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The Race For Speaker Of The House; A Rare Cosmic Occurrence Known As An Annular Solar Eclipse Happening This Weekend. Aired 4-4:10a ET
Aired October 13, 2023 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
COY WIRE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What`s up lovely people. Pump to be back here with you. It`s my daughter`s fall break this week. So I took a
couple of days too, to spend some quality time with the babies. But baby, I`m back, ready to rock. It`s Friday rise up.
Before we go creeping into the weekend, let`s end this week strong. We start with the latest news from Washington. Earlier this month, the U.S.
House of Representatives voted to remove Republican Kevin McCarthy from the top leadership position as Speaker of the House in an historic vote. The
movement to remove him was led by a small group of conservatives and was initiated by representative Matt Gaetz of Florida. Gaetz questioned the
former Speaker`s truthfulness, his ability to keep promises as well as his work across the aisle with Democrats to prevent a government shutdown. For
his part, the former Speaker has said he does not regret his actions and that, "doing the right thing isn`t always easy, but it is necessary."
The House now needs to elect a new speaker. In the meantime, representative Patrick McHenry of North Carolina is the interim speaker and he is
operating with limited power. So what happens next? Well, on Wednesday House Republicans nominated Representative Steve Scalise as their nominee
for the next speaker. But as of the recording of this show, the Louisiana Republican lacks the votes needed to win the gavel. And some Republicans
are worried that Scalise is facing a tough road to becoming speaker due to opposition within the ranks. Until a new speaker is elected, the House
remains effectively at a standstill, a situation that has taken on new urgency, amid Israel`s war with Hamas.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REP. STEVE SCALISE, (R) LOUISIANA: I want to thank my House, Republican colleagues for just designating me as the Speaker.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Representative Steve Scalise is the GOP nominee for Speaker of the House. His former opponent is endorsing him.
REP. JIM JORDAN, (R) OHIO: We need a speaker and Steve is the guy for that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But that`s not the end of the story.
REP. STEVE WOMACK, (R) ARKANSAS: It is unlikely that we will see a speaker today or this week for that matter.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Scalise needs 217 votes to become speaker. And some Republicans say they won`t support him. Representative Thomas Massie says
he knows at least 20 such people. For now, the House is effectively paralyzed with a key ally at war.
REP. DON BACON, (R) NEBRASKA: We need to support Israel right away.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Domestic matters need attention too. A new report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics looks at wholesale prices shows they`ve
been on the rise for three months in a row. That leaves businesses grappling with rising costs. Congress can`t magically stop inflation, but
it can stop a government shutdown from making things worse that requires passing a funding plan. But without a House speaker --
REP. DEAN PHILLIPS, (D) MINNESOTA, RANKING MEMBER OF MIDDLE EAST SUBCOMMITTEE: We cannot provide a dollar. We can`t take care of Americans.
We cannot take care of Ukraine and we surely can`t take care of Israelis.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m Amy Kiley (ph), reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WIRE: Pop quiz, hot shot. It`s our 10 second trivia.
Do you remember what type of solar eclipse results in a "ring of fire" around the moon?
Total, Annular, Johnny Cash or Partial?
If you say annular, put your hands up. During an annual solar eclipse, the moon appears smaller than the sun and looks like a dark disc inside a
brighter disc. As we mentioned earlier in the week, a rare cosmic occurrence known as an annual solar eclipse is happening Saturday, the
14th, for millions of people located in the Western hemisphere. It`s set to start around 8:05 a.m., Pacific Time on the west coast of the U.S. and it
will end for the U.S. in Texas at 1:33 p.m. Central Time.
But don`t pull out your sunglasses if you want to see it because they are not strong enough to protect your eyes. Astronomers are encouraging
everyone to use certified eclipse glasses or handheld solar viewers.
Now lots of folks are just as excited for another awesome phenomenon set to occur in about six months` time on April 8th, that`s when there will be a
total solar eclipse crossing North America. Portions of the U.S. will experience a complete blockage of the sun.
All right, who thinks they`re good at multitasking? For example, can you, you know, pat the top of your head and rub your belly in a circle like
this? Good. Yes, can you do it? I have a tougher one. How about circle on the top of your head while brushing your teeth back and forth? Can you do
that one? That`s tough. Ultimate multitasking.
Anyhow, it turns out that many studies suggest most of us aren`t nearly as good as we might think we are when it comes to doing multiple things at
once. Research shows that only 2% of the population have the genetic gift of super multi-tasking and in a world where more and more things demand our
attention that can be problematic. CNN`s Dr. Sanjay Gupta spoke with a professor about the effects of multi-tasking as well as some tips on how to
manage our time and ability to focus.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I think there`s this idea that you show up to the office or your desk, and you`re expected to be
head down and super productive for eight hours straight or more. But Professor Mark says that is not how we humans really operate.
PROF. GLORIA MARK, COMPUTER SCIENCE, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, IRVINE: Decades of research in the laboratory show that when people are shifting
their attention fast, which essentially is multitasking, it`s associated with higher stress. Another consequence is that we know that people make
more errors. What last consequence is it takes people longer to do something.
GUPTA: The idea of multi-tasking leading to happy efficiency is, is not true. You`re neither more efficient, nor are you more happy. You`re more
stressed, it sounds like.
(Voice-over): But here is the problem, multi-tasking is such a huge part of how we`re all expected to work and live these days, it becomes a
necessity. So what to do?
What can people do to help them create a more attentive brain?
MARK: So many things we do on our devices are automatic. We see the image of our phone and we grab it without thinking. We see an email notification.
We immediately switch to email. The idea is to become aware of these unconscious actions to raise them to a conscious awareness. We can form a
plan for example, OK, I`m going to work 20 more minutes on this, right? So I`m going to work through to the end of this chapter, and then I`m going to
take a break.
Another technique is to practice forethought. What makes the most sense to me is to imagine my future self at the end of the day. So where do I want
to be at 7:00 p.m.? I want to be relaxing. The more concrete of a visualization we can have about our future self, the better we are able to
have control over our attention currently.
The other thing is that we need to reframe how we think about scheduling our day. Being proactive and designing the tasks that you have to do based
on what your own personal rhythm is for when you are at your best, at your peak focus and save those times for doing those tasks that require the
hardest work and the most creative energy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WIRE: Today`s story getting a 10 out of 10 on this Friday, the 13th, the ultimate Halloween costume, check out ARCHAX, a human piloted robot created
by Japanese startup company, Tsubame. It`s named after the flying dinosaur Archeopteryx. And it is ginormous. It`s standing 15 feet tall, weighing
about 7,000 pounds. It`s controlled with a couple of joysticks and a couple of pedals on the inside. And it has a full 360-degree view, thanks to nine
cameras on the outside.
So if you`re still looking for the perfect costume, maybe you can snag one of these robot machines. The company`s aiming to sell a few of them for
about 3 million, though their vision for ARCHAX is to be used for disaster relief and even space missions.
Today`s shoutout goes to Ms. Elliott`s class Century High School Eldersburg, Maryland, rise up. As you head into the weekend, my friends
know that our actions are influenced by our mental pictures. If there`s something you want to become, if there`s some way you want to be, see it,
believe it, achieve it. Remember you are more powerful than you know. I`m Coy Wire. This is CNN. It`s been a blessing to spend this week with you.
END
