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CNN 10
New Drugs Give New Hope In Ebola Virus Outbreak; Economic Fear Prompts Sell-Off On Wall Street; Positive Athlete Series
Aired August 15, 2019 - 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, your source for objective explanations of the day`s news. I`m Carl Azuz at the CNN Center. We have
some medical news leading off today`s show. In the midst of the second deadliest outbreak of the Ebola virus, there could be a light at the end of
the tunnel. First, here`s what`s been going on. An Ebola outbreak was declared last summer in the Democratic Republic of Congo. That`s where the
disease was first identified in 1976 and the outbreak that started last year was at least the 10th one since then in the DRC.
One year later, more than 2,700 people in all have been infected and more than half of them have died. There`s no cure for Ebola. The virus`
symptoms usually include fever, body aches, stomach pain, vomiting and bleeding and without extensive protective gear anyone in close contact with
someone who`s infected is at risk. So what`s this silver lining? There are two new medical treatments available to Ebola patients and some doctors
say they`re highly effective. On average, Ebola kills half the people it infects but among 500 Ebola patients who received the new drug treatments
the death rate was between 29 percent and 34 percent and the news gets better.
For patients who were treated early enough with these drugs, researchers say the death rate drops to between six and 11 percent. So scientists
believe the drugs show a lot of promise in moving toward a cure. Over the past four decades, the Ebola virus has devastated communities and fueled
fear across central and western Africa.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Dr. Cameron Modae (ph) enters this exhausting battleground, where a transparent barrier isolates a
highly contagious Ebola patient from the outside world. The death rate in this outbreak nearly 70 percent. You know, sometimes you forget even for
myself. This is my third Ebola outbreak. The terror that this strikes into people, when people come here they feel they might die. In fact, they
believe there`s a good chance they will. But if they`re inside there, they`ll be able to see the eyes, the emotions, the care of the doctors and
also for the family members coming in, they`ll be able to interact with them. They`re no longer isolated in the same sense. They call these new
units the cube.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE THROUGH TRANSLATOR: The family can begin to trust us says Dr. Modea because they can see with their own eyes we are caring for
their loved ones.
MCKENZIE: It`s design, a hard lesson learned from the 2014 West African epidemic where Ebola killed more than 11,000. Sometimes all the world
knows is fear but they don`t look at the individual people.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE THROUGH TRANSLATOR: We need to treat these patients with empathy, he says. We need to treat them like they`re a member of the
family.
MCKENZIE: In the nearby creche, Ebola survivors now immune to the disease like Macima (ph) become family to young babies who wait to see if they`re
infected mothers will live or die. You have a smile on your face. Why do you have a smile on your face?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE THROUGH TRANSLATOR: My smile is the joy of being alive she says. I beat Ebola. I`m smiling to the god who gave me life.
MCKENZIE: Ebola is a disease that breeds unparalleled fear. Here at least, hope remains. David McKenzie, CNN (inaudible), Democratic Republic
of Congo.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: 10 Second Trivia. In economic terms, two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth is known as what? Depression, Deflation,
Recession, or Regression. When a country`s gross domestic product shrinks for two quarters in a row, a recession is underway.
Just the fear of the recession can cause stock markets to shutter. On Wednesday the Dow Jones Industrial Average, an index of 30 significant U.S.
stocks, dropped 800 points. And as you see on the left side of your screen, that`s more than three percent overall from where the Dow started
the day. The main reason was because of something called the Treasury Bond. On Wednesday morning, the 10 year Treasury Bond dropped just below
the two year Treasury Bond. OK. Why is that significant? Because every time that`s happened in recent decades, a recession has followed.
In fact, the last time the 10 and two year Treasury Bonds flipped was in 2007 at the beginning of the Great Recession, but this doesn`t necessarily
mean we`re at the dawn of a new one. The U.S. economy is strong. Unemployment is historically low. Consumer spending is high. These are
all good indicators for the economy. So a leading U.S. investment analyst expects the economy to slow down but not go into a recession despite the
Treasury Bond flip. Still, the change led investors to sell stock in companies and move it into bonds. A less risky place to keep money in
uncertain times and that`s what caused the stock market to take such a dive.
Positive Athlete. It`s an ongoing series that features high school students helping others whether they`re on or off the field and Rasha
Robbins (ph) is a great example. As a boy in the African nation of Uganda, he lost both his parents and was eventually adopted by an American woman.
Since moving to the U.S. five years ago, he`s worked to connect students from two continents.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(RASHA ROBBINS): My name is Rasha Robbins (ph) and I`m from Uganda. In Uganda, I pretty much played soccer basically every single day. I went to
school and then after school I would just play, you know, pick up soccer with some friends. You know, since I was little I loved the game and still
do. So now I play for the Atlanta United Youth 17 Academy Team that is part of the development academy and that`s the highest soccer level for
youth in the United States.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Rasha (ph) also really values school. He lived in a country until he was 11 where kids were begging to get to go to school.
And so, he would not put something above that opportunity to receive an education.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rasha (ph) was involved with the African Interactive (ph) Club which he started this year.
(ROBBINS): I started this club hoping that I could unite my classmates and students here at Lovett (ph) with kids I grew up with in Uganda.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rasha (ph) was able to garner a lot of support from some other students on campus here and - - and they`ve been able to do some
initiatives. Trading some art with those over at his old school in Africa and building relationships from his friends back in Uganda and - - and his
friends here at Lovett (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He said that the reason was because he wanted his friends and his peers at the Lovett (ph) School to experience what he has
which is the joy of interacting with those children in Uganda and in other countries in Africa. Also, he knows that - - that students here have a lot
of resources and he knows there`s a lot of joy in giving. Not just giving things away, but giving your time, giving your heart, giving your - - your
passion, he understands that - - that by having interaction it creates relationships that leads to a lot of growth on both ends of the spectrum,
both sides of the world.
(ROBBINS): Since I`ve moved to the U.S. I`ve really seen that so many kids have, you know, our closed minded and don`t really want to learn about
other people and their cultures. And I just kind of wanted to help these kids open themselves up to the world and to Africa and encourage them to
maybe, you know, help and just interact with kids their age and have fun.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: Unlike yours truly, not everyone in news wants to be on camera, take for instance this burrowing owl. It`s easy to see she ain`t happy about
reality TV. A hidden camera which obviously wasn`t hidden enough, was placed nearby the burrow to observe the animals in action. And even though
these creatures only grow to weigh about a third of a pound, they`re still strong enough to take out technology.
We know what the camera operator said. Looks like "owl" have to call tech support. We`ll have to "burrow" their expertise to fix a "owl function"
that occurred when a bird "seed" the camera and pushed it "beak" to a less "flightining" location. I`m Carl Azuz for CNN 10 and "owl" hope to see you
tomorrow.
END
