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CNN 10
Issues Concerning the "Brexit"; A High-Speed Rail Line that Runs Through Israel; The Work of a Positive Athlete
Aired September 21, 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: Name: Carl Azuz. Occupation: news anchor. Tagline: Fridays are awesome.
Welcome to CNN 10.
First to international event we`re explaining today concerns a breakup. The European Union is composed of 28 European countries. They have an
economic and political partnership, but in June of 2016, voters in the United Kingdom decided their country would leave the European Union. This
became known as the Brexit, as in British exit from the E.U.
It is a very complicated process. For instance, European Union countries trade with each other without tariffs on goods. When Britain leaves the
E.U., will it have those taxes reinstated when trading with the rest of Europe?
Immigration, legal decisions, relationships with other countries, all of this has to be worked out, and the deadline for an agreement between
Britain and the European Union has been set for March 29. If one is reached, it could mean a smoother transition for Britain in Europe if
everyone knows what to expect.
But it has some sticking points. One of them is Northern Ireland. It`s part of the United Kingdom and it would leave the E.U. with the rest of
Britain while the Republican of Ireland would stay in the E.U. Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland are on the same island. Would a hard
or controlled border need to be rebuilt between these two sides? There used to be one when there were decades of conflict between them.
A peace deal in 1998 called the Good Friday Agreement led to the open border that you`re about to see.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: This right here is the border between the North of Ireland on this side of the road and the South
of Ireland on this road. The road here is quite literally the border. There`s no razor wire, there`s no checkpoints, there`s no customs post
here. There is in turn (ph) between North and South about 310 miles of border and it is crisscrossed by about 300 to 400 different roads.
But Brexit could bring a change to all of that because Theresa May, the British prime minister, has said that Brexit means leaving the European
Union, leaving a single market, which throws open the question of what happens to this border?
Twenty years ago, this used to be an army base here. The border just along the road there, and it was one of many army bases that control the border.
A lot of those little lanes that we`re looking at there, they were blown off, couldn`t be used. That building over there, the army used to that for
checking the vehicles, a sort of customs post if you like.
But now, since the Good Friday Peace Agreement that ended the violence, ended the need for the army, this road here, it`s opened up again -- in
fact, to business, if you will. And there`s a real economic benefit going on here. This town was beginning to thrive again.
Today, border crossings like this one on the main highway have never been so busy. More than a million vehicles a month crossing over all these
borders. One and a half billion dollars worth of trade between Britain and the Republic of Ireland.
No one wants to lose this economic benefit of an open border. The Irish government says that the border should not become hard. The British
government, with this negotiation, is in a very difficult position right now. The European Union supports the Irish government, the borders, they
want them open for trade.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ (voice-over): Ten-second trivia:
A bit of geography quiz today. Which of these nations is located between Egypt and Jordan?
Israel, Libya, Saudi Arabia or Syria?
Only the nation of Israel shares a border with Egypt and Jordan.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: Israel has a new high speed rail line that`s an engineering marvel. Miles of bridges had to be built. Miles of tunnels had to be bored.
And it`s traversing controversy as well. The rail line has two mostly underground sections that pass through disputed territory and officials
have plans to extend it inside Jerusalem`s Old City, which is holy to Christians, Jews and Muslims.
This area`s first electric railway is scheduled to open to the public in the weeks or months ahead. If that sounded vague, it`s because the
tremendous project has seen delays for years, though it should reduce delays for thousands of commuters.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This train is the largest transportation project in Israel, costing a whopping $2 billion. When you get on board,
you`re stepping into the future, alongside the past. It will be the quickest for pilgrims to get to the holy city of Jerusalem or a businessman
going to tech hub of Tel Aviv for a meeting. It`s also going to reduce the commute between the Mediterranean planes and the Judean hills, which
usually takes about an hour to two to less than 30 minutes.
This project, though, has been delayed. It`s 10 years behind schedule. Officials blame bureaucratic problems that they`ve encountered, but they
hope to have 50,000 people riding this train a day at its peak.
This project truly is immense. There`s 14 kilometers of tunnels and bridges, like one we`re traveling through right now. But it isn`t without
controversy. This tunnel runs through the West Bank.
Something also that is interesting is that the train station in Jerusalem is one of the top five deepest in the world, and was built to withstand a
nuclear blast. And you won`t be able to ride alongside me anytime soon, as it`s expected to be opened to the public in the next few months.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AZUZ: CNN`s "Positive Athlete" series highlights high school students who overcome adversity or help others do that across the U.S. If that sounds
like someone you know, you can nominate him or her at CNN.com/positiveathlete.
Lamont Smith is someone who`s reaching from his hometown of Duluth, Georgia, to people in need several states away.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JACKIE SMITH, LAMONT`S MOTHER: Lamont started getting involved in basketball when he was about 5 years old.
LAMONT SMITH, POSITIVE ATHLETE: Basketball teaches more than what you`re just doing in the court, like it teaches about life that you don`t even
realize that you`re learning.
MARK WRIGHT, LAMONT`S COACH: He`s a floor general. He understands the game inside and out. Off the court, he`s an amazing kid. He`s big in the
community, he knows what he`s doing as far health and relief and he really cares about people in general.
L. SMITH: When I was about sixth grade, a house down the street caught on fire right before Christmastime. There was a little boy, who`s like 5, 6
years old, and (INAUDIBLE) Xbox. I have one already but I like I barely play it so I did his present. As a kid, I pretty much got everything I
wanted. So, when they told me that, I just gave him the Xbox like you can have it, Christmas gift.
J. SMITH: Hurricane Harvey, one of his old teammates, him and his family happened to move to Houston, and when he saw the devastation, he was like,
mom, Andrew and his family is down there, can we just do it? Can we just do it? I just want to help people.
L. SMITH: The school, the community sent clothes that they no longer wore. We packed up a couple of tractor trailers, sent them down to Houston, flew
down there and organize everything and how to drive at the church and gave out a lot of stuff to a good amount of people who shown.
J. SMITH: What we took to Houston, we did truckloads of water. We took diapers, any type of toiletries, we collect the clothes, we did basically
anything that you would need for your every day household.
L. SMITH: I believe in good karma, so I feel like if you do help out, something would come in the future, which I know (ph). I mean, all in all,
it`s just a good thing to do. I don`t see why you wouldn`t want to give back.
J. SMITH: He`s just like, OK, we`ve done it. What are we going to do next? He doesn`t take it us anything to get glory out of it, and that`s
what I think I love about him so much.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(MUSIC)
AZUZ: What`s harder than moving from one house to another?
Moving a house from one place to another. The Collinwood house, the oldest home in Plano, Texas, was just moved to its new home across town. And it
wasn`t moving quickly and at one point, it got stuck.
But it`s part of a family legacy. This house was originally built in 1861 by the great, great-grandfather of a man who helped buy it back just this
year. He reported has plans to restore it.
Some people home in on keeping a house and a family. It`s their shingle most important thing. And it`s easy to roof for them. A home is more than
window dressing. Its doors are always open to opportunity and a good house plan goes up in frames.
I`m Carl Azuz for CNN 10. Your home for objective news and puns that bring the house down.
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