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COY WIRE: Hey, everyone-- terrific Tuesday to you.
I'm Coy Wire.
This is "CNN 10."
You're off to great places.
Today is your day.
Your mountain is waiting.
So get on your way.
Dr. Seuss, y'all-- got to love it.
Today's top story is taking us to Israel--
unprecedented wave of protests and strikes
is bringing the country to the brink of a shutdown.
For months, hundreds of thousands of Israelis
have taken to the streets, protesting changes
to Israel's legal system.
But over the weekend, tensions rose higher when Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suddenly fired the country's
defense minister, who'd called for a pause in the government's
judicial reform efforts.
The country's proposed overhaul would give Israel's parliament
more control over the judiciary, including
how judges are selected, what laws the Supreme Court
can rule on.
And it would also give the power to the government
to overturn Supreme Court rulings.
Critics say these changes threaten the country's
democracy, removing checks and balances on the government,
saying that there is no check on the government's power
other than the Supreme Court.
Critics worry that if politicians have more control,
the rights of minorities in Israel, especially
Palestinians, would suffer.
The government maintains that it received a mandate
to pass this reform when it was elected last November,
and Netanyahu and his supporters argue that they've
called for reform because Israel's judiciary has
no written constitution, only a set of basic laws,
making the Supreme Court too powerful.
They also say the Supreme Court doesn't represent
the Israeli people and that it has overstepped
its bounds on certain issues.
Protest organizers said that they would
continue to intensify demonstrations
until the legislation was halted.
And seemingly in an effort to bring down tensions,
a deal to postpone the government's
judicial reform efforts was reached yesterday afternoon.
You can head to CNN.com for updates.
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10-second trivia-- which of these names translates
to "snow-covered mountains"--
Pyrenees, Sierra Madre, Appalachian, or Sierra Nevada?
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In Spanish, sierra means "mountain range."
Nevada means "snow-clad."
California has been through it when it comes to weather.
For the last three years, the state has been
in a desperate need of rain.
Just a month ago, about 33 million people
were facing what's been called a megadrought.
But now the pendulum has swung.
Atmospheric rivers, or narrow corridors of intense moisture
in the atmosphere, dumping record rain
and snowfall across the state has led to flooding,
mudslides, and more.
Our CNN meteorologist Allie Chinchar
is here to take us on a tour of the Sierra Nevada
and break it all down for us, also telling us how much rain
and snow we're talking about.
ALLISON CHINCHAR: Coy, it has been
a record breaking season of snowfall
across the Sierras this year.
Take a look at this video--
the snowfall piling up as high as a two-story house
and then some.
This video was even taken back on February 28,
and they've had even more snow since then.
But here's the thing about the Sierras.
It's broken into three separate categories.
You have the northern, the central, and the
southern region of the Sierras.
And all three of them, when you look,
have actually been very impressive this year
but, specifically, the southern Sierras picking up 286%
of their snow-water equivalent.
What is that?
Basically, what it is, it takes into account all the snowpack
that's on the ground.
But then, if you melted it, what would the water equivalent be?
And in the case of the southern Sierras,
it's been record-breaking snow-water equivalent.
But how does this year compare to other years in the past?
Let's break it down.
This year has been extremely impressive--
228% of normal for that snow-water equivalent.
When you look back at the previous years,
they haven't even made it to normal amounts,
let alone the impressive amount that we've had so far
this year.
But one thing to note is the impact it's had on the drought.
Now, when you get numerous systems like this--
and we've had at least a dozen atmospheric river events
back-to-back, basically-- all of that water has to go somewhere.
It's not just the rain coming down from the sky,
but it melts some of that snowpack.
And then all of that water flows into rivers, creeks,
and streams, and also onto roadways, into homes,
into businesses, because those rivers,
creeks, and streams end up becoming swollen.
And it's too much for the ground to absorb all at once.
Now, in the short term, however, though,
this has been very beneficial for the short-term drought.
Look at California just back on December 6,
when we had the extreme and exceptional drought categories.
Fast-forward to just a few days ago.
Not a single portion of California
is in those exceptional and extreme drought categories
anymore.
COY WIRE: Now, that's a good thing.
Thanks, Allie.
Any weather questions, reach out to @allisonchinchar on social.
All right.
Up next, some inspiration and motivation from one of our CNN
heroes, John Watson--
he's a fitness instructor who created Bloom Fitness
in honor of his daughter, Emma.
Mr. Watson leads students facing intellectual and developmental
challenges through classes that unite, uplift, and invigorate
with great passion and energy.
- Yes.
Come on, girl, I need you!
JOHN WATSON: When I'm in front of them,
it's an explosion of excitement every single time.
- We gonna do a spin cycle class?
- Yes.
[CHEERING]
JOHN WATSON: Bloom's mission is to lead people
with intellectual and developmental disabilities
to a lifetime of fitness.
These are really good bikes.
You're gonna love it, OK?
Wellness and movement for this population, that's critical.
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- Amy is our fourth child.
- Heart problems are very common for people with Down syndrome.
So fitness is very important.
COY WIRE: All right.
So y'all been very patient today.
So I might make some mistakes.
Y'all OK with that?
[CHEERING]
- Rafi has Prader-Willi syndrome.
She has a very low metabolism.
So she needs to keep moving and keep motivated.
COY WIRE: Let's rock and roll.
We all know the benefits of fitness--
physical, emotional, and cognitive.
But they don't usually connect those dots.
2, 1, go!
Woo-wee!
Safety's first, but we want them to have fun.
We want them to want to do it.
There you go!
[LAUGHS]
- Woo!
JOHN WATSON: I love it!
Cody, you're crushing it over there.
Come on, Amy!
You got this!
We wanted to make sure that the athlete that's in the room
feels seen.
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My daughter, Emma, her diagnosis is basically cerebral palsy.
She has balance problems.
She's legally blind.
She developed epilepsy, so seizures.
But it's easy with Emma to focus on the good parts.
Emma, you're hoping to get a low one here?
- No.
No.
JOHN WATSON: You're inspired how they
work through the challenges.
- Ooh.
JOHN WATSON: I was looking for services for Emma and ways
to help other parents.
And so I came across a service provider.
And when we walked around, they had a room with
broken-down fitness equipment.
Hey, guys, what happens here?
They said, nothing happens here.
And I said, well, do you mind if I buy some bikes?
- Hi, Rashanna!
Go on in!
JOHN WATSON: We partner with these organizations
that provide services for adults with disabilities.
The cost to the athlete is nothing.
- Both arms up overhead.
Inhale deeply.
JOHN WATSON: All of our instructors are volunteers.
We do Pilates, yoga, dance.
Our classes are modified.
We're gonna do little steps.
That's where we're gonna start.
We have a wide range of abilities.
- Reach, reach, reach, reach.
JOHN WATSON: Somebody that might have
limited movement, we specifically try to get
them to move to how they can.
- Yeah!
- The energy, the excitement that they
have, to be a part of a team, that means a lot to them.
JOHN WATSON: Ryan, killing it!
Come on, girl.
We're almost done.
You're an athlete, no matter what your ability level is.
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Today's story getting a 10 out of 10-- musical artist
the Weeknd becoming the first in Spotify
history to reach 100 million monthly listeners.
It's a new Guinness World Record.
The Weeknd started making his name back in 2009,
but this recent streaming surge was
due to a collaboration with singer Ariana Grande that
went viral on TikTok in 2021.
I wonder what Guinness World Record we could try to break
right here on "CNN 10."
Hmm, maybe we'll figure it out.
I went to a bookstore, and I saw a book titled "How
to End 50% of Your Problems."
So I bought two of them.
Dad jokes.
On to my favorite part of the day now,
I want to give a special shout out
to Kernersville Middle School in Kernersville, North Carolina.
We see you we hope you and everyone watching around
the world have a wonderful one.
I'm Coy Wire, and we are "CNN 10."
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