CARL AZUZ: Instability in the African nation of Sudan.
That's where we're starting today's show.
I'm Carl Azuz for CNN 10.
"Worry in our hearts" is how some demonstrators
are describing the situation in Sudan's capital.
Their country's military appears to have
taken over in another coup.
Sudan has seen several of those since the late 20th century.
Its former President Omar al-Bashir was a military leader
when he seized power in 1989.
He was known for his harsh rule over the Sudanese people,
and he's been accused of crimes against humanity and genocide
in Sudan's Western Darfur region.
During massive civilian protests in 2019,
the military took over once again, forcing President
Al-bashir out of office.
A transitional government was set up.
Power was shared between military and civilian groups.
But tensions stayed high in the African nation.
In September, forces that were loyal to the country's
former president tried and failed to take power back.
And in October, thousands of demonstrators
gathered in front of the presidential palace
to demand the military take control again
while thousands of others amassed in the streets
to support the nation's civilian leaders.
So instability in Sudan is ongoing.
What's happening right now?
Sudan's military has broken up its power-sharing government
with civilian leaders.
It's declared a state of emergency.
It's reportedly arrested government officials,
according to witnesses.
And the head of Sudan's armed forces says, I quote,
"Independent and fair representative government
would take control until a new one is elected in 2023."
Flights have been suspended from the capital's
international airport.
Internet connections have been severely disrupted.
Sudan's civilian prime minister, who was arrested,
has called for the Sudanese to peacefully
protest the takeover.
Many people have taken to the streets
and there have been some reports of violence
against the demonstrators.
Several other countries, including the United States
are speaking out against the apparent military coup
and calling for stability in Sudan.
A cold front that plowed across the United States
has made its mark.
The National Weather Service says
several reports of tornadoes came
in as the system moved across Illinois, Kansas, and Missouri.
And it was pushing heavy rains and winds
over the Appalachian Mountains as it
moved toward the US East Coast.
From New Jersey to Massachusetts,
flood watches are in effect through Tuesday afternoon.
And authorities said hail and tornadoes were possible
in some isolated places.
Meantime, an atmospheric river, a band of exceptionally moist
air, has flowed over northern California
and brought heavy rain to the drought-stricken state.
The good news is that this helped firefighters get
complete control over the Dixie Fire, the second largest
one in state history.
The bad news--
PAUL VERCAMMEN: This atmospheric river
is dumping rain and bringing wind
to hundreds of square miles of Northern California.
And the big fear: mudslides.
Let's look at what happened on State Route 70.
This is in the Tobin Area.
The Hillside came crashing down.
The debris so large that the CalTrans
truck and heavy equipment can't clear it right now.
This could be days that this last year.
And then as we look over here, I'm on US Route 50.
You can see behind me the South Fork, the American River
starting to fill up.
Here in one shot, you can see they
have to be careful with flooding in rivers.
But above, the so-called burn scar completely stripped
of vegetation in some places.
And when the rain comes down and is
strong, for a sustained amount, that's
when you can get the slides.
It becomes an ashy, slurry mess.
That's what they're worried about.
So you will hear about power outages
and flash flood warnings with these circumstances.
And they're telling drivers, unless it's
absolutely necessary, you shouldn't be driving.
These are potentially lethal conditions
as this atmospheric river comes through northern California.
Reporting from El Dorado County, I'm Paul Vercammen.
Now back to you.
- 10 second trivia.
In what mountain range would you find
the world's largest salt flat?
Andes, Caucasus, Himalayas, or Rockies?
Salar de Uyuni can be found in the Andes mountains.
CARL AZUZ: Before I wrote this show, if you'd asked me
how many varieties of potatoes there are in this world,
I might have said baked, russet, sweet, chips, like, four.
I would have been wrong by about 4,000.
And if you'd asked where most of them are grown,
I might have said France, because fries.
But the truth is in the Andes mountains.
And the nation of Peru is our next stop.
ESPERANZA GABRIEL: [non-english speech]
INTERPRETER: I can't let them be forgotten
because all the flavors I know now how to grow them.
And in that way, I can keep the varieties alive.
- At the foothills of the central Peruvian Andes,
lives Esperanza Gabriel.
She's a Potato custodian helping to conserve
a personal collection of over 300 ancestral Potato varieties.
ESPERANZA GABRIEL: [non-english speech]
INTERPRETER: This one is masuaku.
Inside, it has pink pulp.
- Stef de Haan from the International Potato
Center in Lima works with hundreds
of custodians like Esperanza.
STEF DE HAAN: So you can almost compare
them, like, to coin collectors or to stamp collectors.
They are really important because potato custodians are
basically the guardians of the traditional knowledge
and they're also the guardians of the diversity itself.
ESPERANZA GABRIEL: [non-english speech]
INTERPRETER: Between the two of us,
we have been growing these seeds for 20 years,
preserving them since the day of our wedding.
Those from my husband's side and those I inherited.
- There are about 4,000 varieties of native potato
in the world, and most of them are grown in the Andes
while only a handful are available in supermarkets
around the world.
STEF DE HAAN: If we don't preserve the whole genetic base
of these potatoes, it would basically
mean that we have no options in the future
to diversify our food system.
So we will be highly dependent on very few varieties
and it would make us extremely vulnerable.
The Andean farmers-- where they grow potatoes is very risky.
So there is a lot of disease, pressure.
There's a lot of hail.
There's a lot of frost.
And basically, growing these potatoes together in mixtures
is a risk avoidance strategy.
- For Esperanza, the motivation is not
only protecting diversity but the simple desire
to feed her family.
ESPERANZA GABRIEL: [non-english speech]
INTERPRETER: We grow potatoes to eat
and also for selling as well.
And we keep them in storage for us to use throughout the year.
- A traditional local dish is pachamanca.
The potatoes are steamed underground with hot stones.
- You could say that the Andean farmers
are really the connoisseurs or the sommeliers of the potatoes.
ESPERANZA GABRIEL: [non-english speech]
INTERPRETER: My mother taught me.
Now I want to teach my daughters so that they can continue
cultivating the varieties.
- Potato custodians have been protecting seeds for centuries.
For Stef de Haan, valuing traditional agriculture is
the only way to ensure biodiversity
will evolve and remain available to future generations.
STEF DE HAAN: As soon as you put a Potato in a gene bank,
it becomes something static.
With the farmers, it's really something
that is continuously adapting.
So some things are getting lost.
Some things are getting added.
It's a laboratory that's not managed by scientists.
But it's a laboratory that is basically
more than 10,000 years of evolution
in the hands of farmers.
CARL AZUZ: Big John is on the move.
That's the name of the largest known Triceratops skeleton.
It was discovered in South Dakota in 2014.
It was recently sold at an auction in France
for $7.7 million, and the buyer was American.
So Big John will cross the Atlantic once again.
Paleontologists say the skeleton is about 60% complete.
The rest of the bones usually have to be remade.
And some scientists don't like private sales of fossils.
But if you collect old artifacts, it's triceratops.
Cost to scale a ton of money.
But it's guaranteed to stop your family in their tracks
when they see that thing in your home, don't doubt it.
If a dinosaur scores up your floor,
you make no bones about it.
No one has a pet triceratops that leave
your guests all glossy-eyed.
A bona fide sight with all its might for they're
so fossilized.
Maybe not my best rap.
But I'm spitting artifacts.
I want to give a shout out to Natchitoches
Central High School today.
It is located in Natchitoches, Louisiana.
I'm Carl Azuz for CNN.