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CNN 10
Ceasefire in Yemen; CNN Hero of the Year; Australian Woman Skydives At 102
Aired December 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: Welcome to CNN 10. I`m Carl Azuz. And if for some reason you don`t like hearing me saying Friday`s are awesome at least
you won`t have to hear it again until January 3rd. This is our last show of the 2018 Fall season. It starts in the Middle Eastern country of Yemen.
After more than three years of war there, the sides that are fighting have agreed to a ceasefire in Hadath. That`s just one city in Yemen but here`s
why this is significant. Hadath is a port. It`s held by the rebels who are fighting the Yemeni government. It`s under siege by the forces that
support that government and Hadath is an entry point for 70 percent of the humanitarian aid that Yemen gets from other countries.
It needs it. In addition to the devastation caused by the war, the United Nations says that Yemen is the site of the world`s worst famine in 100
years and 20 million people there are said to be hungry. The ceasefire`s one of the agreements that was reached this past week in Sweden where the
two sides fighting Yemen`s war have been meeting. They`ve been having their first direct talks in more than two years. And along with the
ceasefire in Hadath, they agreed to exchange a number of prisoners and to try to reduce violence around another Yemeni city.
The civil war extends well beyond the nation`s borders. Saudi Arabia supports Yemen`s government. Iran supports the rebels who are fighting
Yemen`s government. The civilians who are caught in the crossfire are suffering.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yemen, one of the poorest countries in the Arab world has been engulfed by a bloody civil war for years. Thousands have been
killed and millions displaced in the worst humanitarian crisis on earth. It all started when a political transition meant to bring stability to the
country failed. Once presided over by an authoritarian President Ali Abdullah Saleh, corruption in the country was rife. Amongst widespread
discontent, a minority Shiite group from the north came along, the Houthi rebels.
In 2011 masses took to the streets in protest of dictators throughout the Middle East. It was the hour of spring. As a result, Dictator Saleh was
forced to hand over power to Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi in November 2011 but the shaky transition traded unemployment, food insecurity and suicide bombers.
The capital Sana`a was taken over by the rebels in 2014. Hadi was forced into exile. The turning point came in March 2015 when a Saudi led
coalition began a military intervention in Yemen. Iran backed Houthis on one side and U.S. backed Saudi led Pro-Hadi coalition on the other.
The crisis escalated into a multi-sided war which allowed (inaudible) and ISIS to grow stronger and led to chaos. The conflicts impact on the
population has been devastating. Tens of thousands of people have died. Half of the hospitals are damaged or reduced to ruble and more than half of
the population lacks access to clean water and basic hygiene. Cholera is pandemic and out of control. Both sides of the conflict using food as a
weapon of war. A brutal air, land and sea blockade by the Saudi Arabia led coalition makes food too expensive for most civilians.
With 14 million people at risk of starvation, Yemen is on the brink of the world`s worst famine in 100 years. Save the Children estimates that some
85,000 people may have already starved to death. Malnutrition and poor access to healthcare makes living conditions even worse. At least 3
million people have already fled their homes. Western journalists are largely blocked from entering the country to bare witness to the horrors of
the conflict and Yemen`s war is often called a "silent war", a "forgotten war".
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARL AZUZ: 10 Second Trivia. Which of these South American countries has the largest population? Chile, Ecuador, Peru, or Uruguay. With 31 million
people, Peru doesn`t have the largest population on the continent but it does have the largest on this list.
And if you saw the CNN Heroes All-Star Tribute Sunday night, you already know that it`s a doctor from Peru who was chosen as CNN`s Hero of the Year.
The work of Ricardo Pun-Chong has extended well beyond giving medical care. He opened a shelter in the Peruvian capital of Lima where sick children and
their families can stay while the kids get their medical treatments. It doesn`t cost them anything and it provides the less fortunate who traveled
from near and far with food, a place to sleep and as Dr. Pun-Chong puts it, a lot of love.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Since we announced the Top 10 Heroes we gave you the opportunity to vote for the hero who inspires you the most. The hero with
the most votes will receive an additional $100,000 to continue their life changing work.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Ladies and gentlemen, the 2018 CNN Hero of the Year is Dr. Ricardo Pun-Chong.
(APPLAUSE)
DR. RICARDO PUN-CHONG: (inaudible) while I`ll try to do my best in English. Thank you for my volunteers that helped these 10 years at our
shelter. Thank you for all the people that knocked the door and give us rice or beans or some money. That`s why because we are here tonight
because people believe in us. Thanks to my mom, to my father and to my brother, my mentor, my brother Luis. Because they told me what to do in
this life. And thank you to all of you. Thank you so much. We can start building now our new shelter with this - - with this prize and we can
triple our assistants, our support. Thank you so much CNN. Thank you so much everybody.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARL AZUZ: On her 100th birthday, an Australian woman named Irene O`Shea celebrated by going skydiving. On her 102nd birthday which she recently
celebrated, O`Shea might have just set a record for being the oldest person to jump out of a plane. She`s not just doing it for fun. She does these
jumps to raise awareness about Motor Neuron Disease which her daughter had.
Waiting at the bottom of her 14,000 foot jump were her grandchildren and great-grandchildren who probably say when it comes to Irene`s bravery, "the
sky`s the limit". We`re not sure why skydiving struck a "ripcord" with her. Maybe she tried it and just "fell" for it. Maybe her heads in the
"clouds". Maybe that`s why it all too "cumulated" in a serious desire to take the "plunge" without "stratosphere". And she had more than 100 good
reasons to just "skydive" on in.
Our staff and I wish you all a very Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy New Year and we "ho, ho, hope" to have you watching again when CNN 10
returns on January 3rd, 2019. I`m Carl Azuz.
END
