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Iran Faces Domestic and International Challenges; A Forecast Brings Hope to Part of Fire-Ravaged Australia; Houston Astros Baseball Team is Penalized for Cheating

Aired January 15, 2020 - 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: As we reached the midpoint of the week and the month, we`re thankful you`re taking 10 for CNN 10. I`m Carl Azuz.

A quote starts off today`s show. This is not an ordinary case and all of the world is looking at us.

Those are the words of the president of Iran. He was talking about the crash of a passenger plane last Wednesday, shortly after it took off from

an airport in the Iranian capital on its way to Ukraine.

At first, Iran said a technical problem was the reason why the plane went down. But the United States and other countries said Iran was responsible.

And after three days of denying it had any involvement, the Iranian government admitted that its military shut down the plane by mistake.

Since then, several arrests have been made. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said those responsible would be punished and protests swelled up in

the Iranian capital, with demonstrators chanting death to the dictator and asking for Iran`s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to step down.

Many of the protesters are angry because it took several days for the government to admit it was responsible. Dozens of them were arrested in the

demonstrations, which Iran`s government called illegal rallies.

Iranian President Rouhani says his government is accountable, and that an event like the plane`s destruction wouldn`t happen again.

All 176 people aboard the Ukraine International Airlines flight were killed. It was shot down shortly after Iran launched missile strikes on

Iraqi military bases where American troops were staying. That came after the U.S. killed a controversial Iranian general who was in Iraq.

Now, Iran`s government has internal challenges to deal with as it deals with international ones involving the U.S. and other countries.

Another big story we`ve been following this New Year, the widespread wildfires in Australia. We have some hopeful news about that. Badly needed

rain is in the forecast for the southeastern part of the country, where the fires have been worse. Firefighters don`t expect there`ll be enough rain to

soak the state of New South Wales and put out its fires. But it could bring some relief where there`s enough of it.

Meantime, the government of New South Wales is tossing thousands of pounds of sweet potatoes and carrots out of helicopters. It says this is to help

the brush-tailed rock wallabies who are likely to survive the fires but have less to eat if their vegetation is burned. So, Operation Rock Wallaby

is raining food from the air.

The quality of that air isn`t good. Smoke from the bushfires is causing problems for residents and some of the tennis players preparing for the

Australian Open in Melbourne. It`s one of many problems caused by fires in Southeast Australia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Here in New South Wales, we`re getting a bit of a break of the smoke that we`ve been breathing in

over the last several days. It really is exhausting when you`re outside for an extended period of time, breathing in that heavy smoke and there`d even

reports of birds falling out of trees because they can`t handle it, in places like Canberra, the Australian capital.

But for people who are able to breathe a bit better and get back to their homes, start assessing the damage, they`re realizing what a monumental task

lies ahead as they try to rebuild their lives.

(voice-over): In Wingello, Australia, nobody imagined the fire can move so quickly. The front line was miles away from David Bruggeman`s home and

store last week.

DAVID BRUGGEMAN, OWNER, WINGELLO VILLAGE STORE: But then we all saw the sky go red and we go, that`s not normal. Even the sound of the fire, like a

furnace, like a freight train right next to you.

RIPLEY: That familiar sound followed by a terrifying, almost apocalyptic scene. The Morton fire so intense it created its own weather, raining down

fiery embers on this village of about 500.

BRUGGEMAN: And it has exploding, fire everywhere and I thought the house is gone for sure.

RIPLEY: That picture you took you thought would be the last few ever took of this place.

BRUGGEMAN: Sure. I say, that`s it, it`s gone.

RIPLEY: A feeling shared Wingello fire captain Mark Wilson.

MARK WILSON, CAPTAIN, WINGELLO RURAL FIRE SERVICE: It`s different when it`s your own town. Like, I`ve been everywhere else, helped everywhere else

but the emotions and everything kick and going, yes, this is my house, my friends, my loved ones.

RIPLEY: Wilson`s team a volunteer firefighter battled throughout the night.

WILSON: It`s a feeling like you`re losing. You don`t realize how much you have saved until the next day. We saved well over 80 houses that night.

RIPLEY (on camera): Even the most seasoned firefighters say it doesn`t make sense how a house like this can be standing, the bushes are green, and

yet, just a few steps away, everything next door gone.

(voice-over): The fire danger is far from over.

WILSON: We`ve got a fire over at Peter and Simona`s.

RIPLEY: As temperatures heat up small fires reignite.

(on camera): But how quickly can a small, you know, hot spot turn into a dangerous situation?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very easy. Because we still have a lot of unburnt trees in this property, and very quick, especially with little breeze that picks

up.

RIPLEY (voice-over): Here in New South Wales, Australia`s hardest-hit state, the fire season is only halfway through.

BRUGGEMAN: With the shop, there`s no other shop here and we are center where everything is.

RIPLEY: Bruggeman says he`s doing everything he can to help neighbors who have lost everything.

BRUGGEMAN: We thought we should`ve lost about 50 houses and people dead, no one died, no one injured and we lost a dozen houses but all are taken

care of now. It`s a miracle. I call it`s the miracle of Wingello.

RIPLEY: Nobody knows how long that miracle will last.

(on camera): Insurance claims are already starting to pile up. The insurance council of Australia estimates more than a billion U.S. dollars

so far, a number undoubtedly that will rise in the coming days and weeks ahead as people get back to their homes and start to assess the damage.

Will Ripley, in Mittagong, New South Wales, Australia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ (voice-over): Ten-second trivia:

Who won Major League Baseball World Series in 2017?

Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Houston Astros or Kansas City Royals?

The Houston Astros defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in seven games to take the 2017 World Series.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: But now, that win is clouded by controversy and the Astros are being penalized for cheating in the 2017 season. The team`s manager and general

manager had been fired. The team has been fined $5 million and it`s lost its first and second round draft selections for the next two seasons.

Why?

A Major League Baseball investigation found that the Astros used the camera to steal the signs of the teams they played. Sign stealing is as old as

baseball itself. But Major League rules say you can`t use electronic devices to do it, and the league says in 2017, the Astros used the camera

in centerfield to decode what other teams` catchers were signaling and that info was passed along the Astros players. Sometimes a trash can was hit a

certain number of times to let a batter know what kind of pitch was coming.

Major League Baseball`s commissioner says virtually all of the Astros players had some knowledge or involvement in the scheme, but that he

couldn`t determine how much each player knew. He also says he couldn`t determine whether cheating helped the Astros win any games.

So, the team gets to keep its 2017 World Series title, though that angered fans of the Los Angeles Dodgers who lost the year`s series to the Astros.

Alex Cora who was the bench coach of the 2017 Astros was accused of being directly in the scheme, and he later became manager of the Boston Red Sox.

So, now, the league is investigating whether the Red Sox also used illegal sign stealing in 2017.

(MUSIC)

AZUZ: Before the selfie as we know it existed, a photographer started taking self portraits every day starting on January 2001. But Carl, that`s

almost exactly 20 years ago. Yes.

And now, he`s edited more than 7,200 photos in the video you`re about to see a clip off. It`s like a time lapse of a man`s face.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUBTITLE: Photographer Noah Kalina took a photo of himself almost every day for 20 years.

Between January 11, 2000 and January 11, 2020, he documented 7,263 days.

The project began in Kalina`s art school dorm room.

He has since traveled the world and moved several times, all documented in the background of his video.

Kalina says he will continue to release updates every 10 years for the rest of this life.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: Is it selfish? Well, it`s selfies.

And it`s amazing he`s been able to selfie stick with it so long. Some shutter at the thought of working ISO-hard to see them selfies age to a

lens. But if you`re Bokeh with the idea, you apersure of self, and you could focus long enough, the release of flash sync (ph) video with so much

depth, the field yield such a burst of achievement, it`s hard to control one selfie at the mirror image.

To our viewers at Renaissance Public Academy, it`s great to have you all watching from Molalla, Oregon. And thanks for subscribing and commenting at

YouTube.com/CNN10.

END