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Americans Remember Colin Powell; China`s Space Program Advances; A Company Develops Electric Flying Taxi; Artists Carve Amazing Pumpkin Display. Aired 4-4:10a ET
Aired October 19, 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 great to have you watching this Tuesday. We have an update on a 21st Century space race
coming up in just a couple minutes. First though, family members, politicians, historians and civil rights advocates are paying tribute to
Colin Powell, an American military and political leader who passed away Monday at age 84. Powell had an extraordinary resume dating all the way
back to his work in the Reserve Officers Training Corps while he was in college.
At that time, Powell had attained the ROTC`s highest rank and he continued to advance his military career from there. Powell served in combat during
the Vietnam War and became a four-star general in the U.S. Army. During the presidency of Ronald Reagan, Powell became America`s first black
National Security Advisor. Under President George H.W. Bush, Powell became the first African American chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, the
country`s highest ranking military officer.
And in the administration of President George W. Bush, Powell became America`s first black Secretary of State. In a statement on Monday, former
President Bush called Powell a great public servant, saying he was such a favorite of U.S. leaders that he was awarded the Presidential Medal of
Freedom twice. One regret Powell said he had come after a speech he gave at the United Nations in 2003.
In his address, Secretary Powell warned that the nation of Iraq was hiding biological weapons. Something inspectors never found afterward during the
U.S. led war with the Middle Eastern country. Powell called the speech a blot on his record. He worked as a speaker, an author and an advisor of a
Venture Capital firm after serving in the Federal government. Powell`s family says he died from complications from COVID-19, though he had been
fully vaccinated against the disease.
Up next, 183 days in space, that`s how long three crew members from China will be in orbit working on their country`s new space station. Taking
spacewalks, testing out the facility`s technology, that`s part of their mission. It`s the second time the crew has been sent up here to work on
the orbiting lab. China hopes to have it fully built and operating by next December. The country has scheduled six missions after this one to help
make that happen. China`s space program is overseen by the nation`s military, according to a U.S. national security researcher. That`s one
reason why the U.S. Congress has prevented NASA from cooperating with China in space, but the communist country`s program is advancing rapidly,
contributing to what some call a new space race in the 21st Century.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ninety-year-old Star Trek actor William Shatner blasted into space, becoming the oldest man to reach such height
amid great fanfare in the U.S.
WILLIAM SHATNER, ACTOR: Oh, wow.
CULVER: Thousands of miles away here in the Gobi Desert, China`s latest space mission won`t set any records, but it is a major step forward in this
country`s fast growing and increasingly ambitious space program. CNN gaining rare access to the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern
China. Shenzhou-13 carrying three Chinese astronauts to the country`s soon to be completed space station, called Tiangong or "Heavenly Palace". China
has touted their space station as next generation, an alternative to the International Space Station. But the 15 country ISS has already been
occupied for more than 20 years.
The U.S. passed a law barring China from participating, leaving some experts to question --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we had brought China in to work with us on ISS, would China have felt as compelled to develop their own fully independent
program as rapidly as they have?
CULVER: It`s Hollywood`s portrayal coming to reality. Sandra Bullock`s character in "Gravity" saved by a Chinese space station on her way back to
Earth. Wang Yaping told us in 2015, it is her favorite film. She is one of three Chinese astronauts on this mission. The crew also includes a
newcomer to space travel, 41-year-old Ye Guangfu who took part in cave training with astronauts from five countries in 2016.
YE GUANGFU, CHINESE ASTRONAUT TRANSLATED: I hope one day I can fly with other international astronauts in space, and welcome to visit China`s space
station.
CULVER: But western astronauts will need to study up first. These operations interfaces are in Chinese, and China state media reports that
European astronauts are already taking language courses to so they can visit the Chinese space station. Despite a late start in the space race,
China is rapidly catching up. It has returned samples from the moon and like the U.S. put a rover on Mars.
All within the last year. It`s also got big plans for commercial ventures and for deep space exploration, including to build a base on the moon with
Russia and send humans to Mars in the 2030s`. From launching billionaires to cosmic explorations, the U.S. is still leading, with plenty of headline
grabbing launches and the long history of success putting 12 men on the moon. But the more pressing challenge, prioritizing the multi-billions in
funding needed for the U.S. to hold on to that lead. Some experts believe the added competition from China might fuel more innovation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you`re somebody who wants to see humans land on Mars and more scientific probes throughout the solar system, geopolitical
competition is probably not the worst thing in the world.
CULVER: While Captain Kirk is helping capture U.S. imaginations to propel the U.S. forward in this tightening the space race, China`s three
astronauts now embarking on a six-month mission. The country`s longest yet to secure their footing out of this world. David Culver, CNN, Jiuquan
Satellite Launch Center, China.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: 10 Second Trivia. Which of these inventions came first? Electric vacuum cleaner, electronic calculator, enclosed shopping mall or electric
car. Believe it or not, the electric car was the first of these inventions. It hit the road in the 1890s.
Up next, a new example of what could become an air taxi of the future. It`s not a helicopter. It`s not a plane and it`s also not a drone. This
would have a pilot, but it is another entry in the increasingly crowded field of potential air taxis. Joby Aviation`s Evtol has a range of up to
150 miles on a single battery charge. That`s about half the distance of many gas-powered helicopters. It has a lot of competition from other
electric aerial vehicles startups and none of them have approval from the U.S. government to fly commercial passengers yet. But the evtol has some
pretty unique features.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL SCIARRA, CHAIRMAN OF JOBY AVIATION: So, I think what travel is going to look like in the future is one that`s increasingly multi-mobile. It`s
really about putting people in the right vehicle for the trip that they want to take.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It may not look like your typical helicopter or plane, but out here in the middle of the desert, Joby Aviation, a
California based evtol company says it`s on the brink of making electric aircraft for commercial passengers a reality. Evtol stands for electric
vertical takeoff and landing, meaning the aircraft can take off and land like a helicopter but also fly like a plane.
SCIARRA: So, the Joby aircraft does everything that a helicopter does with none of the down sides. So, it`s significantly safer, significantly faster
and significantly quieter than the helicopters that are out there today. Something that can be a brand-new mode of transportation, that`s useable by
folks every day.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Joby says its aircraft can travel up to 150 miles on a single charge, at a max speed of 200 miles per hour. While other
electric vehicles today aim to be autonomous, Joby`s aircraft will allow space for four passengers and one pilot.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: New York`s famous skyline unrolls beneath its rotors, after which it surfaces --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Trying to get places faster and skip the traffic isn`t a new concept, but Joby think it`s vehicles will improve upon
traditional helicopters. The company says a streamline design means there`s less maintenance. An electric battery`s not only lower carbon
emissions, they reduce energy costs and noise pollution.
SCIARRA: I think this service really allows people to rethink the way that we`ve thought about transportation, which is generally been thought about
two dimensions, and we would bring that to three dimensions.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In 2020, Joby received the first ever Airworthiness Certification for an Evtol aircraft from the U.S. Air Force, and says it
plans to offer commercial flights in 2024.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: It`s hard to wrap your little "pumpkin" head around this. If you take pumpkin carving seriously and I mean so much so that you can`t stop at
one jack-o-lantern, check out the Great Jack-O-Lantern Blaze in New York. It features 7,000 illuminated gourds to depict everything from this to this
and this. A team of professional artists and more than 1,000 volunteers worked together to create the spectacle. Takes about an hour to see it
all.
Oh my "gourdness", what a "vine" way to "carve" a tourist attraction out of "fruit". They make it look easy as "pie" like all you "seed" to know is
how to "scare" up a "pulpable" pumpkin. But most of us couldn`t hold a "candle" to the "extragourdinnarrry" efforts of professional "carivsts".
"Orange" you glad you "planted" that in today`s show? I`m "Carmel" Azuz. Today we are going to recognize the Patriots of Northside High School.
Thank you for watching from Columbus, Georgia and for subscribing and leaving your comments at YouTube.com./CNN10.
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