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CARL AZUZ: Hey, I'm Carl Azuz.
Twice a year, for as long as I can remember,
we reported on the biannual time change
observed by the United States and dozens of other countries.
Whatever would we talk about if the practice were to stop?
But that is our first topic today, the potential end
of standard time.
Right now, America is on the other kind of civil time,
daylight saving time.
We sprang forward to that moving our clocks ahead one hour
earlier this week.
However, a bill to make daylight saving time permanent,
meaning we'd no longer change our clocks twice a year,
has just sailed through the US Senate.
And if it passes in the House and is
signed by President Joe Biden, bye-bye time change in America.
US Senator Marco Rubio from Florida,
a Republican who sponsored the bill,
said this isn't the most important
issue facing the country, but it's
one with a lot of agreement.
US Senator Sheldon Whitehouse from Rhode Island,
a Democrat who sponsored the bill,
said not falling back in autumn would add a little sunlight
into most people's lives.
So the idea has support of Democrats and Republicans,
but it's not clear if or when the House
will take up the bill.
And if it's ultimately approved, the new law wouldn't take
effect until November of 2023.
The reason why is that the US transportation
industry has already planned out its schedules for the months
ahead.
It requested the extra time to prepare for the adjustment.
The main goal of daylight saving time in summer
was to save electricity, the practice getting widespread use
during World War I. The US Congress
made it permanent in 1966, but it's not required by law.
So no one fines or jails Hawaii and most of Arizona
for not observing it.
Studies have been mixed on whether DST
actually saves electricity.
The US government has found that it
does a tiny bit for each household that adds up
to a large amount nationwide.
A different study by an economic research group
found that it increases demand for electric heating
and cooling and that balances out
what people save on lighting.
Either way, will there be any widespread disagreement
about the new law?
That's harder to say.
Permanent daylight saving time would
mean more sunlight in the early evening hours of winter.
But falling back moves the time of dawn
closer to when we wake up, so we're not starting and ending
our winter days in the dark.
We expect to hear more opinions about this in the days ahead.
10 seconds Trivia.
Where did Napoleon Bonaparte crowned
himself emperor of the French?
Arc de Triomphe, Palace of Versailles, Champs Elysee,
or Notre Dame Cathedral?
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Napoleon was at Notre Dame when he
took the crown from Pope Pius VII
and placed it on his own head.
Almost 860 years since construction began
on Notre Dame and almost 3 years since it was damaged by a fire,
the renowned cathedral continues to reveal secrets.
Archaeologists are doing some excavation work
there before part of the roof is restored
and they just came across a sarcophagus,
a coffin made of stone that might
date back as far as the 1300s.
In addition, they found cloth and the remains of some plants,
which indicates the relics have been very well
preserved according to experts.
And a pit has also been found under the floor
of the cathedral.
Archaeologists believe it was probably
dug around the year 1230.
It's possible none of this would have been explored
if it hadn't been for the fire.
In the months after the blaze took place,
investigators suggested it was likely caused either
by a discarded cigarette or a problem in the cathedral's
electrical system, but they weren't 100% sure
French officials are hopeful that Notre
Dame will be fully restored and reopened to the public in 2024.
- Its vaulted ceilings, stained glass
windows, and elaborate columns.
As you can see, on these images shot by CNN, so much
of what makes Notre Dame one of the world's
most exquisite Gothic wonders stands
tall, almost miraculously.
The construction of the cathedral
may have taken 182 years from when it began in 1163,
it took the fire of 2019 a matter of hours
to compromise its stability.
The work of the last two years has
been all about ensuring that the cathedral stayed upright.
JEAN-LOUIS GEORGELIN: You had to be sure
that the structure is solid, so I have to take a lot
of measures to consolidate.
We don't want to make a reconstruction
without being reassured.
- Here you can see the iconic North Tower that at one point
had been threatened by the flames
on the night of the fire.
In the end, they were put out before it could collapse.
But this was where the most devastating part of the fire
took place.
It was here that the famous Notre Dame spire once stood.
As the world watched, the spire, which
had been under renovation, collapsed
breaking through the vaulted ceiling, which
then crashed into the nave.
The scaffolding that had surrounded it,
40,000 tubes of metal now twisted into the structure,
then had to be carefully picked through and removed.
General Jean-Louis Georgelin, who's
in charge of the renovations, gave CNN a rare tour.
JEAN-LOUIS GEORGELIN: This is the place where
the spire collapsed, you know.
This is the center of a drama.
- The General then shows us the exact spot where the spire
first came crashing through.
Here the vaulted ceiling is held up by wooden pillars,
each weighing a ton and a half.
"They ensure," explains the project manager,
"that if the stones give way for whatever
reason, bad weather, a tremor, a shock, well,
the wooden support beams will keep the structure standing."
This is the central part of the nave where the great majority
of the reconstruction is going to have take place since it's
here that the spire collapsed bringing down
the stone structure with it.
Elsewhere, what's really remarkable
is how intact the structure is.
These stones that had stood for more than eight centuries
almost exactly as they were.
Outside too the Cathedral's iconic Gothic facade
stands as a testament to a construction that has proven
as sturdy as it is delicate.
Cathedral officials say that almost $1,000,000,000
have been raised through donations from 150 countries
so far.
A reminder of the place that Notre Dame has not
just in the history of France, but in the hearts of so many
all around the world.
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CARL AZUZ: Three weeks ago, we reported
on the Guinness World Record for the most M&Ms
stacked on top of each other.
That record is 6.
It was completed by an Australian man
not too long ago.
The M&Ms have to be plain milk chocolate
and they have to stand for at least 10 seconds.
I recently said on social media that
if that record had been two, I could have totally matched it.
It is a lot harder than you think.
CNN's Jeanne Moos interviewed the previous record holder
who said that though five was not a big number,
the task was no small feat.
JEANNE MOOS: M&Ms, they may have orbited
the Earth with the astronauts, but did
you ever try to stack them?
- Do you think I'm an idiot?
JEANNE MOOS: British civil engineer Will Cutbill is no
idiot, but folks are underwhelmed when he says he
broke the Guinness record for stacking M&Ms
with a grand total of five?
WILL CUTBILL: When I tell them it's a whopping five,
I think they're a bit shocked that they
want to give it a go straight away and try and beat me.
It's-- it's a lot harder than it looks.
JEANNE MOOS: Bored out of his mind on a rainy afternoon
during COVID lockdown, Will says he suffered
through hundreds of failures.
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The previous record was four.
WILL CUTBILL: Oh, no.
JEANNE MOOS: His master's degree in civil engineering
was useless.
It doesn't really take a--
- Genius?
JEANNE MOOS: For two to three hours,
his mini towers kept collapsing.
WILL CUTBILL: They're not as flat as you think.
They're quite spherical, so it's a bit,
like, you could imagine balancing
footballs, um, or soccer balls.
JEANNE MOOS: But finally, Will did it.
[gasping]
WILL CUTBILL: Five M&Ms. Five M&Ms!
- We win! Woo-hoo!
WILL CUTBILL: I was pretty ecstatic
when I got the fifth one.
Can't lie, I was running around the room arms--
arms in the air.
JEANNE MOOS: And how did Will honor the winning five
chocolate-covered candies?
WILL CUTBILL: As soon as the record was broken,
uh, I've got to admit, I did eat them all.
JEANNE MOOS: Who wants to get chocolate
all over your Guinness record?
- Melts in your mouth, not in your hand.
JEANNE MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN New York.
WILL CUTBILL: Five M&Ms. Five M&Ms!
CARL AZUZ: Some of you seemed kind of blue
when you couldn't stack more than two.
Stacking three is news to me leaving many green with envy.
Any lady or any fellow who's not yellow could try four,
but trying five could leave you red-faced when
they fall brown to the floor.
Still orange you glad you tried even if when you
say you stack six, you lied?
I'm Dr. Carl A-seuss snacking and stacking on puns.
Annandale High School in Annandale, Virginia
gets today's shoutout.
Folks there know the only way to get a mention
on our show is to subscribe and leave
a comment at youtube.com/cnn10.
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