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CNN 10
Oil Tankers in the Strait of Hormuz; The Border Between Hong Kong and Mainland China; The Great Thermostat Debate; The Great Mattress Migration
Aired August 21, 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: Hi, I`m Carl Azuz and this is your 10 minute down the middle explanation of world news, AKA, CNN 10. Our first story
this Wednesday examines how oil tankers are functioning like chess pieces in global strains involving the United States and the Middle Eastern nation
of Iran. Last year, the Trump Administration pulled the U.S. out of a controversial nuclear deal concerning Iran. The international agreement
had been made in 2015 under the Obama Administration and while its supporters said it would put a pause on Iran`s efforts to build a nuclear
weapon. It`s critics said it didn`t go far enough to stop Iran`s nuclear ambitions.
Before the deal was made, the U.S. had sanctions in place, penalties on Iran that hurt the Middle Eastern nation`s economy. When the U.S. left the
deal last year those sanctions were put back in place and they`re once again taking a toll on Iran. The two countries have been threatening each
other since then. One of the latest incidents involved an Iranian oil tanker that was seized in Gibraltar last month. This is a British
territory in southern Spain. Authorities stopped the Iranian ship because they thought its cargo was headed somewhere illegal under European rules.
Iran said it wasn`t and two weeks after its ship was seized, Iran stopped a British flagged tanker that it says was sailing the wrong route in the
Middle East.
Iran`s government says this had no connection to Gibraltar but international observers think it was an act of revenge. Earlier this week,
Gibraltar released the Iranian ship after Iran and the owners of the ships oil promised it wouldn`t be taken anywhere it wasn`t supposed to go, but
the U.S. stepped in and tried to block the ship from sailing. The American government says it believes the ship was helping Iran`s revolutionary guard
corps, part of Iran`s government that the U.S. has labeled a foreign terrorist organization. European leaders haven`t labeled the revolutionary
guard corps a terrorist group, so they went ahead and let it go but what happens next? What about the British ship that Iran seized in the Middle
East? Clarissa Ward explains the importance of the Strait of Hormuz.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLARISSA WARD, CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We are here on Iran`s southern coast right on the Strait of Hormuz and this is a vitally
important passage point for nearly a third of the world`s crude oil. And a lot of eyes are right now here on this port city of Bandar Abbas because it
is here that a British tanker that was seized in late July is still being held. A lot of people now waiting to see if that tanker might be released
after authorities in Gibraltar finally released an Iranian tanker that they had been holding. But more broadly speaking, this is a hugely important
strategic spot for the Iranians because if Iran can stop the flow of crude oil here on the Strait of Hormuz, that has massive consequences for the
world`s oil prices and that is felt across the globe. That potentially gives Iran leverage at the negotiating table as this country continues to
chafe under the weight of U.S. sanctions. Clarissa Ward, CNN, Bandar Abbas, Iran.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: Social media company Twitter says it`s not going to allow anymore advertisements from government controlled media outlets like what you`d
find in China. Twitter said Monday it had identified a network of more than 900 accounts that originated in China and tried to stir up political
trouble in Hong Kong. In part by attempting to weaken the protest movement, we covered that story in depth on yesterday`s show. You can find
it in our archives at CNN10.com. Government controlled medial outlets will still be allowed to post on Twitter. They just can`t advertise on it.
China says it`s reasonable that Chinese media use social media to communicate with locals, tell stories about China and introduce Chinese
policies. This is another facet to the unrest concerning Hong Kong and mainland China and the tensions between them are palpable at their border.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So over the past several weeks, we have heard a lot of anecdotal evidence from friends, other
journalists that here at the mainland China-Hong Kong border it`s actually harder to get across. There`s a lot more security checks. People have had
their phones checked, their laptops checked. So we wanted to see for ourselves what`s going on. The speculation amongst travelers we spoke to
is that any increased border security is related to the months of violent protests in Hong Kong. We saw security changes right away. This is our
cameraman being temporarily detained by police while crossing the border.
So we just made it through the first border checkpoint into Hong Kong and our camera woman Natalie (ph) was detained and questioned for roughly 40
minutes. The officer specifically said it had nothing to do with Hong Kong and that it was random but in her nine years as a journalist in China, that
is the first time that she`s ever been questioned at a border checkpoint. From there we went to the West Kowloon Train Station, a key cross border
transportation hub asking people about the security situation there was difficult.
We tried to speak to more than two dozen people about the border and not one of them agreed to go on camera and in my experience I`m not surprised.
They were nervous to talk about something so sensitive to Chinese authorities. Seven people did speak to us off camera though, all frequent
travelers across the border. They said security had increased. All have had their phones searched and one woman who attended a protest said
officers erased videos from that day. In all said, these measures only started after the protests began which we experienced ourselves on the way
back into China.
So we just made it through mainland China immigration, we`re now on the train back to Shenzhen. It was not an easy process. The team was
questioned and detained for the better part of an hour. We were asked why we were in Hong Kong. What stories were we doing there? Why were we going
back to mainland China? One of the team members actually was given a full body search and you know, this just doesn`t usually happen when you enter
and exit China and we weren`t the only ones facing increased scrutiny. In fact, we saw mainland Chinese and Hong Kongers after going through
immigration being asked to re-verify their identifications and some of them even had their phones searched.
CNN asked the public security bureau for comment but didn`t hear back though multiple officers on the ground told us the searches were random and
not connected to the protests. But look, immigration officers searching phones at borders or increasing security because of social unrest is not
unusual around the world. But the fact is, the Hong Kong-China border is far more on edge as Hong Kong`s summer of dissent continues. Matt Rivers,
CNN, Shenzhen, China.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: 10 Second Trivia. In 1883, Warren Johnson received a patent for what invention? Electric thermostat, typewriter, vacuum cleaner of
ballpoint pen. The namesake of Johnson Controls got a patent for the first electric thermostat.
There is no debate that it takes energy to run your air conditioner in the summer heat and it raises your electric bill to lower the temperature. But
there is a debate taking place over what the best temperatures are when you`re at home. Energy Star, a U.S. government program that aims to help
Americans save energy recommends that the coolest you should keep your house during the day is 78 degrees. It also recommends turning on the
ceiling fan that doing that can make the room feel four degrees cooler. Now people can debate all day long about what the most comfortable
temperature is, whether 78 would work for them with or without a fan and that`s just whatever`s comfortable for you but here`s where things get a
little controversial.
Energy Star says when you`re asleep if you want to save energy you should keep the temperature at 82 degrees. There`s a big difference between that
and what`s recommended by the National Sleep Foundation. It says the best temperature for sleeping is between 60 and 67 degrees because this helps
your body cool off to fall asleep and stay that way. Of course, the two different organizations have two different priorities. One being saving
energy and money and the other being getting better sleep but while there`s certainly no one right answer for every person. The guidelines of 60
degrees at the low end and 82 degrees at the high end along with the electric bills they bring can help you determine what`s best for your body
and your budget.
When air mattresses go air born. 10 out of 10. At a "Movie Under the Stars" event in Colorado, people brought the air mattresses to relax on but
then a storm blew up and a man swimming in a nearby pool said mattresses began blowing in over the fence. He grabbed his camera and captured what
one observer called the "Great Mattress Migration of 2019". What witnesses say looked like between 50 and 100 beds tumbling like tumbleweeds across
the land.
Glad he was able to "inner spring" into action and keep an even "temper" with the "material". It might make some "plush" but you`d never been
"headboard" of watching it. The video is "framed" well and made a "dream like memory foam" the "aired tumbed" weeds. I`m Carl Azuz laying down news
and puns on CNN 10.
END
