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CNN 10

A Possible Breakthrough Between North and South Korea; The Science Behind a "Bomb Cyclone"; A Great Big Story from Cape Verde

Aired January 05, 2018 - 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, everyone. Thanks for taking 10 minutes for CNN 10 today. My name is Fridays are awesome.

First story this January 5th, the ringing of a telephone is being called a potential breakthrough between North and South Korea. There`s a hotline

that connects that two countries near their shared border.

On Wednesday afternoon, for the first time in almost two years, a representative from North Korea called a representative from South Korea.

We don`t know much about what was said on the call. It lasted 20 minutes. South Korean officials said the two sides were just checking technical

issues. But several more calls were made in the hours that followed and analysts are saying this is a good sign for the two countries.

The call was made within hours of an order by North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un. His country`s government-controlled media announced that he`d

given the go-ahead to establish communications with South Korea.

And this could be because North Korea wants its athletes represented at the upcoming Winter Olympics. Those are being held in Pyeongchang, South

Korea, 50 miles from the nation`s border with the North. The games start on February 9th.

Another international event concerning the games, the United States and South Korea have agreed not to hold their cooperative military exercises

during the Olympics. The U.S. and South Korea are allies, the North has repeatedly spoken out against their military drills. U.S. officials are

skeptical about whether North Korea really means to improve relations on the Korean peninsula. But U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly told

South Korean President Moon Jae-in that America supports the South Korean leader and would be willing to help in communications with the North.

Now, we`re taking you to the tense border that divides North and South Korea, where a simple phone call might have changed the whole atmosphere.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Somewhere in the border village of Panmunjom is a hotline, and a settlement that spans

both North and South Korea within the DMZ, one of the most heavily guarded borders on earth. It`s official title, the Panmunjom communications

channel, a political lifeline between the two Koreas that is still technically at war.

This view from the South Korean side, the green phone to call the North, the red to receive calls from the North. Different time zones for each

state above the phone, half an hour divides the neighbors and a sign that reads, South/North direct phone.

The buildings on either side of the border, where the phones are located are only about 18 meters away from each other.

(on camera): South Korea says that the first two channels were connected in 1971, and they now have 33 different communication channels. But North

Korea hadn`t responded to them since February 2016.

The South Koreans say that they had two liaison officers who called every day at 9:00 a.m. when they got to work and then again at 4:00 p.m., just

before they left work. And they sat by the phone all day in case it rang.

JOHN DELURY, YONSEI UNIVERSITY: It`s not a matter of who initiates what, it`s that they get a positive dynamic going and that`s what we`re seeing

now. It`s not about North calling South and South calling the North. The two are sending positive signals back and forth, and they`re creating

momentum which can lead to some breakthroughs.

HANCOCKS (: The hotline is sparking much interests, most notably for its apparent use of Windows XP. South Korean officials declined to comment on

that, but it is simply a means to an end.

Paul Hancocks, CNN, Seoul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: For millions of people on the U.S. East Coast, it`s like they`ve been hit by a category one hurricane, but this storm lashed them with cold

and snow. Tens of thousands from Virginia, on down to Florida lost electricity. And in Connecticut, where the forecast called for at least

six inches of snow, and winds as strong as 50 miles per hour, the state`s governor said utility crews wouldn`t be able to get power lines repaired if

they fail.

Dozens of eastern U.S. cities were set to shiver under record-breaking cold. In Boston, Massachusetts, that could mean weekend temperatures

dropping to seven below zero. New York City was expecting as much as 10 inches of snow, with temperatures dropping to about three degrees, strong

winds and whiteout conditions forced JFK Airport to stop its flights. By yesterday afternoon, LaGuardia Airport had shut down too. In Newark

Liberty Airport in neighboring New Jersey was also struggling to maintain flights.

Passengers were stranded, residents were told to stay indoors and schools all over the Northeast were closed because of something called a bomb

cyclone.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JENNIFER GRAY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Bombogenesis definitely sounds like a scary term. Now, bomb cyclone is a low pressure system that has undergone

bombogenesis. In fact, storms that undergo this weather phenomenon can be rather destructive, causing a lot of damage.

But in the meteorological sense, bombogenesis simply means a storm that drops 24 millibars within 24 hours. So, you basically have a storm that is

rapidly intensifying.

In this part of the world, we see these storms rapidly intensifying because you have the cold air from the North combining with warmer air coming in

from the gulfstream. We see these in mid-latitudes and in the winter time, many times, we refer to these storms as nor`easters. They can bring a lot

of wind, rain and snow to the Northeast.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

Which of these island nations would you find off the west coast of western Africa?

Cape Verde, Seychelles, Malta or Mauritius?

Only one of these nations located west of the African continent is Cape Verde.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ: Altogether, Cape Verde is about the size of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. More than half a million people live in Cape Verde. An estimated

30 percent of them below the poverty line. So, when a construction worker in the town of Santa Maria saw large pieces of garbage on the beach, he

transformed it into something everyone can use to get fit.

That`s today`s "Great Big Story".

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALCINDO ALMEIDA SOARES, CONSTRUCTION WORKER (translated): I feel proud when I see Santa Maria`s clean beach.

It`s important to keep it clean.

You shouldn`t just throw trash on the sand.

Usually I look for rubbish, things I use to build the gym.

SUBTITLE: A Great Big Story: One Man`s Trash.

SOARES: My name is Alcindo Almeida Soares, and I work in construction as a painter.

I love to train, and Santa Maria lacked a place where the local community could exercise.

A normal gym is just too expensive.

The fact that a gym like this now exists in Santa Maria, not only for me, but for the people here, is very important.

It`s free, you can train as much as you like.

There`s nature, sun, the beach, fresh air. I think it`s much better. My dream is to try and make the gym just a bit better.

For as long as I live, I`ll continue to use it. Train, then go swim in the ocean, and the day is complete.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: Homemade things that are good: pie, cookies, biscuits.

Homemade things that are dangerous: throwing stars, anything that goes fast, power tools.

And yet there`s something good to be said about this idea for a homemade snowplow.

But wait, you might say. That`s just a TV box strapped to a lawn mower.

And Jonathan Schill who created the contraption would say, yes, yes, it is. It works beautifully and it`s been seen more than 8 million times on

Facebook.

This is where I plow through a bunch of puns that get me icy comments and cold stares. But honestly, I thought the invention was a plowerful way to

scrape together a useful tool.

Call him the lawn ranger, call him captain a-mow-rica. But his drive found him a way to drive away through his driveway. And with that, we drive away

with snow more puns to say today.

I`m Carl Azuz.

END