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Exploring The History Of The President`s "Annual Message"; History And Exploring Skyscrapers; Drones In A Light Show Over China. Aired 4-4:10a ET
Aired April 26, 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: It`s the last thing (inaudible) to have you watching CNN 10. I`m Carl Azuz hope you had a great weekend. First subject
of the week, the State of the Union Address or is it the "Annual Message" or is it a speech to a joint session of Congress. Some of the above?
This week, U.S. President Joe Biden is scheduled to speak before the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives, hence a joint session of Congress.
Article II, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution states that the president shall do this quote "from time to time". It doesn`t say it has to be done
on TV. It doesn`t say it has to be done in person. It doesn`t say when the information has to be given.
Tradition plays a dominate role in the president`s annual message. Everything we`re used to seeing, even when we`re used to seeing it. The
previous six presidents gave their first speeches to the entire Congress in February but that`s been a recent tradition not a Constitutional
requirement.
In fact, it`s tradition that a president`s first speech to the entire Congress isn`t called a "State of the Union" address. The idea behind that
is that the newly inaugurated leader hasn`t been office long enough to be an authority of the "State of the Union". CNN Contributor Rachel Janfaza
explores what exactly is happening Wednesday night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RACHEL JANFAZA, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: President Biden will soon deliver his first address to a joint session of Congress. (Inaudible) it technically
won`t be his first "State of the Union" address which is what the president`s annual message to a joint session of Congress, the Justices of
the Supreme Court, the president`s cabinet and other special guests is usually called.
Traditionally, a president is in office for a year before they give their first "State of the Union" address. Most presidents are usually invited to
speak before a joint session of Congress during their first few months in office.
This speech before both the House of Representatives and the Senate Chambers can be referred to as an "Annual Message" or a message on a
particular topic such as an economic message. The tradition is rooted in the Constitution. The Constitution states that the president shall from
time to time give the Congress information of the "state of the union" and recommend to their consideration such measures (inaudible) necessary and
expedient.
While the context of the (Inaudible) is the same, the linguistics are different. The guest list may be smaller, especially this year given the
COVID-19 pandemic. The history of a presidential address to Congress dates back to President George Washington who was the first to deliver a regular
address before a joint session in New York in 1790.
The message used to be known as the "President`s Annual Message" to Congress until 1934 when President Franklin D. Roosevelt refer to it as the
"Annual Message to Congress on the State of the Union". From 1942 to 1946, it became to be informally called the "State of the Union Message or
Address". And since 1947 it`s officially been known as the "State of the Union Address".
(Inaudible) State of the Union the president reflects on the past year, how`s the country`s doing and uses the opportunity to highlight their
administration`s legislative agenda which needs Congressional support. In modern history, presidents have used their first address to address
questions to outline their goals and (inaudible) folks for their administration.
(Inaudible) Carl, while presidential address to a joint session of Congress during their first year in office may not have all the formal fanfare of
the "State of the Union" it can be used to highlight the president`s agenda and set the forward (inaudible) tone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: 10 Second Trivia. Which of these (inaudible) considered to be the world`s first skyscraper? Flat Iron Building, Home Insurance Building,
Empire State Building or (Inaudible) Building. The ten-story tall Home Insurance Building was the world`s first skyscraper when it was completed
in 1895.
Ten stories, as in 138 feet is (inaudible) about four school buses high. If you`re thinking, woo, more like a "treesraper". Keep in mind that this was
only about 30 years after Elijah Graves Otis intervened his elevator safety system that made elevators more secure. That made people feel safer on them
and that led to the soaring skyscrapers that stretch city skylines.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The story has known famous fascination from (inaudible) and civilizations who`ve been building (inaudible) for centuries. But a
skyscraper is an altogether modernized (inaudible) made possible by modern technologies.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Skyscrapers are really an American invention. The first use of the word was around the 1880s`. They were office buildings
that concentrated a workforce. They employed technologies like the elevator, like skilled construction. They were built very efficiently and
to pile a lot of space onto a small piece of land.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Try using steel trains the structural support rather than heavy masonry booms, architects were able to get creative.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Skyscrapers began to get power around the turn of the 20th century. There was competition to be the world`s highest. And that
chemical power becomes so intimately connected with (inaudible).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Skyscraper hitching post (ph) for the great airliners of tomorrow.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Empire State Building never actually (inaudible) but it saved (ph) that aspiration. After World War II, a new kind of
technology of grass allows for the curtain wall.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible) laid way for giant grass walls. They gave more floor space and natural light but fresh air was shut out and replaced
with air conditioning.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The 1960s` and 70s`, that is the period that the World Trade Center with the "Twin Towers", the Sears Tower in Chicago got a
little bit taller. (Inaudible) end of an era as American cities began to suburbanize and spread out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The U.S. have led the charge into the skies but the rest of the world soon caught up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In Hong Kong where the (Inaudible) almost the only solution as that need in terms of urbanilization so people need to move
more (inaudible). They need to (inaudible). In Asia and the Middle East, we took it to another level. Every city wants to have this landmark that gives
that sense of the distinct culture.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From the end of the 20th century, architects in the east have been developing new techniques to beat the wind and climb even higher.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Once a design, a shape that is not square. You want rounded corners or faceted corners so that it takes pressure off the
building when the (inaudible). It designs the building to sway a little bit. We used a (inaudible) to (inaudible) movement.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The (Inaudible) used a step design, cut out corners and 700 ton suspended (inaudible) to help it with sand typhoons and
earthquakes. But it was Dubai`s Burj Khalifa that really defines super tool. It`s exaggerated type of shape, ability to flex up to six feet at its
top and a double layered out suspend help it to counter desert storms and extreme heat.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Today, the world`s tallest tower is (inaudible) demonstration of technological know-how as well as (inaudible) course but
the vanguard of architects has been very focused on sustainability.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want to design something that`s (inaudible) as possible in terms of the spaces and use of materials. (Inaudible) is
sustainable where we can have a lot of people in a small footprint but we all understand that building in itself is taking resources from the Earth.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In cities like Hong Kong where skyscrapers dominate the environment, that also contributes significantly to greenhouse gas
emissions. The centuries old reach into the sky is now in question.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The skyscrapers become complicated in negotiations between the way that we want to live in the future and the possibility of
how we can. There are (inaudible) different approaches of culture, of government, of public policy that either constrains or enables skyscrapers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: For 10 out of 10, a recently light show in Shanghai, China goes 3-D. How did technicians do this? With drones, hundreds of them. They were
synched up to form the image of a Smartphone and then video game characters appeared to leap off the screen.
The whole thing was intended to promote a popular mobile game but when the drones formed a giant QR code that linked to the game`s website. Well for
fans, it was game on. For critics, it`s game over. They "QR`d" concerned about the "proliferation" of promotion.
But if "QR" the type to find air shows illuminating and you don`t mind standing and training your (inaudible) pertaining to drones in the skies.
This could be the kind of thing you "drone on" about long after the lights come down. I`m Carl Azuz for CNN 10. Pendleton High School is in Pendleton,
Oregon and you get today`s shout out for subscribing and commenting on our You Tube Channel.
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