CNN10 2024-09-05




CNN 10

The Controversy Over Windmills in India; State of the U.S. Presidential Race, With Less Than Two Months Until Election Day; Paralympics' Most Memorable Events: Blind Soccer. Aired 4-4:10a ET

Aired September 05, 2024 - 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: Hey everyone, hope you're having a thoroughly thankful Thursday. Gratitude's good for the attitude.

I'm Coy Wire. This is CNN 10. And we kick off today's show with an update on the 2024 presidential campaign. Election day is less than two months away. New polling suggests this race is going to be a close one between Democratic nominee, current Vice President Kamala Harris, and Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump.

In fact, it's likely to come down to six battleground states. Why? Remember, the way presidents are elected in America is through the electoral college. Each state gets a certain number of electoral votes, and a candidate needs 270 of them to win.

So, in a tight race, the path to victory is through those super-competitive states. And new CNN polling shows Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are virtually tied in three battlegrounds -- Georgia, Nevada, and Pennsylvania.

Both candidates are trying to build support ahead of the November 5th election, so they are hitting the campaign trail hard in the final stretch of this race. Former President Trump held a town hall in Pennsylvania yesterday. Vice President Kamala Harris unveiled new economic proposals in New Hampshire.

But the next really big event comes next week, so let's mark this one on our calendars -- Harris and Trump scheduled to debate each other for the first time Tuesday night.

Next we head to India, which has set ambitious goals for clean energy. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pledged that renewable sources like solar and wind power will meet 50% of India's energy requirements by the end of this decade.

But getting there won't be easy, especially when many residents say the huge windmills are causing problems. CNN's Kristie Lu Stout has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These windmills in the desert are capable of powering millions of homes in India, impacting many people's lives and the environment for good. But some local herders here in Jaisalmer say that they are against it. Big companies like the Adani Group and Suzlon, who own many of the turbines, say they are committed to the prosperity of the community, with the goal of supporting India's push for renewable energy.

The wind turbines have made this area one of India's largest onshore wind farms, but it's also on the community's grazing land. And herders say the construction work is damaging the water sources, crucial for their livestock.

Meanwhile, some environmentalists say the power lines are causing harm to animals, including one on the brink of extinction.

PARTH JAGANI, ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVIST (through translator): The Great Indian bustard had a population of over 600 before the year 2000. Once the windmills and the high-tension wires were installed, their mortality increased. Breeding decreased, and now only around 150 remain in Jaisalmer.

LU STOUT: Climate change brings heavy flooding and heat waves, and windmills can cut down on the carbon emissions that scientists say fuel climate change. But the benefits of the windmills are not being felt by many living near them. They say the windmills are mostly benefiting the bigger cities, while they continue to see power cuts.

SUMER SINGH BHATI, LOCAL ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVIST (through translator): Even a small child in our home suffers in the heat without a fan because we only have electricity for two hours. The power is unreliable, and none of the windmills are supplying electricity to the western region of Rajasthan. We are desperate for light.

LU STOUT: As the climate crisis continues and scorching temperatures rise, local herders feel their frustrations are going unheard.

BHATI: We have thousands of gigawatts of electricity from Jaisalmer that we are supplying, but we are still struggling for electricity today. There's no one listening to our plight.

LU STOUT: As the third largest consumer of energy in the world, India plans to raise non-fossil fuel power to 500 gigawatts by 2030. That means even more energy plants and wind turbines are on the horizon, all while facing demands from local communities.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WIRE: Ten-second trivia.

Which of these waterways would you find in the U.S. state of Washington? Missouri River, Potomac River, Puget Sound, or Lake Huron?

Put your hands up if you said Puget Sound. Located in the Pacific Northwest, it was explored and named by British navigator George Vancouver in 1792.

Next up, let's take a field trip. Tacoma, Washington, here we come. We could snowshoe, hike an island, blow glass, and shuck oysters all in the same day. Because it's so far north, it has some of the longest days in the continental U.S.

Derek Van Dam shows us just how much we can pack in to those long daylight hours.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST AND EXTREME WEATHER FIELD REPORTER (voice- over): There's no shortage of things to do and see in Tacoma, Washington. And because it's so far north, there are nearly 16 hours of daylight in the summer to help you pack it all in.

My day begins on Mount Rainier. On this misty morning, I hike across a fresh dusting of snow. There are 26 glaciers on Rainier and over 35 square miles of the mountain is covered in snow and ice year-round. But I can't stay long because I need to make the two-hour journey back down to the Puget Sound.

VAN DAM (on camera): There'll be oysters in there.

VAN DAM (voice-over): From snowshoeing to shucking. That's right. Oysters.

VAN DAM (On camera): Look at that, it's the size of my head.

VAN DAM (voice-over): Mollusks thrive in these waters and the Minterbrook Oyster Company harvests thousands of oysters here every day.

KENT KINGMAN, OWNER, MINTERBROOK OYSTER COMPANY: When that water comes in through the Straits of Juan de Fuca and it flushes into the Sound, it doesn't flush all the way back out. So what you have is real rich growth of algae for the oysters. It's the algae. It's what the oysters eat that makes it so awesome.

VAN DAM (voice-over): The Puget Sound also has an abundance of islands, including Vashon. After a short ferry trip, you can be transported to what feels like another world.

VAN DAM (On camera): Berries are going to start popping here pretty soon.

VAN DAM (voice-over): Hike along wooded trails, rocky beaches, but it's also home to nearly 11,000 full time residents. Some Tacoma residents, including Dale Chihuly, helped put the Northwest on the map as a mecca for glass art.

VAN DAM: I don't think I've ever seen somebody so comfortable with a flamethrower.

VAN DAM (voice-over): So I had to check out the Tacoma Museum of Glass, where new works of glass art are blown and molded in front of a live audience.

BENJAMIN COBB, HOT SHOP DIRECTOR AND LEAD GAFFER, MUSEUM OF GLASS: Most museums are historical and maybe the artists aren't alive anymore. Well, if you want to see world class artists working in a state-of-the-art facility, then this is the place to come.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WIRE: Today's story, getting a 10 out of 10, a truly awe-inspiring display of coordination and skill. I'm talking about blind soccer at the Paralympics. It was first introduced at the Athens Paralympics in 2004 and has been featured in every game since.

Outfielders have to be completely blind to play, and they even wear eye shades to make it an equal playing field for all. So how exactly does it work?

CNN's Patrick Sung breaks it down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATRICK SUNG, CNN SPORT SENIOR PRODUCER AND VIDEO LEAD: At the Paris Paralympics, athletes will have a range of different impairments, one of which is vision loss, which can appear in multiple forms. As a result, of the 22 sports featured at the Games, nine include competitors with visual impairments. And this is one of the most exciting ones, blind soccer.

All four outfield players must wear an eye shade to keep it fair. However, goalkeepers must be fully or partially sighted. And there are a few other differences from the sport's able-bodied counterpart as well.

Walls along the sidelines keep the ball in play, while guides behind each goal direct the attack. Usually, crowds of soccer matches are boisterous, but in the blind version of the beautiful game, they're asked to keep it down. This is so that players can hear the ball, which contains tiny bells that rattle when kicked.

And when players do go for the ball, to avoid collisions, they yell, voy! Or, I'm going, in Spanish, a nod to the game's Iberian roots. Despite originating in Spain, Brazil has won gold at every edition of the Paralympics since the game was introduced into the program. But can the Selecao do it yet again? (END VIDEOTAPE)

WIRE: Awesome stuff. Brazil plays in the semifinal today. The gold medal match is Saturday.

All right, superstars, now to our favorite part of the show. Shout-out time. Warriors arise! This one goes to Wasatch Junior High School in Millcreek, Utah. I see you, Coach Hamilton. And go, Warriors!

Happy Friday Eve. Thank you for making us part of your day. See you tomorrow, right back here on CNN 10.

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