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Heavy Rainfall Causes Several Problems In Northwest United States; Migrant Crisis In Europe; Controversial Satellite Strike. Aired 4-4:10a ET
Aired November 17, 2021 - 04:00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 ANCHOR: Thanks for tuning in to our midweek edition of CNN 10. My name is Carl Azuz. We hope you`re doing well. We mentioned
yesterday how flooding in part of California had worsen the state`s high gasoline prices. Across California`s northern border, that flooding has
washed out roads, triggered evacuations and closed state parks in Oregon, and across Oregon`s northern border days of heavy rain and wind have caused
a state of emergency in Washington.
There`s been flooding all over the western part of the state. Mudslides triggered the closure of the section of Interstate 5, a major road that
runs from Canada to Mexico, and officials have quickly set up shelters for the hundreds of people who had to leave their homes. Coast Guard
helicopters are helping out with the rescue effort.
Officials have needed to use boats where cars typically drive, the power has gone out for tens of thousands of homes and businesses, and in some
areas the water`s been too high for utility workers to restore electricity. At one point, record flooding was expected along the banks of the Skagit
River, but on Tuesday its waters in the city of Mt. Vernon appeared to top out at just over 35 feet. That we two feet shorter than the record flood
stage it reached in 1990.
The city advised its 35,000 residents to evacuate or take steps to protect their families, homes and property from flood waters. In another county
nearby, one resident said she and others had set up sandbags to do that, but that those were pushed away from people`s houses and down a nearby
river.
With more rain expected over the next few days, parts of Washington will stay under a flood warning until at least Wednesday afternoon, what the
state of emergency there and in 14 counties will do is speed up government aid to those who were affected. From the western United States, we`re
taking you to the western border of Belarus to update you on the ongoing crisis involving Belrussian officials, border officials from Poland and
thousands of migrants.
Poland is a member of the European Union, and that`s where the migrants want to settle. They`re mostly from the war-torn nations of Afghanistan,
Iraq and Syria according to Polish officials.
Poland with the support of the European Union, has refused to allow the migrants to cross the border. European officials blame Belarus for causing
this crisis by illegally encouraging the migrants to press into Poland. Belarus says it`s Poland`s fault for illegally pushing the migrants back
into Belarus. CNN`s Matthew Chance reports from the Belarussian side of the border.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Very dramatic scenes playing out as you can see. The migrants angry at their reception by the Polish authorities of
being disallowed from getting back -- getting into European Union have reacted angrily. They started throwing, oh my god, we`re being blasted by
water cannons from the Polish side.
Tear gas has been thrown as well. There are flash bangs going off. You can see a helicopter up there, to push back the protestors who are over
here. As I can show them here in their make-shift camps near the border fence, throwing stones and charging the barricades that are being manned by
the Polish border authorities.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DR. MUHAMMAD ZEID, PROFESSOR OF CONSTRUCTION, UNIVERSITY OF CAIRO: We have successfully managed to incorporate it into concrete. The addition of
masks and gloves into the concrete is a -- a big plus for the environment. It preserves our resources of natural aggregates, and they will make
difference samples like cubes and we test them.
The key takeaway from this project is that our students responded the needs of the society in a time of crisis. They completely have produced have not
yet been into buildings but we are in the right track of doing that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: 10 Second Trivia. What would you find about 240 miles above Earth`s surface? Exosphere, Hubble Telescope, Stratosphere or ISS. The
International Space Station orbits about 240 miles above our heads.
And the seven people in it were directed to take shelter earlier this week, suiting up and getting into their spacecraft that are docked with the
station as it passed near the debris of a Russian satellite. That satellite had been in orbit since 1982. Russia intentionally blew it up
this week as part of a missile test.
NASA says the strike created a debris field with hundreds of satellite and missile pieces now orbiting the Earth that threaten current and future
missions to space. Workers aboard the ISS temporarily moved to their spacecraft in case the debris damaged the ISS and they had to leave it.
When the threat decreased, they returned to their mission.
U.S. officials strongly criticized the Russian missile test calling it dangerous and saying America wouldn`t tolerate actions like it. Russia
which currently has two cosmonauts aboard the ISS says safety has always been its top priority and that it would prevent all threats to the ISS and
its crew. Looking beyond the space station, NASA just announced that its plan to return to the moon has been delayed.
A new budget report says the mission named Artemis is now expected to cost $93 billion through the next few years, and while it had an initial goal of
putting boots on lunar soil again in 2024. NASA says it will probably miss that target by several years. Meantime, some of those who`ve already
boldly gone where few had gone before were honored at NASA`s Hall of Fame ceremony last weekend.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two, one, zero and lift-off.
KRISTIN FISHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: If it takes the right stuff to become a NASA astronaut, it takes even more of it to make it into the Astronaut Hall
of Fame. These are the record setters, the barrier breakers and three more have just been inducted into this exclusive club.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here we have Michael Lopez Alegria.
FISHER: Mike L.A., as he`s known, is the second most experienced spacewalker in the world.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lift-off.
FISHER: A veteran of four space flights, he`s performed 10 spacewalks totaling nearly 68 hours outside a space shuttle or station more than any
other NASA astronaut, and he`s not done yet. Next year, Mike L.A. will command a private mission to the International Space Station.
MICHAEL LOPEZ ALEGRIA: But as magnificent as it is, the ISS is a machine and one day it will wear out. So what`s the solution? A commercial space
station, preferably more than one with multiple customers where the government is only one of them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our pilot, Pam Melroy.
FISHER: The second inductee flew three missions to help build the International Space Station. Pam Melroy is one of only two women to ever
command a space shuttle mission.
PAM MELROY, ASTRONAUT: Thank you to everybody for a -- a beautiful vehicle and a beautiful mission.
FISHER: She was also only the second woman in the Air Force to be a test pilot. Now she`s leading NASA as the agency`s Deputy Administrator.
MELROY: This is been a pretty amazing year for me. So, we`re poised to turn -- return to the moon. We hope to light that candle and celebrate the
launch of Artemis One in just a few months.
FISHER: A few months in space is nothing for the third and final inductee. Scott Kelly is famous for spending a year in space.
SCOTT KELLY, ASTRONAUT: It seemed like I`d lived there forever. Seemed longer than I thought it would be.
FISHER: Kelly`s a veteran of four space flights, totaling 520 days in space and traveling more than 200 million miles, more than twice the
distance from the Earth to the sun.
KELLY: It`s really odd for me to be standing here today, because when I was a kid, I wasn`t too sure I would accomplish much of anything.
FISHER: But along with his brother and fellow astronaut Senator Mark Kelly, Scott became one of the most famous astronauts in the world.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are limitless possibilities because of the endless inspiration found among these giants.
FISHER: Kristin Fisher, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: Pumpkin smashing rates a 10 out of 10 today. We`re not saying kids should try this at home, but kids did recently get to take a bat or a
hammer to their past date pumpkins at a farm in Missouri. Why? Well fall`s winding down, so this is a way to gear up for winter and the farm
plans to recycle the gashed gourds, the smashed pumpkins, the fouled fruit, the jacked-up jack-o-lanterns by feeding them to livestock or using them as
compost.
After all the Halloween stories we ran, I`m running short on "punkins". They don`t exactly "grow" on trees you know, and while I have a "vine" time
delivering them. It takes a "gourd" amount of effort to grow them, so maybe I ought to just "plant" the idea that we hire a "jack-o-intern" to
help write. Before we go, we want to write in the students of West Academy High School who are watching from Newton, Iowa today. I`m Carl Azuz.
Thank you all for checking out CNN.
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