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What`s Happening Beneath the Surface of Hawaii`s Kilauea Volcano; Rising Gas Prices; CNN Hero Neal Bermas

Aired May 14, 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: Great to see you watching as we kick off a new week of CNN 10. Our season runs through Friday June 1st. So, we have

three weeks left on air, starting today.

And we start today with a by-the-numbers look at the dangerous situation on Hawaii`s big island. That`s where the notoriously active Kilauea volcano

has been erupting again for about a week and a half now.

The first number we have is almost 2,000. It`s how many residents have been evacuated since the volcano started this eruption. Dozens of homes

have been destroyed by lava.

Next, 12. That`s the distance in miles away from the crater that ash plumes could cover if an explosive eruption occurs. Scientists expect more

of those in the days ahead and new lava flows are also possible.

Two-point-nine million is the estimated cost in dollars that Hawaiian officials expect will be needed to protect residents affected by the

eruption and that`s for the next 30 days. U.S. President Donald Trump declared a major disaster in Hawaii on Friday. What does that is free up

federal money and resources to help those affected.

Eighteen is the number of fissures, cracks on the ground where lava is seeping or spewing out, all caused by this eruption. Some of the fissures

are miles away from Kilauea`s crater itself.

And that last number here is 1924. That`s the year when the Kilauea Volcano last behaved like this, according to some scientists. It was

active for about three weeks then, sending ash high into the air and blasting blocks, weighing as much as 14 tons.

Now for a scientific look at how this eruption is playing out beneath the surface.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN CABRERA, CNN METEOROLOGIST: This is the layout here of Leilani Estates. There`s the evacuation zone. There are the closed roads. The

new fissures have impacted the eastern area. So, we`ll continue to monitor that, but this whole area, folks have been taken out of the way with good

reason as you can imagine, as these things continue to pop out just every few hours, every day or so.

This is the lake, of course. This is the account (ph) that I`ve been showing you the last few days, noticing that as the lake drained its lava,

it went underground and that`s the lava that`s coming up to the fissures. I think again, that`s going to be the main threat.

Notice as this continues to go down over the last several days, and one of our last pictures here, we can`t see the lava anymore. That`s an infrared

camera, so the red you`re seeing there, that`s basically just heat signature here.

So, as that lava drops into the crater and into the basically a water table, let`s talk about what could potentially happen as far as this

explosive eruption here as we check in with our volcano. There`s the lava and again what happens is, you get these rocks that will continue to fall

down and that will create a blockage. And I don`t have to tell you what happens with the kinds of temperatures we`re seeing in here. We`re talking

about temperatures well into 1,500 to 2,000 Celsius, right?

Those rocks blocking that passageway at some point are going to give and once that goes into the water tables as you see there, we`re going to have

-- watch out -- quite an explosion here.

But again, I`m really not too concerned about this. It`s going to be a spectacular eruption when it happens, but I think, Cyril, because they have

evacuated people out of the way, these boulders would sometimes can be the size of a school bus are not going to be impacting many folks. This is

going to be within a few meters of the crater here and before that happens, you must imagine people will be getting out of the way, and that`s why they

closed the National Volcano Park there in the big island.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

What is the biggest factor in the price of gasoline?

Taxes, crude oil, distribution or refining costs?

The cost of crude oil is by far the biggest factor in what you pay for a gallon of gasoline.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNNMONEY, CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hitting the road? This will likely be the most expensive summer driving season in

years. Filling up the tank will cost 14 percent more than last summer. Summer gas already tends to be more expensive, because federal and state

laws require cleaner fuel for the busy and hot summer months.

But what else goes into the cost of filling up?

Well, those refining costs and profits are the smallest slice of what you pay at the pump. There`s also the cost of shipping and selling the gas

itself and that depends on where you live. So do taxes, they make up about a fifth of the cost of your gasoline. But the biggest factor, it`s the

price of crude oil and it`s rising.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: There`s several reasons for that. One, the global economy is improving. When that`s at good shape, the demand for oil increases,

causing its price to rise.

Two, political instability. Economic trouble in Venezuela, the ongoing civil war in Syria, uncertainty over the Iran nuclear deal, all of these

things can cause oil prices to go up.

Three, major exporters of oil are pumping less of it. Some of them like Saudi Arabia want crude prices to be higher. Countries whose economies are

dependent on oil sales generally have higher revenues when crude prices go up.

A downside to all of this though is what happens here.

The American Automobile Association says the U.S. national average for a gallon of gas is $2.86. That`s 52 cents higher per gallon than it was a

year ago. And though it`s nowhere near the record of $4.11, hit in 2008, gas prices can eventually hurt the U.S. economy if they climb too high.

Next story is about a CNN Hero named Neal Bermas, a businessman who`d traveled the world but was stopped suddenly by something he saw in Vietnam

back in 1999. It led him to create STREETS International, an organization that offers help with the career path to threatened people between the ages

of 16 and 22. By the end of this year, almost 250 people will have completed the program.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NEAL BERMAS, CNN HERO: I first came to Vietnam almost 20 years ago. There were bands of these four homeless kids on the streets and they were begging

for milk, not for money. It touched me in the way that I couldn`t divorce myself from it.

What`s this fish called? Is it sea bass, no?

I`m a classic New Yorker. I`m passionate and I`m full of energy. I also did a lot of consulting for hotels and restaurants.

I knew the opportunities and so I thought, well, we start to build a bridge here in Vietnam. I was just crazy enough to think that I could make that

happen and here we are.

Hello, everybody.

CROWD: Hello!

BERMAS: The young people in our program come from the whole country, all kinds of very, very difficult past. We have kids with HIV background, kids

from leprosy villages. Some were already been trafficked sometimes more than once.

The banana breads are done.

(LAUGHTER)

BERMAS: We offer a structured program for 18 months, either in culinary or hospitality, and a very extensive and important life goes program.

Eating healthy.

English language instruction is a big part of what we do.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If I have good English, I can talk to the guests.

BERMAS: You`ll do great.

Beautiful.

The flagship eatery is our restaurant. It`s traditional Vietnamese food.

We have a rather large stretch of a campus between the housing where our young people live, our training center, our three different eateries. So,

all the kids get a bicycle when they come to the program.

Part of the process of selecting and then getting to know our trainees is we see wherever they`re from.

How is mom?

All the young people in our program come from poverty. Poverty without enough to eat. Poverty without electricity, without plumbing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Before, we hungry a lot in my family here.

Mr. Neal, he help me to know about how to cooking and English, listening. I get a good job so I had get some money for my family now.

BERMAS: She was employee of the year last year. She just finished STREETS a few years ago. It`s an amazing story.

We raised the aspirations of the whole village and the whole village starts to think about, oh, maybe my kid too.

At the end of 18 months, 100 percent of our kids are fully employed, mostly in four and five star international hotels.

There were certainly moments I thought, are you sure you really want to give up the Upper West Side of Manhattan and come live in Vietnam? But,

of course, I did and it was probably the best if not certainly the most meaningful decision I made in my adult life.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: There are a whole lot of people in this world who love pandas just because they`re cute. Whether or not you agree with them, you can`t say

pandas are graceful, at least not this one at the national zoo. First, he gets stuck and then hilariously covers his head like he`s ashamed, and

after a few moments, the inevitable happens.

The zoo says he`s fine, that pandas are built to withstand falls from trees and shortly afterward, he`s up climbing again.

Panda fall, panda go bamboom! May fall he should try a different tree, like one strong as oak, a type less willowy that wouldn`t cause whipping,

one more spruce up. There are deciduously better options, someone should have a coniference with him so he doesn`t get left in the larch.

I`m Carl Azuz for CNN 10.

END