CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 ANCHOR: Welcome to CNN 10, your objective explanation of world events. My name is Carl Azuz and we`re happy to have you watching this Wednesday.

North Korea did something unusual earlier this week. They fired a missile that flew over Japan, a test launch that entered Japanese airspace. The missile which was like this one did not hit anything. But at 6:00 on Tuesday morning, it was a troubling wakeup call for the Japanese who heard warning sirens broadcast and text alerts telling them to take cover.

North Korea has repeatedly launched missiles and conducted nuclear tests to provoke other countries, which considered its weapons programs illegal.

The North Korea`s missiles usually fall into the sea, between it in Japan. So, this was seen by Japan and the U.S. as a threat. Those two countries are allies and U.S. President Donald Trump said all options are on the table for dealing with North Korea.

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ANDREW STEVENS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It left people on the northern island of Hokkaido shaken and the prime minister in Tokyo angry.

SHINZO ABE, JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER (through translator): The missile which passed over our nation represents the greatest and gravest threat to our nation ever. It also is an egregious threat to the peace and stability of the U.S. Pacific Region.

STEVENS: Abe spoke to the media three times in as many hours. He also had a 40-minute telephone conversation with Donald Trump. The president, Abe said, had told him the U.S. was 100 percent with Japan. They also discussed tough new action against Kim Jong-un`s regime, starting with an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council.

It`s almost 20 years since North Korea successful fired a missile over Japanese soil without any warning. Previously, missiles have been fired from North Korea on a state trajectory to crash back into the sea before crossing into Japanese airspace. With this provocative new move, that strategy may have changed.

On the streets of Tokyo, this latest launch has come as a shock.

We cannot control North Korea, but as a neighboring country, this feels scary, says this man.

I was really surprised by the evacuation warning. I thought this must be a real emergency.

I feel really scared. We cannot stop North Korea.

The launch came on a very day Japan was showing off its air defense hardware, the Patriot missile system, or PAC-3. Japan has conducted drills like this before, but this is the first time Japan`s military has placed a system like this inside a U.S. base.

(on camera): The symbolism could not have been plainer. Yokota airbase is the home of the American forces in Japan and having the Japanese defense forcers in here underlines just how close they are becoming on security matters facing a common enemy.

(voice-over): Japan has PAC-3 batteries in several locations across the country, and as tensions rise, these types of drills are likely to become more and more common.

Andrew Stevens, CNN, Tokyo.

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AZUZ: It`s been five days since Hurricane Harvey made landfall in southeast Texas, and the storm still hasn`t gone away. Harvey`s moved back over the Gulf of Mexico. Meteorologists expected it would gather more rain before making a second landfall on Wednesday. That could be near the border of Texas and Louisiana. And all this time, it`s been dumping rain by the feet in Texas.

U.S. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump arrived in Corpus Christi yesterday to have a look at the damage there, and the promise those who`d been affected that the federal government would help.

In hard hit Houston, some areas have recorded more than four feet of rain. This is a city that`s seen its share of floods. But it`s never seen them like this.

While the Coast Guard, fire departments, police and local officials have made thousands of rescues, civilians are pitching in as well.

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ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You guys are jumping in to help out?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir.

LAVANDERA: Yes. Where you`re coming from?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tech (ph) City.

LAVANDERA: Tech (ph) City? But are you going to do?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trying to save lives.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When my brother actually came to rescue me, him and some other volunteer came in a boat, put in my family in the back and we walked out.

LAVANDERA: It`s amazing to see that the interstate here is -- an interstate that`s usually jammed with car traffic has essentially been turned into a boat launch for volunteers launching air boats like the one you see in front of me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But as you can see, navy has arrived. We have some rescues to do right now. It seems like they`re going to be stalled here for a minute, so we`re going to take some boats to get to where these families are needed to be rescued right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look, they`re flashing the light. I think they probably want us to maybe get one of those people that`s up there.

We can take you guys if you need. An elderly sick person? Two sick and disabled and two wheelchairs right now on the top of that roof. I have no idea how they got them on top of that roof.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re moving them slowly and obviously very difficult because he said he has a pacemaker on his left hand side, near his heart.

So, we`re going to have to steer clear of that.

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AZUZ (voice-over): Ten-second trivia:

Which of these stories would have made headlines in 1890s America?

Electric car debuts, Civil War ends, Theodore Roosevelt elected, Pacific Railway Act signed?

Believe it or not, electric cars are not a new invention. The first successful ones date back to the 1890s.

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AZUZ: According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the heyday of electric cars was around the year 1900, when roughly one out of every three cars being driven was electric. The gas powered Model T helped push electrics off the road and though electric sales have been growing again in recent

years, they still account for only about 1 percent of all new car sales in the U.S.

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REPORTER: Since cars were invented, we`ve been dreaming about what`s to come. Will the flying car shown here in "Back to the Future" actually become a reality? Will gas still power our cars? Will we even be driving at all?

For decades, Japan has been a leader in the world of cars. And now, it`s engineers and dreamers are working to find those answers. But what`s next?

Many think the future is less about what we`ll drive, and more about how we`ll power it.

Engineers at a company near Tokyo think the answer is algae. Yes, this stuff. Here`s the CEO having a drink of it. This micro algae works by feeding on CO2 and producing an oil which ultimately can power a car.

Isuzu Motors already have a fleet of algae-fueled buses.

Another benefit, you don`t have to drill some of these stuff, it can be found in seawater, lakes, ponds, any water.

Meanwhile, some think we should do away with drivers altogether. This electric shuttle which uses satellite, sensors and cameras to navigate obstacles is already being tested in the north of Japan.

But what about the big one? Flying cars. "Back to the Future II" was set in 2015. "Blade Runner" in 2019. So, how long do we have to wait?

Well, just outside Toyota City is a team driving to build a flying car right now. That`s actually it right there. Well, a prototype.

TSUBASA NAKAMURA, PROJECT LEADER, CARTIVATOR (translated): Our demonstration flight is scheduled for 2020. We are currently working towards the goal to light the Olympic Torch at the Tokyo Olympics.

REPORTER: The team is just starting out, and yes, the test flight is (INAUDIBLE) defined. But that`s kind of the point. There`s no innovation without failure.

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AZUZ: Spoiler alert, you can`t get a hippopotamus for Christmas, but you can get a look at his baby hippo from the Cincinnati Zoo. Her name is Fiona. She recently turned 7 months old and that`s an accomplishment in itself considering she was born prematurely and couldn`t nurse on her own.

Today, she is doing fine. Got her online show. She`s famous at the zoo.

And at more than 400 pounds, she eats like a hippo when she`s playing or swimming -- which it turns is hippopotamus of the time. We don`t have more health information on her. They`re protected by hippo laws, and we wouldn`t ask her vets to break their Hippocratic oath, because that`s just not hip.

That`s all I got y`all. I tried to do something with hippopuntamos, but the animal told me it was Fio-not funny.

I`m Carl Azuz and that`s CNN 10.