Return to Transcripts main page
CNN 10
Chinese COVID Rules Amid The Omicron Variant; Memorable Passages From Dr. Martin Luther King`s Speeches; A Caped Cephalopod. Aired 4-4:10a ET
Aired January 18, 2022 - 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: Hi. I`m Carl Azuz back in action for CNN 10.
The reason we were off the air Monday is explained in just a few minutes.
But first, as we like to say in news, we are two and a half weeks from the start of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games. They`re taking place in the Chinese
capital of Beijing and they`ll make that city the first to have hosted both the summer and winter games. Almost 3,000 international athletes are
expected.
No fans from other countries are allowed and China announced Monday that tickets won`t even be sold to the Chinese public. Instead, the Beijing
Organizing Committee says people who meet China`s COVID requirements will be able to attend by invitation only. The rule was made shortly after China
confirmed its first case of the omicron variant of coronavirus.
It`s highly contagious but less severe overall than other forms of the disease. China has a zero tolerance approach to COVID though. The nation is
quick to lock down cities and block travel if a single COVID case is identified.
So, this strict policy in conjunction with the Olympics brings some unique challenges to the nation. Organizers say they`re holding the games in a
closed loop system. Only people participating in the events will be allowed at hotels, competition sites and official transportation vehicles. They
can`t have any contact with the general public.
They don`t have to be vaccinated to be part of the Olympics, but those who warrant have to quarantine in Beijing for 21 days before they`re allowed to
move around. And anyone who tests positive for the disease will be put in isolation and prevented from participating in the games in any way.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Omicron breaching Beijing`s borders. A single case putting the Winter Olympics host city on high alert
China`s zero copied policy making no exceptions.
In the capital city, targeted lockdowns immediately activated, along with strict contact tracing. Chinese health officials publicized the infected
person`s recent travel history, starting with their home. We drove by the Beijing community where the woman diagnosed with omicron lives.
Remember, health authorities say all of this sparked by just one case at least for now.
Oh, here we go. You can see here this is one of the entrances and exits. It`s gated off. They put these big blue barriers to keep folks from going
in and out.
The woman`s neighbors allowed some fresh air, but confined to the complex. Their trash piling up waiting for specially designated disposal teams to
truck it out. Many nearby businesses closed. The woman lives a 15-minute drive from the Olympic Park.
Not only where she lives that health authorities have it locked down but also where the woman works, which happens to be in a bank inside this
building. So out front you can see, they`ve got these blue tents set up where a lot of times they`ll do testing and processing before they can
finally declare it safe enough to reopen.
But if you think it`s just a bunch of empty offices, look closer. COVID control staff carting in big boxes. Inside them, can you read that?
Pillows, bedding, people have actually been locked down at work. And these supplies might make their stay a bit more comfortable for what could be
days of testing.
Omicron not only in Beijing. Cases also surfacing in several other Chinese cities, including Shanghai. Social media showing snap lockdowns trapping
shoppers at one store -- sounds extreme but most online voicing their support for the strict containment efforts.
Less than three weeks until the Olympics and recent outbreaks had 20 million people sealed in their homes. Others bust to centralized
quarantine, state media showing these makeshift encampments built within days, mass testing is a constant.
Back in Beijing, I hopped in line for my regularly scheduled COVID test.
Test number 97, done.
But if you think the heavy measures have brought life here to a halt, most who are not traveling might say otherwise. On Sunday, crowds flocking to
this popular Beijing lake, frozen just in time for the Winter Games.
David Culver, CNN, Beijing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AZUZ: Since 1986, the third Monday in January has been observed as a federal holiday in America. It had been signed into law three years earlier
in remembrance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., although several states and cities had been holding holidays of their own for years before that.
The American Baptist minister advocated for and participated in peaceful protests to achieve civil rights for African Americans. The marches,
parades and events held on Monday honored his legacy. The federal holiday is considered a day of service, though many Americans don`t have to work on
Martin Luther King Day. They`re encouraged to volunteer in community improvement projects.
Last year, some members of the Harvard Diversity Project shared some memorable and influential passages of Dr. King`s speeches.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Even though he faced the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American
Dream. We cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.
We cannot look back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights when will we satisfy. No, no, no, we are not satisfied. We will not
be satisfied until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty street.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How long will it take? Somebody`s asking, how long will prejudice blind division of men? However difficult the moment, however
frustrating the hour, it will not be long because truth crushed to earth will rise again.
How long? Not long, because mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord. He is trampling out the vintage where the vintage where the
grapes of wrath are stored. He has loosened the faithful lightning of his terrible swift sword. His truth is marching on.
He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat. He is sifting out the hearts of men before his judgment seat. Oh, be swift, my
soul, to answer him. Be jubilant my feet! Our god is marching on.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Somewhere, we must come to realize that human progress never rolls in on the wheel of inevitability. It comes through the
tireless effort and the persistent work of dedicated individuals, who are willing to be co-workers with God, and without this hard work, time itself
becomes an ally of the primitive forces of social stagnation. And so we must always help time, and realize that the time is always right to do
right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We mean business now, and we`re determined to get our rightful place in God`s world.
And that`s all this whole thing is about. We aren`t engaged in a negative protest or any negative arguments with anybody. We are saying we`re
determined to be men. We`re determined to be people. We are saying -- we are saying we are God`s children, and that we are god`s children, we don`t
have to live like we are forced to live.
Let us rise up tonight with a greater readiness. Let us stand with a greater determination. And let us move on in these powerful days, these
days of challenge to make America what it ought to be. We have an opportunity to make America a better nation.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed. We hold these truths to be
self-evident that all men are created equal. I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former
slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day, Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat
of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppressed will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they are not judged by the color of their skin but by the content of
their character. I have a dream today.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And when we allow freedom to ring --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We let it ring from every village and every hamlet.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: From every state and every city.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`ll be able to speed up the day when all of God`s children --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Black men and white men --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Jews and gentiles --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Protestants and Catholics --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Free at last, free at last.
GROUP: Thank God Almighty, we are free at last.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AZUZ: From a distance, this might have looked like a piece of plastic floating in Australia`s Great Barrier Reef. It was that bright. But when
the marine biologist who was snorkeling in the area approached it, she realized the animal was a rare blanket octopus, so rare it`s believed this
species has only been seen three times before. It`s about the size of a walnut and some of its eight arms are short and hidden in its blanket or
cape.
To call this observance a first might be a bit of Cape Flattery. But if you are off the cape coast and on the cape lookout for cape coral or anything
else you cape may find, why not blow your cape horn to show there`s nothing to cape fear, but that there`s cape of good hope that you captured a rare
species before you bid the cape farewell. It`s like an escape on your own cape caper.
I`m Cape Coral Azuz.
Fredericksburg High School gets today`s shout out. It`s great to see our viewers in Fredericksburg, Texas, commenting on our YouTube channel. Hope
to see you tomorrow.
END
