S.

Senate.

A down the middle explanation is our first subject today.

I'm Carl Jesus.

Hope you're weeks off to a good start.

There's a vote recount going on right now in the U.

S.

State of Georgia.

The first results from the November 3rd presidential elections showed Democratic candidate Joe Biden winning their over Republican incumbent Donald Trump.

But the Democrats lead was slim by less than 15,000 votes, So the state's going through them once again to make sure they're accurate.

It's not just presidential votes that Aaron focus here.

It's votes for the U.

S.

Senate.

The makeup of this chamber of Congress is highly important to president who gets confirmed to their cabinets, who gets confirmed to the Supreme Court how easy or difficult it is for presidents to accomplish their legislative goals.

All of this can hinge on the Senate.

Ah party needs a simple majority of 51 seats to control it.

Right now, Republicans have control with 53 seats, Democrats have 45 seats, and two independents who vote with the Democrats have two seats.

Results from this month's election indicate that in the next Congress, which is sworn in next year, Republicans will likely control at least 50 seats.

Democrats will likely control at least 48 seats, I'm saying, at least because there are two seats that haven't been decided yet, and they're both in Georgia.

That state has a runoff election scheduled for January 5th because none of Georgia's Senate candidates won enough votes on November 3rd to capture a seat.

If a Republican candidate wins one or both of those races, that party will likely have control of the Senate for the next four years.

If the two Democratic candidates win both of those races, that party will likely have 50 seats in the Senate to match the likely 50 seats that Republicans have.

But analysts say that would effectively give Democrats control of the Senate because the deciding vote in a 50 50 tie would go to the vice president and Democratic candidates Joe Biden and Kamala Harris had been projected to win the presidency and vice presidency.

Now I keep using words like likely and projected because the results from the November 3rd election haven't been certified yet from now until the second week of December, states should settle their vote counts and certify the results.

They all have their own particular deadlines, so it won't happen all at once.

And, of course, if there local rules or legal challenge require a recount that could produce some delays.

But they're all headed for the same goal, saying, Within a few weeks we've settled all disputes, and this is our final tally for each candidate.

They must have that complete by December 14th, because that is when the electors must vote.

Who are they?

They are 538 people from all 50 states chosen by the parties, and they mirror the number of senators and representatives in each state, plus the District of Columbia, which gets three.

This is the Electoral College.

Typically, they gather at their local state houses and award their electoral votes in most cases to whoever gathered the most popular votes in their state.

Although occasionally some break from that and cast rogue votes, becoming what we call faithless electors.

Although the Supreme Court ruled just this year they could be punished or remove that they take that action in any event, the results must be sent to Washington no later than December 23rd and then on January 6th.

Those electoral votes are counted during a joint session of Congress under the watchful eye of the president of the Senate, meaning vice president Mike Pence.

And when that count is done, he will be the first person to officially announce the names of the next president and vice president.

And then, on Wednesday, January 20th, that noone, as prescribed by the Constitution, the big finish.

The president and vice president will be sworn in at the U.

S.

Capitol and begin four years of leading the country.

12th Trivia.

Which of these historic structures is oldest Stonehenge, the Great Wall of China, the Colosseum or Machu Picchu?

Researchers believe construction on Stonehenge started in around 3000 BC, making it the oldest structure on this list.

Ah, lot of mystery surrounds Stonehenge.

Why it was built, how it was built, what it was used for.

One thing that is not mysterious is that there's a lot of traffic nearby that often jams up.

To deal with that, Britain's government has just given the green light to a project that would both widened the road that runs by Stonehenge and build a two mile traffic tunnel that will run underground near the site.

It's a controversial decision.

The group that manages Stonehenge says the tunnel will transform the site and allow people to more easily explore it in the surrounding countryside.

Supporters also say the project will reduce traffic noise around Stonehenge.

Critics say the plan will increase traffic pollution overall and that it could damage the area and any undiscovered archaeological features it has.

The project is estimated to cost $2.2 billion.

Sunday night, NASA and the private space company Space X were set to launch America's newest mission to the international space station.

It depended on the weather, though windy conditions had delayed the first planned attempt on Saturday, so officials were prepared to delay it again if nature didn't cooperate.

The mission is called Crew one.

It's part of an $8 billion investment that NASA has made with Space six to send people into space from US soil, as opposed to paying Russia for seats aboard its Soyuz spacecraft.

NASA hopes missions like this will allow the agency to shuttle Mawr people too, and throw the S and increase the amount of research that's done on the 20 year old station ignition theft job, a Falcon nine and Dragon This'll launch marked the dawn of a new era of U.

S spaceflight.

Now, more than five months after that historic test mission, four astronauts will take the next step for the crew.

We're ready.

They're headed to the International Space Station for a six month stay.

It's the first fully operational mission for the crew Dragon spacecraft.

There's a lot of first on this flight, a lot of amazing discoveries that are gonna happen by these four amazing astronauts over the next six months.

Just like in May, when astronauts lifted off from US soil for the first time in nine years.

NASA isn't running the whole show.

It partnered with Elon Musk Space six, the private company that designed, Built and operates the crew dragon.

It has been 18 years working towards this goal, so it's hard to believe that it's happened.

This time.

NASA astronauts Victor Glover, Michael Hopkins, Shannon Walker and Japan's Soichi Noguchi will be on board.

The diverse foursome has been training together for months.

Glover will be the first black astronaut to join a long duration crew on the space station.

What does it mean to you to be a black man and an astronaut at this moment in our country's history?

You know, I'm not immune to the things going on in the world right now from the physical, uh, insecurity that many people are feeling to the economic insecurity.

And I will say this.

The overriding feeling that I have is that I want to go up there and do my job well.

The crew named their spacecraft resilience in recognition of 20 twenties challenges.

I think all of us can agree that 2020 has certainly been a challenging here.

Global pandemic, economic hardships, civil unrest, isolation to stay safe.

Astronauts have been in strict quarantine together, and NASA is begging tourists not to crowd Florida's beaches to watch the lift off.

After all, there will be more launches.

NASA's plan is for more trips to the S s carrying new astronauts and perhaps one day private citizens.

This is Ah ah, very exciting time for NASA.

Andi, these air again.

Historic.

First look at him.

Go!

Rachel Crane, CNN Kennedy Space Center, Florida.

Final score of the Hawks game was 108 to 94.

Now that would make sense in professional basketball.

But in high school football, a score like that would be a record, right?

Right In Iowa, the Remsen, ST Mary's Hawks and the Montezuma Braves put up a combined total of 202 points in a single game.

That's a state record, and the reps in ST Mary's 108 points won the game.

The 94 that Montezuma put up was still 94 points.

The scoreboard couldn't keep up.

It's not programmed to go that high, so the Hawks score appeared as infinity.

They're not just winning at football.

They're winning at math, because when you touch down pen to paper, you need to make hash marks by the yard just to add up a score that Russia's past the record catches national attention and receives credit for such a highly calculated offense that would exceed anyone's field goals.

Green Mountain Union High School also scores a mention today hello to all of our viewers, watching from Chester, Vermont, and who are subscribing and commenting on our YouTube channel AB Carla Zeus.