Return to Transcripts main page
CNN 10
President Donald Trump Signs Proclamation Recognizing Golan Heights Part of Israel; Damage in Mozambique Far Worse From Cyclone Idai Than Imagined; Oil Prices Increasing Gas Prices in the U.S.; The Northern Lights or Aurora Borealis and Southern Lights or Aurora Australis Discussed; Bear Invades Bee Hives At Susquehanna University in Pennsylvania
Aired March 26, 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: A change in policy concerning the United States and Israel is our first subject today on CNN 10. Welcome to our viewers
worldwide. I`m Carl Azuz at the CNN Center. Last week U.S. President Donald Trump said he`d sign a proclamation recognizing a territory called
the Golan Heights as being part of Israel. Yesterday he did it. With Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu standing next to him, the
American leader put pen to paper during a ceremony at the White House. Here`s why this is significant and controversial. The Golan Heights is a
rocky plateau in the Middle East. It was part of southwestern Syria in 1967 but during the Six Day War which was fought that year, Israel captured
large amounts of territory from the neighboring countries of Egypt, Jordan and Syria. The Golan Heights was part of that land.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here in the Golan Heights where there is years of evidence of fighting between Israel and Syria. Israeli forces seized this
mountainous territory from Syria in 1967 during the Six Day War and since then it`s been considered occupied territory by the international community
and the United Nations Security Council. Israel annexed the Golan in 1981 but no country in the world had ever recognized that annexation until now.
U.S. President Donald Trump overturning decades of U.S. foreign policy, breaking the international consensus and saying its time to recognize
Israeli sovereignty because of its strategic significance. Anyone positioned here has a great vantage point from which to look into southern
Syria on one side and northern Israel on the other.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: So Israel considers the Golan Heights part of its country and it has settlements there with thousands of Jewish Israelis sharing the land with
other groups of people. President Trump said the U.S. proclamation to recognize Golan as part of Israel should have taken place decades ago.
Several other countries disagreed. They don`t think the Golan Heights should be recognized as part of Israel. The European Union is among them
and the government of Syria called the U.S. proclamation a violation of international standards and said the Golan Heights was and would remain
Arab and Syrian.
The signing ceremony was held weeks before an election in Israel and it was expected to help the incumbent leader. Prime Minister Netanyahu shortened
his trip to the U.S. though after a rocket was fired from the Palestinian territory of Gaza Monday morning. It hit a house in central Israel
injuring seven civilians there. The Israeli military said it would strike targets in Gaza that belong to the terrorist group that was responsible.
All this came as another example of tensions in a historically conflicted region.
Moving south from the Middle East, we`re taking you to the African nation of Mozambique where international aid workers say the destruction from
Cyclone Idai is worse than they imagined. The Category 2 storm that made landfall on March 14th wasn`t the strongest to hit Mozambique but it came
after heavy rains had already soaked and flooded parts of the region and UNICEF says 1.7 million people across Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe were
effected. Some of the flooding can be seen from space.
Survivors say many people are still trapped in their homes. Rescuers say they still can`t get to some areas and though hundreds of people are known
to have died in the catastrophe, some experts say the final toll could be more than 1,000. Officials are calling for the Mozambican government and
other countries to step up rescue and recovery efforts.
10 Second Trivia. What country is the world`s largest producer of oil? United States, Saudi Arabia, Russia or Canada. These are the top four in
order with the United States having surpassed every other nation in oil production.
The U.S. still relies on other countries for certain types of oil. So even though America`s the worlds biggest producer over all, the production by
other nations, especially those in an oil producing organization named OPEC can still have an effect on crude oil prices. And that`s the single
biggest factor in gasoline prices in the U.S. Though they stalled a bit this week, they`ve been rising since January and OPEC is part of the reason
why.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OPEC is often accused of artificially boosting oil prices and ripping off consumers. In reality, OPEC isn`t as powerful as it
used to be for two main reasons. First, the fracking revolution in the U.S. over the last decade has made America much less reliant on its product
and second, Saudi Arabia hasn`t been able to effectively control the other OPEC members. OPEC stands for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting
Countries. Its members control about 40 percent of the worlds oil supply and they`re supposed to work together to decide how much oil to produce.
It`s simple supply and demand.
To raise the price of oil, OPEC members simply agree to produce less, to lower the price they produce more. But it doesn`t always work out that, at
least not anymore.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OPEC gained its reputation to control global oil markets in the 1973 oil crisis. Basically because some of the members of
OPEC put an embargo on the United States.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The sudden cut off of oil from the Middle East turned the serious energy shortages we expected this winter into a major energy
crisis.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But along the way, OPEC countries basically stopped listening to the groups defacto leader Saudi Arabia. The Gulf nation would
set the oil production goals for the other members but the other countries didn`t always comply.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If the other members joined Saudi Arabia and actually stuck to their production quotas, they could change the price of global oil
by quite a bit. But the problem is that other members of OPEC have the incentive to cheat because they`re producing considerably less and at the
margin they need the money a lot more than Saudi Arabia.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OPEC`s power had been slipping for decades. Then came America`s fracking revolution. Before 2008, the United States
imported most of its crude but technological innovation allowed U.S. companies to tap into vast shale oil reserves. Last year the United States
became the largest producer of crude oil in the world edging out both Russia and Saudi Arabia.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So there`s no doubt that shale has reshaped the global energy landscape but America can`t live on shale alone. Shale is very
light. American refineries require that really light shale to be mixed with heavy crude which is often found with OPEC.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So don`t count OPEC out completely. It may not wield the same power as the 1970s but it still plays a role.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: The Northern Lights aka aurora borealis are commonly seen in the Artic Circle, think Alaska, Canada, Iceland and Norway. They`re not
usually seen as far south as the U.S. state of Iowa. But because a solar storm was hurdling toward earth last weekend, scientists at the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration thought it may be, just maybe, some states in the lower 48 would also see the Northern Lights. Well they
didn`t. Researchers said the storm didn`t make enough of a direct hit to bring the Northern Lights farther south but when geomagnetic storms from
the sun do smack into the earth`s atmosphere - -
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Described as one of earths greatest light shows, an aurora is one of the most fascinating and beautiful naturally occurring
phenomena. You might know it as the Northern Lights but its technically called the aurora borealis in the Northern Hemisphere and the aurora
australis or Southern Lights in the Southern Hemisphere. This phenomenon occurs above the magnetic poles in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.
The form when gases, particles and the earths atmosphere collide with charged particles released from the sun.
Electrons and protons from the sun are blown toward the earth by the solar wind. As these are carried towards earth, most of them are deflected by
earths magnetic field. However, the magnetic field is weaker at the poles allowing some of the particles to funnel into the earths atmosphere. The
vibrant colors produced are determined by the type of gases that are colliding. The result is a brilliant display of the common green and
yellow, less common blue and violet, even rare reds painting the night sky in ribbons, arcs or shooting rays. Oxygen produces green and red light
while nitrogen gives off blue and purple. The best time of year to view the light show is during the winter months when the nights are longer.
Under a cloud free sky, away from light pollution.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: It`s not always a good thing when someone calls you honey bear. It could mean there`s been a theft. The evidence, beehives at Pennsylvania`s
Susquehanna University were recently found toppled and slobbered on. There were no witnesses but there is a suspect and here is the awesome wanted
sketch. While the Pennsylvania Game Commission is trying to trap the perpetrator with donuts, electric fencings been put up around the remaining
beehives.
So the thief may strike again but can he "bear" the shock. It would "be hive" him to take flight and "honey comb" a different place for food. Of
course he could always brood around the yard in search of another "colony" but before the insects were to "drone" on about one. They`d say its none
of his "beeswax". I`m Carl Azuz and that`s the buzz on CNN.
END
