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U.S. Economic Measure Sets A Record for Growth; Firefighting Robot Aims to Save Lives; Nigeria`s First Female Mechanic Helps Others. Aired 4- 4:10a ET

Aired October 30, 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: Hi, I`m Carl Azuz for CNN 10 and Fridays are awesome. Buckle up you all because we`re taking a ride on a rollercoaster

called the U.S. economy and where it`s headed nobody knows. Here`s the good news. The U.S. Commerce Department says between July and September, the

economy grew a lot. The biggest measure of economic activity is the nation`s growth domestic product, the total value of the goods and services

the country produces, and the government says America`s GDP grew by 7.4 percent in the summer months. That`s a record. Never since the government

started keeping track of the GDP in 1947 has the economy grown that much in a single quarter.

And that growth came at a faster rate than economists had predicted. A major factor in this was the lifting of the lockdowns. When businesses and

retail stores were allowed to open their doors again after the mandatory closures of the Spring, that had the goal of slowing the spread of

coronavirus. So, what`s the bad news? Well virus cases in most states are on the rise. Economic analysts are concerned that could put a drag on the

economy once again. When comparing the number of jobs in America, the Labor Department says there were 10.7 million fewer jobs in September than there

were in February. And even though America`s GDP grew by 7.4 percent in the summer, it had dropped by 9 percent in the Spring.

So, the economy still has ways to go to get back to how things were before the virus struck and the future is hard to predict for several reasons.

One, there`s an election coming up in four days. We don`t know how it will shape the government`s economic plans moving forward. Two, COVID-19 hasn`t

gone away. We don`t know if or how it will impact consumer spending moving forward. Three, France just imposed another national lockdown through the

end of November. Similar to what Germany did earlier this week. Could that happen again in the United States? All of these are events that could have

a major impact on the future of the economy.

As the sun rose on Thursday over Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia, more than 2.5 million homes and businesses had no electricity.

That was just one of the effects of Hurricane Zeta following its landfall the day before and its race across the southeastern U.S. This was a very

fast-moving system. In one way, that`s good because it didn`t sit too long over any one area lashing it for hours with wind and rain. In another way,

it made the storm worse because it was able to carry its strength far inland.

Zeta made landfall in Cocodrie, Louisiana but 500 miles away Atlanta, Georgia was under a tropical storm warning for the first time in two years.

All along Zeta`s path it left a trail of damage. At least three deaths were blamed on the storm and though Zeta was officially a Category 2 hurricane

when it hit the Gulf Coast. Its sustained wind speeds of 110 miles per hour put it right on the cusp of Category 3 status.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These large fires sometimes cause us to back out our firefighters because we`re concerned about the potential for a building

collapse. It also can be used for searching for people in large collapsed buildings, horse rescues, fuel tanker fires on the freeway, fires in

refineries and many others. So, the utilization of the RS-3 will number one, enhance firefighter safety. It will enable us to sustain a long term

interior aggressive fire attack which will result in faster extinguishment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ: 10 Second Trivia. What nation has both the largest economy and the largest population in Africa? Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt or Kenya. With

the continents highest GDP and a population of more than 214 million people, Nigeria tops the list.

Despite that though, there is widespread poverty in Nigeria according to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. It estimates that 70 percent of

Nigerians live below the poverty line and that more than 60 percent of them live in extreme poverty. There`s also a significant difference in literacy

rates between men and women. An estimated 71 percent of Nigerian men can read and write while the estimate is less than 53 percent of women. So, the

CIA says, better educational opportunities for women could help Nigeria overcome some of its problems. Sandra Aguebor has the tools of the trade

that`s making a difference.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANDRA AGUEBOR, FOUNDER, LADY MECHANIC INITIATIVE: All right. Let`s show -- you do -- you have your homework done. I need to see the paper. All right

then. Good luck. My name is Sandra Aguebor. I`m the first woman mechanic in Nigeria and the founder of Lady Mechanic Initiative. I`ve been a mechanic

for 32 years. And I`ve been running my own garage for 22 years now.

So that is the way it works. The Lady Mechanic Initiative is working with a vulnerable group. They are like, there`s no more hope in my life. I said to

them. You know what? You have got a lot of hope. (inaudible) have five children and she`s a mechanic. Amazing. Because they`re vulnerable, they

don`t have money. They are from poor backgrounds. So, they don`t pay, and we do all this.

(inaudible) and my training is just free of charge. You want to be able to help all the women who are now being able to empower that (inaudible)

Nigeria. We (inaudible). Being the first woman mechanic (inaudible) may have been there from generation to generation. Fixing cars. When I came in,

it was like excuse me, are you OK? Or do you need to see a doctor? But no, I knew what I was doing. And for me to become the first woman mechanic in

Nigeria, I had to walk five times (inaudible) walk to prove myself. Many of you that don`t know me by my name. It`s lady mechanic everywhere I go. Now

a lot of girls want to come to Nigeria to learn how to fix cars. It`s the greatest job in the world for any woman I see.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ: When we think of pumpkins this time of year, it`s usually in terms of removing their "inards" not stuffing them, but don`t tell that to these

residents of the Brookfield Zoo in Illinois. Their pumpkins are stuffed with everything from bugs to bones to fruit to meat. Oh my "gourdness" and

regardless of what they got from the Halloween fairy all of these animals got engaged in playing with their food and eating it too. Pumpkin pie,

pumpkin bread, pumpkin seeds or pumpkin soup, who cares when your pumpkin pie in the sky is filled with meat or fruit.

The big cats are not "lion" when they say they want their pound of flesh. The primates are not "monk eying" around when they want something fresh. It

all stems from their favorite foods, whether they`re in the zoo or wild. So you can`t blame those, for turning up their nose for pumpkin pie is "pile".

Oh. All right. We hope that however you choose to spend this Halloween you find a way to have fun and stay safe. Shout out to our friends and fans in

Gilbert, Arizona watching from Mesquite High School. I`m Carl Azuz and that is CNN.

END