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Last U.S. Military Plane Leaves Afghanistan; Wildfires Threaten Homes In California; China Limits Online Gaming For Minors. Aired 4-4:10a ET
Aired September 01, 2021 - 04:00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 ANCHOR: Always great to have you watching CNN 10, as we kick off a brand new month of down the middle coverage. My name is Carl
Azuz and today`s first story concerns the last U.S. military plane to leave Afghanistan.
It happened just before midnight on Monday on the eve of the August 31st deadline set by the Biden Administration. It signals the end of the longest
military conflict America`s been involved in, and for the U.S. it was a troubled ending. After announcing in April that it was time for American
troops to come home, U.S. President Joe Biden suggested that hundreds of thousands of Afghan troops were prepared to defend their country.
That`s not what happened. In early August, Afghanistan`s military and government collapsed and the nation`s former rulers, a militant group
called the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in a matter of weeks. The Taliban was the group that the U.S. led an international effort to remove
back in 2001.
At that time, the Taliban was allowing terrorists to live and train in Afghanistan, and it was those terrorists who carried out the September
11th, 2001 attacks on the U.S. After more than 19 years of U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan, President Biden said in terms of manpower and
cost, it no longer made sense for American forces to stay there.
But Afghanistan was not considered to be stable enough for U.S. and other military forces to leave, and after the last U.S. plane departed the
country on Monday the Taliban declared victory over the United States. They celebrated at the airport from which thousands of Americans and tens of
thousands of U.S. allies had been evacuated since July.
The U.S. military said it did not have enough time to evacuate all Americans from Afghanistan. The U.S. State Department has said between 100
and 250 Americans who wanted to leave are still in the Asian country, and we don`t know what`s next for Afghanistan.
The last time the Taliban were in control, they imposed a strict interpretation of Islam and they instituted the death penalty for people
who did not follow Islam. The Taliban punished people brutally for breaking the law. They banned television, music and non-Islamic holidays, and they
severely restricted the rights of women. The group says it will not rule as oppressively this time around, but some analysts say the Taliban hasn`t
really changed.
10 Second Trivia. Which of these U.S. states was admitted to the union first? California, Colorado, Washington or Arizona. Of these states,
California was admitted first and that happened in 1850.
CAL FIRE, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection describes wildfires as quote, "a natural part of the state`s landscape",
but it also says California`s fire season, which typically strikes in summer and early Fall has been starting earlier and ending later in recent
years.
Droughts are also common in California. There`s one effecting the state right now, and when you combine that with ongoing wildfires events like
this are possible. This is the Caldor Fire, now the 17th largest wildfire in California`s history. It`s effected more than 191,000 acres south and
southwest of Lake Tahoe.
Tuesday afternoon, firefighters had this blaze 16 percent contained which means they`ve stopped it from spreading in 16 percent of the area it takes
up. It`s part of an ongoing challenge for the state.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GARY VICENTE, CALIFORNIA RESIDENT: I just grabbed my dog, ripped my phone out of the wall and ran out the door. I was out of there within 10 minutes.
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It`s been a week now since Gary Vicente had to quickly leave his home in northern California. The Caldor Fire destroyed
nearly the entire town of Grizzly Flats and now there`s fear the worst is yet to come, leaving thousands of evacuees in limbo. The fire baring down
on the iconic Lake Tahoe area, a popular tourist haven known for its stunning mountains and emerald blue waters. Today, it`s obscured by smoke.
CAPTAIN KEITH WADE, CAL FIRE SPOKESPERSON: This fire has shown the potential with the terrain and the weather we`ve been experiencing and the
fuel load from the drought that it has almost a mind and a behavior of its own.
SIMON: The Caldor Fire has scorched more than 126,000 acres and leveled at least 461 single homes in less than two weeks. The urgency to stop its
advance so great, that California`s Forestry and fire chief says it`s become the number one firefighting priority in the nation.
VICENTE: The hardest thing has just been the depression of not knowing whether I was going to lose everything or not.
SIMON: Gary and dozens of other evacuees are taking refuge in a Wal-Mart parking lot. Where are you sleeping at night?
VICENTE: I`m sleeping in the bed of my pick-up truck and the local community`s been fantastic. Somebody came by and donated an air mattress. I
don`t have to have the ridges grinding against my back.
SIMON: At least nine large fires are burning in California, forcing the evacuation of more than 37,000 people. President Biden on Tuesday approving
Governor Gavin Newsom`s request for a presidential disaster declaration. Ninety-two large wildfires are burning across the U.S., seven states under
air quality alerts.
In northern California, all these dots of purple showing where the air is hazardous to breathe. Over the state line in nearby Reno, the city this
week recorded its all-time worst level. People advised to stay indoors. Schools cancelled.
CRAIG PETERSON, TAHOE COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT: Some of the symptoms are going to be burning, watery eyes, scratchy throat, burning chest.
SIMON: And as far as the air quality is concerned, I can tell you first hand it`s been absolutely terrible. We`ve seen index levels literally fly
off the charts, and it`s supposed to be this way at least through the end of the week.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: There`s a new law in China concerning online gaming. If you`re under 18 years old, you can`t play at all during the week and on weekends and
public holidays, minors can only play for one hour per day. China`s communist government has strict control over the everyday lives of its
citizens and the nation`s media.
It requires people who play video games to log in using their real names, so the government knows who`s playing when. This isn`t the first time it`s
put restrictions on video games, but it does make its limits more strict. It may still be possible for minors to play offline games, but critics have
said the law unfairly presumes that gaming is bad and that it will prevent China from being competitive in online gaming. So why is the government
doing this?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVEN JIANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Now this is not even the Chinese government`s first attempt to limit playtime for minors. Back in 2019, they
already limited playtime for people under 18 to 90 minutes each day and three hours, at most, during public holidays.
They have also long required real name registration and log-in for all video games, but all of these restrictions apparently not enough according
to officials. Because they have received so many complaints from parents who say gaming addiction has severely effected their children`s ability to
learn, to study, their mental and physical health, as well as causing social problems.
So the authorities trying to frame their latest decision as addressing people`s concerns of protecting children`s welfare. Now the enforcement is
mostly going to be carried out by gaming companies which have pledged to strictly follow the latest regulations, but they also added that minors
account for only a very small portion of their user base as well as revenues.
There are, of course, plenty of supportive and even cheering voices online with parents. Some even outside of China applauding this decision as a move
long overdue, but this kind of nanny state approach, of course, is very much controversial.
South Korea, for example, is in the process of abolishing gaming curfew for teenagers because the lack of effectiveness, and some people also say this
latest move is another example of the ruling communist party here trying to reinsert itself into every aspect of people`s private life for political
and ideological reasons especially for the younger generation.
Just in the past few weeks the government here has banned after school private tutoring and they`re also cracking down on so-called celebrity
worshiping culture among the young people, and now, of course, these gaming restrictions. So, leaving some people asking sarcastically what are young
Chinese people now supposed to do during their spare time? Steven Jiang, CNN, Beijing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: It`s probably not as easy to top a pizza without gravity. Then again, that`s something only these folks would have to worry about. This is a
pizza party recently held at the International Space Station. The video was posted by an astronaut with the European Space Agency.
The event might look, kind of, cheesy but pizza is part of a variety of foods available to space travelers. Though we`re sure the longer trips make
them hunger for a home cooked meal. After all, there`s not "mushroom" on the station to "pepper" the pantry with all the "pepperoneeds" and
"supreme" preferences of it`s astronauts, or for a large oven to be "bacon" that all up.
And besides, with zero gravity, how do they keep it down? Hey, speaking of pizza parties. We hear the students of Cardston High School in Alberta,
Canada get one if they get mentioned on the show. So time to pick out toppings ya`ll.
For a chance to get your school mentioned on CNN 10, please subscribe and leave a comment on our most recent show at Youtube.com/cnn10. And if you
click the notification bell, you`ll know exactly when each show posts, sometimes the early bird gets the worm. I`m Carl Azuz.
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