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Planned Phase-Out Of 3G Wireless Technology; Doping Controversy Involving Russian Figure Skater; Economics Of Lumber. Aired 4-4:10a ET
Aired February 17, 2022 - 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: 5G is the new G so 3G`s going like 2D. That pretty much sums up our first story today. I`m Carl Azuz and let me
explain. Fifth generation, or 5G, is the latest wireless technology available. It offers faster internet speeds and better performance than
previous generations.
It has its downsides, 5G requires more cellular towers than other networks. It may be years before some rural areas get it, and there are always
concerns about new technologies being hacked, but wireless providers are expanding their 5G availability. And when they do that, it leaves less
room on the wireless spectrum, the radio waves that these technologies use are limited. So what companies are doing is phasing out 3G, their third-
generation technology to make room for 5G.
When will this happen? AT&T will shut down it`s 3G network next week. T- Mobile and Verizon will do it later this year. Here`s why this matters. There are still devices that use 3G, and those devices may no longer work
once the network is shutdown.
Companies have been pushing people to upgrade their 3G smartphones, e- readers and tablets. Some medical devices and home alarm systems may still need to be updated, and millions of cars could be affected by this
especially it they`re more than five years old. Vehicles that use 3G modems could have problems with GPS and traffic information.
Those with the ability to call police if there`s an accident could fail if their software isn`t upgrade to at least 4G technology. Some car makers
have offered fixes for this, others reportedly haven`t. So many drivers may lose features in their cars if they haven`t upgraded them or if an
update simply isn`t available. Wireless carriers have shutdown networks before. AT&T and Verizon eliminated their 2G coverage in 2017.
10 Second Trivia. Since 1924, what country has won the most medals in the Winter Olympics? Soviet Union, Germany, United States or Norway. The
European nation of Norway has the most medals overall and the most golds of any country, and when we produced this show, Norway was leading in those
counts in these games. But a lot of media attention has centered on a Russian figure skater. Olympics officials say they have a zero-tolerance
policy when it comes to doping, taking certain performance enhancing drugs that have been banned. In December, 15-year-old Kamila Valieva tested
positive for one of these substances.
But this wasn`t reported to Russia`s anti-doping agency until February after she helped her team win a gold medal, Valieva was suspended from
these Olympics. But she was reinstated, allowed to compete again after she appealed the ruling. Valieva says her grandfather uses the drug and that
she must have accidentally ingested it. She`ll stay on the ice while the investigation takes place.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This doping scandal around Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva continues to cast a dark shadow over the Olympic
games, as new details emerge. Fifteen-year-old Valieva reportedly had three different substances in her drug test sample. These substances are
all used to treat a heart condition, but only one of the drugs is considered a banned substance. But I spoke to the CEO of the U.S. Anti-
Doping Agency who told me that all three of the drugs have performance enhancing capabilities including increasing endurance, reducing fatigue.
He said that the fact that all three of these drugs were mixed together suggests a deliberate and sophisticated attempt to improve performance.
CNN and Tygart reviewed a document that show Valieva had declared the use of two other drugs hypoxen and L-carnitine that are, again, not considered
banned substances but what Tygart says are also used to improve performance. Now the decision to allow Kamila Valieva to continue to
compete at these Olympics is causing outrage. Some former athletes, Olympians, saying that this is tainting the entire Olympic experience. If
Valieva places in the top three this week, which she is expected to she will not receive a medal, the other competitors will not receive a medal.
No medals will be awarded until a full investigation is complete.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: Lumber is getting more expensive in America. This is the building block of new homes, and its cost last May hit an all-time record high.
It`s fallen sharply then risen again since then, and while lumber still isn`t as expensive now as it was last Spring a forest industry report says
it`s triple what it was before corona virus took it`s toll. What does that mean?
New single-family homes are almost $19,000 more expensive than they`d normally be according to a Home Builders Association. Reasons for this
include ongoing problems with the supply chain of goods and challenges in transporting wood. Sawmills have had trouble keeping up with demand, other
factors are biological and political.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If the definition of inflation is too many dollars chasing no enough goods, well this is what happens when too many houses
chase not enough wood. How you would you characterize the price of lumber today?
JOHN RIDDLE, HOME BUILDER, VICE-PRESIDENT: Volatile. Yes. It is up and down. It got to the point where we were just adding 20 to 30 percent just
because and hopefully that will cover it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s all they can talk about at the National Association of Home Builders Convention at Orlando this week, starting with
a sticker poll.
JERRY HOWARD, CEO, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF HOME BUILDERS: Down here is one person who said it`s been by 75 percent. At a normal time, if the cost of
a building material were to increase by 75 percent people would be coming unglued, but look what it is. Most of them are 200 percent or more.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right. There are a few reasons why, but the problem begins in the Canadian Rockies. The source of almost one in every three
boards hammered into American homes, and where a plague of beetles arrived with the power to kill 100,000 trees a day. So many you can hear them over
the phone.
JANICE COOKE, FOREST BIOLOGIST, UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA: And you could actually hear the beetles underneath the bark. So I`m listening to my
trees getting killed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh my god. Forest Biologist Janice Cooke has studied the invasion of Mountain Pine beetles for decades.
COOKE: Warmer over winters and hotter, drier summers, we saw those populations not only rise to epidemic levels but in some areas what we call
hyper epidemic.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mountain Pine beetles attack a single tree like an invading army, and to defend itself the large poll pine fill its cracks
with this sticky chemical compound we know as pitch. Well, this turns out to be highly flammable. So in the end if the beetles win, you`ve got a 50-
foot firestarter. Beetle kill forests help accelerate those western mega fires, and all together 50 million acres have been lost up here an area the
size of Minnesota.
COOKE: We have more than 30 mill closures in the interior B.C. alone. Mills are not running 24/7 anymore.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the meantime, there is the 40-year-old trade war with the United States and based on an old formula tariffs on Canadian wood
automatically doubled recently. Joe Biden could dial those back, but like Canada he`s also protecting more Federal trees especially the old growth
stands in places like Tongass National Forest.
RIDDLE: The Biden Administration has cut back on the harvesting of timber on our Federal lands for environmental purposes. And so we need more
lumber from -- from outside, the Biden Administration, it has not gone to the table to negotiate a long-term deal with Canada. So once again we`ve
got to look somewhere else. In fact, we`ve opened up discussions with the German government about bringing in more from Germany.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And more builders like John Riddle in Winterpark Florida are finding lumber alternatives, by injecting these stackable foam
molds with concrete. He says he creates walls 50 percent more energy efficient and 100 percent more fireproof. This seems to me, as we-- as we
watch zoning regulations change in California due to wildfires like an amazing solution.
RIDDLE: Yes, that doesn`t burn. Concrete won`t burn. In my mind, there`s no reason why this is not more prevalent.
COOKE: This is the business case for considering our forests and our trees in our forests, for their entire ecosystem services and not just the price
of a 2x4.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: It`s not every day you meet a 15 year old basketball player who can dunk. Then again, it`s not every day you meet one who`s 7 feet 5 inches
tall so the dunking thing is kind of a footnote. Oliver Rioux is the tallest teenager on Earth according to Guinness World Records. His mom is
6`2". His dad is 6`8". His shoe size is 20 and Ollie`s reportedly a strong passer and three-point shooter making him a quadruple threat on his
Florida team.
It`s no "tall tale", "small tale", "fish or other false tale". All "hail" "Ollie`s highness". Maybe now`s the time to sign this "finest phenom" you
can`t "short", at the "heights" of high school sports, he`s the sort on the court. Scouts will want to "court of court". Everybody`s "looking up" to
the "tallest baller" they have met who fills the "big shoes" of "long legged" "legacy" with nothing but "net". I`m Carl Azuz. "Dunking" puns
and rhymes on CNN 10. Today`s shout out takes us to Winder-Barrow High School. It is great to see all of ya`ll in Winder, Georgia. Our You Tube
channel is the only place we look for shout out schools.
END
