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Presidential Debates Past and Future; Impact of COVID-19 on the Airline Industry; CDC`s New Guidelines Concerning Halloween. Aired 4-4:10a ET
Aired September 25, 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: Question? Is there any debate that Friday`s are Awesome? Answer, no. But debates are the subject of today`s first report on
CNN 10 and we`re thankful to have you watching. I`m Carl Azuz outside the CNN Center. Next Tuesday, incumbent Republican President Donald Trump and
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden will meet face to face on the stage. It`s the first of three scheduled debates between these two men.
They`re set to have another on October 15th and a third one a week later. Incumbent Republican Vice-President Mike Pence and Democratic vice-
presidential nominee Kamala Harris will have their debate on October 7th.
These events each last an hour and a half. There are no commercial breaks. There are opportunities for the candidates to respond to each other and for
the debate moderators to steer the discussion. The topics for next week`s presidential debate will include the candidate`s political records, the
Supreme Court, the economy, race and violence in American cities, the coronavirus pandemic and the integrity of the election. It`s very tough to
predict how influential the debates will be on how people vote.
But to ensure they`re organized, relevant and fair to the candidates, a non-profit, non-partisan group was created to oversee the events. The
Commission on Presidential Debates was established in the late 1980s`. Since that time TV debates have been a permanent part of every U.S.
election but the first one`s date back even further.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let`s start with the campaign that put televised debates on the map, 1960, Kennedy versus Nixon. It was less about what they said in
that debate and more about how they looked.
JOHN KENNEDY, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Mr. Nixon comes out of the Republican party and it is a fact that through most of these last 25
years, the Republican leadership has opposed Federal aid for education, medical care for the aging. The question before us is, which point of view
and which party do we want to lead the United States.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Nixon, would you like to comment on that statement?
RICHARD NIXON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I have no comment.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know the what the old saying that folks that heard that debate on the radio thought Nixon won. Folks that watched it on
television thought Kennedy won because Nixon was sweating and Kennedy was looking debonair and so it`s sort of like, defined how powerful television
was for presidential politics going forward.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right and no doubt it showed how TV was going to be such a powerful force in politics and how people were going to start getting
their news from television. Especially when it came to policy. You know, we talk a lot about being stylistic. Right? This was the stylistic debate.
Right?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ever since, it`s been thus that we score these debates style and substance. Right?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Which is sad. You know, in many ways, I can feel the pain that Ronald Reagan felt as being an old guy, especially in this
business where there`s a lot of young folks. But it was in 1984, where Ronald Reagan diffused the whole idea that he was too old to be president.
Let`s take a listen to this.
RONALD REAGAN, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit for political
purposes, my opponents youth and inexperience.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Listen, Ronald Reagan, 1984, some questions about whether or not he was starting to slip a little bit, was he forgetting? He
lost his first debate David (ph) and then he rolled into the second debate and then he came out with that famous line.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A zinger. It really -- he put his acting skills to work there. I mean, he just understood the power of delivery there and actually
Mondale gives him a laugh in the moment. So it helped sell the moment. His opponent actually helped sell the moment for Reagan. I mean, it`s that kind
of performance that, you know, we talk to political consultants all the time. They`re paid tons of money to try to coach candidates to do that.
Reagan had that as just part of his innate ability that he brought to the political stage. And he went on to win in a landslide the likes of which we
have not seen since.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right. Powerful.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: 10 Second Trivia. What is the oldest airline in the world? Qantas, Aeroflot, KLM or Delta. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines was founded in 1919 making
it the world`s oldest airline.
Since the start of 2020, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control said thousands of passengers on commercial flights might have been exposed for
coronavirus. That`s not specific to KLM or any other single airline. The CDC says it was made aware that on 1,600 flights between January and
August, someone on board may have had COVID-19 and that means almost 11,000 passengers could have been exposed according to the health agency. Because
they were sitting within a six-foot range of the disease carrier. This doesn`t mean that all these people actually caught coronavirus.
And the CDC said, its information is not complete. The airline industry says flying is safe and that it`s requiring masks, extensive cleaning and
limited passenger interaction to help keep it that way. But as CNN Contributor Chris James reports, flying does look a lot different as U.S.
airlines operate with only 30 percent of the travelers they had last year at this time. Chris.
CHRIS JAMES, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Hey Carl. As you well know, because of our jobs as reporters we often have to travel to the biggest stories which
means typically a lot of time spent on airplanes. Now, I`ve been traveling much less than normal but I have had to fly several times since the
pandemic began. And I want to tell you a little bit about what it`s like taking to the skies during the age of COVID. First of all, and the biggest
change, it`s empty. When I was walking through this terminal in New York at 2pm, it felt more like 2am. Wild to see what used to be such a crowded
space feels so lonely.
And on this flight, I was one of about 10 passengers. Usually you`d be lucky to even get an empty seat next to you. Now, you`re very well likely
to get an entire row to yourself. Millions of people around the world are terrified to fly due to coronavirus concerns. Just this past Tuesday in the
U.S., under 550,000 people were screened by TSA. One year ago, on that same day, the number was over 2 million. And even people who like to fly
internationally can`t because of all those border closures but get this. There are some people who miss flying so much that they`re actually paying
to get on a plane that takes them no where.
Qantas Airlines decided to offer a sightseeing only flight in Australia which sold out in 10 minutes. I don`t know if I`d go that far but to be
honest, I do kind of miss flying all the time. The weirdest thing for me right now isn`t the whole wearing the mask thing. It`s the overall anxiety
throughout the process and the fact that you can`t even tell if your fellow passenger is smiling which is why I did give my flight attendants plenty of
thumbs up. Back to you Carl.
AZUZ: We are five weeks and a day from Halloween. It`s on a Saturday this year and as far as traditions are concerned. The U.S. Center for Disease
Control says many of them should be avoided out of concerns over the spread of coronavirus. So, none of this, according to health officials and they
say a costume mask is not a good enough substitute for cloth protective masks. Indoor costume parties, haunted houses and hayrides are also on the
CDC`s list of higher risk events. So, what does it say that people can do safely?
Carve pumpkins, decorate your own home, have online costume contests and family movie nights. The CDC says all Halloween activities should depend on
how many COVID cases a community has. But these are guidelines, not the law. We told you a couple weeks ago how Los Angeles County, California did
make a law against trick-or-treating. A lot of people opposed that, less than a day later officials said it would be allowed just not recommended.
For 10 out of 10 today, when horses fly. This is horse. Her name is Lola, is she a show horse? Lola recently fell down a 60-foot ravine in California
and because the terrain around her was so steep she couldn`t be walked out. So rescuers with the Orange County Authority came in to help. They sedated
her, hooked her up to a harness and Lola took flight. Thanks to their efforts, she was safely reunited with her owner.
When everything was still up in the air, she probably thought I "canter" believe this. First, they tell me I can`t "trot" out of here, then they
"dressage" me up in a harness. I`d be a little "saddle" about it if it weren`t so "uplifting" and I am chomping at the "bit" to see my owner. So,
I guess I`ll "Pegsushush". I`m Carl Auz. Horsing around on CNN 10. Fond du Lac High School, we are fond of you, in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin and we hope
everyone watching worldwide has a wonderful weekend ahead.
END
