Return to Transcripts main page
CNN 10
Agriculture Officials Hunt For Murder Hornets; U.S. Labor Shortage Causes Challenges For Fishing Industry; Ride On A Zero-Flight. Aired 4- 4:10a ET
Aired September 16, 2021 - 04:00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 ANCHOR: Hi, I`m Carl Azuz. It`s my pleasure to welcome you to CNN 10 on this Thursday, September 16th. Our first subject today
concerns murder hornets. Yes, we now have everyone`s attention. Also known as Asian giant hornets, these insects are native to Japan and China,
they`re invasive in the United States, and several of their nests have been located in Washington State since last year.
In fact, officials there say they`ve found three murder hornet nests this year alone. The first two have been destroyed, that`s also the plan for the
third. One of the reasons for that is the same one why they got their name. Enough stings can kill a person, and dozens of related deaths are reported
each year in Japan.
There haven`t been any murder hornet deaths in the United States, and agricultural officials hope to keep it that way by eliminating any nests
they find. These insects are the largest hornets on the planet. They can grow up to two inches long. They`re bad news for honey bees. Entomologists
say it only takes a few hours for a small number of Asian giant hornets to destroy an entire honey bee hive.
U.S. officials don`t know for sure how these insects got to America. It`s possible they stowed away in an international cargo shipment. The
Washington State Department of Agriculture is asking residents to report any suspected sightings of murder hornets. Officials plan to stay on the
hunt for them for years to come.
Microchip shortages, aluminum shortages, bike shortages, the ripple effects of the pandemic that started more than a year and a half ago continue to
widen, but even if certain goods weren`t in short supply, people who work with them are. Many businesses simply can`t find enough employees,
especially in retail and manufacturing.
It`s a labor shortage that`s gotten so bad that an official with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce a crisis. Executive Vice-President Neil Bradley says
one solution could be for businesses to list the skills they`re looking for in employees, and for community colleges and local workers to then help
people develop those skills. But some employers are finding that even when everything matches up, keeping the workers is a challenge.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s impossible to be in three places at once, but Nate Phillips is trying to just that. Fishing on his family`s boat, running
his new "Clam Shack" and cutting the day`s catch in his fish market.
NATE PHILLIPS, OWNER, GREENPORT SEAFOOD INDUSTRY: I`ve got two guys here besides myself, normally I have seven.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s the same in all three locations. How many people`s jobs do you think you`re actually doing right now?
PHILLIPS: I don`t even know if I could put a number on it, but for just the sake I`d say about five.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The seafood industry, like so many others, is experiencing a labor shortage, and it`s currently high season in Greenport,
Long Island where seafood is in demand. How would you say this business is going?
PHILLIPS: It`s insane.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: U.S. seafood prices are up two and a half percent since last year, the fastest pace in years, what should be good for
Phillips. But he says customers often leave frustrated and without making a purchase. With little staff, people are forced to wait. Are you missing out
on potential business because of this?
PHILLIPS: Absolutely. I feel every day we are. Everyday.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The U.S. imports up to 85 percent of the seafood we eat, but with slowdowns in international trade there`s even more pressure
on U.S. operations to make up the lost. In Louisiana, it`s the tail end of the brown shrimp season, but a lousy harvest and fewer workers means less
business for places like Louisiana Newpack Shrimp Company.
CARL TURNER, CO-FOUNDER, LOUISIANA NEWPACK SHRIMP COMPANY: We have to use temporary agencies to get people to come in, and it`s hard to get them even
today.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Carl Turner runs the plant and says many workers are either collecting unemployment or left the industry for good.
TURNER: People want to work in different industries, cleaner industries and it`s a challenge to attract people to work in a shrimp processing plant.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In the Gulf coast bayous, Faith Family Shrimp Company owns this dock and five boats. The family sold two because they couldn`t
find anyone to run them.
ANGELA PORTIER, OWNER, FAITH FAMILY SHRIMP COMPANY: If I would have known what I know now, five shrimp boats, a big shrimp dock facility. I would
have had five sons.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s a grueling, messy monotonous business but one that takes skill.
PORTIER: We`ll start people out at a really good pay, a really good hourly pay and in a week or two they quit and we`re like what`s going on? And it`s
-- it`s very hard to replace them.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is where Phillips needs to be, but the lack of workers leaves him to choose between working on land or at sea. How often
are you able to get out on the boat these days?
PHILLIPS: Myself, not that much anymore. This is the most important part of all of it. Without this, we wouldn`t have anything else.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: 10 Second Trivia. Which of these scientists flourished during the Scientific Revolution? Isaac Newton, Euclid, Marie Curie or Louis Pasteur.
The Scientific Revolution took place during the 16th and 17th centuries when Sir Isaac Newton was studying gravity.
Whenever we cover space stories, and there`s talk about private citizens going up. There`s usually an astronomical price tag attached. A seat on
Blue Origin`s first flight was auctioned off for $28 million. Virgin Galactic will sell you a ticket on its "Unity" spacecraft for $450,000. If
the space balloon we reported on this week gets off the ground, a spot there will cost $125,000, but there is a way to experience similar
weightlessness to space for less than $10,000. That`s if you can stomach the price and the parabolas.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RACHEL CRANE, CNN INNOVATION AND SPACE CORRESPONDENT: Oh my goodness. Wow. I feel like an astronaut that`s for sure. Where are we and what are we
going to be doing today?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here we are, Newark Airport and we`re going to be going up in zero-gravity on G-Force One, and you`re going to get the same
experience as people on the ISS have.
CRANE: Zero Gravity Corporation uses a modified Boeing 727, flying in parabolic motion to create multiple spurts of weightlessness. Richard
Branson acclimated himself to zero-g`s on one before he went into space, as did the crew of "Inspiration 4", he first all civilian flight into orbit.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You don`t want your first experience in -- in zero- gravity to be in space, and -- and it`s a very unique feeling and this gives them the framework to understand it.
CRANE: I`m a little nervous. We all know that flying on a rocket ship is dangerous. But how dangerous are these flights?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There`s no risk or danger in what we do. We`ve flown 17,000 passengers over the last 16 years, not one injury and not one issue.
So we have all the same regulations, safety, everything as -- that United flight does.
CRANE: Whoa. Whoa. This is amazing. Whoa. Unlike Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson`s flights, this plane isn`t on a rocket aimed at space. In
airspeeds of 10 miles by 100 miles is cleared for a G-Force One flight. There`s a lot of talk about these sub-orbital flights democratizing space,
but is this experience the closest thing that, you know, a normal person --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Normal person --absolutely.
CRANE: -- experience.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. The price point, no one would say $7,500 is cheap but it`s accessible.
CRANE: It`s a lot less than $28 million. What is the value of the weightlessness experience? Like is this just for thrill seekers or is there
real research value to these flights?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right now, I would say half of it is research and then the other half is consumer facing. We`ve done things that are literally on
the cutting edge for space. Testing out how to do 3D printing in microgravity. We`ve done experiments in -- in how to animate freeze dried
blood. To go out and test things in zero-gravity or microgravity in space, prohibitively expensive and not realistic.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: A lot of folks work out their abs, but anyone looking to set a record for planking, whether that`s a personal or a world record knows it`s going
to hurt. But Daniel Scally (ph) is no stranger to pain. He has a condition that makes him extremely sensitive to it, but also taught him how to manage
it.
So to raise awareness about the condition and to set a new Guinness World Record, Daniel (ph) held an abdominal plank for nine hours, thirty minutes
and one second. In thinking of challenges to compare that to, I drew a "plank". It can feel simply "abdominall".
But if you`re the no "abscuses" type, and you don`t get "board" while working on your "washboard". You can "plank" on "planking" as an absolutely
"absome" "absercise" that meets you in the middle. Bridgeport High School in Bridgeport, Texas knows how to get a shout out.
Folks there subscribed and left a comment on our most recent show at YouTube.com/CNN10. That`s the only place our staff looks for your shout out
requests. I`m Carl Azuz.
END
