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The Longest Holiday in China; Emergency Alert System Sounding the Alarm to All Phones; Future of Driverless Cars. Aired 4-4:10a ET
Aired October 04, 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, sunshine. Wonderful Wednesday to you. I`m Coy Wire. This is CNN 10, where I tell you the, what letting you decide
what to think.
Last to get to today, not a lot of time to do it. So let`s get to it. We`re going to start in China where the nation`s longest holiday is underway.
It`s the Mid-Autumn Golden Week, and for National Day, they`re celebrating the 74th Anniversary of the People`s Republic. Officials say they expect
nearly 900 million trips to be taken during the eight-day holiday period. That`s a lot of people traveling by car, by boat, train or plane, a 15%
jump, in fact, from 2019.
Now, during all this holiday travel, there will be a big boost to the economy. China`s ministry of tourism predicts people will spend about 780
billion U.N. or 109 billion U.S. dollars. That`s a 20% increase compared to 2019. This will be a welcomed boost. China`s economy has had a sluggish
year, but after being cooped up during the COVID-19 lockdowns, young Chinese folks are excited to be able to travel again. And they`re sharing
tips on social media about how to make the most of their holiday on a budget.
There is hope that a return to growth in China`s manufacturing sector and a surge in travel during the Golden Week holiday could help the economy pick
back up. China is also facing challenges in the form of a high debt, high unemployment rate and aging population and housing market troubles too.
That`s despite some of the measures that have been taken recently, like lowering interest rates and easing home and car buying restrictions to
boost the economy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: China, the world`s second largest economy is in a slump. Prices are dropping. The real estate market is in a cash crunch. The
youth unemployment rate is so bad. The government stop publishing it, and some local governments are so broke. Medical benefits for seniors have been
cut, leading to protests. Tough times across the country. Yet this is the Chinese economy, government officials are eager to show the world bustling
factory floors, a free trade zone, and an industrial park dotted with international companies. Among the sites we saw on a state-sponsored trip
to Northeastern China, rare access inside the heart of what many call China`s Rust Belt.
Are you able to have success despite all of the economic challenges facing China right now?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): China`s economy as a whole is improving. We are confident that we can make a corresponding contribution
to the general trend of development.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That confidence seems like a contrast to reality. Officially China`s economy is improving based on GDP, but the rebound isn`t
as fast as many investors had hoped, especially in a post-COVID world.
(On camera): The Chinese government is certainly looking to foreign investment to help jumpstart its economy. But it`s also focusing on
factories like this one.
(Voice-over): An effort to make sure it still churn out enough products for export keeping China as the world`s factory. At the same time,
upgrading key industries, especially tech to become self-reliant or even leaping ahead of the U.S. and other rivals. Needed solutions, as China
remains one of the biggest drivers of global growth.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A slow in China, it`s going to impact everyone else in the world. You will have the effect, of course, in demand, you will have
the effect in prices and so on and so forth.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: China saw so much growth in the past. Economists say, eventually it would hit a wall. Now it`s hoping some of the industries we
saw here on this trip will help the nation climb over it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WIRE: Ten second trivia, which of these U.S. government agencies is responsible for preparing for and recovering from disasters? FAA, FDA, FTC
or FEMA?
If you said FEMA, you are correct. The Federal Emergency Management Agency was established in 1979 by President Jimmy Carter.
And a belated happy birthday to you, Mr. Carter turned 99 years old, three days ago.
All right, today at 2:20 p.m. Eastern time, don`t be alarmed if you hear an alarm coming from your phone. Here in the U.S., that sounds a little like
me or something like that. FEMA will be conducting a scheduled test of the wireless Emergency Alert System. So if you`re not supposed to have your
phone in class, you better leave it in your locker during that time, because those devices are all scheduled to go off at two 20 Eastern.
Federal law requires the systems to be tested once every three years to help ensure that they`ll be able to effectively warn the public about big
emergencies. All radios and TVs will also be tested. Today`s test will be the seventh such nationwide drill, but only the second time it includes all
cell devices.
There have been some alert system hiccups in the past, like the false alarm at the state level that woke some folks up at 4:00 in the morning. And most
notably in Hawaii in 2018, an emergency worker hit the wrong button, sending out a false alarm for an incoming missile that employee lost her
job after that incident.
Driverless vehicles are continuing to pop up all around the world, once just a tailpipe dream, we now have driverless taxis in certain cities, even
driverless tractors, tilling farmland, but our Senior Automotive Reporter, Peter Valdes-Dapena, explores weather will ever get to a place where
driverless cars are fully accepted. He says a truly driverless world might always be two years away.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PETER VALDES-DAPENA, CNN SENIOR AUTOMOTIVE REPORTER: The idea of driverless cars, I think has been around since cars became commonplace on
American roads. Certainly since the 30s. My favorite movie, when I was growing up was probably The Love Bug, where is this Volkswagen. That`s
essentially a self-driving conscious entity in an automobile.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s the funniest thing ever seen on wheel.
VALDES-DAPENA: Go back to the `64 world`s fair. And you had companies talking about driverless cars with somebody in a control tower, talking to
you about like, OK, take your hands off the wheel now. And we`ll -- we`ll take you home. This idea`s been around because it just seems so obvious.
Automobile self-moving, well, it should be fully automobile and -- and drive itself.
Some 46,000 people a year die in automobile crashes, autonomous cars, if they become ubiquitous, would virtually eliminate that. The thinking is
since the majority of crashes are caused by "human error," if we eliminate humans, we would eliminate the errors. But let`s face it, when driverless
cars are in the news, they`re in the news for screwing up.
MICHAEL BALLABAN, TRANSPORTATION EDITOR, CNN BUSINESS: Whoa, whoa, whoa. Up, nope, we`re going on the wrong side of the road.
VALDES-DAPENA: So the challenge is we`ve got machines interacting with people. Self-driving is one of the reasons that people are working so hard
on artificial intelligence. You know, it`s one thing to keep the land on the highway, but to actually like fully drive requires an almost human like
ability to improvise.
In the years I`ve been covering this industry, fully autonomous cars are always two years away. And they keep being two years away. Now, when it
comes, it`s not going to be all at once. For example, already, we`re seeing things like in agriculture with self-driving tractors, farmers can go out
there and program the machine, go home, have breakfast, work around the farm. While the field is plowed by an autonomous tractor.
This holds the promise of democratizing automobiles. You don`t have to have a driver`s license. You don`t have to know how to drive. When the world
gets to a point where a mom or a dad can take their kindergarten age kid down to a car and say, here son, get in this car. It`s going to take you to
school. Because it`s one thing for me to get in a driver`s car and be willing to take that risk when I can put a young child in that car. That`s
the ultimate test.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WIRE: A new Guinness World Record gets today`s 10 out of 10 at an event that could have been an omnishambles as 219 dogs gathered in Los Angeles,
California for an advanced screening of paw patrol, the mighty movie. But it was totally possum. The well-organized event set the world record for
most dogs attending a film screening, the fur babies, wagged their stuff on a red carpet, posed for the paparazzi. They had to be at least one year old
and sit, good doggie, for at least 10 minutes of the movie in order for its count.
Now of all the world records, I`ve heard, I feel like this one is fairly attainable. Could we break this world record? Could your school get
together and get 220 dogs to sit and watch a movie for 10 minutes? If so, let us know. I wonder if an episode of CNN 10 would count. I`d bring the
doggy treats for that.
Congrats to our #YourWordWednesday winners, the Jaguars in Ms. Cantwell`s class at Jackson Middle for submitting the noun, omnishambles, a bad
situation caused by a series of mistakes and poor organization. Well done.
Our school shout out today, goes to Canton South High School in Canton, Ohio, rise up. Halfway through the week, shine, bright everyone, and go out
and make someone smile today. I`m Coy Wire, and we are CNN 10.
END
