Hello everyone, welcome to the show. I'm
Koi Wire. This is CNN 10 and we are here
to get you caught up on some of the
biggest news from around the world in 10
minutes time. Now, it has been a really
big week of news, but we will start with
one of those stories that reminds us to
never take the moments we're given for
granted and to hold our loved ones a
little tighter. Catastrophic flooding
hit central Texas in the early hours of
July 4th. More than an entire summer's
worth of rain fell in some parts of the
state in just a matter of a few hours.
That quickly formed a wall of rushing
water, sweeping away cars, toppling
trees, and ripping homes from their
foundations. At the time of this taping,
well over 100 people had died, and Texas
officials had announced that more than
100 people were still unaccounted for.
And while search and rescue efforts
continue, so do the stories of heroism
and sacrifice from those who jumped into
action. Some of the most inspiring and
gut-wrenching coming from a Christian
girls camp, Camp Mystic. As the
Guadalupe Riverbend began to swell in
the middle of the night, counselors
began kicking out windows, guiding
hundreds of young girls to higher
ground. One security guard helped
campers get onto mattresses to stay
above the rising waters. And then there
is US Coast Guard rescue swimmer and
thirdclass petty officer Scott Ruskin.
He and his team helped 165 campers get
airlifted to safety.
It was pretty traumatic. I mean, yeah,
you have a lot of kids. They're having
probably the worst day of their life.
Um, they're missing friends. They're
missing loved ones. I was really just
trying to comfort them and let them know
like, hey, like I don't know where your
friends may be right now, but my only
objective is to get you guys out of here
and get you guys to safety. I'm sorry
this happened to you guys, but you guys
were so brave and tough and it made me
like a better rescuer because you guys
were acting so bravely.
At another nearby summer camp, Camp
Lahonta, a cabin was swept away by the
rushing water.
We had bunk beds in our cabins and it
was going up to the top bunk and um we
had one choice and we had to swim out of
our cabins.
While emergency alerts were delivered to
mobile devices to warn people of the
flooding, many say they did not receive
warnings until after the flooding
reached its peak. As authorities are
continuing their search and rescue
efforts, they are also looking into what
more might have been done to better warn
people. Also hoping to help prevent such
tragedies from occurring in the future,
especially given these flooding events
seem to be happening more frequently.
Our meteorologist Derek Vanam explains.
More than a summer's worth of rain fell
in a matter of hours across the Texas
Hill Country, triggering unprecedented
flash flooding.
The deadly tragedy described as a 1 in
100year flood disaster struck in an area
that was entrenched in the worst drought
anywhere in the country. This weather
whiplash from drought to flood is yet
another example of humaninduced climate
change and its impact on extreme
weather. One we have seen play out in
California multiple times in recent
years as a multi-year drought was
followed by atmospheric riverfueled
flooding and mudslides. And then came
the deadly wildfires in January.
The frequency and intensity of heavy
rain events are increasing. Last year
alone, a record 91 flash flood
emergencies, the rarest, most extreme
warning issued less than 1% of the time
came from the National Weather Service.
Generational flood events like last
year's Hurricane Helen killed over 200
people and produced historic rain in
North Carolina.
Any more down there? Texans will
remember Hurricane Harvey that dropped
over 50 ines of rain in the Houston
metro and was one of America's costliest
weather disasters.
It's not just with hurricanes. Residents
across Kentucky and Tennessee are still
recovering from inland flash flooding
over the last couple of years. These
events are a product of a warmer
atmosphere that's able to hold more
water vapor, acting to enhance rainfall
rates, turning 100-year events into
something every generation has to deal
with.
And even while the flood threat
continues in Texas, parts of the east
coast are reeling from their own flash
flooding as the remnants of tropical
storm Chantel dropped months worth of
rain in the Raleigh Durham area of North
Carolina. Also resulting in floods that
turn deadly. Every region of the country
has noticed a marked increase in heavy
rainfall events, something that we will
have to adapt and plan to in the future
of our warming world.
For more information about how you you
can help Texas flood victims, go to
cnn.com/impact
or text flood to 707070.
Now to some stunning new images of
thousands of asteroids and millions of
galaxies taken by the largest digital
camera ever constructed. It's about the
size of a car. The Vera Rubin
Observatory sits on a mountain in Chile
and scientists have just retrieved its
first images. Researchers at Duke
University in North Carolina helped
design key pieces of the telescope which
can detect the most minute details from
dark matter. Inside is a 6,600 lb 3200
megapixel camera that crafted this
beautiful imagery. Take a look.
Millions of galaxies, thousands of
previously unknown space objects, all
captured by this one groundbreaking
observatory.
Later this year, the Reuben Observatory
will launch its 10-year mission called
the Legacy Survey of Space and Time. It
will scan the entire sky above the
Southern Hemisphere every few nights to
capture a time lapse of whizzing
asteroids and comets, exploding stars,
and distant galaxies as they change.
Scientists say the data collected in the
new facility's first year alone will
surpass all other optical observatories
combined.
Pop quiz hot shot. Which US state was
the first to roll out the now iconic
yellow paint color for taxi cabs? New
York, California, Connecticut, or
Illinois?
Hey, tax. If you said Connecticut,
you are correct. Manufacturing mogul
Albert Rockwell got the idea to open his
taxi company in 1908 after he and his
wife saw how popular cabs had become
across Europe. And yellow was his wife's
favorite color. Tesla's self-driving
robo taxis are being beta tested on the
streets of Austin, Texas right now. So,
folks are taking them for a spin,
including some social media influencers,
and some of them have some questions
about the ride safety. Our Ed Lavendera
shows us why one watchdog group is
sounding the alarm.
Tesla has launched 10 to 20 robo taxis
onto Austin streets. There's the robo
taxi. So, this is where the story might
feel a little strange. We can't get in a
robo taxi, so we followed it. The robo
taxi isn't fully driverless yet. There's
a Tesla employee in the passenger seat.
We watch the car navigate through
traffic and make proper stops and turns.
Seems to be moving around quite
smoothly, zigzagging through various
parts of South Austin. But what is
interesting is we actually haven't seen
anyone get in it. And there's a reason
for that. So, not just anybody can jump
into one of these Tesla robo taxis. In
fact, the way the company rolled the
taxis out was by inviting a group of
social media influencers to town. How do
you think Robo Taxi did?
It did great. The car didn't do anything
crazy, so I think they could probably
start expanding pretty quick.
Chris says he took about 50 rides in
three days and was impressed by a few
moments.
It pulled over.
The robo taxi just pulled over for the
ambulance.
The robo taxi also navigated a
construction zone
and we actually have to drive on the
opposite side of the road. There were a
few weird moments, as Chris described
it, like when he tried to end a ride
early.
End ride now. The vehicle will pull over
to the nearest safe location. Heck yeah,
let's do it.
The robo taxi stopped in the middle of
the road. Chris says a remote operator
had to correct the issue. The Tesla then
moved to a safer drop off location. Dan
Odow founded a watchdog group called the
Dawn Project to make technology safer
for humans. The group argues that
Tesla's full self-driving software,
which has been available for several
years, is not safe enough.
We have over a thousand videos of these
fails, and we've got them all
categorized by running red lights,
running stop signs, excessive speeding,
slamming the brakes on for no reason.
Tesla did not respond to any of our
questions for this story. We should
point out that the company does make
continuous software improvements, but
for Odow, the Tesla driverless
technology puts lives at risk. They need
to be off the road.
This week's story getting a 10 out of
10. A cruise ship rescue that could have
come straight out of Hollywood. A story
about courage and quick thinking.
Imagine this. You're on a family
vacation in the middle of the ocean
aboard a Disney cruise ship. Suddenly, a
little girl falls overboard. Around
11:15 a.m., the 5-year-old girl
accidentally plunged 45 feet overboard
through one of the ship's port holes on
the fourth level. And while bystanders
immediately called for help from the
ship's crew, the girl's dad said,
"Uh-uh, I'm not waiting for anybody."
So, he jumped into the ocean after her.
What a dad.
Oh my god, that's a dad that needs to
have a hero. He's a hero. Despite the
choppy water, having to tread water with
his daughter in his arms for a whole 20
minutes, dad indeed is a hero. He kept
his daughter safe until the ship's
rescue boats were able to navigate down
to pull them out.
And everyone was like cheering on the
ship and just the the amazing quick
response of Disney made a big
difference. No information has been
released about how the girl fell
overboard, but the good news is that
both daughter and dad were taken safely
back to the ship. All right, superstars,
we have been working hard to open and
document all of your thoughtful,
creative, heartfelt, and sometimes silly
care packages. Uh this summer, we've
gotten some good ones. And Trienter
Trojans in Iowa, congratulations on
winning your state football championship
there in high school. Are you trying to
tell me something? Long hair, blonde
hair, pink hair, no hair, don't care.
Play that Friday music nod there. My
team and I, we are wigging out over the
love you show the show. Today we have
shout outs going to Miss Grooms and Mr.
Whitehurst Battlefield Middle School in
Fresburg, Virginia. Thank you for this
incredible, impeccable football helmet
signed by 200 students. And this shout
out goes to Mr. Mayor in South Fork High
School in King, Illinois. Take a look at
this awesome custom CNN 10 jersey,
y'all. Go ponies. And congrats on you
winning your championship. You will be
seeing some of these on our wall of fame
in an episode soon to come. Go out and
make someone smile today, y'all. You
just may be the spark of joy someone
needs. Rise up. Have an awesome weekend,
everyone. I'm Koi Wire and we are CNN
10.