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Turkey-Syria Earthquake: More Than 11,000 Dead As Search For Survivors Intensifies; Flying Straight Into A Hurricane. Aired 4-4:10a ET

Aired February 09, 2023 - 04:00:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

COY WIRE, CNN 10 ANCHOR: Hey, everyone, it`s your boy Coy coming to you from Super Bowl radio row here in Phoenix, Arizona, ahead of Sunday`s big

game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs.

We have a great show for you today, but not a lot of time to do it, so let`s get to it.

Now, we do have to start with some sad news out of Turkey and Syria -- an update on the earthquake we told you about earlier this week. The death

toll from the devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria continues to rise, with upwards of 11,000 people dead when we recorded our show. Additionally,

eight agencies and experts warned that time is running out to help rescue people stuck in the rubble who may still be alive. In addition, tens of

thousands of people have been injured.

The earthquake with a 7.8 magnitude struck Turkey a neighboring Syria on Monday. The quake is one of the strongest to hit the region in more than

100 years.

Additionally, rescuers have faced shortages of trucks fuel and time to deliver aid to impacted areas. Thousands of buildings collapsed and aid

agencies are particularly worried about northwestern Syria where more than 4 million people were already relying on humanitarian assistance.

To make matters worse, freezing weather conditions are further endangering survivors and complicating rescue efforts as more than 100 aftershocks have

struck the region.

We`ll hear now from CNN correspondent Salma Abdelaziz who is joining us from Istanbul to describe the efforts of survivors and what`s happening

currently in the region.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We`re at a buzzing aid distribution center here in the center of Istanbul. There are hundreds of volunteers,

municipal workers, all here to try and help those in the earthquake zone.

You can see them right here. They`re packing food. Everything you`re looking at here has been donated by individuals, by families, by businesses

donations that people want to see go to that affected area.

So, they`re packing these boxes really with the basics. I want to show you here. We`ve got diapers, clothes, juice boxes for kids -- I mean, anything

you can imagine, mostly, of course, non-medical aid here, just individuals and businesses doing what they can.

Of course, Turkey is receiving help from dozens of countries. I think over 70 countries have pledged help to Turkey, but there is a sense that Turks

want to help each other, real community spirit here. Volunteers tell us they`ve been able already to send dozens of trucks, tons of aid and it just

keeps coming.

An absolutely humongous catastrophe, the scope and scale of it almost incomprehensible, and so, there can never be enough of this help.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WIRE: Ten-second trivia:

Which of these U.S. government agencies forecast weather and monitors ocean conditions?

FAA, NASA, NOAA, or DOJ?

These duties fall under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration known as NOAA.

Now, part of the mission of NOAA is to better understand storms and the potential impact they may have when they make landfall. And one way NOAA

pilots collect data is by flying over hurricanes and sometimes directly into them with special equipped aircraft through their Hurricane Hunter

Program.

Fasten your seat belts y`all, this could get bumpy. Time to learn some more as we go navigate some unfriendly skies above the storm.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LT. CMDR. DANIELLE VARWIG, PILOT/NOAA CORPS: Flying over a hurricane, it`s otherworldly. It gives me a little bit of euphoria. Pilots are taught to

not fly near these things and here I am flying at 45,000 feet above it all for the sake of national safety.

REPORTER: Former U.S. Air Force pilot, Lieutenant Commander Danielle Varwig, is a hurricane hunter pilot for NOAA, the National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration.

VARWIG: Of course, I get nervous before every flight.

REPORTER: NOAA pilots like Varwig fly over and into storms and hurricanes across the western Atlantic, the Caribbean, and the Gulf of Mexico,

collecting weather data to help forecast where and when these events will make landfall.

VARWIG: Most of the time, we`re in the clouds and now we`re trusting our instruments and trusting our flight directors on board with us to navigate

around it.

REPORTER: Flight director Nikki Hathaway is often by her side, using radar data to help the pilots navigate through the storm.

NIKKI HATHAWAY, NOOA FLIGHT DIRECTOR: Yeah, it`s a bumpy ride. I would say if you are not a fan of roller coasters, it`s probably not the job for you.

Essentially on this aircraft, it`s a flying science lab. The data that we`re collecting on board essentially goes back down to the National

Hurricane Center and a variety of other researchers and this data is being used real time to make life-saving decisions impacting the people on the

ground potentially in harm`s way.

REPORTER: That data helps protect millions of people across North and Central America and the Caribbean.

HATHAWAY: You`re always thinking about those people in harm`s way, and when it is your people, you know, when it`s impacting your home, there`s

that extra element of just like stress in the back of your head, but it`s really important to compartmentalize those feelings to get the job done.

REPORTER: Neither Varwig nor Hathaway flew this season, but over the past couple of years, they`ve been deployed for days, weeks, sometimes months at

a time.

VARWIG: It is hard to be away from my kids. The one thing that pushes me through dealing with the separation from my family is the fact that I am

serving my country.

REPORTER: That mission to serve to keep others safe come hail or shine is what sets these women apart.

VARWIG: I want to put myself out there if anything to be a role model to little girls, little black girls. I want to make sure that others can look

to me and say, okay, well, she`s doing it, then I can, too.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WIRE: All right. Sports history was made Tuesday night when Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James became the NBA`s all-time leading scorer, breaking

the record of 38,387 points set more than 38 years ago by another Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

LeBron entered the league out of high school in 2003 as an 18-year-old from Akron, Ohio. And now at 38, he`s still going strong. He`s been a driving

force for creating change from speaking up on social justice issues to creating the I Promise School in his home state. LeBron is also known for

his actions off the court.

Our CNN 10 special guest Omar Jimenez is in Los Angeles covering this historic moment.

(BEGIN VIDSEOTAPE)

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: People came to see history and they witnessed it. LeBron James now the all-time leading scorer in NBA history,

and he would be the first to admit that he didn`t think he would be the one to break what some thought was a previously unbreakable record.

But when you look at everything LeBron has done over the course of his career, who else would it have been?

And the moment came on a Tuesday night. And when that happened, when he hit a fade away off the left elbow, almost nothing but net, he ran to center

court, raised his arms in triumph as an entire arena cheered him on, likely many more watching from home.

He came to the center court and was greeted by his family as a crowd chanted MVP, he was emotional as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the person whose

record he now eclipsed, embraced him and greeted him along with the NBA commissioner.

And when you look at LeBron James`s legacy, the on the court, of course, will be respected and always remembered. But the reaction and the embraces

that he had once he crossed that milestone or emblematic of who he is off the court. And for many, all of those come together in the legacy that is

LeBron James.

And when you talk about the historic milestone that was crossed, it wasn`t just a moment in NBA history. For those watching and that have followed him

all around the world, this was a moment in history.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WIRE: In today`s story getting a 10 out of 10, it`s absolutely nuts. Lots of them. A pest control expert in California found more than 700 pounds of

acorns from behind a wall in a home in Glen Ellen, California. Now that`s a cornucopia. You`re probably thinking dang squirrels, why`d you go nuts in

that person`s wall like that?

Turns out, woodpeckers were the culprits. Typically, this type of bird would peck away and drop thousands of acorns through a hole and store them

inside dying tree stumps but not these woodpeckers. Look out, because they could be coming to your neighborhood next.

All right. Shout out time now. We`re going to Oceanside Middle School in Thomaston, Maine. We see you. We hope you and everyone watching around the

world have a wonderful one.

Did you know that today, February 9th is National Pizza Day. Whether it`s New York style thin crust, Chicago style deep dish, or anything in between,

pizza is an American dream, and you all have a pizza our heart.

I`m Coy Wire, and we are CNN 10.

END