Flooding Strikes Parts Of The U.K.
HOLMES: American racecar driver has been hospitalized after getting into a dramatic crash at the Daytona 500. It happened in the final lap of the event in Florida. Ryan Newman was actually in first place when he gets clipped crashes into the wall. His car flipping several times and flying into the air. when you see it in slow motion, you can see just how dramatic it was. Then another car crashes into him. T.V. commentators say he was taken to hospital after being taken out of the vehicle. A statement from Newman's racing team says he's currently in a serious condition but does not have life-threatening injuries which is both incredible and good news. Turning now to the U.K., which is still grappling with the fallout of a severe winter storm. Storm Dennis had prompted a record-breaking number of flood warnings across Britain as workers rescue residents by boat in waist-deep water. Dennis struck Britain nearly a week after another storm Ciara wreaked havoc leaving thousands without electricity. Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri joins us with more. Any good news on the meteorological horizon?</s>JAVAHERI: You know, in the immediate forecast, yes. So we're talking about Tuesday. It looks like the low and quieter day. And unfortunately, Wednesday into Thursday, additional wet weather is expected here. And of course, you noted Ciara was a storm we dealt with about eight-nine days ago and you bring this particular storm in Dennis here and of course very similar in the amount of rain they produce, the wind gusts also tremendous. We know across the South Wales Valleys across this region, water levels and those rivers as the highest we've seen in four decades. It really speaks to the intensity, the rarity of such a storm, and of course, nearly 500 properties, taking on some water. You know, the U.K. in the past few years has allocated billions of dollars in weather emergencies. But moving forward, they've actually increased that to over $6.5 billion. In the past five years, that number was closer to $3 billion. So kind of see the response here by the government dealing with the severe weather we've experienced in recent years and of course moving forward. But images look as such across this region, flood alerts upwards of nearly 500 of them in place across the U.K. when you consider the warnings and alerts, and nine of which considered severe at this hour. So looking forward to the into Wednesday, notice we have quite a bit of coverage here as far as at least some of the lower risk in place. There are some medium-risk going into Tuesday across the Wales region, also the Midlands area. And the biggest concern here is the amount of water that has already come down that has increased the groundwater supply right above the water table. So any additional rainfall becomes surface flooding, and that is really what's most concerning at this hour because so many rivers, so many tributaries dealing with flooding at this hour, Michael. So the last thing they want to see is additional wet weather. But of course, the calendar says it's the middle of February so plenty of storms still over the next several months across this region.</s>HOLMES: Yes. The world is changing. Pedram Javaheri, thank you so much.</s>JAVAHERI: Thanks.</s>HOLMES: All right, the world's richest man putting a portion of his vast wealth behind the fight against climate change. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos pledging $10 billion to create a fund to support climate change scientists, activists, and organizations. The Bezos Earth Fund will be giving out grants this northern summer. Bezos wants to work with others to explore new ways of fighting climate change saying this. "We can save Earth. It's going to take collective action from big companies, small companies, nation-states, global organizations and individuals." And Bill McKibben joins us now. He's an environmentalist and the founder of climate campaign group 350.org. He's also the author of the book Earth. You see there on your screen now. Always good to see you, sir. Now, given the urgency of the climate situation, how would $10 billion best be used if you were spending it? BILL MCKIBBEN, FOUNDER, 350.</s>ORG: Well, I mean, look, first of all, let's say, it's probably not the best thing in the world that we've set up a planet where a few people end up with all the money. That being the case, I'm glad that Mr. Bezos is spending some of it on earth instead of just on outer space. And I think that the places that it's most important to spend it are in standing up to the fossil fuel industry. They're the ones who are driving this crisis now. We don't know if you will, because Amazon continues to partner with the big oil companies in the hunt for more oil and gas. Their web services are a crucial part of their kind of cloud computing, of what the big oil companies are doing. But if he's serious about reining in climate change, the place it's going to come is if we stand up to these guys.</s>HOLMES: And to that point, he is, of course, facing a climate rebellion from within. You know, the group of employees Amazon for Life on Twitter, they -- you call them one of the truly effective groups of workers on the planet. And you quote them underneath. You know, they're saying, basically, great, Jeff Bezos, thanks for the money. But they also asking hard questions and we'll put it up for people to read. They saying things like, when is Amazon going to stop helping oil and gas companies ravage the earth? Stop funding climate-denying think tanks. They call him complicit in the acceleration of the climate crisis, and he has promised changes. But you know, they're saying, well, thanks for the 10 billion, but there's a lot of questions at home.</s>MCKIBBEN: Let's hope that their work among others is in the process of converting him on this issue. Look, I'm willing to accept the fact that people looking at the mess that we're now in, watching the pictures that you've been showing from Australia for the past month, I'm willing to accept the fact that people who haven't been very involved in this in the past are beginning to get scared. And so it's, you know, good work from people like Amazon employees for climate action that are beginning to push this debate. We'll see. It's quite true that we need every hand on board, but we need to make sure that those guys are really willing to take on -- well, take on the other rich people who are keeping us on the path world.</s>HOLMES: And yes. I mean, to that point, I mean, do you think even with Bezos giving some of his own money, do you think there's a message out there now, a feeling that people can't rely on government. There are so many governments around the world. You mentioned Australia. That's one, the U.S. as well, that continued to promote fossil fuels and in fact, demean climate activism. Is there a feeling -- growing feeling that if governments want to do it, we'll have to do it ourselves, be it private citizens, or Jeff Bezos or whoever?</s>MCKIBBEN: Well, I think that there is -- I mean, look, I mean, Jeff Bezos has managed to make sure that Amazon didn't pay any federal tax last year. So that's a reminder of one of the reasons that the federal government isn't doing very much about the tax that we're in. But yes, look, we're going to have to build movements because governments aren't doing the things that they're supposed to be doing. And those movements are going to have to make it inconvenient for the most powerful industries on our planet. We really are reaching one of those moments where you line up on one side or the other. That's why people are pushing the big banks so hard to stop lending the fossil fuel industry. It's why so many institutions are divesting their holdings from the fossil fuel industry. We're at the moment of truth now. And so I guess in that moment, it's good that as many people as possible are beginning to throw down.</s>HOLMES: You know, it's interesting you mentioned the Australian bush fires, you got glaciers melting, I mean, this bomb cyclone in the U.K., the second biggest ever in the North Atlantic. You've been warning of the perils of climate change for years now, and must have been, of course, frustrated by the inaction. Are you more confident now or less that catastrophic consequences can be averted, or at least mitigate it in a meaningful sense.</s>MCKIBBEN: Well, clearly catastrophic consequences can't be averted. I mean, look, ask the people who ended up standing on the beach in New South Wales and Victoria because the ocean was the only way they could get out of the forest fire. The question now is not whether we can stop climate change, it's whether we can stop it short of the point where it just destroys civilizations. And I'm afraid that's an open question. I mean, if we're going to do it, we're going to have to move faster than we've ever moved before. We've only left ourselves. The scientists tell us a decade or so, to make huge strides. We better get on it and on it fast.</s>HOLMES: Bill McKibben, always a pleasure to have you on. Sir, thank you so much.</s>MCKIBBEN: Back to you. Thanks.</s>HOLMES: We're going to take a short break. When we come back, Americans exposed to the coronavirus on a cruise ship in Japan. They're back in the U.S. but their journey back home felt like they were trading one old deal for another. We'll have the details after the break.