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The Year In Review; Scientific Definition of White Christmas. Aired 4-4:10a ET
Aired December 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: This is CNN 10 and Friday`s are awesome. A very warm welcome to all of our viewers worldwide. We`re so thankful to have you
watching this Friday, December 18th. I`m Carl Azuz and what better place to start our last show of 2020 than with the year in review. A couple
interesting things happened in 2020 and we`re going to have more details on some of these stories in just a minute. But when the year dawned, Australia
was in the midst of a historic bushfire season. Tens of millions of acres burned there in the summer of 2019 to 2020 and around the same time, a
potentially deadly virus that was first identified in China began to spread. First around the Asian country, then around the world. It would
change life as we knew it in many and some unexpected ways.
An international shortage of toilet paper and other paper products, the advent of working from home for many and it led to the U.S. government
passing a package worth $2 trillion. A record amount of money to stimulate the American economy. Before the year was out, there`d be another push for
more spending and Congress was debating a new stimulus package as we produced this show. The summer saw civil unrest in America. Protests,
marches, and calls for changes followed controversial encounters between police and African American civilians. Some of the demonstrations were
peaceful. Some were violent with cars and buildings being damaged and stores being looted.
The wildfires that flared up in California this summer and Fall were the most expensive the state had ever seen. They burned more than 4 million
acres before they were contained. The Trump Administration oversaw several historic peace agreements involving the nation of Israel and four other
countries in Africa and the Middle East. And by December, less than 11 months after the coronavirus pandemic arrived in the U.S. a vaccine was
approved for emergency use when no other vaccine had ever been cleared in less than four years.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NADIA ROMERO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: 2020 vision described seeing things normally but what happened before our eyes this year was in many ways
nothing like we`ve seen before. Consider a global pandemic growing worse with surging U.S. cases, hospitalizations and deaths. A presidential
election with a conclusion.
JOE BIDEN: They delivered us a clear victory.
ROMERO: But not a concession and wildfires. Winds plus the most active Atlantic hurricane season on record.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s been a record breaking, very busy season in 2020.
ROMERO: These stories could have defined 2020 on their own. Yet, they had plenty of company beginning just three days into the year. President Donald
Trump ordered a drone strike to kill top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: He was planning a very major attack and we got him.
ROMERO: Iran called it terrorism and attacked bases housing U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. A California helicopter crash in January shocked the
world.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There`s a chief indicator there were no survivors.
ROMERO: Retired Los Angeles Laker Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna died in a crash with the pilot and six more passengers on their way
to Gianna`s basketball game. Women often took center stage. The loss of trailblazing Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader-Ginsberg to pancreatic
cancer. The appointment of Justice Amy Coney-Barrett, the election of Kamala Harris as the nation`s first female and black and South Asian vice-
president. Yet the pandemic was always present.
Unemployment jumped with jobs gone. Concerts cancelled. Cruises, Broadway, the Summer Olympics, when some sports resumed athletes played in front of
small or non-existent stadium crowds. People wondered, when would they see crowds again. In May, they found out. Cameras captured Minneapolis Police
arresting 46-year-old George Floyd. For nearly eight minutes, now former police officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on Floyd`s neck even after Floyd
became unresponsive. Chauvin and three other officers now face charges related to his death. The renewed calls for racial justice, which started
with Floyd`s death, continued.
Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Rayshard Brooks, more tragic deaths that fueled a movement.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In America, you can peacefully assemble.
ROMERO: Black Lives Matter Plaza took shape in Washington, D.C. All Civil War monuments came down in Richmond, Virginia. The nation lost civil rights
icon Congressman John Lewis. Fifty-five years after Bloody Sunday when he began his quest for equality. He took his final trip across the Edmund
Pettus Bridge in his casket during the weekend of events celebrating his life.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ignition. Lift off.
ROMERO: The space program took off in new ways in May. Space X marked the first successful commercial launch taking two NASA astronauts to the
International Space Station from U.S. soil. Four more astronauts went to the ISS in November and people of all ages decided it was time to try
TikTok. The Trump Administration ordered the Chinese social media platform to find a U.S. owner while millions kept using it. The app says this video
got a record, 528 million views. Perhaps for people needing to take a break from watching all else 2020 had to offer. I`m Nadia Romero reporting.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: 10 Second Trivia. Who recorded the bestselling U.S. musical single of all time? Taylor Swift, Bing Crosby, Michael Jackson or Elvis Presley.
According to the Guinness World Records, Bing Crosby`s White Christmas is the bestselling single in the U.S. and the UK.
Irving Berlin wrote it. The movie "Holiday Inn" featured it. It sold an estimated 50 million copies worldwide after its release in 1942 and the
timing of that release aided in the song`s success because so many U.S. troops were away from home. Dreaming of a White Christmas while they fought
in World War II. But is the snow-covered Christmas landscape just like the ones you used to know? And where in America is the weather guaranteed to
cooperate. CNN Contributor Tyler Mauldin explores the science behind the scene.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TYLER MAULDIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Nothing says Christmas more Carl than watching snowflakes fly while opening gifts on Christmas morning. But just
simply seeing it snow isn`t enough to call it a White Christmas. According the NOAA, there has to be at least an inch of the white stuff on the
ground, on December 25th to receive the title. If you`re dreaming of a white Christmas, history says there are certain places you want to be.
Based on the 30 year average from 1980 to 2010, you`re best bet of seeing more than an inch of snow on Christmas Day in the lower 48 are areas such
as Maine, Minnesota, upstate New York, the Rockies, Sierra Nevadas, Idaho and the mountains of Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
Basically, you want to be in the mountains or near the U.S.- Canada border. Aspen, Colorado is one of about a dozen cities with an almost 100 percent
probability. Steamboat Springs sets at 98 percent. Surprisingly, New York City only has a 12 percent chance and Miami has never seen a white
Christmas. But these are the historical lots. An early look at next week`s weather pattern Carl, models suggest the treetops will glisten for many of
us with a break out of frigid air from the north and a couple of winter storms possibly impacting the country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: Snow or not. 18-year-old Tyler Camholtz (ph) recently lit his car up like a Christmas tree. It`s beginning to look a lot like "Camaro". His
father, a retired police officer, was not impressed because he knew it broke the law and Tyler (ph) was pulled over though the state trooper only
gave him a warning and took a picture. Tyler`s (ph) allowed to keep the lights on the car but he can only turn them on while driving on back roads.
Forget the "halls" ya`ll. It`s time to "deck the cars". Where there`s a "wheel", there`s ways to win the "holiday light wars". Clark Griswald`s
bright idea made a house all that it can be but Tyler`s (ph) car can make the neighbors "red and green" with envy. See, haters want to cover it. They
can`t get "camaroover" it. Admirers "allover" it. There smiles "hover" over it. He`s "strings" along a colorful "carful" of Christmas cheer and hopes
he doesn`t see "blue lights" behind again this year.
That almost "wraps" our show for 2020. I want to give a quick shout out to Plattsburg High School in Plattsburg, Missouri for subscribing and leaving
a comment on our You Tube channel. We wish you all a very Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy New Year. We look forward to seeing you again on
January 4th. Thank you for the gift of being the best audience in news. I`m Carl Azuz for CNN.
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