Return to Transcripts main page
CNN 10
Two New Lawsuits Target Facebook; Space X Rocket Makes A Crash Landing; A Solar "Belch" Occurs Meteorological Winters and Atmospheric Rivers. Aired 4-4:10a ET
Aired December 11, 2020 - 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: Northern lights and atmospheric rivers, those are two of the stories we`ll be covering today and if that sounds good it`s
probably because Friday`s are awesome. I`m Carl Azuz. This is CNN 10. Facebook is facing two lawsuits. One is from the U.S. Federal government.
The other is from 46 U.S. states. Both suits accuse the social media company of trying to keep competition out of the digital marketplace. More
than 3 billion people of the 7.7 billion who are alive today use an app owned by Facebook. The company is more than a social networking site. It
also controls WhatsApp and Instagram and the U.S. government says that Facebook bought these apps to prevent them from eventually competing with
the company.
The suits say this breaks America`s anti-trust laws which are designed to keep the nation`s businesses from having too much power and both legal
challenges seek to decrease Facebook`s power by forcing it to spin-off Instagram and WhatsApp into separate companies. Facebook bought Instagram
in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014. It says the U.S. government approves those purchases then and that it now wants a do over. The social media company
also says people don`t chose Facebook`s services because they have to but because it`s apps deliver the most value. So, it plans to fight these
suits. Facebook isn`t the only technology company accused of breaking anti- trust laws.
The American government and 11 states filed suit against Google in October saying it`s worked to prevent competition in online searches and
advertising. Google had a similar response to Facebook`s. It says people use its platform because they choose too not because they`re forced to.
These lawsuits could take years to resolve. European officials have also been concerned about U.S. tech companies. Next week they`re expected to put
new rules in place that are designed to limit the power of Facebook, Google, Apple and Amazon.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three, two, one, zero.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: 10 Second Trivia. Which of these words comes from a Latin term that described a wind from the north? Zephyr, bluster, boreal or arboreal.
Zephyr was a west wind but when you`re talking about a north wind your speaking in boreal terms.
And when you`re talking about aurora borealis, you`re talking in terms of the Northern Lights. A spectacular display of them is possible this week
thanks to what`s been characterized as a giant solar "belch". The sun has hurled plasma and other magnetic activity toward the Earth. It`s not
expected to hurt anyone those scientists say it could interfere with the power grid and with the global positioning system or GPS. But the fun part
of a possible geomagnetic storm is that the Northern Lights could be seen in places farther south than usual. Places that rarely get a glimpse of the
aurora borealis. So, parts of Idaho, Pennsylvania, Oregon, maybe even New York can see an unusually illuminating event.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Described as one of Earth`s greatest light shows an aurora is one of the most fascinating and beautiful naturally occurring
phenomena. You might know it as the Northern Lights, but it`s technically called the aurora borealis in the northern hemisphere and the aurora
Australia`s or Southern Lights in the southern hemisphere. This phenomenon occurs above the magnetic poles in the northern and southern hemispheres.
They form when gases particles in the Earth`s atmosphere collide with charged particles released from the sun. Electrons and protons from the sun
are blown toward the Earth by the solar wind.
As these are carried towards Earth, most of them are deflected by Earth`s magnetic field. However, the magnetic field is weaker at the poles allowing
some of the particles to funnel into the Earth`s atmosphere. The vibrant colors produced are determined by the type of gases that are colliding. The
result is a brilliant display of the common green and yellow. Less common blue and violet, even rare reds painting the night sky in ribbons, arcs or
shooting rays. Oxygen produces green and red light while nitrogen gives off blue and purple. The best time of year to view the light show is during the
winter months when the nights are longer. Under a cloud free sky away from light pollution.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: Staying focused on science, there`s a difference between astronomical winter, what we call the season of winter and meteorological winter, what
meteorologists sometimes call winter. In the northern hemisphere, astronomical winter officially begins this year on December 21st. It`s
based on Earth`s position in relation to the sun and the 21st is when we`ll see the winter solstice. The shortest day of the year when astronomical
winter begins. So, what`s meteorological winter besides being kind of hard to say? That`s based on the yearly temperature cycle. So, when you hear CNN
Contributor Tyler Mauldin refer to meteorological winter, he`s talking about the season of cold that began on December 1st. Tyler.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TYLER MAULDIN, CNN METEOROLOGICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Now that we are in meteorological winter Carl, you may hear us meteorologists talk more about
a weather phenomenon called an atmospheric river. Atmospheric rivers are found way up in the air and are responsible for transporting water vapor
pole ward from the tropics. When you see one on satellite, it looks very much like a river you would find on the surface of the Earth. These rivers
are a lot larger, however. NOAA says an atmospheric river is roughly 250 to 375 miles wide and can be thousands of miles in length. You can find one
(inaudible) somewhere in the world at any point and time. The United States and the rest of North America mainly feel the effects during the early
winter months when the jet stream becomes more active.
Those impacts are in the form of extreme precipitation. Most atmospheric rivers simply provide beneficial rain and snow to areas. For example, the
U.S. west coast receives 30 to 50 percent of its annual precipitation from atmospheric rivers. But in some more intense cases, severe flooding and
mudslides or landslides can occur when it`s slow to move out. That`s because an atmospheric river can transport up to 15 times the average flow
of water found at the mouth of the Mississippi River. Carl, one of the most well-known of these atmospheric rivers it the Pineapple Express, which is
the party responsible for transporting deep tropical moisture from Hawaii to the west coast.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: You`re probably not going to get the chance to spend the night in Santa`s Workshop. But if you live in New York, you might get the chance to
spend one night at the FAO Swartz Toy Store. It`s an Air B&B that will give one lucky family the chance to stay on December 21st. They`ll get a lavish
dinner, a shopping spree and a private tour from a socially distant toy soldier. And they`ll get to sleep at the store for the low, low price of
$25. It`s amazing to think what`s in "store" for the good little "soldiers" who will be able to get "dolled" up and "Slinky" on over to the ultimate
"Play Station."
It`s a great way to "Connect Four" a family. It could make the season merry and "Light Brite" and there will be plenty to "Tinker" and "Toy" with at
least until your batteries get low. So, who knows how kids will be able to "Build A Bear" the suspense? From New York City, we are moving upstate for
today`s shout out. Schenectady High School is in Schenectady, New York. It`s great to see you. They did the only thing you can do to get a mention
on our show. They subscribed and left a comment at YouTube.com/CNN10. I`m Carl Azuz. We have one more week on the air in 2020 and it starts on
Monday.
END
