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Historic Middle Eastern Agreement Made at the White House; A Preview of the U.S. Presidential Debates; Scientists in Arizona Work on Giant Telescope
Aired September 18, 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: There`s no debate that Friday`s are awesome but there are some presidential debates coming up in America. And we`ll have
an objective report on them in just a few minutes. I`m Carl Azuz. This is CNN 10. First story today, an international agreement that the White House
says will mark the dawn of a new Middle East. The leader of Israel and the foreign ministers of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates met this week at
the White House. They were there to sign what`s been called the Abraham Accords, named for the father of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The
agreements effectively normalize relations between Israel, Bahrain and the UAE.
And that`s significant because the last time something like this happened was in 1994 when the Jewish nation of Israel and the Arab nation of Jordan
signed a peace declaration. Critics say the new agreement does not solve the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestinians which has challenged
the Middle East for decades. But the improvement of relations between Israel and the two other countries is seen as a foreign policy achievement
for the Administration of U.S. President Donald Trump which helped bring the three Middle Eastern nations together. For decades, American leaders
have been at the center of negotiations concerning the Middle East.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The gesture was simple but the consequences shook the region. In 1979, a handshake between Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin
and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat marked the first peace agreement between Israel and an Arab nation. The picture with U.S. President Jimmy Carter
standing front and center was historic. Two neighboring nations who had known mostly war coming together for peace. Fifteen years later, it was
President Bill Clinton who stood in the center as Israel and Jordan made peace with Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and King Hussein.
PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON: Here in this region which is the home of not only both your faiths but mine. I say, blessed are the peacemakers for they
shall inherit the Earth.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Another historic in a region known more for starting wars than for ending them. But major progress on the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict proved much more elusive. When President Donald Trump took office, he immediately set to work on his vision of a conflict. One that
was heavily in favor of Israel built in part on his personal relationship with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. After Trump moved the U.S. embassy
to Jerusalem and took other pro-Israel steps, the Palestinians cut off contact with the White House. Instead, Trump and Senior Advisor Jared
Kushner shifted their efforts to the rest of the region. The first Israeli commercial flight to land in Abu Dhabi celebrated a normalization agreement
between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: While this peace was forged by its leaders, it is overwhelmingly desired by the people.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Less than a month later, Bahrain announced it too would normalize relations with Israel.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: Election Day in America is on Tuesday, November 3rd. Voters will determine who sits in all 435 voting seats of the U.S. House of
Representatives. Americans will choose 35 of the 100 seats of the U.S. Senate and they`ll decide who will lead the country for the next four
years. The two men on the ballot, incumbent Republican President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden were determined by the
primaries and caucuses held across the country earlier this year. The next big dates on the calendar are September 29th, October 7th, October 15th and
October 22nd and CNN 10 contributor Kelly Mena tells us why. Kelly.
KELLY MENA, CNN CORRESPONDENT AND CONTRIBUTOR: Thanks Carl. Today, we`re going to be taking a look at the upcoming presidential debates. When it
comes to political argumentation, nothing beats the general election presidential debates and this year there are three, between Republican
President Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Joe Biden plus one between Vice-President Mike Pence and Kamala Harris. The presidential debates are
all about presenting ideas and showcasing leadership qualities to millions of Americans. They`re also form of political theater for Americans to see
candidates in action, in raw when it comes to facing their opponents.
2016 debates between Hillary Clinton and then Republican candidate Donald Trump were some of the most watched in history as Americans got to weigh
each candidate`s policy and future plans against each other. The first debate between Biden and Trump will take place on September 29th in Ohio.
They will be divided into six segments of about 15 minutes each on the major topics. Each candidate will get two minutes to respond to each
question with the remaining time going for discussion and back and forth between the candidates. Carl, with less than 15 days until the first
presidential debate, the end of September will give Americans the first glimpse at the Biden-Trump political sparring match.
AZUZ: 10 Second Trivia. Which of these famous explorers was born last? Marco Polo, Christopher Columbus, Amerigo Vespucci or Ferdinand Magellan.
These explorers are listed from the earliest birth date to the most recent with Magellan having been born in 1480.
The passageway through the tip of South America between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans was named for Magellan. So were the penguins that could be
seen there and so is the telescope that will eventually be assembled in Chile. The Giant Magellan Telescope will be the world`s largest of its
kind. It`s currently being constructed under the University of Arizona`s football stadium because the lab there is the only one that can make its
massive mirrors.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My name is Patrick McCarthy (ph) and I`m the principle astronomer behind the Giant Magellan Telescope Project, the largest
telescope in the world. Handcrafted start to finish here at the University of Arizona. The process of making a mirror, in some sense it`s like making
a cake. The first thing is you get all the ingredient. You have the glass. You build the mold and we put the glass on top and then you put it
in the oven. It`s then heated up to such a high temperature that the glass melts until it falls (ph) into the mold and makes the rough shape of your
cake. Now in our case, the icing is the hard part.
The mirrors weigh about 17 tons. They`re up to 8.4 meters in diameter. That`s a really big piece of glass. Then to turn that piece of glass into
a final optics takes another two to three years of precision grinding and polishing and testing. Each mirror from start to finish takes roughly
seven years to produce and there`s roughly 100 people working on it. So, about 200 person years to go into making one of these mirrors. The Giant
Magellan Telescope will be sighted in the Chilean Andes and the sharpest images in Chile, dry weather, clear skies and no artificial lights. It`s a
perfect place for a (inaudible). The challenge, of course, is how you handle this beautiful precision piece of glass and so we lift it with
suction cups.
Mirrors are moved very carefully because they are glass after all. Telescopes are our vehicles of discovery. They`re our ships in the
universe and the heart of the telescope is the mirror. It`s the thing that collects the light that`s come from millions or billions of light years
away and brings us that information (inaudible), answer those questions. Where did we come from? Where are we going? Are we alone?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: If you want to hippopotamus for Christmas, we can`t help you. But if you`re looking for a Tyrannosaurus Rex, this here skeleton is up for
auction. It`s named Stan for the paleontologist who discovered it in South Dakota. It`s 13 feet tall and 40 feet long. Stan contains 188 original
bones though scientists think complete T-Rexes might have had more than 300. So can you get a 37 percent discount. You can try. Christie`s
estimates it will fetch at least $6 million.
And while there`s "dynoway" some folks would pay that, it would "rex` their bank account. Others would be willing to drop a "skeleton" of cash so you
could "stan", Stan as it stands to withstand the test of time in bidding. Make no "bones" about it ya`ll. I`m Carl Azuz for CNN 10. Nishimachi
International School is watching today from Tokyo, Japan. We hope that you and everyone watching around the world has a wonderful weekend.
END
