Midmorning With Aundrea - February 28, 2020 (Part 1)

(part 1 of 2) Sugary drinks have been linked to heart disease.

And nearly five years after the mass shooting at Emmanuel A.M.E.

Church in Charleston, South Carolina, Gayle King visits parishioners to see how they've turned tragedy into action.

What's the drink more water.

Cut back on the sugary drinks.

Your heart will thank you.

We'll explain.

And, turning tragedy into action.

A conversation with survivors of the 2015 south carolina church shooting.

Midmorning starts right now.

An unlikely automaker is coming for tesla.

This is not your parents' volvo.

The swedish automaker is out with a new high- tech hybrid.

Betty yu took it for a test drive.

Nats engine revving it's one of the very first on the road in 2020.

The polestar one is a hybrid supercar that produces 620 horsepower, has two electric motors, and its body is made of carbon fiber.

It's the first car from volvo's new high performance, electric brand.

Sot: jp canton / spokesperson - polestar "you get all th safety and comfort and consumer confidence that you would have the volvo brand but we push it forward in the new era of electrification with the polestar 1."

Nats getting into the car i got the rare chance to test drive the polestar 1 along highway 1 near pescadero state beach.

It has four pre-set modes to choose from... nats i like the sporty mode the car harnasses a lot of power and was as fun to drive as it looks... only 500 will be produced in its first year - and model year 2020 cars are already sold out.

Price tag - $155,000 all in.

Polestar says 10 to 15% of its customers are from the bay area.

Sot: jp canton "it's definitel folks with a performance mentality, a technology focused mentality and that also plays in well with the bay area mix of orders.

But also we're finding people who just want a slightly different alternative."

Today, polestar also teased the precept - its electric, 4-door of the future .

Last year, we got the exclusive look at the polestar 2 in san francisco - the company's upcoming fully electric car designed to compete with the tesla model 3.

Sot: tim stevens / editor-in-chief, cnet - roadshow "ultimately thes will give people a strong option outside of tesla right now if you want a high- performance long range ev, you pretty much only have one choice but with companies like polestar and porsche coming to market and audi as well, there are certainly some other options coming to market which is definitely good because choice is good."

Cnet's roadshow editor in chief tim stevens says right now hybrids are a good way to introduce people to the electric lifestyle.

This summer, polestar plans to open its first bay area showroom.

Along highway 1, by, kpix 5.

Around here if you walk out without paying, someone is going to chase you into the parking lot.

But in washington state, one grocery store has an entirely different plan.

Take a look.

With the swipe of a phone -- customers this morning walked into amazon's new amazon go grocery.

A grocery store like any other -- with items like produce, meats and beer.

Except when you're done -- you don't pay a cashier, because there aren't any.

You simply walk out.

Chris - customer "convenience i going to be great.

We both work in tech so its kinda cool to see."

This new location in capitol hill is the future of where the seattle- based tech giant sees grocery stores moving.

It's amazon go grocery is 5 times larger than it's amazon go stores which focus on convenience and simple items. and with the disruptions its bringing -- traditional brick and mortars like safeway and qfc are put on notice.

Anna fabrega - amazon "amazon g grocery store is here in capitol hill where you have more of a residential population, it's a larger store more focused on groceries to take home, quick and easy meals to make at home, that sort of thing."

Amazon says the items are competitively priced and sourced locally.

The way it works is customers will pick out their items - individually priced, so there's no weighing involved and walk out.

"everything yo buy is tracked by those sensors there on the ceiling and charged to your amazon account.

But there's disagreement about how much data you should hand over to the company."

Brandon tran - customer "it's going to lear your patterns of what you get.

I'm sure that will lead to some advertising and things like that... but... i think it's convenient."

Amazon would not disclose their expansion plans on these grocery stores this morning - but says it looks forward to seeing this concept take hold.

In seattle's capitol hill, rob munoz, kiro 7 news.

Another reason to cut sugary drinks from your diet.

New research shows they can cause a lot more damage than just weight gain.

Nancy chen has more.

They're filled with calories and lack nutrients, yet sugar sweetened beverages like sodas, sports drinks and fruit- flavored drinks are the largest source of added sugars in the american diet.

Now new research in the journal of the american heart association finds drinking more than 12 ounces of sugary drinks a day is linked to álowerá levels of so-called good cholesterol or h- d-l cholesterol and áhigherá levels of triglycerides in middle aged and older adults.

1:07 this is important because both of those findings have been associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease previous studies have shown the negative health effects of added sugars.

Dr. luke laffin is a preventive cardiologist at the cleveland clinic and says most of that data was relatedto weight gain.

2:14 this study shows that there is a more clear link or association between changes in cholesterol patterns.

// so lends to the theory that it's not just the weight gain that contributes .

It actually changes physiology with respect to blood cholesterol the american heart association recommends eliminating sugary drinks for better heart health and lower risk of heart attack and stroke.

And no surprise..

Water is preferred and healthiest.

6:57 really getting rid of those sugary drinks at all, starting with our kids ok ,it's going to be helpful to setting those examples because the effect can be cumulative over a life time as well low calorie sweetened drinks did not negatively impact blood lipids in the study, but researchers say that doesn't mean those drinks don't have other health consequences.

Nancy chen, cbs news, new york.

Drinking 12 ounces of 100 percent fruit juice every day also didn't impact cholesterol or triglycerides but researchers say more study is need.

The world's largest rainforest is being destroyed at an alarming rate.

Destructive fires tore through massive sections of the amazon rainforest last summer.

For cbs-n originals' new series áreverb,á executive producer adam yamaguchi hiked into the rainforest in brazil to see what's driving the deforestation.

These agents from ibama - an arm of brazil's environmental ministry - say the first step in deforestation is clear cutting valuable timber...whether legally or, like this logging operation, illegally.

Adam nat: look how huge they are adam ptc: the authorities that we're following have said that they routinely come across operations like this deep inside the forest.

Adam ptc: this is just one step, one part of the process, in seeing the forest being dismantled.

Since 1965 brazil has enacted laws to protect the amazon from destruction, and from development that threatens the stability of its ecosystem, and encroaches on the land of indigenous tribes.

But enforcement is increasingly difficult.

In this area of the rainforest, there is an average of just one agent for every 25 million acres.

Moira: the amazon rainforest itself is reaching a tipping point - if much more deforestation happens the ecosystem would collapse and turn into a savanna or a dry forest and no longer be the rich bio-diverse rainforest that it currently is.

Adam: how close are we to that?

Moira: well, in recent weeks and months, scientists have said that we're within maybe a couple of years at the rate that deforestation is currently happening.

A little girl or a little boy?

What determines your baby's gender?

That story next on mid morning.

Boy or girl?

A new study says the sex of a baby -- may ánotá be decided the way you've heard.

Mandy gaither has more.

Some believe a mother's likelihood to have boys or girls is decided by their father's d-n-a.

Others think the parents' hormones at the moment of conception have an influence.

But according to a new study published in the medical journal proceedings of the royal society -- genetically -- it all comes down to chance.

Researchers studied the entire population of sweden since 1932 -- that's four-point- seven million births.

The lead author says the study showed that individuals don't have an innate tendency to have offspring of one sex or the other -- instead -- genetically speaking -- he says it's essentially random.

Using information from swedish birth registries -- the researchers compared whether siblings tended to have offspring of the same sex -- their statistical analysis ruled out the possibility that characteristics of the parents influence the likelihood of having boys or girls.

Because of the enormous size of the data used in the study -- researchers say they're very confident of the findings.

For today's health minute, i'm mandy gaither.

The study's lead author says they can't rule out the possibility that extreme environmental events -- like famine -- could affect offspring sex ratios -- but -- he says researchers can say for sure that the variability of environments in sweden did not affect sex of the children of those born after 1932.

The story of pain and forgiveness when mid morning returns.

Em emanuel a- m- e church in charleston, south carolina is a symbol of resilience and hope.

Nearly five years ago, in june of 2015, a white supremacist shot and killed nine worshippers at the historic church known for its political activism.

Dylann roof was convicted in 2016 of all 33 federal charges, including hate crimes.

Gayle king visited the church, known as "mothe emanuel", to se how it's turning tragedy into action.

Yes, this is, of course, the-- sanctuary.

// it's beautiful.

Reverend eric manning oversees mother emanuel-- the áoldestá black congregation south of baltimore& &a church that has been involved in nearly every political movement since its founding in 1816.

Nat preaching& reverend manning started leading the congregation about a year after the shooting deaths of 9 parishioners, including the beloved pastor clementa pinckney.

How difficult was it for you?

I would imagine so many people leaned on you to bring them back to a new normal.

I must confess, gayle, i think that process is still going on.

One thing i've learned// is we never really fully understand the amount of trauma-- that-- a church, especially within the african american community, experiences when that type of hatred is displayed.

A áhatredá that 75- year-old polly shepherd knows all too well.

Probably one of the few that actually had a conversation with dylann roof that day.

Yeah.

Where were you?

I was under the table, lookin' up at him.

You saw him approaching?

Yeah, i could see his shoes.

He had on dirty timberland boots-- and he came up and-- asked me, "di i shoot you yet?"

And i said, "no."

A he said, "i'm no going to.

I'm gonna leave you here to tell the story."

One of the things that was so extraordinary about this horrible tragedy is that many people in the church seemed to forgive very quickly.

Were you one of those people?

I wasn't the first one.

I was busy at home, feelin' sorry for myself.

Yeah.

You know, i said, "lord, // why di you leave me to think about all of this?"

You had guilt for surviving?

I did.

You would like to minister him in prison, is that true?

I would.

Would you?

Well, he's such // a young man.

// what would you say to him?

I would go strictly by the bible, and go into the forgiveness part-- and just teach him how love is.

You said that to heal, you have to forgive.

Yeah.

Have you forgiven, have you healed?

I'm healin'.

Transitional nat: "oh happy day & // where do yo think we are as a country, as we sit here today?

Well, racism is still alive and well.

// that's a fact.

// i don't know what we can do about it.

When things happen, then we all come together.

But after a while, we go back to the same old things we've been doing.

Pastor nat: "don' worry about the election" prayer and politics intersect often at mother emanuel.

Nat bootcamp& on this day, a political movement is taking shape in the church's basement-the site of the horrific mass shooting.

Nat clyburn at bootcamp& that's where we met house majority whip james clyburn, who's lending his political expertise to the congressional black caucus institute's workshop.

This type of training // is necessary to empower // future black politicians?

Well, i think one of the big mistakes we make, especially in my party-- is not recognizing-- that there's talent-- in the african american community-- beyond that which is traditional.

And in order to make sure that we get beyond tradition is one of the reasons that we started the boot camp.

The non-partisan political bootcamp aims to improve access to advocacy and campaign training for all americans&free of charge.

Add this // what do you hope that they learn during that time?

Well-- we're hopeful that they will learn that politics is more than a science to be studied.

It is an art to be practiced.//becaus e art, you never perfect the art.

As congressman clyburn helps build the áfutureá pipeline of politicians& &south carolina's king maker sounds off on the ácurrentá democratic field.

There are no people of color on it.

Does that bother you?

No.

It dudn't bother me.

We can't guarantee success.

We can guarantee opportunity.

And what the dnc did was guarantee opportunity.

// we started out with a big number.

And that's one of the reasons we had the boot camp-- teach people how to fundraise.

/// because what that -- people of color outta this contest more than anything else was bein' able to afford to get their message out.

Here in south carolina, 60% of democratic voters are black, making this first in the south primary a test of who can connect with african american voters.

--south carolina will tell a very important story // when that vote comes in.

That's true.

//// is a very conservative state.

But there's something about // fundamental fairness that you get in south carolinians.

You look through history, you never saw the acrimony in south carolina that you've got in mississippi, alabama and-- i like that, "fundamenta fairness."

Yeah.

A state with a sense of áfundamental fairnessá & nat pastor... &a community áfightingá against hatred.

Nat church& &and a sacred space that embodies the power of áforgivenessá.

What do you say to people // that are struggling with this message of, you know, it's so divisive, it's so hateful, the rhetoric is out there.

What is your message to those people?

Have to learn the next person.

// communicate and try to get along.

// love is the answer to everything.

Time after time.

What that means for one collector ahead on mid morning.