CNN Student News - November 13, 2017

cnn 10

Air Pollution Causes Flight Cancellations in New Delhi; An Outbreak of Legionnaires` Disease Strikes California; A Sanctuary Helps Veterans and Wolves Heal

Aired November 13, 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: This is cnn 10, your objective explanation of news from around the world, and I`m Carl Azuz. It`s good to have you watching again this Monday.

In the Southeast Asian country of India, exhausts from old cars and motorcycles, pollutions from industries, smoke from cooking and fires from when farmers burn their crops double, all of this contributes to the toxic air pollution in the Indian capital of New Delhi. More than 25 million people live there and many of them are suffering with air conditions that one doctor compared to smoking 50 cigarettes a day.

Now, United Airlines has suspended its flights to the city because of what it called poor air quality concerns. At least through Monday, no United flights are landing in, taking off from or connecting in India`s capital. The company is treating conditions there like it treats severe weather or other events like a volcanic eruption. For those with flight tickets, United is offering travel waivers, to allow passengers to choose another flight without paying for the change.

New Delhi is under a public health emergency, schools have been closed, tracks from other areas are not allowed to enter the capital, construction projects have been put on hold, pollution is not something that`s new for the city. It`s a part of life there, especially this time of year. But that doesn`t mean that residents can get used to it, or avoid suffering from it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIKHIL KUMAR, cnn CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is India Gate, one of Delhi`s most famous landmarks. It`s about 42 meters high and here`s what it looks like on a summer`s date. So, how do you make it disappear?

Well, just make for winter.

(on camera): I`m standing just a few hundred meters from the monument, and as you can see, nothing. Trust me, it`s right there, behind the thick, dense and dirty haze, and it`s been like this pretty much all week, as air quality in Delhi fell to hazardous levels.

And right across from India Gate is a presidential palace, another famous Delhi monument. It`s massive, more than 300 rooms. Again, you can barely see anything.

And it`s not just what you can and can`t see. You can actually taste the filth that`s hanging in the air. It hits your throat and it makes you feel ill.

(voice-over): Just ask Shir Singh (ph), a traffic cop who`s been on duty all week, working 12-hour days in the population.

It makes our eyes burn and it`s difficult to breath, he says.

The smog comes every year where the temperature drops, wind speeds fall, and a mix of dangerous pollutants settles over the city.

Nineteen-year-old Kishur (ph) also spends his days on Delhi`s congested roads. He`s a street hawker. For him pollution means watery eyes, but also a way to make more money.

Me and my friends, we used to sell balloons, he says, but the pollution is so bad that we switched to selling masks. Two days, we got a thousand pieces. We already sold 700.

But it`s not easy. Kishur works at one of the busiest and most polluted traffic junctions in the city.

By the time I get home, my throat and my eyes hurt. Everything, he says, smells of smoke.

(on camera): Now, believe it or not, this isn`t the worst it`s been this week. At one point, the level of pollutants in Delhi`s air was almost 40 times what the World Health Organization deemed safe. Now, I`m in a busy market in the center of town. And I`ve got a portable meter with me that tells me how bad the air really is.

Blue is good. Purple is hazardous. And look, we`re still hazardous.

Nikhil Kumar, cnn, New Delhi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

Which of these Disney products is oldest?

Magic Kingdom, Sleeping Beauty, The Jungle Book or Disneyland?

Both the movies and the Magic Kingdom opened after Disneyland did. That was in 1955.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ: The Disneyland Park in Anaheim, California, recently shut down two of its cooling towers because of concerns about Legionnaire`s disease.

Cooling towers are used to bring air and water together, to make the water cooler. Then, it can be used for things like refrigeration. Disneyland has 18 of these towers and the park says it recently shut down, treated and disinfected two of them because elevated levels of Legionella, the bacteria that caused Legionnaire`s disease were found there.

Health officials say, in all, 12 have come down from the disease since visiting Anaheim.

Since September, nine of them have been to the Disneyland theme park.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUBTITLE: What is Legionnaires` Disease?

ELIZABETH COHEN, cnn SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: We might not hear about Legionnaires` disease all the time, but actually, it`s not a rare disease.

Evey year in the United States, between 8,000 and 18,000 people are hospitalized with Legionnaires` disease.

The bacteria that causes Legionnaires` disease, it`s naturally. It`s naturally found in hot tubs, in decorative fountains, and in cooling towers. Cooling towers are part of the air condition system. So, if the bacteria gets into the towers, that means it can get into the air conditioning.

Legionnaires` disease is not spread person to person. It`s spread through the air. When people come down with Legionnaires` disease, they start out just not feeling well. They have a headache, their muscles are achy, and then after that, that`s followed by a high fever, sometimes as high as 104, 105 degrees.

Most people who get this disease develop pneumonia. Most people recovered when they get Legionnaires` disease, but between 5 percent and 30 percent died. The people who are most likely to die from Legionnaires` disease are the elderly and people who have underlying medical problems.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: It was a weekend of honoring those who served their countries. Armistice Day events in France mark the 99th anniversary of the end of World War I. Remembrance Day in Britain honored veteran sacrifices and conflicts since World War I. And across the U.S., ceremonies, parades, and even marathons were held as Americans celebrated Veterans Day.

There are some veterans-related programs where the American public is not allowed. The Lockwood Animal Rescue Center in California is an example.

It says it`s restricted so that the veterans and the animals it serves are given the privacy they need to heal.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW SIMMONS, CO-FOUNDER & VETERAN, LOCKWOOD ANIMAL RESCUE CENTER: There`s something about being part of nature. There`s something about being around these animals.

Even the most wounded veteran, they feel different, keeps them part of something greater than themselves.

SUBTITLE: Healing with wolves.

SIMMONS: The idea is that you`ve got to give someone who`s been through a severe trauma an opportunity to heal. And we believe at "Warriors and Wolves" program, in a back to nature setting, it does that.

We have 40 animals at this facility. We`ve rescued wolves off of chains in Alaska as part of the roadside attraction. We rescued wolf dogs from a backyard breather in San Diego. I think for all the veterans that we bring up here, whether they work here or they`re here for the support group, what rings true is if they can heal, I can heal.

JESSE MARTINEZ, VOLUNTEER & VETERAN, LOCKWOOD ANIMAL RESCUE CENTER: The wolves, they`re mostly injured, or something is wrong with you, and they have trauma. You know, we have some trauma in life, we can get that connection and one wolf would be your friend for life.

SIMMONS: What happens is one animal picks up one veteran. Never again does that animal pick someone else. Never does again does that animal want to show the same kind of affection to someone else.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What a good boy.

JIM MINICK, MANAGER & VETERAN, LOCKWOOD ANIMAL RESCUE CENTER: Conventional therapy isn`t really something for me. It didn`t help, to be honest.

After ten years of military life, it was sort of a tough transition. Had I continued down my course of being angry, drinking myself to death, it may have been the last chapter of my life.

SIMMONS: There are things I`ve seen that I can`t unsee. There are things I`ve done that I cannot undo. Just saying that, well, I did in the name of my country doesn`t help you sleep at night. But what does help you sleep is having a companion.

MINICK: We kind of teach you how to be calm and confident. It`s got some deeper meaning when they accept you. They accept you into the family, part of the pack.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: Our friends at Guinness have some pretty world records when it comes to hula hooping. The most hula hoops spun at once, the fastest marathon while hula hooping. Two good examples.

Here`s a new one, the record-sized hoop itself measured almost 17 feet in diameter. And Japan`s Yuya Yamada just twisted his way into the record books. He hula hooped it up for at least three complete revolutions while keeping the ring between his shoulders sand his hips.

You could tell, it took a hu-lot of strength, skill and balance for him to put his own spin on the twist and shout. It was like he was starting a revolution. And though no one can hoop it up quite like him, he runs circles around the competition and that`s exactly what you`d expect from the lord of the ring.

I`m Carl Azuz for cnn 10.

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