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CARL AZUZ: World-record lightning mega flash.
Sounds like a pretty bright place to kick off a new show.
I'm Carl Azuz.
It's good to see you.
According to a spokesman from the World Meteorological
Organization, a mega flash is a really,
really big lightning flash.
The official definition is any horizontal lightning bolt that
travels more than 62 miles.
But the record breaking mega flash
that the WMO just announced was a little bit bigger.
This bolt covered a distance of roughly 477 miles,
and it struck across a path from Texas
to Louisiana on April 9, 2020.
How do scientists know?
How do they measure this stuff?
A lot of it's done using lightning mapping array
networks, a group of antennas, receivers, and computers
that record lightning.
These networks are based from the ground, though.
They have limitations when it comes to mega flashes.
So what researchers have been doing
is using satellites to record and measure lightning events,
and that's given them a new tool that
collects more data about them.
This led to the recent discovery of another record, one
that was set in South America.
On October 31, 2018, a single mega flash
lasted just over 17.1 seconds.
That was the longest mega flash ever recorded.
It lit up the skies over Uruguay in northern Paraguay,
and it probably scared the daylights out of anyone who
noticed a 17-second lightning bolt. Geostation Lightning
Mapper technology on satellites is relatively new,
so scientists think that bigger and brighter mega
flashes will be observed in the future.
They say, one big takeaway from this
is that it shows people just how far lightning can reach,
and that can encourage folks to stay safe
and take shelter as severe weather season
approaches in the spring.
The crash of an American fighter jet in the South China Sea
is another complication in an ongoing international dispute
over these waters.
Located between Vietnam and the Philippines,
the South China Sea is one of the busiest
shipping routes on the planet.
China says it controls this body of water,
and since 2014, it's been building artificial islands
here to support its claims.
But other nations in the region and several beyond it,
including the United States, say China doesn't control
these waters, and the US regularly sails
warships there to support claims that these
are international waters.
IVAN WATSON: The final approach of an F-35 sea stealth fighter
jet, seconds before it crashed lands into the flight
deck of a US aircraft carrier.
Images circulated on social media,
confirmed by the US Navy, show the plane
moments later in the ocean, canopy open
after its pilot escaped.
The cause of the crash, which injured
the pilot and six sailors still under investigation.
The Navy now has the difficult task of recovering the wreckage
of a $100 million jet from the bottom of the ocean
to make sure, defense experts say,
that it's classified technology doesn't
fall into the wrong hands.
PETER LAYTON: The Chinese have a long history
of being able to borrow something from overseas
and reverse engineer it.
So that this would certainly be a gold mine, as far as
that goes.
IVAN WATSON: The crash occurred here in the South China Sea,
a heavily-trafficked body of water
that Beijing claims almost all for itself.
And this is where two American aircraft carriers are currently
operating, accompanied by more than 100 warplanes and at least
10 other warships, an unmistakable demonstration
of US Naval power to both allies and rivals in Asia.
ALESSIO PATALANO: That is a powerful reminder
that the Indo-Pacific is a central strategic importance
to the Biden administration.
It's about signaling to other competitors in the region, most
notably China, that the United States credibility
should not be taken lightly.
IVAN WATSON: The Chinese foreign ministry
says, it's not interested in the crashed plane.
A spokesman urged the US to contribute
more to regional peace rather than
flexing force at every turn.
But Chinese state media did some gloating,
saying the crash exposed US exhaustion at containing China.
Experts predict it will take several weeks for the US Navy
to recover this expensive wreck from the bottom of the sea.
Ivan Watson, CNN, Hong Kong.
CARL AZUZ: 10-second trivia.
Which of these sports made its Olympic debut
in the 1920 Summer Games?
Ice hockey, cycling, curling, or fencing?
Ice hockey was first played in the 1920 Summer Games
and moved to the first Winter Olympics in 1924.
Women's ice hockey was added to the Olympics in 1998
and had every tournament since then.
The gold medal has gone to either Canada
or the United States.
After an American victory in '98,
Canada won four Olympics in a row from 2002 to 2014,
but the US is the defending champion from the 2018
games in South Korea.
One of the players on America's current Olympic team
was born just across the St. Mary's River from Canada.
Hockey is in her blood.
ABBY ROQUE: It's made me who I am today, playing with the guys
and having to be tough, and not let things get to you.
I have to always be proving people wrong because people
don't think you're tough enough to play with the boys,
you're good enough to play with the boys,
until they really see it.
JIM ROQUE: She does have a chip.
She's always had.
Even in boys hockey, she had little edge to her.
She stood up for herself, and biggest challenge
is just trying to find a place for her
to change a lot of these rinks.
No one had women's locker rooms using closets.
ABBY ROQUE: When you're younger, especially back in the day,
I would look at players.
And I would think I want to be in the NHL,
but there wasn't an NHL for girls like me,
especially at the time.
And I was sitting there.
I was like, well, what else can I do?
And then, all of a sudden, you see
these amazing US hockey players on the Olympic stage
doing their thing.
And I'm like, yeah, that's my dream.
That's the highest you can go in hockey,
and that's the team I want to be on.
My dad was a hockey coach growing up.
My mom wanted me to be in figure skates.
I hated them.
So I basically forced my way out of the figure skates
and in the hockey skates because I just wanted to be
like my dad and his players.
JIM ROQUE: She was generally interested in everything
from the equipment to how the guys dress,
what sticks they used, and all the little things they
would do with pucks on the ice.
And so, it was great to have her around.
ABBY ROQUE: For him, it was all about having fun.
He was never trying to make me the best
hockey player in the world.
I think he just knew I loved it and wanted me to be exposed
to it and built the ice rink so I
could have fun with my friends.
And I think that's where a lot of my skill and my talent
really comes from.
It's just all those years having fun in the backyard.
I've definitely had an unconventional journey
to get to this team.
Growing up as an indigenous person,
it wasn't really that rare to see other hockey players
playing who had indigenous roots.
And then, I got to college, and I
think that's where a really clicked
for me that you're different than the rest of the people.
JIM ROQUE: It's a challenge for a lot of indigenous kids
to get off the reserve or off the band,
and move away and fit in.
But Abby, obviously, was real lucky
that she grew up with a lot of kids like that in her town.
ABBY ROQUE: I want to help to diversify hockey as a sport.
Making the sport more diverse is just
trying to make it more accessible, first of all,
but also just gaining more visibility
that you can make it.
I think, looking at this roster, as a young kid,
you didn't see anybody who wasn't a white hockey player.
For me, that goes a long way, seeing somebody like you doing
it, being at the top of the game,
and knowing that you can make it that far,
and that hockey is a sport that includes you.
If one little girl says, I want to play hockey because she's
playing hockey, I think that would mean the world to me,
just changing one person's trajectory
and letting them know that there is a place for them in hockey,
and letting hockey do its thing.
Because hockey really is one of the greatest things
that's ever happened to me.
JIM ROQUE: The night I was watching something,
and I had tears in my eyes.
I was thinking about a little bit
and not having an Olympian daughter.
And now, she's going to go to the Olympics
and try to win a gold medal.
And she wrote a letter to herself in grade six
that she was going to play at Wisconsin,
she was going to play in the Olympic team.
And the only thing she hasn't done yet is get the Mustang.
She said in the letter she's getting 'stang.
She's a focused kid.
ABBY ROQUE: It's just really special
to be able to represent your country on, truly,
the biggest stage there is.
JIM ROQUE: This isn't a one-time thing for Abby.
I think she wants to play on, and she
wants to play in four years.
I think Abby wants to play for a long time.
She loves it.
ABBY ROQUE: I wouldn't want to play hockey
unless it was the most fun thing in the world,
and it really is for me.
CARL AZUZ: As of yesterday afternoon,
the cheapest seats you could buy for Super Bowl 56
were selling for $7,000 each.
The average price was around $10,000 or more,
and the cost could go even higher in the coming days.
That makes this the most expensive
Super Bowl ever for tickets.
The Cincinnati Bengals have never won a championship.
The City of Los Angeles, California,
hasn't hosted a Super Bowl in 30 years,
and it's a huge metropolitan area where
prices are expensive anyway.
So those are all factors in ticket prices.
So the prices are super.
It's almost un-bow-lievable for some fans in the stands.
It's almost unachievable, and their bankers may block them,
saying it's out of bounds for them
to draw down accounts just to see some touchdowns.
But if you've received a raise and can
foot the bill for football, hike your budget,
and you make the call.
I'm Carl Azuz.
I want to give a shout out to all the homeschoolers
watching today.
We know you represent a growing part of our audience,
and we're thankful for you and everyone viewing CNN.
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