Emily: All right, we made it to Friday, and here we go. First it was the deep freeze, then a winter wonderland — Old Man Winter is packing a heavy punch — and the barbershops across America inspiring a new generation of young boys to pick up a book and read.I am Emily Reppert, and Channel One News starts right now.
From the Carolinas all the way to Maine, the East Coast got hit hard yesterdaywith snow and strong, blistering winds. Some cities saw over a foot and a half of snow.It is what is called a bomb cyclone — pretty much a super-windy snowstorm.
The powerful storm brought snow, wind and coastal flooding to much of the Northeast. New England definitely saw the worst of it. In Massachusetts postal worker Ryan Toscano braved the elements to deliver the mail.
Ryan Toscano: It's not a good day to be out there.
Emily: In Boston the snow came down fast, up to three inches per hour. New York City's TimesSquare was all white.On New York's Long Island, wind gusts topped 60 miles per hour,and the streets saw few drivers on the road. Some residents waited for the train as snow blew onto the platform.
This was the view from space as the storm ripped through the East Coast.Some of those who felt it the most? Air travelersstuck inside an airport after thousands of flights were cancelled.
Timothy Collins: It's a mess, that's what I think. We don't have this much snow in Georgia, so to come here and see that much snow is kind of really amazing.
Emily: Kids, on the other hand — well, they know how to enjoy the snow better than anyone, with schools closed for the snow day.
And to see how blizzards form, test out our Extreme Weather Simulator, where you can create your own blizzard. It is up on ChannelOne.com.
President Trump and the leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-un, have been throwing shade for months, tossing threats back and forth.You may have heard this week the leaders were one-upping each other, bragging about nuclear weapons— the most powerful bombs on Earth.
After the North Korean leader bragged that he had a nuclear button on his desk, President Trump tweeted back, "I too have a Nuclear Button [that] is…bigger & more powerful…and my Button works!"No American president has ever made such a direct nuclear threat.
Now, the president doesn't really have a big button on his desk, but a briefcase called the “football” follows the president everywhere. It contains the codes the commanderinchief would need to launch nuclear weapons.
American nuclear forces are much more powerful than North Korea's.This one submarine carries more warheads than Kim Jong-un has in his entire arsenal.
American policy has long been to use nuclear weapons only in extreme circumstances, such as a nuclear attack against the United States.And only the president can order a nuclear attack, so these threats have some people nervous.
Sam Nunn: I think it increases the risk of miscalculation, or what I call war by blunder.To me that's the greatest danger here, and the heated rhetoric on both sides creates a whole lot more risk in that regard. We could easily have a war nobody intended and nobody wanted.
Emily: And you just heard today's Word in the News:commanderinchief.It is the supreme commander of the armed forces of a nation, and in the U.S., that is the president.
All right, now, some good news in this war of words: Yesterday North Korea reopened a phone line to contact South Korea, an important ally with the U.S.It had been closed for two years.
All right, so as rising tensions with North Korea continue,President Trump is making sure the United States is prepared for anything. Tom is here with that part of the story.
Tom: Yeah,that is absolutely right, and now that includes prepping for a conflict that could extend into outer space. You heard me right. Check out how the United States Air Force is working to defend the country from thousands of miles above Earth.
Airman: Expanded in the Pacific Ocean. Possible missile launch.
Tom: When North Korea or any other country launches missiles like these, the airmen at Buckley Air Force Base in Colorado are the first people in the world to know about it.They are watching 24 hours a day, seven days a week, tracking missile launches around the world.
Lieutenant John Stryker: It is a very demanding job. It's very no-notice kinda things.
Tom: This squadron practices exercises like this one all the time.
Stryker: We call the next person in the chain, who puts together a site picture for higher headquarters and ultimately our country's leadership.
General John “Jay” Raymond: It’s a missile warning detection satellite.
Tom: Eventually, the call gets to four-star General Jay Raymond, the military's top space commander.
Raymond: Our job is to provide that global unblinking eye to be able to detect and warn against those threats and be able to provide that to the decision makers.
Tom: One of the tools they use: these giant, golfball–like structures. Inside each of these weather-resistant domes sits a 60-foot satellite dish. It scans the planet for the most dangerous weapons.
Technical Sergeant William Lane: Many people think that we have missiles inside these radomes. We do not have anything that dangerous this close to Denver. They are simply satellite antennas meant to pass mission data.
Tom: About 60 miles south, at Schriever Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, in this highly restricted room, just eight people keep watch over the U.S.Global Positioning System, or GPS, which is a group of satellites that transmit signals to the ground to track location and time.
Airman:Copy. Disconnects are out.
Tom: The Air Force developed GPS to help soldiers communicate, and it is used to fly military aircraft and drop bombs more accurately.
Captain Brittany Morgan: So the satellites are constantly emitting that signal for you to be able to track where you are.
Tom: But it is also an important part of our daily life. Financial transactions, electric power grids, even phones and cars use GPS info.
Morgan: It affects 4 billion users worldwide. What kind of thing in this world do you know that affects everybody in the globe?
Tom: And that makes these satellites a prime target for enemies of the U.S.For instance, Russia and China are developing technology that could blind or damage U.S. satellites.
Raymond: We would take it seriously because satellites provide our nation with great capability and great advantage. It'd be something that we would be very concerned about. We have the world's best space capabilities. We want to run fast to make sure that that's always the case.
Tom: Tom Hanson, Channel One News.
Emily: Thanks, Tom. Definitely something to keep an eye on.
All right, coming up, a barbershop serving up more than just fresh cuts.
Emily: To pick up a great book, you probably will find yourself heading to the library.And to get a pretty styling haircut,well, you might go to a barbershop.But what happens when you combine a little reading with a little cut? Well, in today's Feel-Good Friday, Arielle Hixson takes us to a place where books and barbershops meet for a great read.
Arielle: A barbershop is its own world.
So how long have you been coming to this barbershop?
Kyyle Brathwait: Since I was born.My dad owns the barbershop.Iknow every — I have, like, a relationship with everybody in this barbershop, even the whole block.
Arielle: For some men it is a community…
Alvin Irby: Everytime you have something important in your life that happens, you go to your barber, you get a shape-up, you get a haircut.
Arielle: …where people can catch up, look sharp — and read?
Before there were books here, what would the kids do?
Russell Smith: Well, kids just come, just hang out, watch TV, go to sleep, you know, not say anything or be on their phone playing with their games.
Arielle: That is why Alvin Irby started Barbershop Books: to create an innovative space where kids can use their free time to pick up a book.In 2015 64 percent of fourth-grade students in the U.S. were behind in reading.
Irby: What happens around grade 4 is there's a transition, right? So up to grade 4, you're learning to read; after grade 4 you're reading to learn.Sometimes they just don't have the right environment that kind of cultivates their reading identity, you know, that they would want to read for fun, which is so important.
Arielle: With Barbershop Books, Alvin hopes to encourage reading outside the classroomso students learn that they can read anywhere.
Kyyle: I think it will make a change because it will makeother people think,“Oh, books aren't just for home or school.”
Arielle: Today there are 100 Barbershop Books locationsin several states across the country.
Irby: My goal is to put child-friendly reading spaces in every black barbershop in America, and in any other barbershop that has kids in it, really.
Arielle: Russell Smith, the owner of Big Russ Barber Shop in Harlem, has noticed the change in his shop.
Smith: It's a big difference. Now, you know, when some of the regulars come in, sit down, and wait to get a haircut, the first thing they do is grab a book.
Arielle: Turning the page toward a brighter future.
Kyyle: I think that it made a, like, change in their ways:“Oh,I'm going to come to the barbershop and read a book today.”
Irby: I think I want people to take away the idea that reading isn’t something that should be limited to a classroom or to a homework assignment, but really, it's something that you can do anywhere at any time — and something that you should do anywhere at any time.
Arielle: Arielle Hixson, Channel One News.
Emily: Such a cool idea. Great story, Arielle.
All right, guys, that is going to do it for us today. Hope everyone stays safe and warm this weekend. And we will see you right back here on Monday.
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