U.S. Economy; Influence of the Jet Stream; Electrically Powered Road; Seriously Ginormous Pumpkins.
CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 ANCHOR: I`d love to start out a show and just say Fridays are awesome that is all. I`m Carl Azuz. But we have a little more than that to tell you about today so let`s get right to it. This is CNN 10. Good news, bad news for the U.S. economy. First the good. The Labor Department says initial jobless claims have dropped. This is the number of Americans who are asking the government for help because they`ve just lost their jobs in layoffs or business cutbacks. The latest figure for this is from last week and it`s 837,000 people. How can that be good? Well it`s a lower number than many economists expected and it`s the lowest number of initial jobless claims since the corona virus pandemic struck the U.S. economy in March. So that`s a sign. Things could be turning around. Also, consumer confidence, a measure of how Americans feel about the economy is up. The business organization that monitors this says consumer confidence jumped in September by the biggest margin since 2003. The index is still lower than it was before the pandemic, but it shows that people feel that the economy and jobs are moving in the right direction. And this can lead them to spend more money driving the economy forward. Now for the bad news. The airline industry is struggling. American and United, two major players in the industry say they plan to cut a total of 32,000 jobs. Travel restrictions and concerns about corona virus have taken their toll on the airlines. Members of Congress and the Trump Administration have been trying to work out another stimulus deal that would involve trillions more in government spending and could include $25 billion in additional assistance for airlines. If that government stimulus bill passes, airline company executives say that some of the layoffs could be avoided but we don`t know yet if politicians will reach an agreement. The airline industry received $25 billion earlier this year in a stimulus package that passed in March. It`s not the only group that`s hurting. With fewer people visiting theme parks and staying at resorts, Disney says it plans to lay off 28,000 people. The U.S. Labor Department`s monthly jobs report is due out today. It gives a snapshot of the unemployment rate and the number of jobs added or lost. That could give us more insight on where things stand on the economy. Now for some insight on where things stand on the weather. From the American plains state to the east coast, it`s beginning to feel a lot like Fall. October has had a cooler start than usual. The National Weather Service says parts of the Midwest are seeing temperatures that are 10 to 15 degrees cooler than this time of month usually brings. But it`s a different story on the west coast. There, it`s hot, dry and smoky not a lot of rain conditions that are dangerous because they can contribute to the spread of the wildfires burning out west. It`s almost a tale of two countries in terms of the weather America is seeing and CNN 10 Contributor Tyler Mauldin tells us why. Tyler.</s>TYLER MAULDIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Tis the season for big weather swings Carl and an invisible river of air located far above us, where jet airplanes fly is the culprit. The eastern two-thirds of the country has rainy weather and temperature 10 to 15 degrees below average. While the western one-third of the U.S. continues to deal with a drought, hot temperatures and deadly fires. Notice how there`s a stark line here dividing the conditions. That divide is the jet stream or strong currents of air created when warm and cold air masses meet. It`s located about five to nine miles up in the air. That puts it at flight level, about 35,000 feet. The Earth has four different streams. One at the North Pole, one at the South Pole and then two in the middle near the equator. Due to the Earth`s spin, the jet streams form then move from west to east, each one traveling on average at more than 100 miles per hour. During the winter months, the polar jet streams can get up to 250 miles per hour. That wind energy can help produce monster storms. Like a winding river, they never travel on a perfectly straight line. Often times one will dive a little farther south forcing you to bring out the parka and snow shovel in the winter, or bump north during the summer causing you to turn the A/C on ultra-high. It also helps meteorologists like myself, predict where a weather system will go. Since jet streams help steer where a storm will head. Imagine throwing a beach ball in a river and seeing where it ends up. It`s the same concept with storm systems and the jet stream. And since it is located at 35,000 feet Carl, it could help you get to your destination a little faster when you`re flying.</s>AZUZ: 10 Second Trivia. Which of these cities was founded the most recently in 1909? Tel Aviv, Israel, St. Petersburg, Russia, Topeka, Kansas or Tijuana, Mexico. Of these places, the Israeli city of Tel Aviv was founded the most recently. Next today, we`re going to rock down to electric avenue. That`s what I`m calling it anyway. There`s a street in Tel Aviv where an experiment is taking place to electrically power the road. What that means, if this works, is a stretch of the street would charge car batteries while the vehicles drove over it. A trial is scheduled to begin this December and it`s system will need to be tested for a couple of months before passengers can actually use it. But if all goes according to plan, Chris James looks ahead to where it could lead. Chris.</s>CHRIS JAMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey Carl. I don`t know about you but growing up I had grand visions of what future technology would look like. Flying cars, self-driving trucks, I mean, I even thought that one day we might even be able to teleport. Obviously, the reality`s that in 2020 we are a long way from some of those sci-fi advancements. However, there are some truly exciting and cutting edge tech developments happening around the world. And today I want to tell you about one. The city of Tel Aviv revealed it`s creating a wireless, electric road which could eventually power cars throughout the city. This project is part of a pilot program in collaboration with Electrion, a company developing a system that could charge electric vehicles while they are moving. The electric road itself will initially be about half a mile long and the infrastructure under the road will charge specially equipped busses with power. It`s an intricate underground system. A set of copper coils are placed beneath the asphalt and the street and the energy is transferred from the electricity grid to the road infrastructure. And that manages communication with the approaching vehicles. A spokesperson for the city told CNN, they`d been hard at work on this construction of this futuristic road. And that if it`s successful, they`ll expand the program and bring it to other streets around the city. The mayor of Tel Aviv saying, it`s all part of the city`s strategic action plan to fight against pollution and prepare for climate change. According to the New York Times, the Israeli government has invested millions into the project. I`m sure many city officials and urban developers around the world will be watching and taking notes to see how this goes. As they really could be paving the roads of the future. Back to you Carl.</s>AZUZ: It`s time to go behind the scenes of CNN 10. How can you verify reliable sources of information and how do we? We`re explaining that as part of a partnership with AT&T`s Youth Voice collective in a series of special editions. They feature yours truly and student questions about journalism. The latest video is available right now. You can find it at CNN10.com and at YouTube.com/CNN10. For 10 out of 10, oh my "gourdness". Just look at the size of these pumpkins. Wow, Carl. How big are they? Big enough to be part of the "Ginormous" Pumpkin Festival in Wisconsin. Folks there know how to grow them. This is the second year in a row that they`ve held the festival and as far as the winner goes, well you can`t pick it up at a pumpkin patch. 2,015 pounds. And that was worth a $2,500 prize for the people who grew it. "Titanic" tomatoes, "weighty" watermelons and "sysmic" squash were also part of the event. And there was a beauty contest too which this pumpkin won. "Gourd" looking, it was "gourdgess". A "devine" specimen. Simply "fruitsinating", "carvcalating", "pumprotuitus", the obvious "hallowinner". Of course they would "carve out" time to "regourdnize" it and who needs a beauty pageant when you could have a "pumpkin pageant". Neville High School, you`re looking great from Monroe, Louisiana. Thank you for your comment on our You Tube channel. I`m Carl Azuz at CNN 10. We`ll see you all Monday. END