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American and North Korean Diplomats Conclude Talks in Sweden; U.S. Sees a Spike in EEE Virus Cases; New Tech Helps Scientists Examine Ancient Scrolls
Aired October 07, 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: Seven days into October, we thank you for taking the time to watch CNN 10. My name is Carl Azuz. Our down the middle
coverage of down the middle events begins with a recap of a recent meeting between delegates from the United States and North Korea. Those two
countries have been rivals since the Korean War took place in the early 1950s` but U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un
have met twice since last summer, making history in the process. They`ve been trying to see if they can establish a lasting diplomatic relationship
and lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula. There`s been no major agreement yet. A key issue between them is North Korea`s nuclear program.
The country sees that as its right. The international community, which includes the U.S., sees the program as illegal and America has put strict
sanctions in place. Limits on parts of North Korea`s economy that are intended to pressure the communist country to give up its nuclear program.
North Korea wants those sanctions removed but timing has been the sticking point. North Korea wants all of the American sanctions lifted before the
country gives up its nuclear weapons. The U.S. wants North Korea to get rid of its nuclear weapons before the sanctions are lifted. So its an
issue of who makes the first move. The two sides have continued negotiating though. Over the weekend, American and North Korean delegates
met in Sweden for talks at the working level, meaning neither of the countries leaders or top officials were there but negotiators from both
sides were. So how did the talks go? That depends on whom you ask.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The working level talks between the U.S. and North Korea ended in Stockholm, Sweden and judging
from the responses from both sides, you could imagine they were completely different meetings. This often happens between the U.S. and North Korea.
We heard from the North Koreans that there were no fresh ideas. That they were very upset that these talks had broken down and we heard from the U.S.
side that they had a very good discussion and they were plenty of fresh ideas. So what we heard from Kim Myong-Gil, he`s the - - the - -the North
Korean who is leading the delegation. He says the U.S. was sticking to old attitudes and old ideas.
Now what we can read into that is that potentially the U.S. was not willing to ease sanctions immediately before seeing any concrete moves from the
North Korean side, but we did hear from - - from the U.S. side, Steve Biegun was leading those discussions. We heard from a State Department
spokesperson saying that they don`t believe the North Korean comments actually characterized the eight and a half hour discussion. They said
there were good discussions. There were fresh ideas. They also said that Sweden had invited them back in two weeks time to continue the discussions
and they believed that - - that was going to happen.
From the North Korean side they said that the - - the - - the U.S. should - - should go away and should think about what it has done and decide by the
end of the year if it was going to come up with anything new. Also saying that they are now at a crossroads of dialogue, or confrontation. Now this
is not the first time that this has happened. A very different idea of the discussions at hand but at least the two sides had discussed for eight and
a half hours which is one good sign. Whether they meet in another couple weeks, we simply don`t know. Paula Hancocks, CNN, Hong Kong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: In an average year between five and 10 people in America get sick with a virus called Eastern Equine Encephalitis. It`s a disease carried by
mosquitoes. This year there`ve already been 32 cases, mostly in the northeastern U.S. and its particularly alarming since the virus kills about
30 percent of those who get infected. Scientists say most outbreaks of EEE take place from the late spring through early fall, but they don`t know why
this outbreak is worse than previous ones. EEE is carried in birds. Mosquitoes that them and also bite humans can spread it. Experts say
there`s a large population of birds in Massachusetts that have no immunity to the virus so that could be a starting point.
The virus itself might have mutated to spread more easily. Also there was a lot of humidity and heat in the northeast this summer. Mosquitoes thrive
in those conditions and scientists say a hard frost will kill off the insects when it hits. Until that happens, they recommend using insect
repellants, wearing long pants and long sleeves and staying indoors from dusk to dawn when mosquito activity is highest. In fact, the University of
Connecticut had a football game scheduled for 7pm on Saturday. They moved it up to noon over concerns about EEE. Rhode Island is another state being
effected.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: While a Rhode Island baseball team squeezes in a late summer practice, up above something is happening in the state for the first
time in nearly 30 year. Aerial spraying to kill mosquitoes, a last line of defense in the state`s fight against triple E.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are certain conditions like this year where we have to go above and beyond those normal measures because people`s health
is at risk.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Eastern Equine Encephalitis, or triple E is a virus transmitted by mosquitoes through a mosquito bite and can cause a rare
brain infection, sometimes death.
AL GETTMAN, ENTOMOLOGIST: I have a couple, three at least candidate female mosquitoes in here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Al Gettman is an entomologist for the state. He studied mosquitoes for 27 years tracking their habitats and what diseases
they could carry like West Nile and triple E.
You`re around mosquitoes all the time. Are you alarmed by this spike that we`re seeing?
GETTMAN: Well, yes. This is a very, very unusual year we`re having here in southern New England. Nothing quite like this has been observed before
where EEE has become so widespread.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At least 30 people have become ill in six states this year after being bitten by mosquitoes carrying triple E. Eleven of them
have died. Finding answers as to why the widespread spike starts with catching mosquitoes.
You`re laying more traps now at the direction of the state. Why?
GETTMAN: We all want to know, in this very unusual year, how much EEE is out there. Where is it? What species of mosquito is it in? Etcetera.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Gettman leaves the traps overnight and by next morning - -
GETTMAN: Well that`s a good mosquito catch for this time of year.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Next, it`s back to the lab where those mosquitoes are frozen and separated by species.
GETTMAN: That`s our weekly routine is produce these vials and get them up to our state health department.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where the mosquitoes are ground up and tested for the presence of triple E. The results inform state officials about next steps
on how to combat the disease. It`s a process repeated every summer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We really can`t predict it`s going to be a bad summer.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: While the disease is cyclical and outbreaks happen every few years, officials say determining why it`s setting records now
will take time.
What would you say to people that are really worried?
GETTMAN: The threat is out there. That`s certain. The obvious message to the public is to remain vigilant and protect yourself from mosquito bites
for the rest of the season.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: 10 Second Trivia. Herculaneum was an ancient city buried by the eruption of what volcano? Mount Etna, Santa Maria, Mount Vesuvius, or
Galeras. In A.D. 79, Herculaneum was one of several cities destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
Scientists from the University of Kentucky are trying to use new technology to get a read on some ancient Roman scrolls. The papyrus scrolls were
discovered in the ruins of Herculaneum in 1752 but no one`s been able to read them because they were charred in the first century eruption of
Vesuvius, and physically trying to unroll the scrolls could ruin them completely. So here`s what researchers are doing. First, they used a
synchrotron an incredibly powerful source of x-rays to take detailed pictures of the delicate scrolls.
Next, they`re using a computer program to look through the images in the hopes that it will be able to tell the difference between the layers of
papyrus and the ink that`s on them. It could take more than six month to do this but if it works it could unravel anything from an ancient Christian
text to a Greek philosophical text to a first century grocery list. There`s just no telling what`s on it but the leader of the research team
says if we`ve made the effort to save the scroll, we should try to read it.
Lamborghini Aventador, unless you find one on sale for like, say 97 percent off you won`t find one for $20,000. But that`s how much a father and son
say they`ve spent building this one. The dad is a physicist who works with lasers. That probably helped in the 3D printing of the car`s pieces which
were then glued together. It has a Corvette engine and it could be finished after two years of work. They hope it will get others interested
in engineering.
Maybe one day they`ll drive it or one day they`ll dread it but even if it`s not real you got to "laborgivethem" credit. Three D printing a car may
seem a little `quicksotic" but it`s a whole new "third dimension" of exotic. You can get "galarda" power from a "lasora" hemi and you`ll have a
"mura" image of a lighting Lamborghini. It brings the cost down to something more affordable. A carbon fiber copy that`s "advent adorable".
I`m Carl Azuz on the loose for CNN.
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