CNN Student News - August 14, 2017

cnn 10

Threatening Statements Increase Between North Korea and the U.S.; Violence in Charlottesville, Virginia; Upcoming "Eclipse of the Century"

Aired August 14, 2017 - 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: We`re breaking ground on a brand new season of cnn 10. It`s great to see you and to be back on line this Monday. My name is Carl Azuz.

cnn 10 is a 10-minute that objectively explains international events, and today, that begins with coverage of what`s been happening between North Korea and the U.S. and its allies in the Pacific.

One major issue between North Korea and the international community is the communist country`s nuclear and missile programs. The United Nations considers those illegal.

North Korea sees developing these weapons as a right. It tested two intercontinental missiles last month. In response, the United Nations

approved new sanctions, penalties on the Asian country`s economy.

Threatening statements between North Korea and the U.S. have been increasing. North Korean officials have talked about firing missiles

toward the area around Guam, a U.S. territory in the Pacific Ocean. And though U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed hope for a peaceful solution, he`s also said that American military options are, quote, locked and loaded for use against North Korea.

Other countries factor in. China, an ally of North Korea, says it won`t help the country if North Korea strikes first. But China implied that it would take action if the U.S. attacks North Korea first.

Meantime, South Korea, a U.S. ally, says it would immediately punish any potential attacks by the North. But most of the communist country`s threats have been directed at America.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, cnn INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The North Korean regime teaches its citizens to hate America. But why?

SUBTITLE: Why does North Korea hate the U.S.?

RIPLEY: It began with a war that`s almost forgotten in the United States. After World War II, two superpowers divided the Korean peninsula along the 38th Parallel. The Soviet Union occupied the north and the United States the south. This resulted in the creation of two separate states, the Republic of Korea or South Korea, and the Democratic People`s Republic of Korea or North Korea.

Most historians say the North invaded the South on June 25th, 1950, when the Korean War began.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is war.

RIPLEY: The North tells its citizens America actually started the war.

Over the next three years, around 1 million North Koreans died in the fighting, including an estimated 600,000 civilians. Active hostilities ended in 1953, but technically, the war is still ongoing, because no peace treaty was ever signed -- a fact North Koreans are never allowed to forget.

Since then, the country`s founder, President Kim Il-sung, his son, General Kim Jong-Il, and grandson, Marshal Kim Jong-un, have all dialed up the anti-U.S. rhetoric, including blaming the U.S. for international sanctions they claim have caused North Korea`s economic woes.

Making America into an ever-present threat has helped the Kims unify the nation behind their regime. Recent escalating tensions between Washington and Pyongyang only helped promote that narrative -- keeping the population focused on an external enemy, the United States, and having zero tolerance for political dissent.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: A state of emergency was declared over the weekend in the U.S. state of Virginia. What that does is speed up the help that`s needed to a particular area. It could be after a natural disaster, it could be after an outbreak of violence.

Tensions were high Saturday in the city of Charlottesville. Officials there were planning to remove a statue of Robert E. Lee, a Confederate general in the Civil War, from a city park. A protest was planned.

The Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis and other white supremacists took part. They called the event the Unite the Right Rally, but it never really got started. A counterprotest had also gathered that day. Left-wing demonstrators and anarchists joined it. And the two sides started fighting each other.

Punches were thrown. Pepper spray was used. At least 15 people were injured. The violence became deadly when a car was driven into the crowd of counterprotesters, killing one person and injuring 19 others. The suspected driver was arrested.

Two Virginia state troopers were also killed when their helicopter, which had been monitoring Saturday`s events, crashed into a wooded area nearby.

Officials didn`t immediately know what caused that. On Sunday, church leaders and political leaders in Virginia and Washington, D.C. spoke out against the violence and hatred in Charlottesville.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ (voice-over): Ten-second trivia:

What is the term for the complete shadow that`s cast when the sun`s light is blocked during a solar eclipse?

Umber, umbrella, umbra, or umbo?

That shadow is called the umbra and millions of Americans will be in it next Monday.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ: It`s being called the "Eclipse of the Century" for the U.S. because it`s been 99 years since a total solar eclipse crossed the country from the Pacific to the Atlantic Oceans.

cnn.com/eclipse has a lot of fascinating facts about this celestial event, and cnn 10 will be featuring reports on it all week, ahead of the August 21st eclipse.

We`re starting with the basics. What exactly is a total solar eclipse?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REPORTER: The sun, the center of our solar system and the life force of planet Earth. Since the dawn of recorded time, it rises in the east and sets in the west. But every 18 months or so, the dance of planets, moons and stars creates this incredible moment -- a solar eclipse.

In space, the sun, the earth and the moon orbit in predictable patterns. The moon around the earth, the earth around the sun, even the sun around the galaxy.

During a solar eclipse however, the moon moves between the earth and the sun, blocking the sunlight and casting shadows unto earth. An eclipse can be partial or total depending on how these celestial bodies align. But total eclipse happens when the moon completely covers the sun.

In this awe-inspiring moment, only the sun`s outer edge can be seen, revealing a halo-like corona. And day suddenly turns to night for just a few minutes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: Tony Hillery and many of the kids he started working with six years ago had a couple of things in common -- they live in a New York City neighborhood of Harlem, and they had never planted anything in their lives. Here`s how that`s changed for him and thousands of young people every year.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TONY HILLERY, cnn HERO: I was a business owner, and the financial crisis hit me like it hit everybody else. And to stop from dwelling on that, I started volunteering at a public school in Harlem.

Pass it, pass it! What kind of shot was that?

Any children that live underneath the poverty line or in food stamps, it`s a lack of affordable healthy food.

I met a young girl who told me that tomatoes grow in the supermarket. The other students, they had no idea what is healthy food or where it comes from.

Are you guys ready to some farming here?

(CHEERS)

HILLERY: All right.

Right across the street from the school was an abandoned community garden that we try to do a thriving urban farm.

Come on. Let`s get busy.

All the hustle and bustle is just outside the gate, and then you come in here, it`s so peaceful. It`s a safe, green space right outside their door.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Remember, you want your hole to be deep like this.

HILLERY: All the planting is done by the children. They fall in love with the land, taking that one seed, planting it, nurturing it, tending it and then watch it bloom.

Got it. That`s lunch tomorrow. Hello, guys.

We`re in six elementary schools here in Harlem. We build the small hands on garden just for that school.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let`s talk about favorite vegetables.

HILLERY: We`re in a school every day and we have personal relationships that we develop with each child.

Everything they grow is free of charge to the children and their families.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, is a worm good or bad for a garden?

HILLERY: Urban farming will get the kids engaged.

Three pounds and three quarters?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

HILLERY: That`s one real big salad.

Whatever piques their interests, we find the opportunity for them to pursue it as far as they can.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`ll be taking AP Calculus, AP Microeconomics.

HILLERY: We have these children on track to go to college. They want to be CPAs, engineers, architects. They want to write code.

Be proud. Come on. Give me something.

They can be anything they want. They can achieve anything they want. They`re sowing seeds of hope.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: Another story related to Harlem gets a perfect "10 Out of 10" today. A Harlem Globetrotter basketball trick shot expert named Bull Bullard recently used a helicopter to climb to a height of 210 feet. From there, he took a shot and made it, apparently breaking the world record for the highest basketball shot made from a helicopter.

The fact that it`s one handed and toss out kind of casually makes it all the more awesome. It was not done in one try. But like the pilot, you still got to give him props.

He put his own spin on the trick. He never hit the skids. He`d probably rotor do nothing else, and for us, it was just a great story to hover.

That`s all for our season`s first edition of cnn 10. I`m Carl Azuz. We hope to see you again tomorrow.

END