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Annual Gathering In China, The "Two Sessions"; Jupiter`s Moons. Aired 4-4:10a ET
Aired March 09, 2023 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
COY WIRE, CNN 10 ANCHOR: Hello, hello. It is Thursday, so happy Friday Eve. I`m Coy Wire. This is CNN 10. If you`re having a good week, keep it
going. If you`re having a rough week, keep going. Remember, the strongest steel has burned in the hottest coals, and our tough times can make us
tougher.
Thank you for spending part of your day with us. Let`s get you to the news of the day. Thousands of government delegates across China are gathering
for the nation`s biggest annual political meeting, known as the "Two Sessions."
Two parties in China gathering separately for meetings, but at the same time, one is the National People`s Congress, which is the supreme state
authority for China`s communist government. The other is the Chinese People`s Political Consultative Conference, which is an advisory group
without real legislative power.
Thousands of delegates come to Beijing during this period. And traditionally, media, which is usually allowed to attend, gets the rare
opportunity to speak with normally elusive government delegates.
But even though China lifted its zero COVID policy and media is allowed to attend again this year, delegates weren`t very gregarious. In fact, most
media were still denied close access to them. CNN International`s Selina Wang was there, giving us a rare look at the Two Sessions and showing us
just how shut out reporters are, those state medias telling a different story about the access reporters were getting.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SELINA WANG, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Thousands of government delegates across China are gathering for the biggest annual
political meeting known as the Two Sessions. It`s the first since China abandoned its zero COVID policy.
But reporters covering the event are still stuck in a COVID bubble, required to stay overnight at a quarantine hotel and get an onsite PCR
test.
(On camera): We just left the Quarantine Hotel. We`re now headed to the venue. Everything is highly controlled.
(Voice-over): The foreign media bus gets dropped off at Tiananmen Square.
(On camera): It is very rare for journalists to get access to this. As you can see, though, there`s heavy security. There are guards everywhere.
Normally, the Two Sessions is the rare chance for media to get up and close to China`s top leadership. Right here on the steps of the Great Hall of the
People, this is normally where you will see media trying to doorstop the top leadership. But as you can see, this year we, the media, were
completely separate from the rest of the leaders.
(Voice-over): The Two Sessions is a carefully choreographed event. The new government shakeups that the rubber stamp parliament will vote on have one
unifying goal, to strengthen Xi Jinping and the ruling Communist Party`s Power. And the COVID restrictions are the perfect tool for Beijing to
control the message.
(On camera): So, media has to apply to get access to specific events. We`re not granted approval to all of them. And this is a media area inside
the Great Hall of the People. As you can see, it`s pretty empty, so it`s clearly not an issue of capacity.
(Voice-over): Some of the events during the weeklong meeting allow select reporter questions, including Qin Gang`s first press conference as China`s
new Foreign Minister.
He said that conflict with the U.S. Is inevitable if Washington does not change course. Qin Gang called Washington`s approach a reckless gamble,
accused the U.S. of creating a crisis over Taiwan, defended China`s partnership with Russia as imperative, and said it has not supplied weapons
to Russia or Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Chinese state media is portraying the legislative meeting as an open event where journalists can freely operate.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sri Lanka.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m from Luke News (ph). It`s an amazing country.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The assemblies also offered journalists the opportunity to put questions to the Chinese premier and ministers.
WANG: But under these controls, spontaneous run-ins with top leaders like the premier and ministers are out of reach. But after today`s meeting
ended, we had a few minutes to approach some delegates, which are a curated group of local representatives.
This delegate is part of the Zhuang ethnic group from the southwestern Guangxi province. She says, this is her first time attending the Congress
and she feels happy to see her motherland becoming stronger.
The rest of the delegates quickly rush out before we have a chance to approach them. The question is, how much of these COVID controls will
remain in post pandemic China? It limits access even more to China`s already extremely opaque political machine.
This much is clear, the communist leadership only wants the world to see one narrative from China, that is the image of unity, strength and victory.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WIRE: Ten-second trivia. Which of these holds the current title of planet at the most moons?
Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, or Venus?
To date, astronomers have identified 92 moons orbiting Jupiter, giving it the top spot.
And it is one of those moons, specifically that scientists are getting ready to explore more. Why? Because they think that there may be life
there. The name of the moon is Europa. And it`s already been discovered that just beneath Europa`s icy surface there`s an ocean. In fact, it was
the first ocean ever discovered on another celestial body.
Let`s learn more about the probes that NASA and the European Space Agency are sending to Jupiter and its moons and what they might find.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Jupiter has three moons with oceans underneath their icy shells. They`re called Ganymede, Callisto, and Europa. Earthlings have
been curious about these moons and their potential to house life for a long time. NASA first sent probes in part to get a closer look in 1977.
Jupiter is a gas giant. That means it doesn`t have a surface. It`s a swirl of gases that can dense into a smoldering ocean of hydrogen at its core.
It`s very similar to our sun in this way. But unlike the sun, it doesn`t fuse hydrogen atoms into helium to create energy and heat.
Now back to those first NASA probes, they observed long lines and dark spots on the moon Europa. Typically, moons have cratered surfaces. But
these images tipped scientists off that there might be an ocean beneath Europa`s icy exterior.
In 1996, that theory was confirmed when the Galileo spacecraft reached Europa. It was the first ocean discovered on another planet. Then, in 2012
and 2016, the Hubble Space Telescope showed water plumes erupting from the warmest parts of Europa.
Scientists don`t know much about the plumes. But if Europa has water and elements like carbon and hydrogen, it could mean that microbial life once
formed there or even still exists.
Armed with that possibility, the European Space Agency and NASA are sending probes deep into our solar system to look specifically at Jupiter`s icy
moons.
First is the Jupiter icy moons explorer or JUICE from the ESA. JUICE is traveling to the Jupiter system armed with the latest technology to take
photos, observe the magnetic field of Jupiter and take readings of what is beneath the icy crusts of Jupiter`s large moons.
Later, NASA will send the Europa Clipper to fly by its namesake over 40 times to sniff its atmosphere. It will gather material from the plumes for
the first time. And that will give scientists a better idea if Europa`s oceans could support life.
The missions will gather data. They will also aim to gather insights into fundamental questions about our universe. Is there life beyond Earth? What
might that look like? And what does that mean for the future of humanity?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WIRE: And for today`s story, getting a 10 out of 10 Jupiter and one of its planetary pals giving us a constellation prize. Last Wednesday, in a
phenomenon known as conjunction, Jupiter and Venus appeared to nearly kiss in the nighttime sky at their closest from a stargazer`s perspective, they
were just one degree apart. But they weren`t actually close. They were still about 400 million miles apart. That`s more than four times the
distance between us and the sun.
Jupiter and Venus are the two brightest celestial bodies in the nighttime sky after the Moon, though, so this was still pretty awesome to see.
We are giving a special shoutout to Crook County Middle School in Prineville, Oregon today. We see you. Thanks to everyone who subscribed and
commented on our CNN 10 YouTube Channel for a shoutout.
I also want to show some love to @Mr.Gio Meany (ph), who won the #Your Word Wednesday submission.
The word I used today was gregarious, an adjective used to describe someone who is sociable. Thanks for being so gregarious with me on my Instagram,
Snapchat and TikTok. Let`s make it an awesome day now and I`ll see you tomorrow.
I`m Coy Wire and we are CNN 10.
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