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CARL AZUZ: Welcome to the show.
My name is Carl Azuz.
I'm happy to see you this Wednesday.
We have an update for you today concerning
the rippling effects of the ongoing worldwide COVID-19
pandemic.
It would be nice to tell you that all that has gone away,
but no.
The disease that originated in China in late 2019
is still causing problems.
One big reason for that is the Delta variant.
Viruses like COVID and the flu naturally mutate.
They change.
New strains or variants form and they can re-infect
people who've already recovered from previous versions
of the virus.
Health officials say the Delta variant
is the main form of coronavirus that's spreading
now in the United States.
The Centers for Disease Control says
there have been more than 870,000 positive COVID tests
recorded in the past week and more than 4,800
deaths related to the virus.
At one point in mid-June, the US was averaging fewer than 12,000
new infections per week.
The Delta variant is blamed for this increase.
Health officials say it's far more contagious
than previous strains of COVID, but most medical officials also
say that existing COVID vaccines are
effective in preventing people from being hospitalized
from the Delta variant.
They say vaccinated people have fewer and milder symptoms
overall than those who catch Delta
and haven't been vaccinated.
One of the vaccines, the one made by Pfizer and BioNTech,
has just gotten formal government approval
for the prevention of COVID-19.
Previously, like the other two vaccines,
it was only authorized for emergency use.
The US food and Drug Administration
says the Pfizer vaccine meets its standards
for safety and effectiveness.
But according to medical information site, Healthline,
there have been conflicting studies around the world
on the vaccine's effectiveness.
One suggests it's as high as 96% effective in protecting people
against the Delta variant.
One suggests it's as low as 42% effective.
And a former director of the CDC says tens of thousands
of breakthrough infections when fully-vaccinated people still
contract COVID-19 can be expected.
The overall survival rate of the virus
is estimated at more than 99%, but that's not spread
evenly across all age groups.
And the federal government says it
hopes the FDA's full approval of the Pfizer vaccine
will encourage hesitant Americans to get the shot.
And encourage more organizations to require workers to have it.
The mandates, the requirements that Americans
be vaccinated or wear masks in certain places
are controversial.
Supporters say they're necessary to prevent
the spread of COVID-19.
Critics say wearing a mask or being injected with a vaccine
should be a matter of personal choice.
The spread of the Delta variant is
one reason for the partial shutdown
of a shipping port in China.
This facility is a big one.
It's the third busiest container port in the world,
and that's contributing to problems
with worldwide shipping.
- Ready, set, wait.
Your new car, refrigerator, bicycle,
sofa, computer, phone held up by massive supply chain delays.
How did this happen?
After long months of pandemic shutdowns,
demand among American consumers shot up faster than expected.
So high, the Port of Los Angeles just
had its busiest month ever, handling
more than a million containers.
But on any given day, dozens of ships
can't unload because there aren't enough dock workers
to handle that massive surge.
- They're in their own traffic jam.
Coming, let's say, in the Pacific,
there can only be a few that could step up to the plate
and unload their cargo all at once.
And then they have to go back to China and fill up some more.
- Supplies are so shaky, Hyundai had to shut down a US
production line for a week.
And Home Depot, one of the largest importers
in the nation, has hired its own ship to bypass the bottleneck.
On land, rail and trucking services
are also stretched thin at a desperate shortage
of shipping containers.
And the price for sending one across the waves
from June of 2020 through March this year more than quadrupled.
That's one of several factors.
- Raising the possibility that inflation
could turn out to be higher and more persistent than we expect.
- Persistent is the word since some supply chain analysts are
already predicting these troubles with summer shipping
could affect Christmas shopping.
CARL AZUZ: 10-second trivia.
Which of these US states has the most
border states, Tennessee, Kentucky,
Illinois, or Nebraska?
There are two US states that border eight others.
One is Missouri, the other is Tennessee.
A major disaster has been declared
in Humphreys County, Tennessee.
It concerns catastrophic flooding that
occurred there last Saturday.
And the disaster declaration will speed up government
help to the areas that need it.
Last weekend, several storms passed over middle Tennessee.
They brought more than 17 inches of rain
to some communities on Saturday alone.
That led to flash flooding in the region,
and the waters were so powerful in some places
that they washed away everything in their path.
Cars, roads, some homes were pulled off their foundations.
At least 21 people lost their lives.
Others were rescued by first responders,
family members, or friends.
Officials say they're still searching for 10 people
who haven't been accounted for.
Phone and electric services were lost, at least temporarily.
And the debris that the flash floods left behind
piled up so high in some places that it
made it harder for rescue crews to search them.
- Flash flood creates a rush of moving water that can sweep
a grown man off his feet, the car off the road,
and even your entire home off its foundation.
When the ground becomes so saturated that water can no
longer seep into the soil, it begins to run off quickly
into rivers and streams.
And this causes a rise in water in a flash.
Densely populated areas have an extremely high risk of flash
flooding, with the additional concrete and less grassy areas
for the water to soak into the soil,
and they can see flash flooding very quickly.
In a mountainous terrain, the combination
of gravity plus the easy runoff can
lead to catastrophic flooding when all of that water
is funneled into rivers, creeks, and even the valleys.
Remember, flash flooding can happen in the blink of an eye.
That's why it's important to stay alert and pay attention
in case a flash flood watch or warning
is issued for your area.
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CARL AZUZ: Pepperoni and jalapenos.
If I could have only two pizza toppings
for the rest of my life, those would be the ones.
They're not particularly unusual.
Anchovies and pineapple, hopefully not together,
had stirred up a lot of debate over the years.
We've also heard of bacon-pickle pizza and Sloppy Joe pizza.
But what about watermelon crust pizza,
is that even possible or good?
JEANNE MOOS: It's probably only a matter of time
until watermelon ended up as pizza crust.
And now Domino's wants a slice of the action--
- This is equally confronting for us.
JEANNE MOOS: --adding sauce, and cheese, and pepperoni.
- But it does look pretty good at the oven.
JEANNE MOOS: Pretty good?
"That's a war crime," posted one TikToker.
"Domino's, I can't keep defending you,"
protested another.
Domino's Australia said it was inspired by TikTok chef Oliver
Paterson, who whipped up a couple of watermelon pizzas
earlier in the summer.
But Paterson told Newsweek in order for it to taste good,
you need to fry the watermelon to get rid of excess water,
and use barbecue sauce instead of tomato sauce.
Barbecue apparently pairs better with watermelon.
Even Domino's admitted--
- We think it might be an acquired taste.
JEANNE MOOS: But look at the weird pizza
taste people have acquired.
- The new Crown Crust pizza, made with perfectly
grilled mini cheeseburger gems.
JEANNE MOOS: And then there's the hot dog
pizza crust that Pizza Hut sold in countries like South Korea--
- Pizza Hut, [korean] crusted pizza.
JEANNE MOOS: --before bringing it to the US.
- The hot dogs are just aight.
They're not amazing hot dogs.
JEANNE MOOS: As for watermelon pizza, suddenly,
putting pineapple on pizza isn't such a crime against humanity.
Some begged Domino's, "Don't sell it please."
Don't worry.
Domino's told CNN, "This was a joke,
made especially for TikTok."
CARL AZUZ: But it certainly gave people
something to Tik-talk about.
Now, critics might have been like, watermelon you thinking?
Just the idea leaves them crusty.
For others, it's a fruitful suggestion
and easy anchovies to make.
And it ensures that no option is left be-rind.
Yesterday, we heard from Columbus East High School.
It is located in Columbus, Indiana.
Folks there left a comment on our YouTube
channel, which is the only place we look for your shout
out requests.
I'm Carl Azuz for CNN.
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