It’s ‘American Now’ time to deliver vivid American news.
Host) What news do you have today?
Reporter) At least 10 people were killed in a mass shooting on the eve of the Lunar New Year in Los Angeles County, the western United States, where many Asians live. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has found six additional classified documents at President Joe Biden’s residence in Delaware. Next, we will inform you that the US health authorities are preparing a plan to inoculate the corona vaccine every year like the flu vaccination.
Host) America Now, this is the first news. There was a shooting ahead of the Lunar New Year in an area with a lot of Asian immigrants?
Reporter) Yes. The incident occurred at around 10 pm on the 21st, the night before the Lunar New Year. An indiscriminate shooting occurred in Monterey Park, a small city in Los Angeles (LA) County, Western California. At least 10 people were killed in the shooting and a suspect was also found dead after the incident.
Let’s take a closer look at how the incident happened.
Reporter) The place where the incident occurred is a dance school called ‘Star Dance Studio’ in Monterey Park. According to the media, this is a popular social gathering place among the middle-aged Chinese, and an event called ‘Star Night’ was held from 8:00 pm on the 21st when the incident occurred. Ahead of the Lunar New Year, middle-aged members gathered and were dancing the so-called ‘Gwangjangmu’, a dance that Chinese people dance in squares. A man entered the training center and fired indiscriminately at those attending the event using a semi-automatic handgun. Five men and five women died at the scene, and 10 others were injured.
Host) Who is the shooting suspect?
Reporter) Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said at a press conference that the suspect was Hu Can Tran, a 72-year-old man. Mr. Tran attempted a second offense at another dance school in Alhambra about 20 minutes after the shooting in Monterey Park. But after her gun was taken by the citizens, she fled in a white van. She was later found dead in a parking lot near a shopping mall in the city of Torrance, about 20 miles (34 km) away. Police confirmed that her Tran took her own life in her car using her handgun.
Host) Did you find out what the motive for committing the crime was?
Reporter) Police said they have not yet been able to determine the exact motive for the crime. The media is also reporting that the shooter is a Chinese immigrant and that the shooting occurred at a dance school where most of the Chinese immigrant customers were discord among immigrants. Police also said it was too early to determine that the shooting was a racially motivated hate crime, and that they would look into the case from multiple angles.
Moderator) What kind of place is Monterey Park where the shooting took place?
Reporter) It is a small city with a population of about 60,000 located about 10 km east of downtown Los Angeles. First-generation Asian immigrants, including Chinese, make up the majority of the residents. According to the Associated Press, the area is like a typical Chinese town, or Chinatown, with Chinese signboards lining the streets. Residents widely speak Cantonese and Mandarin, and enjoy Chinese holidays. In particular, the Lunar New Year Festival is held in Monterey Park every year, and it is one of the largest Lunar New Year events in California, with 100,000 people participating every year. This year, the event was scheduled for two days on the 21st and 22nd, but the event on the 22nd was canceled due to a shooting on the night of the 21st.
Host) Above all, isn’t Lunar New Year the biggest holiday in many Asian countries? How do Asians react to these shootings?
Reporter) Locals say it’s hard to believe that this happened in a city they thought was safe. Some residents said in media interviews that they thought the gunfire was the sound of Lunar New Year fireworks. He said he was shocked that such a crime had taken place during a Lunar New Year celebration. At a press conference on the 22nd, U.S. Representative Judy Chu, whose constituency is the area of the accident, was concerned that local residents were “scarred in fear that they should not go to any events because of the news of the shooting.” But now, “it is no longer dangerous,” residents reassured them.
Host) When the Lunar New Year comes, there are celebrations held in various parts of the United States, right?
Reporter) Yes, Chinatown here in Washington DC was also crowded with many people as the Lunar New Year celebrations, which had been suspended due to the novel coronavirus infection pandemic in 2020, resumed on the 22nd. However, due to the shooting that occurred in Monterey Park the day before, Lunar New Year celebrations held in various places in the United States, such as San Francisco and New York, were conducted with additional police officers deployed.
Moderator) It is said that there are many Asians in the accident area. Are there any Korean victims?
Reporter) It was found that there were no Korean victims. The Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on the 23rd, “The Consulate General of the Consulate General in Los Angeles is figuring out whether there are any damages to our citizens.”
Host) Shooting incidents have been in the news again since the new year. Wasn’t there a lot of shooting incidents last year too?
Reporter) That’s right. According to the joint tally of ‘The Associated Press’ and ‘USA Today’ on mass killings, in 2022, there were 42 mass killings that resulted in more than 4 victims at once, the second all-time since related statistics were compiled in 2006. there was a lot of The shooting was the deadliest since the shooting at an elementary school in Euvaldy, Texas, in May last year. During the shooting at Euvaldi Elementary School, 19 children, including two teachers, were shot dead.
Host) How is the White House reacting to the shooting?
Reporter) White House spokeswoman Karin Jean-Pierre said that President Joe Biden had been briefed on the incident. President Biden said on Twitter on the 22nd, “I and his wife, Jill, pray for the dead and injured in the massive shooting in Monterey Park.” President Biden also directed the Homeland Security Adviser to mobilize federal assistance to local and state authorities investigating the shooting.
Host) American Now, next news. Confidential documents found again at President Joe Biden’s private residence?
Reporter) Yes. President Biden’s attorney revealed that the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) searched President Biden’s sister-in-law in Wilmington, Delaware on the 20th and found six additional documents with classified marks.
Moderator) Has it been revealed what kind of classified documents the FBI found in detail?
Reporter) Bob Bauer, President Biden’s personal lawyer, issued a statement on the 21st and said, “The Ministry of Justice has confiscated materials considered to be within the scope of the investigation, including six items consisting of several appendices with confidential marks.” Attorney Bauer revealed that some of the data were documents written during President Biden’s days as a federal senator and vice president, and that the FBI also recovered memos written by President Biden during his vice president days.
Moderator) How did this search come about?
Reporter) Mr. Bauer explained that after the recent discovery of 11 classified documents at President Biden’s Wilmington sister-in-law, the FBI requested a search, and President Biden agreed to cooperate. Mr. Bauer continued, saying that the FBI had access to all materials, including President Biden’s handwritten memos, files, binders, and schedules, at the sister-in-law’s residence, and that the search lasted nearly 13 hours.
Moderator) Are the details of the confidential document known?
Reporter) The Ministry of Justice has entered the review, but the level of confidentiality of the confidential documents that have been found and whether or not they are already declassified have not yet been confirmed.
Moderator) If there are documents from President Biden’s Senatorial days, aren’t they very old?
Reporter) President Biden served as a federal senator from 1973 to 2009 and as vice president from 2009 to 2017. Typically, confidential documents are declassified after a maximum of 25 years. However, some records remain classified for much longer.
Moderator) Was President Biden present at the time of the FBI agent’s search?
Reporter) No. President Biden and Mrs. Jill Biden were spending the weekend at another sister-in-law in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Previously, President Biden’s personal lawyer conducted an investigation to find confidential documents on his own in Rehoboth Beach, but he said he could not find any confidential documents. It is still unclear whether the DOJ will also conduct searches at Rehoboth Beach’s sister-in-law.
Moderator) The first report on President Biden’s classified documents came out on the 9th, right?
Reporter) Yes, on November 2 of last year, it was reported for the first time that President Biden’s personal lawyers found confidential documents during the vice president’s private office at the ‘Pen Biden Diplomacy and International Engagement Center’. Later, on the 12th and 14th, it was revealed that additional documents with confidential marks were found at President Biden’s Wilmington sister-in-law. Later, the Ministry of Justice appointed special prosecutor Robert Herr to investigate.
Moderator) What is President Biden’s reaction to the fact that the Ministry of Justice has secured additional confidential documents through this search?
“The President’s Counsel and the White House Office of Counsel will continue to work with the Department of Justice and Special Counsel to ensure that the investigation proceeds expeditiously and efficiently,” White House Counsel Richard Sauber said.
Moderator) But isn’t the criticism of President Biden’s leaking confidential documents continuing?
Reporter) That’s right. Republican lawmakers are also arguing that President Biden should be investigated more intensely, comparing it to former President Donald Trump, who is also under investigation by the Ministry of Justice for alleged leaks of classified documents. Meanwhile, as additional confidential documents related to President Biden continue to be confirmed, voices of criticism are emerging from the ruling Democratic Party.
Moderator) Shall we listen to the reaction of the lawmakers in detail?
Reporter) Democratic Senator Dick Durbin appeared on CNN’s weekend current affairs program on the 22nd and expressed disappointment, saying, “President Biden should be ashamed of the current situation.” “When such information is revealed, the position of the person who has the documents in question is shaken,” he pointed out. Democratic Senator Joe Manchin also appeared on ‘NBC’ and criticized the president’s actions as “irresponsible”, saying that it is hard to believe that both President Biden and former President Trump were in a situation where classified documents were leaked.
Host) American Now, let’s see one more news. Has the U.S. health authorities unveiled plans for future new coronavirus infections?
Reporter) Yes, that’s right. Vaccination to prevent new coronavirus infection started for the first time in 2021. In the meantime, vaccinations such as additional vaccinations and secondary vaccinations are continuing. This time, the idea revealed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is a blueprint that revealed how the method of vaccination should be done in the future in a situation where coronavirus mutants continue to emerge.
Moderator) What is the core of this initiative announced by the FDA?
Reporter) This is the annual vaccination of corona vaccine. Since the novel coronavirus first spread, the virus has not disappeared for three years and continues to evolve and give birth to mutants. It is said that it is reviewing a plan to get the vaccine every year to protect the immune system from viral infection.
Moderator) The concept of annual vaccination of the corona vaccine was already foreseen, right?
Reporter) That’s right. In a briefing released at the White House in September of last year, health officials explained that unless a completely new type of mutation emerges, a vaccine that matches the current level is needed every year.
Host) Do you already have a vaccine that is vaccinated every year?
Reporter) That’s right. It’s the flu vaccine. It is an explanation that vaccination will proceed in a similar way in the future. To do this, it is necessary to know the structure of how current flu vaccines are produced. Even if you were vaccinated last year, you need to get vaccinated again this year because the type of virus that causes the flu changes every year. Therefore, the World Health Organization (WHO) collects information on virus prevalence in each region of the world and predicts and announces the virus that will be prevalent in the following year. Based on this, each vaccine manufacturer produces a flu vaccine.
Moderator) Then, will the corona vaccine be similar to this in the future?
Reporter) That’s right. In early June of each year, it is to study and determine the type of coronavirus that will be prevalent in the fall of that year so that the vaccine can be supplied by September. The FDA’s external advisory body, the Vaccine and Biopharmaceuticals Advisory Committee (VRBPAC), will meet on the 26th to vote on issues such as the annual vaccination of the corona vaccine. The FDA hopes that annual vaccination of the corona vaccine will reduce the complexity of vaccine deployment and reduce vaccination errors, which will eventually lead to improved vaccination rates.
Moderator) You say the committee decides something else too?
Reporter) Yes. It’s about which vaccine to manufacture. There are two major vaccines currently available. First of all, it is an early vaccine, that is, the first vaccine developed. And in addition to the mutant virus, especially the existing virus, there are two types of ‘Omicron’ and the ‘bivalent vaccine’, an improved vaccine targeting its sub-mutations. Currently, only the pharmaceutical companies ‘Pfizer’ and ‘Modena’ are producing this type of vaccine. At an upcoming meeting, the committee will decide whether the vaccine to be produced will be a bivalent vaccine. If it is decided to use ‘bivalent vaccine’, all vaccines must be produced as ‘bivalent vaccine’ that can respond to omicron and lower mutations.
Moderator) How many times should I get the annual vaccination?
Reporter) Like the flu vaccination, the 1st vaccination is basic. However, the elderly or those with weakened immune systems may need a second dose, the FDA explained.
Moderator) Shall we take a look at the current corona situation in the United States?
Reporter) Yes, in the US, ‘XBB.1.5’, a sub-variant of Omicron, has become the dominant species. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as of January 21, nearly half of the confirmed cases were infected with the ‘XBB.1.5’ virus. According to statistics compiled by the ‘New York Times’ newspaper, as of the 22nd, the average daily number of confirmed cases was about 47,300. The number of hospitalizations averages about 37,500 per day, and the number of deaths is about 490.
Host) America Now, I will listen to this far for today.