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CNN 10

Standoff Pit`s the Indian Government Against the Nation`s Farmers; Unstable Air Mass Sends Frigid Cold Through America; Explanation of What Wind Chill Is. Aired 4-4:10a ET

Aired February 12, 2021 - 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: After an in-depth interview with each day of the week, we have definitively concluded that Friday`s are awesome. My name is

Carl Azuz. Happy to bring you this Friday`s edition of CNN 10. First today, there`s a standoff taking place in India between the nation`s government

and the nation`s farmers. This country is often called the world`s largest democracy. It has the world`s second largest population with 1.3 billion

people, and more than half of those people make their living in agriculture. India is very heavily reliant on farming. So, what`s this

disagreement over?

The Indian government passed three new laws last Fall that many farmers don`t like. They concern the prices of certain crops. For decades, the

Indian government required farmers to sell the foods they grew at state auctions and the government guaranteed a minimum price that farmers would

get for those foods. Last year, the government decided to allow farmers to sell their crops anywhere like grocery stores or to buyers in other states.

They no longer need to go through state auctions, but they also won`t be guaranteed the minimum price anymore. India`s government says this will

increase market competition and potentially the farmer`s income.

But if there`s a lot of supply, the growers might not get as much money for their crops and some farmers are concerned that if large companies get

involved in the new buying and selling structure. They could also drive crop prices down below what used to be the minimum. Large protests welled

up soon after the laws were passed, and they`ve gotten bigger since. Witnesses say they`ve been mostly peaceful, but some marches did turn

violent in New Delhi and police used water cannons and teargas to keep demonstrators from entering the capital. Negotiations have been going on

for months between the Indian government and the leaders of more than 30 farmers unions but so far, they haven`t found a compromise and some

protesting farmers say they`re not going anywhere until the new laws are eliminated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (inaudible), barricades, concrete walls, barbed wire, nails embedded on roads and hundreds of security personnel. (Inaudible)

leading to India`s capital New Delhi have been fortified by police preventing farmers and their supporters from entering the city. Thousands

of them have encamped on this highway in Gaza For (ph) for over two months. This is one of the three Delhi borders where farmers have been protesting

against three agriculture reforms introduced by the government which they fear will threaten their livelihood. There`s never a dull moment here.

While some are busy playing cards, some others were spotted praying in quiet corners of the camp. (Inaudible) break the routine with song and

dance atop tractors.

Dozens of people, young and old are busy cooking in community kitchens and serving meals. Thirty-six-year-old farmer Colib Singh (ph) is one of them.

While he feeds hundreds of supporters a day, his father back in the village tends to their farm. Colib (ph) has been at the protest site for almost 60

days.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNTRANSLATED)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For over two months tarps and tents have lined the highway where farmers spend cold winter nights. Water tankers are brought

in by tractors for bathing, cooking and cleaning. Medical booths have been set up to tend to the sick. Volunteer Mansheed Ranna (ph) lives close to

the protest site. A private tutor by profession, she spends her days at the camp and Mansheed (ph) says she attends to almost 2,000 patients a day.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (UNTRANSLATED)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The government of India says the current new agriculture reform will give expandable market access to farmers and pave

the way for economically and ecologically sustainable farming. Farmers disagree arguing they need price guarantees. (Inaudible) CNN, New Delhi.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ: 10 Second Trivia. Outside Alaska, the coldest temperature ever recorded in the U.S. was where? Mount Washington, New Hampshire, Rogers

Pass, Montana, Greenfield, Wisconsin, or Cavalier Airport Station, North Dakota. In 1954, the temperature of -70 degrees Fahrenheit was recorded in

Rogers Pass.

And this weekend, places like Rogers Pass probably won`t see temperatures get above 0 degrees Fahrenheit unless you like ice storms, Artic cold

and/or rain. It`s not looking like a pretty Valentine`s weekend for much of the United States. Meteorologists say that pesky polar vortex is to blame.

The low-pressure system usually keeps Artic air bottled up at the North Pole but when it gets unstable in winter, as it is now, the polar vortex

allows that air to spill south and then, well cold. Nearly 75 million Americans are under Winter Weather Alerts.

They`re spread from coast to coast. There`s a rare blizzard warning in Portland, Oregon and there`s a belt of weather advisories stretching from

central Texas to southern Connecticut. In the middle of that belt from Arkansas to Kentucky, forecasters are predicting dangerous ice accumulation

that can knock out power and damage trees. Temperatures in several areas are expected to break records. Wind chills will make them feel even more

harsh. Here`s CNN Contributor Tyler Mauldin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TYLER MAULDIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: There are two ways to measure temperature during the winter months Carl. Number one is the actual reading on your

thermometer. Number two is how cold your body perceives it to be which we call the wind chill. You`ve probably also heard it called the "feels like"

temperature. It means exactly what you may think. The wind makes it feel colder than it really is, you know, when it`s frigid and the air has a bite

to it because the wind is howling, and it just hurts to be outside. There`s a long equation as you can see here that tells us exactly what that feels

like temperature can be given a certain temperature and wind speed.

Make sure you memorize this equation because there will be a quiz later. Just kidding. Thankfully researchers at the National Weather Service have

crunched the numbers and compiled it into a chart for all of us to see. Their research tells us that whenever the thermometer drops below 50

degrees Fahrenheit and the wind blows by at least three miles per hour, wind chill begins. It also tells us the colder and windier it turns, the

bigger the wind chill will be. These matters because hypothermia can occur quickly when the wind chill is low. And when it`s extremely low like -50,

frostbite can set in within minutes.

Here`s how this occurs. Your body creates its own warm bubble of air just above the skin thanks to conduction. It`s what helps naturally keep you at

a healthy temperature. When your bare skin gets exposed to cold air and wind, the wind will whisk away that insolating layer making you feel much

colder and unable to warm. This can all be avoided by not venturing outside during the coldest hours when wind chill alerts have been issued. And if

you do have to go outside in the extreme cold, cover every part of your body from your nose and your toes and remember mittens are better than

gloves. The opposite of a wind chill can occur too Carl. It`s called the heat index which you hear us talk about during the summer season and is

when your body has trouble cooling down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ: We`re not coming in from the cold just yet. There are some upsides to living in a winter wonderland. Over a period of six years, a father in the

European nation of Latvia built a bobsled track and now we finally know how people get into this fort. The track is more than 550 feet long. The man

says he used old furniture to build it and only spent maybe $60 for the screws that hold it all together. His motivation, his love of building, the

love of his kids and the desire to keep them from sitting in front of screens during the winter.

Hey Billy, I got a new hot wheels track. Hey Jimmy, I got a new bobsled track and now the kids can talk bobsled smack. It`s like a winter "slip n

slide". It`s an "ice treat" you can ride and if that Olympic sized effort doesn`t "slide" those kids into the Olympic games, well maybe it`s them

who`s just "slippin" off track. I`m Carl Azuz and you know who`s not slipping off track, the Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C. Thank

you for subscribing to our You Tube channel. We will be off the air for President`s Day on Monday. So have a lovely Valentine`s Day, a great

Presidents Day and we will see you again on Tuesday for more CNN.

END