. We`ve told you how other countries are

involved in Syria`s civil war. Iran is one of them. It supports Syria`s government in its fight to keep control.

This concerns Israel because Iran is an enemy of Israel and Syria is located on Israel`s northeast border. Israel has been blamed for a series

of military strikes that have targeted Iranian positions inside Syria. Israel does not want Iran`s military to establish a base in neighboring

Syria.

Late Wednesday night, rockets flew to the sky. Israel said there were more than 20 of them, that they`ve been launched by Iranian forces inside Syria

and that they targeted Israel, specifically an Israel controlled area called the Golan Heights. It`s a rocky plateau between Israel, Lebanon and

Syria.

This would be the first time that Iran had directly targeted Israel troops with rockets and Israel`s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that

crossed a red line. Israel responded by shooting missiles at Iranian forces in Syria. By Thursday afternoon, Israel said it had destroyed

almost all of Iran`s military capabilities in Syria.

When we produced this show, Iran`s leaders had not yet responded to any of this. There are still some questions about this exchange, but it appears

to be the most direct confrontation so far between Israel and Iran.

It`s being closely watched around the world because this could affect regional stability throughout the Middle East.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Military hardware litters the Golan Heights, deadly reminders of Israel`s last two wars with Syria. In 1967, it was

captured by Israeli forces. Ever since, the international community has regarded this high plateau between Syria, Israel and Lebanon as Israel

occupied territory.

War erupted once again in 1973. Thousands of Syrians and hundreds of Israelis died amid the barbed wire.

This area has always held strategic importance. In ancient times, it was the crossroads of the Via Maris from the Mediterranean and the King`s

Highway from the red sea, both going to Damascus. Nowadays, those roads are gone, but it still holds that importance with Lebanon visible to my

right and Syria to my left.

These days, it`s the cameras doing the shooting here. The nature, the history, and proximity to danger draws thousands of tourists.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And where you see the trees in the far distance there, these trees there, they are in Syria.

LEE: The U.N. monitors tasked to keep the peace have also become part of the attraction.

No one here perhaps desperate for a fight, but all are aware of the possible dangers if the ghosts of the past catch up to the present.

Ian Lee, CNN, in the Golan Heights.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: History is set to be made on June 12th in the Asian country of Singapore. That`s the time and place when a sitting U.S. president will

meet and a sitting leader of North Korea. And it will be the first time ever that`s happened.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced this yesterday on Twitter. He previously indicated that he liked the idea of the meeting being held at

the demilitarized zone, the border between North Korea and South Korea. And those two countries wanted that too.

But top officials in the Trump administration wanted a place that was seen as more neutral than the border on Korean soil, or in a communist country

like China or Russia. So, Singapore, which is about 3,000 miles from the North Korea capital and 9,700 miles from the American capital, is the

place.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ (voice-over): Ten-second trivia:

Which of these countries shares a border with China and India?

Nepal, Iran, Bangladesh or Thailand?

The only nation here that shares a border with both China and India is Nepal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ: Going back to school now on CNN 10.

Next story takes place in Nepal, where a man who was born into a poor family and live too far away from school never got a formal education as a

child. But decades later, and as a grandfather, he`s getting one now.

Our friends at "Great Big Story" caught with him during his sophomore year.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DURGE KAMI, 69-YEAR-OLD GRANDFATHER: My name is Durge Kami, 10th grade, 69 years old.

SUBTITLE: The Senior Sophomore.

KAMI: It takes me an hour and 20 minutes to walk to school. School starts at 10:00 a.m. and ends at 4:00 p.m.

CLASS: Good morning, sir.

TEACHER: Good morning, everybody. Sit down.

CLASS: Thank you, sir.

KAMI: My favorite subjects are social studies and population. I like that.

Even though my teachers are younger than me, I respect them and behave like a student.

During lunch break, I love playing football and volleyball. When I play these games, my soul feels satisfied.

Then it takes me two hours to get home, uphill and downhill. In two hours, I get my homework done and study. Then I get tired, like an old man, and

fall asleep. The next day, I wake up and start the same thing again.

I really want to study further in the future. When I was a child, I didn`t attend school. There wasn`t a school nearby. At the time, education

wasn`t valued. With the wisdom of age, I want to sow the light of knowledge to everyone.

Coming into my old age, I realize it is important to be an example of hope and willpower to people all over the nation, internationally, to the lower

caste, to the youth, and the elderly, oh, we need to learn.

I want to lift people up. That`s why I`m studying.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: No matter how much you may like chocolate, there`s a time and a place to enjoy it and this ain`t it. It`s a highway in Poland where a

truck carrying 12 tons of milk chocolate overturned Wednesday, spilling dessert in both directions and shutting down all lanes.

No one was seriously hurt, and officials didn`t know immediately why the truck wrecked. The chocolate was expected to take hours to clean up. A

local official said it was harder to deal with than snow.

We hope clean up crews were ready to go-go. They butter move fast to Godiva right into it, because when you have a choco lot of syrup glazing

over a highway, and you Nestleave it there too long, it`s only a butter of time before it forms a Magic Shell.

I`m Carl Azuz, hoping your weekend is sweet y`all.

END