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Politicians And Voters Are Divided Over Georgia`s New Election Law; Blocked Maritime Traffic Builds At The Suez Canal; Rebuilding Continues At Notre Dame. Aired 4-4:10a ET
Aired March 29, 2021 - 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. A down the middle explanation of world events. I`m Carl Azuz, glad to be starting off the week with you.
The U.S. state of Georgia has just passed a significant new law concerning elections.
It`s making news not only because it affects how voting is handled in the "Peach State" but because several other states are looking at passing
similar laws and many of these changes are opposed by the Biden Administration. Here`s what`s new in Georgia.
Early voting will be expanded in most places meaning people will have more days and longer hours when they can vote in person. For runoff elections
when a second vote is held because no candidate clearly won the first, these will be shortened from nine weeks to four weeks.
For absentee ballots, when people don`t vote in person, voters will be required to show a form of identification like a driver`s license or state
ID number when they request or turn in an absentee ballot. And they`ll have to request these ballots and send them back sooner as well.
The new law also says that within a certain distance of a polling place or voters standing in line, it`s illegal to display campaign material or to
offer gifts, food or drinks to voters. People who oppose this part of the law say it`s wrong to prevent getting food or water to those who are
waiting. Supporters of the rule say handouts to voters can unfairly influence whom they vote for. There`s a partisan divide in general over
voting changes like these.
Republicans generally support them saying they`re needed to protect the fairness of elections and prevent voter fraud especially when it comes to
mailed in ballots. Democrats generally oppose these changes saying they make it harder for people to vote and that they unfairly target voters who
traditionally support Democrats. U.S. President Joe Biden says he`ll do everything he can to stop similar efforts to change voting laws.
Last November, he became the first Democratic presidential candidate to win in Georgia since 1992 and two Democrats won U.S. Senate seats in Georgia`s
runoff elections in January. Bills to tighten up voting access have been introduced recently in more than 40 U.S. states. What remains to be seen is
how many of these states will pass new election laws and whether the Federal government will set new national rules.
10 Second Trivia. Which of these historic ships was launched first? HMS Bounty, USS Constitution, Bismarck, or HMS Endeavor. Of these options, the
Endeavor was oldest. It sailed for Tahiti in 1768.
The more modern cargo ship we told you about last week, the Ever Given was still stuck when we produced this show Sunday night. Since it ran aground
last Tuesday, the Ever Given has been single handedly blocking the Suez Canal in Egypt and that`s the fastest maritime passageway between Europe
and East Africa, India and Oceania.
Hundreds of ships have joined the line to get through the Suez Canal. Lloyd`s List, a shipping news company, estimates that the global shipping
industry is losing $400 million per hour because of the delay. There`ve been multiple attempts to free the ship at high tide and Egypt`s president
has ordered that some cargo container be removed from the vessel to lighten its load.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Efforts continue to dislodge the massive container shop blocking one of the world`s most important waterways. But the ship has only
budged slightly. Almost as long as the Empire State Building is tall, the Ever Given got stuck Tuesday navigating through a sandstorm and 40 knot
winds.
Initially, it was thought that high winds and a sandstorm were the cause for the grounding of the Ever Given. Now we`ve heard from the chairman of
the Suez Canal Authority that perhaps human and technical error are also to blame. Dredging continues as attempts to free the carrier during high tide
weren`t successful to refloat the ship.
With around 12 percent of global trade volume typically passing through the Suez Canal, countries around the world are pitching in. The Dutch salvage
company brought into help is sending a crane and two tug boats heavier than these hoping to free the ship before its precarious position gets worse.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have to start worrying about the vessel rolling. You have to worry about the vessel cracking. The -- the nightmare scenario of
all time is -- is the vessel breaks apart and that would be not weeks or days of -- of salvage but months.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Meanwhile traffic remains at a standstill in a waterway that normally handles the equivalent of $10 billion a day in cargo. More
than 320 ships are backed up in either direction. Their only alternative is to divert around the southern tip of Africa, adding about a week to the
journey.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is going to be costing extra fuel and extra 3,500 miles, seven days steaming. So we`re going to (Inaudible) in -- in the
pocketbook here real soon.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The backlog will also be costly for vessel waiting in place. About a dozen are carrying livestock at risk of dying if the
situation is not resolved within a few days. Japanese shipping company Shoei Kisen KK who owned the Ever Given told CNN they`re bracing for
lawsuits but insist they`re priority right now is refloating the ship as soon as possible. Executives even bowed in apology Friday but with costs
skyrocketing for the global shipping industry, saying sorry might not be enough.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: In 2019 during the Christian Holy Week between Palm Sunday and Easter, the roof of Europe`s most famous gothic cathedral caught fire. No
one was hurt when the top of Notre Dame went up in flames and many of its artifacts survived from its bell towers to its great organ to a crown of
thorns that some believe is the crown of thorns that was place on the head of Jesus Christ.
Authorities still don`t know what caused the fire but two years later during this Holy Week of 2021, experts are moving forward to rebuild the
medieval monument.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was one of the most heartbreaking sites of a tragic afternoon. The towering spire, the Cathedral of Notre Dame came crashing to
the ground as a devastating fire swept through the roof. But now a more encouraging imagine of spires crashing down, in a forest south of Le Mans,
France a harvest of mighty oaks is underway.
The first of 200-year-old trees needed to rebuild the spire and roof support beams destroyed by the fire. In all, 1,000 trees will be needed.
While there`s been some opposition from environmental groups about the use of centuries old trees to rebuild Notre Dame, the forestry people here say
it`s a testament to the richness of natural resources in this country. That in this forest alone there are more than 100,000 trees that are over 150
years old.
At the church itself, there is no resounding pipe organ just yet but as CNN discovered when it got rare access to the cathedral the walls have been
cleaned and stabilized. Some of the stain glass windows and ancient stone statuary already restored. The remains a gaping hole in the roof though
covered only with plastic to keep out the elements.
For that, workers are now building 90-foot-tall walls of scaffolding inside the cathedral which will eventually support a temporary platform for
restoring Notre Dame`s unique vaulted ceiling. Much of which was destroyed or damaged in the fire. Architects say once the platform is in place,
precisely engineered wooden arches will provide the bracing to reconstruct the styro form stone ceiling vaults.
Once all that is done the engineers will turn their attention to rebuilding the roof itself, reconstructing the spire and replacing the interior roof
beams using the oak that is now being cut exactly in the same fashion as those that were destroyed in the fire.
There were hundreds of ideas from the public suggesting more modern ways to rebuild Notre Dame but in the end President Macron decided it should be
rebuilt exactly as it was, all be it with better fire protection. Reconstructing the cathedral as it was seems to be more or less a popular
idea.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: Let`s say you`re wondering around Washington State one night and you just happen to look up and see this. You`re probably going to have some
questions. Was it a shooting star? Meteor shower? Comet? Or aliens? Experts say, probably not.
They believe it was the remains of a SpaceX rocket that recently carried dozens of satellites into orbit. The rocket apparently didn`t burn up
properly and caused the light show instead. It wasn`t expected to hurt anything.
Does this mean there`s nothing to "atmosfear"? Does it go against "outdoor burning laws"? At least the clean-up will be a "debreeeeeze". It`s as fast
as a rocket and plays in a "starring" role in the night sky even if at the end of the day, you`re witnessing a "break-up".
I`m Carl Azuz for CNN 10. Prattville High School in Prattville, Alabama, you guys are like Fridays. Thank you for subscribing and leaving a comment
on our You Tube channel.
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