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CNN 10
Eventual Return To Normalcy; Media Deal That Reflects Industry Changes; Exotic Carmaker`s Decision To Offer Only Hybrids. Aired 4-4:10a ET
Aired May 19, 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: A big hello and welcome to our show. I`m Carl Azuz. We hope you`re in the middle of a good week or it`s about to get that
way. Since last year, people around the world have been wondering when are things going to get back to normal.
Globally, we`re not there yet. The nation of India recently became the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic. Johns Hopkins University says it`s
still recording hundreds of thousands of new positive tests per day but there has been a steady decrease in that number over the past week or so.
International health officials have reported roughly 164 million COVID cases since the virus started spreading last year.
It`s been cited as a factor of more than three million deaths. Since an estimated 40 percent of people who catch the disease don`t show symptoms
and may not get tested, it`s overall survival rate is estimated at around 99.5 percent. But the risk is higher for older people and those who had
certain health conditions before catching it.
As far as treatments go, a lot of focus has been on vaccines. There are several of them being used around the world. They were developed faster
than any other vaccines in history, but there`s also been extensive research on existing therapeutic drugs. Several of them have been shown to
help people recover or avoid hospitalizations related to coronavirus.
One of the latest is an asthma drug studied at Oxford University. There are still shortages of different materials impacted by COVID related shutdowns.
Toilet paper is no longer one of them but computer chips, bicycles, wood, steel, gasoline. These are all in short supply.
That`s having impacts on the prices of goods and homes. American communities are returning to normalcy at different paces. In some areas,
it`s been more or less business as usual since last summer with meetings being held, sports being played, trips being made. In others where
businesses were closed and people were more isolated for longer periods of time, there could be more of an adjustment period when life returns to the
way it was.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Confined largely to our homes. Deprived of freedoms, experiences and human connections. Somehow, we`ve mostly learned to get by.
Now in countries with advanced vaccine programs, we must adapt again, to crowds, to conversations, to a pace that life that seems distant and
personally a little intimidated. And that makes me feel, nervous, anxious, even fearful, but I don`t know why I`m feeling this way.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think we have only become a little inclined to be closed in and hesitant to go back to that normal life. And we need to
reinvigorate that social muscle.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Psychologist Ana Nitchovic (ph) says nervousness about returning to something like our old reality now has a name, re-entry
anxiety. But it`s not new.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This phenomenon has been observed by psychosis before in people who have spent protective periods of (inaudible) isolation. For
example, people who`ve gone into space.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
(END AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chris Hatfield (ph) understands why some people are feeling anxious.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My longest time in space when I was living onboard and commanding the International Space Station, was a little under six months,
so half a year, halfway around the sun.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hatfield (ph) says he returned to Earth a different person and many of those emerging from lockdown will also have experience
profound personal change. To have some of the anxieties fueled by the fear that things could go bad, we could lose some of what we found through this
experience.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think that`s up to each of us though. How am I going to take this new version of me and introduce it to this new version of the
world in as productive way as I possibly can.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A practical optimism, I think that`s what you`re abdicating there. Is that fair?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That`s how we fly spaceships, with a very deeply based practical optimism.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible) believe she is her best self when battling oceans alone. She recently finished a 96 day, non-stop, single handed race
around the world. But even with all her extraordinary courage, returning to life on land can be overwhelming.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just determined that we are adapted (inaudible). We will go to different kind of normal again. But you don`t want to throw
yourself at it too hard, allow the change to happen gradually and make sure you`re doing things that work for you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My wife and I were arrested --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jason Resign (ph) was imprisoned in Iran while working as the Washington Post bureau chief.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I spent 49 days in solitary confinement and I -- I went on to spend a total of 544 days in that prison.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He knows the complex emotions that follow a sudden return to a once familiar life.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In my case, I was, you know, one person and -- and my wife we were two people that were dealing with this. What we`re talking
about now is billions of people around the world coming to this at -- at almost the same time. Just recognizing that everybody is going to have a
different reaction and many of those reactions are going to be unexpected. Unexpected to the world and unexpected to those people themselves.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So we should all be a little gentle with each other perhaps.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think we should also be a little bit gentle with each other but -- but certainly in the -- in the weeks and the -- and the months
ahead. You know, I -- I think we should err towards forgiveness. There`s going to be a lot of awkward encounters for everybody.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everyone wants the pandemic to end but in a world where all certainties have been swept aside, we can`t all be sure we`ll want
everything that comes next.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: 10 Second Trivia. Which of these U.S. media brands was launched first? HBO, CNN, TNT or Cartoon Network. These brands are in order from
oldest to youngest with HBO`s birthday dating back in 1972.
One thing all those brands have in common is that they`re part of a larger company called WarnerMedia and WarnerMedia is owned by AT&T. It has been
since 2018. But AT&T has decided to sell WarnerMedia to Discovery. Why? AT&T is a large wireless company and satellite TV distributor. It wanted to
offer programming and entertainment as well. That`s why it bought WarnerMedia three years ago for $85 billion.
But AT&T, the worlds largest telecommunications company wants to change course again. For one thing, the acquisition of WarnerMedia left it with a
lot of debt and AT&T along with its investors want to focus more on 5G and other parts of its core business. So it`s selling WarnerMedia which
includes CNN to Discovery. The deal with worth $43 billion to AT&T. What might it mean for the other brands and for the industry in general?
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
BRIAN STELTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is a streaming spin-off that tells us a lot about the future of media. In a streaming world dominated by
Netflix, Disney and Amazon, WarnerMedia and Discovery believe they need to team up and get bigger together in order to grow all around the world.
It was three years ago, in 2018, that AT&T acquired Time Warner, renamed it WarnerMedia, took control of CNN, HBO, Warner Brothers. What we`ve seen as
a result is the HBO Max streaming service which has been gaining subscribers but is lagging far behind the likes of Netflix.
There is a similar story over at Discovery run by CEO David Zaslav. They recently launched something called Discovery Plus, a streaming service with
the kind of lifestyle programming the company`s known for. Food, cooking, house -- home renovation shows, all those sorts of programs available in a
streaming service.
But these services are relatively small compared to the Disney`s of the world. So now they are combining forces trying to be one of the three or
four dominant streaming brands in media. First though, it does have to get reviewed by regulators. That process could take about a year.
So nothing changes right away and as for the channel you`re watching right now, CNN. I spoke with Zaslav and he says that he will continue to be
committed to CNN`s editorial independence just as AT&T has for the past few years. Brian Stelter, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
AZUZ: I`ll see you at the pool right after I plug in my Lamborghini. That`s what the company hopes it`s customers will be saying by the end of 2024
when the Italian super carmaker will only sell plug-in hybrids. These kinds of cars have both electric and internal combustion engines so they`ll still
sound loud and aggressive.
Lamborghini says it`s customers don`t want fully electric super cars. It`s making the switch to hybrids to reduce its vehicles carbon dioxide
emissions. But critics say, so people can afford Lamborghinis which cost hundreds of thousands of dollars that it really won`t make a difference to
the environment.
Of course if they want to "Lamborgivemeone" to test drive, you "bogatti" believe that "Rollsing" around like a "Carnigzeghead" in a "Ferrareally"
fast car that "Maclearly" "Bentlies" my "Porshe" old sedan in the dust.
Well, I`d be "Pegani" in 60 seconds ya`ll. Hey, our show drives off into the sunset next Friday, May 28th. We will return in August. Plymouth
Regional High School, thank you for watching from Plymouth, New Hampshire. I`m Carl Azuz.
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