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U.S. Senate Opens Its Impeachment Trial for President Trump; Mysterious Virus Surfaces in Asia; Studies Examine Screen time and Children`s Brains

Aired January 21, 2020 - 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: CNN 10 is back on track today with reports on an impeachment trial, a mysterious virus and a study on screen time. I`m Carl

Azuz thankful to be 10 minutes of your daily screen time. All right, starting in Washington, District of Columbia, today is when the impeachment

trial of U.S. President Donald Trump ramps up in the Senate. It officially began on January 16th but the rules for the trial are likely to be laid

down today setting the stage for the arguments to begin afterward. Democrats and Republicans are deeply divided over this issue. The House of

Representatives, which is controlled by Democrats, formally charged the president with wrongdoing. The Senate, which is controlled by Republicans,

is expected to find the president not guilty of wrongdoing.

Last month all but a few House Democrats voted to charge the American leader with two articles of impeachment. The first is the accusation that

President Trump abused his power by pressuring another country to investigate the son of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. The

second is the accusation that President Trump broke the law by not fully cooperating with the House`s impeachment investigation. On Monday, the

president`s legal team filed a brief, a 110 page response to the accusations.

Lawyers for President Trump say the impeachment charges don`t show he broke the law in any way and they call the impeachment process against him

a charade and an election year political tool. Their brief asked Senators to quickly reject the House`s charges but how the trial actually plays out

is unknown at this time. It could last for weeks. It could be over faster. One thing Republicans and Democrats are anxious to see is if and

how the trial effects public opinion and the presidential election that`s scheduled for November 3rd.

10 Second Trivia. In terms of total area, which of these countries is the smallest? Russia, Canada, United States or China. These countries are

listed in order by size with Russia being the biggest and China being the smallest.

It`s still massive at more than 3.7 million square miles and China is the world`s most populated country with more than 1 billion 380 million people.

That`s why there`s some international concern about a mysterious new virus that`s sprouted up there. The disease itself has been labeled a

coronavirus. It`s a type of virus that can cause respiratory problems. It was first detected more than a month ago in Wuhan a province of central

eastern China. So far more than 40 people have gotten sick from it and two have died. Chinese health officials say most of the patients in Wuhan had

been to a large seafood and animal market there but because some of them had not been to the market, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control says the

virus may be spreading from person to person. The CDC says this is not something Americans should be worried about and that common bugs like the

flu are a much bigger threat. But health officials are planning to check passengers at three U.S. airports who`ve arrived from Wuhan China.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID CULVER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: China`s President Xi Jinping wants quote "resolute efforts" taken to stop the spread of a

mysterious and potentially deadly illness not according to state media. The say President Xi stressed putting people`s safety and health as the top

priority. Meantime health official here in China acknowledging that the new coronavirus has surfaced here in Beijing and in southern China. Japan,

South Korea and Thailand have also identified cases of the virus. All of which they say are linked to Wuhan, China. The central Chinese city is

believed to be the epicenter of this illness. It causes pneumonia and it can be deadly.

Chinese scientists say it is in the same family as the deadly, severe acute respiratory syndrome known as SARS but they advise it does not appear

nearly as lethal. The World Health Organization says there is evidence of human to human transmission and that an animal source seems to be likely,

the primary source of the virus. The many unknowns are sparking concern though on Chinese social media in particular. Some there are questioning

whether or not health officials are truthfully reporting all of the cases but opinion pieces posted on Chinese state media are knocking down those

claims stressing that withholding information and underreporting cases would only negatively impact China.

The illness comes as hundreds of millions across Asia are traveling for the Lunar New Year holiday. The festival is the largest human migration that

takes place each year and in recent years more and more Chinese have traveled outside of China during the festival. As a result, health

authorities across the world are stepping up health screenings at airports and rail stations. Here in China, they`ve also begun distributing testing

kits to multiple cities and they established a daily reporting system for new cases across the country. China`s foreign ministry is vowing to work

collectively within Asia to fight this epidemic. David Culver, CNN, Beijing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Pneumonia is an infection of the lungs. The infection can be from a virus, from bacteria or from a fungus. People of

any age can get pneumonia but it`s particularly serious when it`s a baby or a child or someone over the age of 65. When people get pneumonia the air

sacs in their lungs can fill up with phlegm or pus, that means they`re coughing up that phlegm and they can have difficulty breathing. Other

signs of pneumonia include fever, fatigue and chest pain. Doctors diagnose pneumonia in a number of ways including blood tests and chest x-rays.

Bacterial pneumonia is treated with antibiotics and often patients stay home.

Often they`ll feel better in a few days or weeks but they can feel very tired for more than a month. People with pneumonia sometimes do need to

hospitalized. Often it`s because they`re having such difficulty breathing that they need help or their blood pressure or their temperature, their

heart rate dip too low. Doctors tell people who are recovering from pneumonia not to jump back into their regular routine too quickly. If they

do, then complications from pneumonia can arise and those complications can be serious or even deadly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ: Screen time, children and white matter all factor in our next story. Health officials are saying young kids especially need screen`s off and

books open. The children`s hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio recently conducted brain scans of children ages three to five years old. Researchers looked

at their brains white matter, an area thought to be linked to literacy and language skills, which help kids learn in school. What researchers found

was that preschoolers who looked at electronic screens for more than an hour a day had less development in their brains white matter than kids who

had less screen time. Doctors also found that kids who`s parents read to them scored higher on certain brain tests.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As we go into the new year, I think it`s really about striking a balance. That`s how - - that`s how I`d put it. That`s the

message I want to send. There was this recent study that - - that actually scanned the brains of three to five year olds. They were three to five

year olds that used screens more than the recommended one hour a day and what they found was that these children had lower levels of development in

the brain`s white matter. That`s an area that you`re going to see right there highlighted in blue. Areas that are critical to help develop

language, literacy and cognitive skills. So you can see the problem there when it comes to kids.

Also you - - I mean you know a big proponent of making sure we get enough sleep, screens definitely effect how quickly you fall asleep and then the

quality of your sleep once you do so. I mean, just one email or just one text can take your brain from zero to 60 in a split second and make it

really hard to slow down after. U.S. teens spend an average of more than seven hours using screens for entertainment. That`s not even including

their homework. That`s seven hours of not moving. Remember inactivity is a disease and look if - - if you look at all these things and they`re not

reasons enough to reduce your screen time think about how it effects your relationships. This past year I went to Sardinia for "Chasing Life and I

think one of the things that really struck me was the sense of community that people have and the community that surrounds their meals. When I was

there, I didn`t see a lot of screens out. It`s hard to socialize if you`re constantly looking at one of these.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ: Time for some fast facts. A standard Snickers bar has 250 calories, 27 grams of sugar and four grams of protein. This one has more than that.

It`s the Guinness World Record sized Snicker`s bar made at the Mars-Wrigley Candy Plant in Texas. The 4,700 pound chocolate reportedly took a week to

make. It has 10 million calories, 1 million grams of sugar and 170,000 grams of protein. But you`re not going to eat it unless you`re a Mars

employee and you don`t drop the "Chunky" "Goodbar" with your "Butterfingers". Oh sure, some will think it`s a "100 Grand" idea bringing

"Mounds" of "Almond Joy" with every "Crunch" but "beTwix" you and me "Baby", I`d "Ruth" or wait until "Pay Day" to join the "3 Musketeers" in

searching "Mars" or the whole "Milky Way" for one of those "Whatchamacalit". Healthy scores of "mmm" and "mmm" until my "Reese`s

Peanut Buttercup" runneth over. Yeah, candy puns. They`re always sweet ya`ll.

So are the students of Foot Hill High School. They`re watching from Santa Ana, California and commenting on our most recent show at

YouTube.com/CNN10. Thank you. I`m Carl Azuz.

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