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CNN 10
The Last Stand of ISIS; GMC`s Last Cruze
Aired March 07, 2019 - 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. It`s always great to have you watching CNN 10 as we get you up to speed on world events.
This March 7th, we`re following up on a story we reported on February 12th. It concerns what`s being called the last stand of the ISIS terrorist group
in the Middle Eastern nation of Syria. ISIS, an acronym for Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, once controlled a large amount of territory in those two
countries. But fighting by those nations` militaries, local militias and international teams including a coalition led by the U.S. have almost
completely driven ISIS out of its strongholds.
The battle in the eastern Syrian village of Baghouz has been raging since mid-February. There are signs it`s coming to an end. Within the past
couple days, hundreds of ISIS fighters have surrendered to Syrian Democratic Forces, a group supported by the United States, and it`s
fighting ISIS on the ground.
The ISIS terrorists were part of a wave of thousands of people who are fleeing Baghouz when the village was finally recaptured from ISIS. And a
commander says that could happen within a few days. It`ll signal the end of ISIS`s territorial control, which once included 7.5 million people over
an area the size of Portugal.
Still, even with civilians and terrorists flowing out of Baghouz, a United Nations committee estimates that tens of thousands of ISIS members are
still scattered across Iraq and Syria; though, they`re not part of this battle.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The final battle to take that last slice of territory occupied by ISIS. Now, what you`re seeing behind me right now is trucks
with ISIS members, and their families and others who are leaving that encampment, that last encampment. Those are men in the back of that truck,
according to officials at the Syrian -- with the Syrian Democratic Forces, since this morning alone more than 800 people have left that area. That
includes ISIS fighters and others. And anyone left behind is going to be coming -- or has been, in fact, under constant bombardment.
Air strikes, artillery and mortar rounds reign down upon the so-called Islamic State`s miserable realm, reduced to a ragged cluster of tents,
wrecked cars and trucks, perhaps just a half square mile. Despite the onslaught, people -- men, it appears -- can be seen walking along the
tents. The U.S.-baked Syrian Democratic Forces have given up trying to estimate how many people, all fighters they say, are still there. The
pounding carries on around the clock. There is no rest for the last holdouts.
Midnight, and the earth shakes. Night into day, the onslaught continues. ISIS lived by the bullet and the bomb, and by the bullet and the bomb it is
dying.
And that`s been 800 people since this morning. But now we`re seeing truck after truck of people. It does appear, and many of them, in fact, we saw
from the trucks they`re -- many of men are inside. So it does appear that there are far more, far more civilians inside that little speck of land,
that half square mile, than anybody thought.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: It`s been almost exactly five years since Malaysian Airline`s Flight 370 vanished. And international investigators don`t look like they`re any
closer to solving what`s become one of aviation`s greatest mysteries. Malaysia`s prime minister says his country plans to continue searching for
the plane.
And the families of the missing continue to meet, as they did recently, to support each other and to keep international attention focused on the
disappearance. There were 239 people aboard the flight from Malaysia`s capital to China`s. Those two countries plus Australia spent an estimated
$150 million in their official search for the plane, they didn`t find it. And a second attempt to locate MH370, carried out by a U.S. company called
Ocean Infinity wrapped up last year, also without answers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The missing airliner that disappeared on March the 8th, 2014, after the flight left Kuala Lumpur bound for Beijing then dropped off
radar an hour after takeoff. Later, satellite data showed investigators that the plane had continued to fly for up to eight hours and finally
crashed in the Indian Ocean off the Australian coast. The experts narrowed the crash site to around 120,000 square kilometer search zone. An
extensive an exhaustive effort including a deep ocean search found no sign of the aircraft.
Then over several years, debris confirmed to be from MH370 has washed up along the eastern African coast. Still, the main body section, the
fuselage of the plane, remains missing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ten-second trivia. Which of these automobile brands is not manufactured by General Motors: Buick, Chevrolet, Saturn or GMC? This
is a bit tricky. The answer is Saturn. It used to be part of G.M. but it was shutdown in 2010.
AZUZ: The last Chevy Cruze has rolled off the line in a G.M. plant in Lordstown, Ohio. It`s a community located between Cleveland and Pittsburgh
and its economy benefited from having a General Motors plant there. But the company closed the factory this week. Its CEO says Americans aren`t
buying as many sedans like the Cruze. So G.M., like other U.S. car companies, is shifting toward making more trucks and SUVs, which are also
more profitable.
The landscape for American autoworkers has been changing for decades. There`s been increased competition from Japanese carmakers. Some U.S.
companies have outsourced jobs to Mexico. Whether G.M. will use its Lordstown facility to make another vehicle or give it up all together is a
highly important question for both the workers and the local economy itself.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It would be a shame for them to shut it down after 52 years. I would love to see my daughter or one of my other kids get in out
there and follow their grandfather`s footsteps, their mother`s footsteps, their uncle`s footsteps.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m out here protesting the pending closure of this plant. God bless you and empower you. And here, these workers that are
honking their horns know what`s at stake.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There`s no doubt, G.M. has been really important to the overall economy for the past 40 years. Their potential loss is devastating
to the economy. A bigger impact is associated with the fact that it`s estimated as many as three to four jobs are directly dependent on each job
at an auto manufacturer. That`s the equivalent of a four to five percent increase in unemployment in a relatively short period of time.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As each day goes by, it`s more of a reality check, knowing that we`re almost done. I`ve been wearing that badge for 18 years.
I am in the trim department. I do left-side carpet retainers. We do build quality cars. It is a pride thing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s hard to just get retrained in a new set of skills to be able to work in other industries that -- that are hiring. And
oftentimes, those jobs involve less pay and worse benefits.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don`t have a problem going back to school, although I`m a lot older than -- kind of old. If that`s what it`s going to take,
then so be it. You know, I`ll -- I got to do what I got to do to survive and to -- to support my kids.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: There are a lot of things that robots are learning to do these days. Take, for instance, watering a plant, watering a cup, giving a fist bump
and making it blowup. One of the more impressive feats of this machine that was recently revealed by a Chinese technology company is its ability
to thread a needle. It`s part of an effort to show that robots are getting more dexterous and more effective at interacting with people.
What comes next? We`re hanging by a thread. If robots become tailors, what will tailors do instead? In the garment world, things aren`t always
as they seem. You just can`t replace an expert`s eye with that of a machine. It`s not keen. It`s too green. It can`t drape the perfect jean.
Artificial sense isn`t fashion sense when sensing how to preen (ph). So if you`re into tailoring and placing perfect stitched, don`t be needled or be
threadened (ph) by something that`s got glitches. Azuz on the loose, sewing things up for CNN 10.
Hi. I`m Carl Azuz. It`s always great to have you watching CNN 10 as we get you up to speed on world events.
This March 7th, we`re following up on a story we reported on February 12th. It concerns what`s being called the last stand of the ISIS terrorist group
in the Middle Eastern nation of Syria. ISIS, an acronym for Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, once controlled a large amount of territory in those two
countries. But fighting by those nations` militaries, local militias and international teams including a coalition led by the U.S. have almost
completely driven ISIS out of its strongholds.
The battle in the eastern Syrian village of Baghouz has been raging since mid-February. There are signs it`s coming to an end. Within the past
couple days, hundreds of ISIS fighters have surrendered to Syrian Democratic Forces, a group supported by the United States, and it`s
fighting ISIS on the ground.
The ISIS terrorists were part of a wave of thousands of people who are fleeing Baghouz when the village was finally recaptured from ISIS. And a
commander says that could happen within a few days. It`ll signal the end of ISIS`s territorial control, which once included 7.5 million people over
an area the size of Portugal.
Still, even with civilians and terrorists flowing out of Baghouz, a United Nations committee estimates that tens of thousands of ISIS members are
still scattered across Iraq and Syria; though, they`re not part of this battle.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The final battle to take that last slice of territory occupied by ISIS, now what you`re seeing behind me right now is trucks with
ISIS members and their families and others who are leaving that encampment - that last encampment.
Those are men in the back of that truck according to officials at the Syrian (inaudible) with Syrian Democratic forces. Since this morning alone
more than 800 people have left that area, that includes ISIS fights and others.
And anyone left behind is going to be coming - or has been, in fact, under constant bombardment.
Airstrikes, artillery, and mortar rounds rain down upon this so called Islamic states miserable realm reduced to a ragged cluster of tents,
wrecked cars and trucks perhaps just a half square mile.
Despite the Onsala (ph) people, men it appears can be seen walking among the tents. U.S. backed Syrian Democratic forces have given up trying to
estimate how many people, all fighters they say, are still there.
The pounding carry on around the clock, there is no rest for the last hold outs. Midnight and the earth shakes. Night into day the Onsala (ph)
continues.
ISIS lived by the bullet and the bomb and by the bullet in the bomb it is dying.
AZUZ: It has been 800 people since this morning but now we`re seeing truck after truck of people. It does appear, and many of them in fact we saw
from the trucks there, many men are inside so it does appear that they`re far more civilians inside that little speck of land - a half square mile
than anybody thought.
It`s been almost exactly five years since Malaysian airlines flight 370 vanished and the international investigators don`t look like they`re any
closer to solving what`s become one of aviation`s greatest mysteries.
Malaysia`s Prime Minister says his country plans to continue searching for the plane and the families of the missing continue to meet, as they did
recently, to support each other and to keep international attention focused on the disappearance.
There were 239 people aboard the flight from Malaysia`s capital to China`s. Those two countries plus Australia spent an estimated $150 million in their
official search for the plane. They didn`t find it.
In a second attempt to locate MH370 carried out by a U.S. company called Ocean Infinity wrapped up last year also without answers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The missing airliner that disappeared on March the 8th, 2014, after the flight left Kuala Lumpur bound for Beijing then dropped off
radar an hour after take off.
Later, satellite data showed investigators that the plane had continued to fly for up to eight hours and finally crashed in the Indian Ocean off the
Australian coast, but the experts narrowed the crash site to around 120,000 square kilometer search zone. An extensive and exhaustive effort including
a deep ocean search found no sign of the air craft.
Then over several years, debris confirmed to be from MH370 has washed up along the eastern African coast. Still, the main body section, the
fuselage of the plane remains missing..
AZUZ: Ten-second trivia, which of these automobile brands is not manufactured by General Motors? Buick, Chevrolet, Saturn, or GMC?
This is a bit tricky. The answer is Saturn. It used to be part of GM but it was shut down in 2010.
The last Chevy Cruze has rolled off the line at a GM plant in Lordstown, Ohio. It`s a community located between Cleveland and Pittsburgh and its
economy benefited from having a General Motors plant there, but the company closed the factory this week.
It`s CEO says American`s aren`t buying as many sedans like the Cruze so GM, like other U.S. car companies is shifting toward making more trucks and
SUV`s, which are also more profitable.
The landscape for American auto workers has been changing for decades. There`s been increased competition from Japanese car markers. Some U.S.
companies have outsourced jobs to Mexico.
Whether GM will use its Lordstown facility to make another vehicle or give it up all together is a highly important question for both the workers and
the local economy itself.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It would be a shame for them to shut it down after 52 years. I would love to see my daughter or one of my other kids get in out
there and follow their grandfather`s footsteps, their mother`s footsteps, their uncle`s footsteps.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m out here protesting the pending closure of this plant. God bless you and empower you. And here these workers that are
honking their horns know what`s at stake.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There`s no doubt GM has been really important to the overall economy for the past 40 years. Their potential loss is devastating
to the economy.
A bigger impact is associated with the fact that it`s estimated as many as three to four jobs are directly dependent on each job at an auto
manufacturer.
That`s the equivalent of a 4 to 5 percent increase in unemployment in a relatively short period of time.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As each day goes by it`s more of a reality check knowing that we`re almost done. I`ve been wearing that badge for 18 years.
I am in the trim department.
I do left side carpet retainers. We do build quality cars. It is a pride thing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s hard to just get retrained and a new set of skills to be able to work in other industries that are hiring and often times
those jobs involve less pay and worse benefits.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don`t have a problem going back to school although I`m a lot older than - kind of old. If that`s what it`s going to take then
so be it. I got to do what I got to do to survive and to support my kids.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: There are a lot of things that robots are learning to do these days. Take, for instance, watering a plant, watering a cup, giving a fist pump
and making it blow up.
One of the more impressive feats of this machine that was recently revealed by a Chinese technology company is its ability to thread a needle. It`s
part of an effort to show that robots are getting more dexterous and more effective at interacting with people.
What comes next? We`re hanging by a thread. If robots become tailors, what will tailors do instead?
END
