CNN Student News - October 3, 2017

cnn 10

Mass Shooting Shocks the U.S. City of Las Vegas; A European Airline Suddenly Shuts Down; A Tree that Could Be the Last of Its Kind

Aired October 3, 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: Hi. I`m Carl Azuz. Thank you for watching cnn 10 this October 3rd.

We`re starting with an overview of a mass shooting that took place Sunday night in Las Vegas, Nevada. This is the U.S. state`s most populated city.

It`s internationally famous for its extravagant hotels, casinos and entertainment.

And it was during an outdoor country music concert on the Las Vegas strip that gunfire was heard just after 10:00 on Sunday night. There were around 22,000 people at the show. Police say the crowd was targeted by a single gunman on the 32nd floor of a nearby hotel.

At least 58 people were killed and more than 500 others were taken to hospitals. This was the worst mass shooting in modern American history.

U.S. President Donald Trump addressed the incident on Monday morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are joined together today in sadness, shock and grief. Last night, a gunman opened fire in a large crowd, at a country music concert.

It was an act of pure evil.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ: Jason Aldean, who was performing at the time of the attack, was unharmed. He described it as beyond horrific and said his thoughts and prayers went out to everyone who was there.

Support and sympathy poured in from the U.S. capital and around the world, with U.S. government leaders praising the efforts of the first responders.

Police found the suspected gunman dead inside his hotel room. They believe he killed himself. He was identified as a 64-year-old man named Stephen Paddock.

But the Las Vegas sheriff said law enforcement had no knowledge of the man and that he didn`t know how this could have been prevented. He also said officials were not calling the shooting a terrorist attack at this time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF JOE LOMBARDO, SHERIFF OF CLARK COUNTY: Well, we have to establish what his motivation is first and there`s motivating factors associated with terrorism other that distraught person just intending to cause mass casualty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REPORTER: Is it terrorism? A much repeated question that`s asked by government agencies in the wake of an attack. And while it seems simple at first, making a call can be a struggle.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The deadly terror attack.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Terror attack.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Terror --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Terror --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Terror --

REPORTER: In 2015, there were almost 15,000 acts of terror in the world. The problem is that there`s no internationally recognized definition for terrorism. The U.N. has been debating it for years.

The FBI defined terrorism as the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property, to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population or any segment thereof in furtherance of political or social objectives.

So, essentially, it comes down to motive. Was there a political or ideological agenda behind the attack?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: Next, the political crisis in the European nation of Spain.

The government of Catalonia, a region of Spain, says its people have earned the right to independence. It says 90 percent of those who voted in a controversial referendum on Sunday were in favor of splitting off from Spain. But turnout was 42 percent of Catalans. Spain`s government had banned the vote and police raided polling stations, pulling voters away and confiscating ballot boxes.

Catalan officials say almost 900 people were injured in violence during the referendum. They`ve called on the European Union to step in and mediate the crisis.

But the E.U., which spoke out against the violence has sided with the Spanish government in calling the Catalan vote illegal. The E.U. says it trust Spain`s president to manage the issue. More details on the vote and the responses to it are in yesterday`s show at cnn10.com.

Staying in Europe but moving north. It`s not the first time an airline has gone out of business, but this is the first time that one this big suddenly

collapsed and cancelled all of its flight.

The carrier is Monarch Airlines. It`s been around since the 1960s, giving budget flights around Europe and the Mediterranean. And its failure affects 110,000 people stuck without a flight home to the U.K. and 750,000 booked on future flights. It`s the third European airline to go out of business since August.

More competition, a shortage of pilots and terrorist attacks in some destination countries have all factored in.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAMUEL BURKE, cnn BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Disruption is inevitable. That`s something that no traveler ever wants to hear but that`s exactly what the U.K. government is saying is bound to happen now that Monarch Airlines is non-functional. The U.K. is essentially setting up its own temporary mini-airline to go and get the people who are in various countries who are supposed to come back to the U.K. today and in the following weeks.

And take a look at this incredible statement from the head of the authority that`s now overseeing these flights. Chris Grayling say, quote: That is why I have immediately ordered the country`s biggest ever peacetime repatriation, to fly about 110,000 passengers who could have otherwise been left stranded abroad.

Now, the U.K. government is telling those people, do not go to the airport. They want those folks to go to a new temporary Website replacing the previous Monarch Airlines` Website.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

A cycad is a type of what?

Plant, insect, bicycle, or circuit?

Characterized by a palm-like appearance, cycads are types of plants.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ: And one interesting thing about cycads is that scientists believe there used to be many more of them that there are today. In fact, some of those that do exist today could soon become extinct in the wild. How?

One example comes from today`s "Great Big Story", our new series showing you fascinating people, places and even rare plants from around the world.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID COOKE, PALM HOUSE SUPERVISOR, KEW GARDENS: This is a story of a plant, but not just any plant. It is a story of a plant that long, long ago once ruled the world, a plant that today is a very last of its kind.

It`s this plant behind me, encephalartos woodii, e. woodii for short. And I`ve been looking after it for over 20 years.

It was named for British botanist John Medley Wood who in 1895 discovered it growing on the hillside on a coast of South Africa. A strange handsome plant caught his eye and he carefully removed a small portion of it and had it shipped all the way to London, to here, Key Gardens, where it`s been for the last 117 years.

But its history goes much, much further back.

You see, encephalartos woodii is what is known as a cycad, and cycads have been around for 300 million years. As the millennium rolled on, cycads flourished, providing shade for triceratops, a perch for pterodactyls and a tasty snack for brontosaurus.

At one point, during the Jurassic, cycads made up 20 percent of all the plants on earth and covered every corner of the globe.

But the good times couldn`t last forever.

The dinosaurs went extinct. Ice Age came and went. New modern plants like conifers and fruit trees started pushing cycads out and the once proud population of e. woodiis were reduced and reduced and reduced, until there was possibly only one left, one single, solitary e. woodii growing quietly on the hillside.

Which brings us right back to John Medley Wood.

At that time, he had no way of knowing just how rare his discovery was, but expedition after expedition in search of more e. woodii have probed fruitless. You see cycads are dioecious, meaning you need separate male and female plants to create a new one.

And this one happens to be a male, a lonely bachelor. If a female mate cannot be found, it really will be the last of its kind.

To this day, researchers are still looking. After all, it`s a big world. There might just be a chance.

In the meantime, he`ll have me to keep him company.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: New York City`s Kosciuszko Bridge has joined the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens since 1939, but for one of its old spans, that changed earlier this week.

That`s the sound of 22 million pounds of steel coming down in a controlled blast. A replacement span for the bridge has already opened.

So, you can trust that drivers won`t be left in suspense, trying to pierce (ph) together a new foundation for their commutes to span the challenge, bridge the gap, traverse troubled water, get around the cap, or overcome the barrier of an abridged bridge.

I`m Carl Azuz for cnn 10.

END