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COY WIRE: What's up, lovely people?
The weekend is upon us.
It is Friday, and Fridays rock.
We are fueled up and ready to rock it out with you this,
the best 10 minutes in news.
So let's go.
We start with continuing coverage
on the intense weather systems sweeping
across the United States.
There's a strong chance that many of you watching right now
have already seen your neighborhood impacted.
More than 65 million people across 29 states
from as far West as California to as far East as Maine
were under winter weather alerts, warning of heavy snow,
severe icing, extreme cold.
850,000 people went without power more than 1700s flights
were canceled.
But we are seeing two extremes across the country right now.
While a powerful storm is setting record low temperatures
across the Northern Plains, at the same time,
there is a heat wave in the Southeast
setting record high temperatures for the month of February.
Can you believe that there is a difference
of more than 100 degrees between some places right
here in the United States?
More now from Brian Todd, a CNN correspondent
based in the network's Washington Bureau, who tells us
of the dangers that this storm is bringing to people
all across the country.
BRIAN TODD: In Wyoming, a state trooper
has to scramble out of the way as a runaway truck almost
hits him.
Dangerous conditions on a snowy road in Truckee, California,
caused this car to flip.
in Flagstaff, Arizona, the snow was so violent
that this man told CNN it literally knocked him
backward as he and his dog struggled
to see and keep their footing.
A sweeping massive storm system is
pummeling much of the country from California to Maine.
More than 65 million people under winter weather
alerts across the West, Midwest, and Northeast.
The Minneapolis Saint Paul area could get around 20
inches by the time it's over.
It could be the most snow that area has seen in three decades.
Minnesota's governor discussed the dangers they prepared for.
TIM WALZ: The goal is not to have to pull somebody
off the interstate, but we're prepared to do
so if that happens.
The goal is to make sure that we're ready if there's a power
lossage, being able to keep the highways
and move emergency vehicles as quickly as we can.
BRIAN TODD: Conditions so severe in Minnesota
that ambulances have to be specially equipped.
RYAN MAYFIELD: We do have shovels on our ambulances.
We have salt and sand mixtures as well to help us out.
And we have a few sleds if we need to use them.
BRIAN TODD: California getting hit with snow in places
that don't often experience it.
DANIEL SWAIN: We are going to see
low snow all the way from the Oregon border
to the Mexican border.
BRIAN TODD: North of Los Angeles, a long stretch
of vehicles is stopped on State Route 58,
as the Highway Patrol warns motorists.
- We are asking everybody to avoid the area,
make alternate plans, drive a different day.
BRIAN TODD: But in different areas, different impacts.
Near San Jose, high winds snapped trees,
brought down power lines, and caused
widespread power outages.
DIANE CHERMAK: These old Victorians, the wood is so old.
If there's a spark, that's what really worries me.
BRIAN TODD: High winds caused so-called brownout
conditions and several vehicle accidents
in the Texas panhandle.
And with this massive system, thousands of flights
have been canceled, according to the flight
tracking site FlightAware.
It says the airports in Minneapolis
Saint Paul, Detroit, and Denver are getting hit hardest.
COY WIRE: 10-second trivia.
A group of penguins in the water is
referred to as which of the following, huddle,
colony, waddle, or raft?
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Wouldn't you know it?
All of these are names for a collective of penguins,
but a raft refers to a group of penguins in the water.
Up next, we're taking a trip to see some penguins
in need of some help.
Now, first of all, I thought all penguins
lived in cold, snowy regions, but that's not true.
In fact, there are penguins that can be found waddling
around the warm dry shores in South Africa with not
a major snow bank in sight.
We learn something new every day on this show.
This particular penguin population, though,
is dwindling in large part because they're having
trouble making their nests.
So humans are stepping in to build them some sweet new digs.
CNN went to check in on the tuxedoed birds.
And we'll go there now to learn some more.
- Antarctica is known to have the largest population
of penguins in the world, but not all penguins
live in snow and ice.
Some can be found waddling along the balmy shores
of Southern Africa on barren and windswept islands
like this one.
But in the last century, populations
of the endangered African penguin
have plummeted due in part to human disturbance, egg
poaching, and climate change.
TRUDI MALAN: On the island in the 1970s,
there was about 23,000 breeding pairs.
At the moment, we counting about 1,100 breeding pairs.
It's quite a severe collapse.
- Historically, African penguins made nests in bars of guano,
layers of accumulated seabird and bat feces.
But in the 19th century, humans began to exploit guano supplies
and sell it as fertilizer, leaving
penguins and their eggs exposed to predators
and the scorching sun.
KEVIN GRAHAM: At one point in [INAUDIBLE],, the colonies,
it ranged from 3 to 10 meters in depth and even deeper
in some areas.
Right now, the deepest guano remaining
in any of the colonies measures in the centimeters.
The only thing left is bare gravel, bare soil.
Nothing that they can burrow into.
And that took away their entire nesting ability.
- In 2016, the African Penguin Nest
Project dived to the rescue.
A coordinated effort between Dyer
Island Conservation Trust, Dallas
Zoo, and other organizations.
Its mission is to design and deploy artificial nests that
give penguin parents a safe and cool
place to raise their chicks.
After two years of development and studying old guano nests,
project experts settled on a final design, which they
started deploying in late 2018.
The aim was to emulate mother nature as closely as possible.
KEVIN GRAHAM: We made the entrance
hole small so that the penguins can squeeze in.
And as soon as they turn around, they can protect that entrance
hole from any predator.
It looks a little bit strange when you look at it,
but it's an exact copy of what the penguins
build themselves if they were given the opportunity.
- Each nest is fitted with a sensor that measures
temperature and humidity, which enables researchers to track
the nests microclimate.
KEVIN GRAHAM: Eggs are an extremely delicate structure.
They're only set to be incubated at about 38 to 39 degrees.
Any higher than that, and there's
a very real risk of the eggs dying.
We're going to constantly be looking
at the performance of the nests when
it comes to the usage rates.
Are the penguins using them?
Are the eggs hatching?
Are the chicks fledging?
But so far, what we're seeing is that the artificial nests are
fledging chicks at a much higher rate than any other option
that they have.
- Funded by donations or by people sponsoring
individual nests, Graham says the project has so far
installed more than 1,500 nests around South
Africa's penguin colonies.
Next year, the project hopes to expand
to penguin colonies in Namibia.
The end goal is that every penguin that needs a nest
will get one.
TRUDI MALAN: I think we have got a responsibility as humans,
because, you know, we've kind of intruded onto a place and mess
things up a little bit.
But we also can fix it.
I never think of an African penguin as cute and cuddly.
I think of an African penguin as absolutely tenacious.
I think there are such survivors.
And they should be an example to all of us
that you can overcome.
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COY WIRE: Today's story getting a 10 out of 10,
a pup with a celebrity smile.
Check out this crooked grin canine.
It's name, Paul Ruff, named after actor Paul Rudd.
It's his doggy doppelganger.
Ruff was a shelter dog in Tennessee.
But good news is he found a forever home after he
went viral when people pointed out
that he had a celebrity twin.
All right.
I want to give a special shout out
to Forrest Creek Middle School in Fort Mill, South Carolina.
What's up, Hudson?
I also want to send big virtual hugs
to Miss Mindy and all the Hibbard Wildcats,
who watch us every morning.
Yeah, Represent.
I'm @CoyWire on Insta, Snapchat, and TikTok.
We're CNN 10 on YouTube.
Have an awesome weekend.
And remember, you are more powerful than.
I'm Coy Wire.
It's been a blessing to spend this week with you.
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