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Deadly Volcanic Eruption Occurs In Indonesia; U.S. Implements New Travel Rules; Last Surviving Officer Of Famous U.S. Army Unit Passes Away. Aired 4-4:10a ET

Aired December 06, 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. Welcome to CNN 10 on this December 6th. Our show starts in southeastern Asia in an archipelago

located between the Indian and Pacific Oceans. This is what happened on Saturday on the Indonesian island of Java.

Mt. Semeru is the tallest mountain on the island, and its eruption has left entire villages covered with ash, 100s of homes destroyed and more than

1,000 people without a place to live. Mt. Semeru is located on the eastern part of Java, about 430 miles from Indonesia` capital Jakarta.

Officials say they started getting reports of falling ash and the smell of sulfur at about 3 o`clock on Saturday afternoon, and footage from the

government`s emergency response team showed people running and taking shelter as huge clouds of ash descended around them.

At least 14 people were killed in the eruption, nine are still missing, dozens were injured and officials say the mountain is still dangerous

because it`s produced at least two pyroclastic flows. These are mixtures of rock, ash and volcanic gases and they`re extremely hot and impossible to

predict. They`re also more dangerous than lava.

People living as far as six miles away from Mr. Semeru have been told to evacuate. They`ve taken shelter in schools, other public buildings and

mosques, and emergency response teams have been unable to reach some villages because they`ve been cut off by mud and fallen trees. There asking

for equipment and manpower to support rescue efforts.

The Indonesian government is preparing to relocate those who`ve lost their homes. Experts say eruption like this are common in Indonesia. It`s located

in an area of high tectonic and volcanic activity known as the "Pacific Ring of Fire".

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: There`s one thing you need to know about the "Ring of Fire". It produces 90 percent of the world`s earthquakes. The

"Ring of Fire" includes about 450 volcanoes. Many of them are submarine volcanoes, meaning they`re underwater as are 75 percent of the world`s

volcanoes in total. Now the "Ring of Fire`s" also called the Circum-Pacific belt.

It`s a result of plate tectonics. The movement of the plates has created a nearly continuous series of oceanic trenches and chains of volcanoes,

stretching for 25,000 miles in a horseshoe shaped pattern from New Zealand, past Japan, across the Bering Strait and down toward the tip of South

America.

The plate movement also causes earthquakes, because many of these earthquakes occur in the ocean, the "Ring of Fire" is also known for

tsunamis produced when the ocean floor is either rise or fall. When a mega thrust happens in this region, the water is displaced and the water pushes

ashore. Most tsunamis are only a few inches high, but there are times that that wave and that swell can be as tall as buildings.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ: Starting Monday, most people planning to fly to the U.S. are facing a new COVID restriction. They need to show proof of a negative test taken

within one day of their departure to America, until now that test could have been taken within three days of their flight. The new rules in place,

regardless of whether travelers have gotten a COVID vaccine.

Those that can prove they`ve recovered from corona virus within the past 90 days won`t have to take the test, neither will children under age two. This

is part of an effort by the Biden Administration to slow the spread of Omicron, a newly identified mutation or strain of COVID. It`s not known yet

how dangerous it is, how easily it spreads or whether vaccines are effective against it. But President Joe Biden says the rules are intended

to give people more time to get vaccinated.

His administration`s also extended a requirement that travelers on planes, trains and buses wear masks and it`s put a ban on travel from eight

countries in southern Africa where Omicron was first identified. The ban doesn`t apply to U.S. citizens.

Critics say travel bans aren`t very effective against the spread of COVID, but that they could make other countries hesitant to report new mutations

of it, if they`re afraid they`ll be quote "punished" by travel bans. Research on COVID mutations varies from country to country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In the past few months, the Philippines have seen record COVID case number, and as officials try to contain the

virus on the streets, inside this lab in Davao City, they`re fighting on a different front.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The first rule (inaudible) is that you have to know your enemy, and for us know our enemy in this pandemic, we have to sequence it.

MCLEAN: In the battle against COVID, the lab has the artillery it needs to sequence the virus, this tiny machine. The problem is that it can barely

afford the ammunition, the chemicals to actually make it work. They cost about $900 for just a couple hundred test samples. In a given month, they

say thousands are needed to fully track the virus.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Recently we started a (inaudible) funding campaign, and so far we`ve raised around 400 Euros. You know, (inaudible), as well,

$1,000 is like two people`s monthly salary. So it`s -- it`s not (inaudible).

MCLEAN: That relatively small funding gap is a big reason why developing countries are lagging so far behind in identifying COVID-19 variants that

might be more deadly or more transmissible. In the west, labs like the UK`s Sanger Institute are sequencing the virus on a huge scale, using multi-

million-dollar machines like these.

According to GISAID, the global COVID variant database, the biggest contributions are coming from the richest countries. Some countries haven`t

sequenced any genomes at all, which means none of us know which variants are circulating there ready to potentially spread across borders.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We don`t get to do sequencing in -- in many parts of the world. Than definitely we missing out on possible variants that are,

you know, emerging.

MCLEAN: We know how rapidly new variants can take hold. The Delta variant first emerged in India in April, and was the dominant variant worldwide by

mid-July. Omicron, the new variant first spotted in South Africa, was declared a variant of concern in record time, and is predicted by some

experts to become the dominant strain in the days ahead.

It`s emergence highlighting again the importance of real time virus surveillance. Getting the necessary technology to all corners of the globe

is part of the challenge, and this company an hour north of London thinks they have an answer. The technology to sequence the virus in remote labs

around the world is being manufactured here on an industrial scale. It`s small and relatively inexpensive. The challenge has been getting

governments to actually use it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ: 10 Second Trivia. The U.S. Army`s 101st Airborne Division was activated during what war? World War I, World War II, Korean War, or

Vietnam War. The 101st was activated in 1942 while the U.S. was engaged in World War II.

At the time, the division`s first commanding general said, though it had no history, the 101st had a rendezvous with destiny and the paratroopers have

served in every corner of the world since then. A specific group of men in this division became known as the "Band of Brothers", first in a

bestselling book by historian Stephen E. Ambrose and later in an HBO miniseries.

They were the soldiers of EZ Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division and the last surviving officer from the "Band

of Brothers" passed away on Friday at the age of 99. His name is Colonel Edward Shames. He was part of the first combat jump into Normandy, France

on D-Day. His obituary says he was the first member of his division to enter the Dachau concentration camp after it was liberated in 1945.

He was also among those who entered Hitler`s Eagles Nest in Germany as the war was ending. Colonel Shames was remembered as a quote "stubborn and

outspoken soldier who had the highest standards for himself and the men he served with." Here`s one of this reflections from an interview he gave in

2014.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLONEL EDWARD SHAMES, BAND OF BROTHERS MEMBER: There`s two things that I`m proud of that I did in World War II. Number one was my battlefield

commission and the other was that I brought more men home from my platoon than any other of the 200 platoons in the 101st Airborne Division. The rest

is what I was supposed to do and how I was supposed to do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ: For some of us, it`s hard enough to solve a Rubik`s Cube, like, period. But if it comes easy, naturally and quickly to you. Check out what

it takes to be a semi-finalist in a fastest hand competition when you`ve got to solve a Rubik`s Cube like this. Juliet Sebastian (ph) from France,

who provided this video holds a couple European records for getting the colors all lined up. She says she`s practiced with a cube in her pocket

while walking around.

You could call her a true artist, a cubist. Kind of like Rueben`s but Rubik`s. I guess to be successful you`ve got to "block" everything else

out. Keep your head from "spinning" while your head does. Make it your transmission to be "monochrome automatic" and build your record "brick by

brick" by taking it "three by three" steps at a time.

Olympia High School, we see you watching from Olympia, Washington. Thank you for your request on our You Tube Channel. I`m Carl Azuz and

that`s CNN.

END