CARL AZUZ: From Australia to America,

we're traveling the globe to get you up to speed on news.

I'm Carl Azuz.

This is CNN 10.

We're happy to have you watching.

While parts of the United States were shivering

under record cold temperatures last week,

Australia, both of its territories, and all six

of its states, were sweltering under a record heat wave.

And in the northeastern state of Queensland,

days of intense rainfall have caused the kind

of flooding that officials say happens

only once every 100 years.

Townsville is a city on Australia's northeast coast.

More than 190,000 people live here.

Its city council says it gets more than 300 days of sunshine

every year.

But the massive downpours that have hit Townsville recently

have put a major strain on a nearby dam.

On Sunday night, the Ross River Dam was at about 250%

of its capacity, and its floodgates

had to be opened to prevent the structure from collapsing.

Australian officials warned people in Townsville

that historic flooding would happen as a result.

And some residents who reportedly thought they'd be OK

have had to climb to their roofs for safety.

And it's not just the flood waters that are dangerous.

9News reports that there have been several sightings

of crocodiles and snakes that have been

carried along in the floods.

And while you're about to get a sense

of the ongoing rescue effort, relief from the rain

is nowhere in sight.

A CNN meteorologist predicted that Townsville would

receive another 4 inches on Monday,

and 2 to 3 inches on Tuesday.

Entire neighborhoods are underwater,

and thousands of homes were in danger of flooding

and strong winds that are in the forecast.

For thousands of residents of Townsville,

it has been a long day and plenty more to come.

I'm standing here at the Ross River.

Right now at Rosslea is where the water is coming

from the river, which has made its way down

the dam at a rapid pace, heading right across.

You see when we have a look at the water how fast it is still

moving, and making its way right into the suburb of Rosslea,

which locals are considering to be ground zero in what

has been this flood emergency.

On the other side of where I'm standing

is a suburb of Annandale, where a number

of properties, as you see, are completely

inundated on the ground floor.

We've seen helicopters that are constantly

checking for people who are there,

trying to pluck them to safety.

We also know the swift water rescue

teams have been out and about.

So far at least a dozen rescues, probably

even more overnight as well.

So a huge effort right across Townsville.

This all started last night, of course.

The rain has been building up for days.

But the Ross River Dam, about 10 kilometers as the crow

flies from where I'm standing at the moment,

it opened automatically.

The dam gates opened because it reached about 43 meters.

At that stage, it's built into the dam

that it needed to open up to let out some of that water

to maintain the integrity of the dam.

As that happened, the velocity of the water,

2,000 cubic meters per second, was released.

It's headed straight down the river, trying to find its way

to the ocean, cutting a straight line through suburbs

like this one in Rosslea.

Now, the Queensland Premier defending the actions

of all emergency services in saying it's

a tough time for those people living in Townsville.

CARL AZUZ: The US President's annual State of the Union

address is Tuesday.

It had originally been scheduled for last Tuesday,

but it was postponed because of the US

government's partial shutdown.

When that ended late last month, the address was rescheduled.

One issue that President Donald Trump is expected to address

is the major reason for the shutdown, security at America's

southern border with Mexico.

The Pentagon announced this week that an additional 3,750

American troops would be deployed to the border.

Their mission, to give extra support to US Customs

and Border Protection agents.

This could include assignments like installing wire fencing,

and watching for illegal crossings.

The deployment would bring the total number of US

military forces there to 4,350.

And the new mission is scheduled to last for three months.

President Trump says this is necessary to stop

large caravans of people who are headed to the border

with the goal of entering the US illegally.

But US representative Adam Smith,

a Democrat from Washington and the chairman of the House Armed

Services Committee, questioned what the additional troops

would be doing at the border, and suggested the increase

could be unjustified.

On Wednesday's show we plan to bring you some highlights

of the Republican president's speech and the Democratic

Party's response.

You'll find it right here at CNN10.com.

10 second trivia.

American inventor Philo Farnsworth is best known

for his development of what?

Telegraph, telephone, television, or telescope.

In the late 1920s, Farnsworth demonstrated

his invention of the electronic television system.

A famous story about Philo Farnsworth

is that he grew up in a house that didn't have electricity

until he was a teenager.

So going from that to presenting the first electronic TV

within a few years, well, it shows how Farnsworth

had chosen the right field.

Of course, the TV itself has changed a lot over the decades.

But it's still a fixture in roughly 95% of American homes,

and a growing number of the ones that

don't have TV's are still watching programs

on other kinds of screens.

Will this screen itself eventually become obsolete?

RACHEL CRANE: So we're surrounded by screens.

They're how we entertain ourselves.

But how we'll watch them, the form factor is changing, too.

The size, the shape, and even the idea of needing

a screen at all is evolving.

JESSE SCHELL: I think one of the big changes we're just going

to see over the next decade is that we're

going to start to have intelligent conversations

with inanimate objects.

RACHEL CRANE: Is it going to be on a gaming console?

Is it going to be in everything?

JESSE SCHELL: It's going to be in everything.

RACHEL CRANE: Keecker, a French startup,

thinks your future entertainment system will look like this.

It's a projector, sound system, and security

system rolled into one.

So Keecker's kind of like an obedient dog.

PIERRE LEBEAU: That's right.

RACHEL CRANE: But with bells and whistles.

PIERRE LEBEAU: Bells and whistles.

And it's just really useful in the sense

that it can be there to give you your music, your TV experience.

And it can be away if you don't want to see it.

RACHEL CRANE: Keecker is designed to do a lot,

but it isn't perfect yet.

Hey, Keecker, come to the living room.

Hey, Keecker, show me the weather.

Keecker, stop moving, please.

This is like a petulant version of the Amazon Echo.

You have to say it over and over and over.

But instead of Alexa, I'm saying Keecker.

You think there may be a day when Keecker replaces the TV.

PIERRE LEBEAU: I think the TV has

to be replaced by something, because it's just too old.

Like the voice assistants, it's all about learning and trying

to be better to serve you better, as opposed to just

being a blank plastic display.

RACHEL CRANE: Turning TVs into something

more than just a black box is a challenge lots of companies

are tackling.

Some are making screens more flexible,

or getting rid of them entirely.

Others are designing screens to blend in.

This isn't a painting behind me.

It's actually a TV.

It's called The Frame, and it's made by Samsung.

Now, when the TV is off, Samsung provides hundreds

of pieces of art that can be displayed,

but you can also add your own.

And you can even change the color of the frame itself.

But what if your screen could actually talk to you?

JESSE SCHELL: Some of the biggest advances we're going

to see in home entertainment are going to be virtual reality

headsets coming into the home.

They're going to make a big difference.

Augmented reality systems.

And then also artificially intelligent characters

that start to become part of games and other experiences.

RACHEL CRANE: So you would be talking then

to like a character in one of your games

about something that you're watching.

JESSE SCHELL: Instead of saying, hey, television, pull up

video number three, you can just say, oh, hey, Sidney, what do

you think we should watch next?

And then the character will have some suggestions.

And the two of you will have a conversation.

RACHEL CRANE: When do these technologies get good enough?

Do you foresee a day when screens

just completely disappear?

JESSE SCHELL: It's sort of like, did television kill radio?

I think just like AR is going to replace

some screen applications, screens are going

to survive and hang in there.

RACHEL CRANE: So what will we be watching in the future?

We're not exactly sure.

I guess we'll just have to stay tuned.

CARL AZUZ: Golden Colorado, golden retrievers.

Coincidence?

No, not at this gathering in the Centennial State.

It's called the Goldens in Golden Gala.

It was held on National Golden Retriever Day.

It brought together animals from all dog walks of life.

And it might have set a record, too.

There were reportedly about 1,000 golden retrievers

and their owners here.

A previous record in Scotland brought around 361 dogs.

So for fans of goldens, the idea was pure gold.

But if they can have goldens in Golden,

can someone host airedales in Adairville,

bassetts in Bassett, bostons in Boston,

chihuahuas in chihuahua, collies in Collieville,

labradors in Labrador, maltese in Malta,

papillons in Papillon, terriers in Terre Haute,

or yorkies in Yorkshire?

That'll give them something to yap about.

And it takes a bite out of another edition of CNN 10.

I'm Carl Azuz.

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