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Life Under COVID Restrictions In Beijing; America`s Aging Vehicles; A Milestone For Boeing`s Starliner. Aired 4-4:10a ET
Aired May 27, 2022 - 04:00:00 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 it, our last show of the 2022 spring season and we`re so glad you could take minutes to watch it. My name is
Carl Azuz, and our objective coverage of world events begins in China.
Government media there say more than people took part in an emergency online meeting this week. The focus: how to help the Chinese economy, the
second largest in the world, as it struggles from the communist country`s response to the ongoing COVID pandemic. While many other nations are
learning to live with the disease, China has maintained a strict zero COVID policy and what that tries to do is crush every chain of COVID
transmission. That includes mandatory quarantines, quick lockdowns, closed borders, mass testing and contact tracing which follows people wherever
they go.
But a growing side effect of this is that it`s hurting China`s economic growth. International investment banks expect it`ll be significantly less
this year than it was last year. At the meeting, China`s government announced dozens of new efforts to stimulate the economy, including more
tax refunds, loans to small businesses and emergency loans to industries that are struggling. But though some of China`s COVID rules are being
relaxed, the nation`s still pushing forward with the controversial zero COVID policy and that`s created immense challenges during the omicron
variant of the disease because while it`s less severe than other versions of coronavirus, it`s more contagious.
CNN estimates that China`s restrictions are impacting 220 million people across the country. Here`s how:
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SELINA WANG, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is part of my daily routine in Beijing. All right, getting my temperature checked, mandatory
testing for the city`s 20 million plus residents.
I`ve got to show them my passport and they have to type it in every single time.
In Beijing, nearly all public activity has been halted indefinitely, over just a few dozen daily COVID cases.
Not a soul in sight in the center of Beijing`s luxury shopping district. All non-essential stores have been shut down, including schools and gyms,
and all-in restaurant dining is banned indefinitely.
The only crowds in Beijing are parades of COVID workers spraying disinfectant all over the streets.
Officials here are cracking down early and aggressively to try and avoid the failures of the months-long lockdown in Shanghai.
So, it`s green, I`m good to go in. I need this green code to enter any area in Beijing. If it turns red, then I could be stuck at home or sent to
quarantine. Through these smartphone apps authorities can carefully track the movements of virtually all of China`s 1.4 billion people. If a COVID
case is later found at this grocery store, authorities can quickly contact trace and figure out whose code needs to turn red.
Grocery shelves here fully stocked. Beijing officials clearly trying to show people that no matter how long this partial lockdown lasts for people
are going to be fed. It`s not going to be like in Shanghai where people have been struggling to get enough food and daily essentials in lockdown.
This is a building where a positive COVID case has been found. You can see the workers in hazmat suits the blue barrier around the building. This is
to keep the people who live there locked inside but it also serves as a warning to other residents. There`s a fear that if you spend too much time
by a lockdown building, your QR code could turn red.
This is just one of the many high-risk areas in Beijing residents avoid even transiting through the red dots on the map. It`s lunchtime in
Beijing`s most popular food district. Normally people here would be gathered crowded shoulder to shoulder. But now, it is essentially a ghost
town.
With even most parks closed, there`s nowhere for people to gather and see friends except for by the side of the road to these unofficial public
spaces. And even here, there are signs reminding people to avoid crowds and security guards on the loudspeakers telling people to distance themselves.
But after more than two years of these on and off restrictions, people are getting frustrated.
A student protest even broke out at one of China`s most prestigious universities over harsh COVID policies.
Every part of our days are tracked and surveilled. People are concerned that this control is here to stay long after COVID is gone.
Selina Wang, CNN, Beijing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ (voice-over): Ten-second trivia:
Which of these American car brands is the oldest?
Cadillac, Chevrolet, Ford or Lincoln?
Cadillac rolled onto the scene in 1902, making it the oldest carmaker on this list.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: The average car in America is now a teenager. Let me explain, Americans are holding on to their vehicles longer than ever. This is
according to S&P global mobility, which examines data from automotive markets. Now the average car on the road is just over 13 years old, which
means many are much older. And the average light truck is about 11-1/2 years old.
So combined, the vehicles we commonly drive are over 12. Analysts say there are several reasons. For one thing, there`s an ongoing shortage of computer
chips and car parts for new vehicles. That`s hurt their sales and driven prices up.
The used car market has been affected. Prices for previously owned vehicles hit an all-time high early this year, though they`ve dropped a little since
then. Analysts say some cars are lasting longer than they used to, so people don`t need to get rid of them. And junkyards are reporting their
lowest scrap rate in decades, so people are putting more miles on what they have.
In rocket launching news, you hear a lot about SpaceX. There`s another private American company. One of its competitors that has also received
billions in funding from NASA. That company is Boeing. It also makes passenger planes, and its Starliner spacecraft just completed its first
successful mission to the International Space Station.
It returned to Earth this week in the desert of New Mexico. This was an uncrewed mission. Boeing hopes to send up astronauts by the end of the
year, but it still has challenges to overcome. In this flight, there were problems with some of its thrusters which helped maneuver Starliner in
space.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: Three, two, one -- and liftoff. The Starliner is headed back to space on the shoulders of Atlas, powered by a workforce dedicated to its
success.
SUBTITLE: Boeing finally had a successful test launch of its Starliner rocket.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We know now, however, who will build those spacecraft.
SUBTITLE: In 2014, NASA awarded Boeing and SpaceX contracts to develop rockets to bring astronauts to space.
Boeing has faced a myriad of problems and delays on its way to this milestone.
A 2019 launch was forced to return to Earth because Starliner`s internal clock was off by 11 hours.
In 2021, sticking valves caused a launch to be scratched before the Starliner was sent back to the Boeing factor to be fixed.
In the time Boeing took to have its first successful uncrewed launch, SpaceX has had six astronaut launches for NASA.
One NASA official said that because it was used to the Boeing process, it focused a little more on SpaceX and its non-traditional approach.
And another NASA official admitted not enough about Starliner was understood.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AZUZ: Hard to think of a better story for our 10 out of 10 segment than a sharkcano. Yeah, a sharkcano. A NASA satellite recently photographed a
plume of discolored water in the Pacific Ocean.
Scientists say this is where an undersea volcano in the Solomon Islands is continuously erupting and an expedition here in 2015 found that the crater
is home to silky and hammerhead sharks. They`re apparently able to tolerate the hot and acidic water so it`s a sharkcano.
You`d have to be pretty cal-daring to swim down there. Few things are crater than a shark that gives vent to its rage. No one would have to ask
you to lava. You wouldn`t lack a list of reasons to quit being sill and swim from the hill like mag-mama told you to.
I`m Carl Azuz, and that takes a bite out of our last show of the season.
I want to give a shout-out to Jones Magnet Middle School and all of our viewers watching in Hampton, Virginia.
We`ve got some new stuff in the works, so please keep up with us on our YouTube channel, and this here daily show will resume in August. From all
of us here at CNN 10, thank you for being the best audience in news.
END
