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North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un Reportedly Left The Capital of Pyongyang On His Way to Russia for a Highly Watched Meeting With Russian President Vladimir Putin; Producing Oxygen On Mars; Around 150,000 U.S. Auto Workers Could Be Gearing Up For A Strike. Aired 4-4:10a ET
Aired September 12, 2023 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
COY WIRE, CNN 10 ANCHOR: Hello, lovely people. I`m Coy. This is CNN 10, the best 10 minutes in news where I simply deliver the what, letting you
decide what to think.
We begin today with an update on North Korea and Russia. On Sunday, a train presumed to be carrying North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reportedly left the
capital of Pyongyang on its way to Russia.
Why does this matter? A highly anticipated meeting between Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin is of concern for the United States and
its allies who fear the meeting might lead to an arms deal where North Korea supplies weapons for Russia`s war in Ukraine.
Experts also fear that Russia might provide North Korea with new technology that could pose danger to the United States and its allies. Also
significant, this trip would be Kim`s first known trip venturing beyond North Korea`s border since the COVID-19 pandemic when the country had its
borders locked down.
While the two countries have been secretive about the meeting, it`s thought to be happening in Vladivostok, a Russian city far to the east where the
two leaders first met in the April of 2019. Senior International Correspondent Will Ripley, based in Taipei, Taiwan, has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Inside North Korea, one of the most secretive places on the planet, a carefully guarded state secret, his
leader Kim Jong Un`s actual location. Major events are often used as decoys. Crowds can wait for hours, enduring long security lines, only to
find the leader`s seat empty.
Even Kim`s own bodyguards can serve as decoys, best known for donning dark suits, running alongside the leader`s limo during the Trump-Kim summits,
projecting power and security, riding an armor-reinforced rail card to Russia, to meet with President Vladimir Putin, a fellow strongman seen by
some as a global pariah.
Putin and Kim come with plenty of baggage, both saddled with heavy sanctions, for Kim`s nuclear and ballistic missile programs, for Putin`s
brutal, unprovoked war on Ukraine, and suspiciously timed plane crash taking out his one-time critic.
Kim may not have a reason to fear Putin, but he still does not take any chances when he travels outside North Korea. As Moscow looks to buy
artillery and other wartime supplies from its impoverished authoritarian neighbor.
CNN contacted the Russian embassy in Washington for comment. North Korea denied previously supplying Russia with rockets and missiles to use in
Ukraine. In July, Putin`s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu was in Pyongyang as Kim showed off his latest weapons, long-range missiles and military
drones. Shoigu said Russia may even be staging joint military drills with the North. The North Korean leader has a lot to gain.
DAVID SANGER, NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: A large power is now dependent on him. That hasn`t happened in a while.
RIPLEY: Kim may be willing to roll the dice, risking travel outside his borders, reducing the risk on a slow-moving, heavily fortified train.
A shade of army green on the outside, luxuriously appointed on the inside. The train is a symbol of three generations of the Kim family dynasty and a
nation stuck in the past. Kim has taken his chugging locomotive to Vladivostok before, meeting with Putin there in 2019.
This time, Kim may hope Russia will help him with oil supplies or even technology to use in its own ambitious ballistic missile program. Goal is
perhaps worthy of a rare venture beyond his nation`s hermetically sealed borders.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WIRE: Pop quiz hot shot. The atmosphere of Mars is made primarily of what chemical compound?
Oxygen, Carbon Dioxide, Methane or Argon?
If you said CO2, you are winning. The Mar`s atmosphere is over 95% carbon dioxide.
Mars has been the focus for several space agencies and companies with ambitions of taking humans to infinity and beyond, but humans aren`t
naturally made to be multi-planetary movers. The conditions on the red planet Mars, for example, would be pretty harsh for us earthlings. But many
ideas, some very wild, are being discussed as solutions to making Mars livable.
One idea sprung from NASA, landing on Mars in 2021 with the Perseverance rover. It`s called MOXIE, short for Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource
Utilization Experiment. Yeah, I don`t see how that makes sense either.
Anyways, MOXIE`s goal was to make oxygen right there on Mars by converting the abundance of carbon dioxide into precious oxygen. And the results of
the experiment are in. The device, no bigger than a microwave, generated 122 grams of oxygen. How much is that? About what your average small dog
would breathe in 10 hours or so. So not too shaggy.
Questions remain though, will future tests confirm these results, could the technology be scaled to provide astronauts with breathable air? And how
much would this cost, and is it even worth it?
Some question whether humanity should be focusing and spending on these types of efforts when we could be focusing on making our planet better
instead. For the technology itself though, this is seen by NASA as a successful experiment far exceeding their expectations.
At its peak, MOXIE produced 12 grams of 98% pure oxygen per hour, twice as much as NASA hoped for. So this might mean that we are one step closer to
some people someday becoming Mar`s.
Next up, the U.S. has around 150,000 U.S. auto workers in the United Auto Workers Union, and they could be gearing up for a strike this week. Why? If
the big three automakers, General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis can`t meet their demands, which include pay raises and better benefits.
Last week, both sides started tossing around their ideas, and while they made a little progress, it might not be enough to prevent union workers in
various states from hitting the picket lines if their demands aren`t met before their contract expires. If they strike it could throw a major wrench
in car production here in the United States.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you ready to rumble?
CROWD: Yeah.
VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS & POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: There`s a showdown in Detroit.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do we want? Fair contract!
YURKEVICH: The United Auto Workers Union is less than a week away from a possible strike against the big three U.S. automakers, General Motors, Ford
and Stellantis.
CROWD: We are the union.
YURKEVICH: Teeing up what would be the second largest U.S. labor strike in a quarter century. UAW says their demands have not been met, waiting nearly
a month on new proposals.
SHAWN FAIN, PRESIDENT, UNITED AUTO WORKERS: I`ll tell you what I`m going to do with their proposal, I`m going to file it in its proper place because
that`s where it belongs, the trash.
YURKEVICH: The tensions have been high between the two sides. The Union representing 145,000 workers at the three automakers even filed unfair
labor practice complaints against GM and Stellantis, accusing the companies of not bargaining in good faith, which they denied.
GERALD JOHNSON, EVP, GENERAL MOTORS: These negotiations are serious and they matter. The outcome impacts all of us, every team member and quite
frankly, every stakeholder across the country.
YURKEVICH: For the first time ever, the UAW could strike all three automakers at once. The last strike in 2019 against General Motors cost the
company $2.9 billion over six weeks. A strike against all three could mean $5 billion in losses in just ten days.
JULIE SU, ACTING LABOR SECRETARY: We respect their process and are hopeful that they are going to grapple through some hard issues and hopefully come
to an agreement that`s a win, win.
YURKEVICH: The union has some ambitious demands asking for a 40% pay raise over the course of the four-year contract, restoring cost of living
increases and pension plans for all workers.
FAIN: They`ve had our demands from the outset, and we told them we expect to get there by September 14th, and that is September 14th, a deadline, not
a reference point.
YURKEVICH: And as the big three pivot to electric vehicles, they`re planning 10 new battery plants not under UAW contracts. The union is hoping
these next contracts protect their members in the future.
FAIN: Workers can`t be left behind in this transition. You`re talking about 20% of the power train workers in the big three stand to lose their
jobs down the road if we go from ICE engines to battery power.
YURKEVICH: Vanessa Yurkevich, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WIRE: For today`s story getting a 10 out of 10, a wild storm knocking over a tree. Well, it`s swarming with a bunch of irritated honey bees and honey,
that`s not good. So guess who shows up to save the day? A friendly neighborhood news reporter, Nick Beres from WTV News Channel 5 in
Nashville.
But here`s the kicker, Nick isn`t just any old reporter, he`s actually a seasoned beekeeper, y `all. So he buzzes in to be the hero, jumping right
into the buzzing chaos, clearing out the bees to prevent them from taking over the neighborhood. Well done.
You better believe it`s time for our favorite part of the show, you. Knox, Indiana, Knox Community High School, rise up. I believe in all of you. So
keep on grinding and shining cause that`s just what we do.
I`m Coy Wire, this is CNN 10. And I`ll see you tomorrow.
END
