Can take critique of my performance all day long, but i will never apologize for who i am and where i came from. Closer to home hundreds of firefighters in seven states will be back on the front lines this morning battling raging wildfires in the scorching heat. The Beckworth Complex Fire in california has already charred 150 square miles destroying homes, cars and businesses. In oregon, the Bootleg Fire continues to burn out of control and full containment is not expected there until november. Environmentalists blame climate change for these natural emergencies, and theyre not limited to just the u. S. Rising temperatures have also taken a 20toll on italys legendary lake cuomo. Chris lipse paid a visit. Reporter from the famous closer look at Water Level and its never been this low. This beauty isnt the only thing thats stunning. The fact is i shouldnt even be able to walk here. But this year the water is lower than its ever been in recorded history. In this period we dont have water from the Rainfall Or Ice Melting Or Snow melting. Reporter geologist points out that wide gap that marks how much the water has dropped. So more than 3 feet. Yes, more than. Reporter stretch that across these 56 square miles of lake and you get 4. 6 billion gallons that have vanished. Enough to cause dangerous erosion, even rock slides. When the water reseecedes, mountain starts to fall. Yes. Reporter Water Depletion is also killing off the fish. These days the local government has resorted to stocking the lake with fish from nearby farms, but its still a struggle for local catchers, says william, head of the local fishing association. Directly from the lake of cuomo, the Fish Level is around 50 less than ten years ago. We already lost available this is small fish and was very famous in the lake of cuomo because it was full. And now is completely disappeared. Reporter to understand why the Water Level is going down, you have to climb up, more than 11,000 feet to the glacier that feeds the lake with its runoff. But with global warming, theres hardly any glacier left. Says geologist who grew up in that lodge near its base. The initial runoff is big, and now where is glacier . Reporter since the end of the 1800s, its lost twothirds of its mass, he says. So this glacier loses more than 20 feet every year . Yes, its sad because my children cannot walk on the glacier like me 40 years ago. This is sad. Reporter its not alone. Almost every glacier in the world is melting at record speed, according to one study. Threatening our water below. The problem starts in the mountain, then in the lake, and then in the plain. Reporter its local. Everything is global. Reporter keep in mind, this is just one of many lakes in the area facing the same challenges as our climate now changes in realtime right before our all systems go in texas this morning for the next stage in the billionaire space race. The faa approved a license for Jeff Bezos and his blue Origin Spacecraft to liftoff next tuesday. If all goes as planned, bezos will join Richard Branson in the billionaire space club. Both are trying to cash in on the dawning era of space tourism. No one has seen more liftoffs firsthand than paul dye, the longest serving Flight Director in nasas history. He is now retired and has a new book. Guy invited Jeff Glore to his home in nevada for a chat. Reporter there is no grass or a pool, but there is a runway. We just go. We kind of treat our airplanes like bicycles, you know. If you want to go to the end of the street, you go to the end of the street. Reporter on a windy morning outside reno, we went up in dyes rv8. A Flight Path took us near air station fallon, home of the real top gun. We try to stay out of top guns air space. Probably a good idea, yes. Reporter for years he was head of kit planes magazines where he still contributes. His most impressive resume is with nasa where he worked more than 30 years, including 20 years as a Flight Director, more than anyone else in history. I consider myself kind of a feel general. I really like being in the battle. I like being in the thick of things. And i kind of recognized early on that unless i became a politician and ran for office, i wasnt going to be setting policy. I was going to be carrying policy out and i was just going to get frustrated if i moved up higher in the organization trying to set policy and not being able to. So i recognized what i really enjoyed doing was being in realtime operations and i tell people do what you enjoy. What did you do . Nothing. Reporter audiences have enjoyed seeing roles like dyes portrayed on screens for years. Houston, we have a problem. Reporter ed harris played Nasa Legend Director Gene in apollo 13. We never lost an american in space. Were not going to lose one on my watch. Its still armed. Reporter the Flight Director has been essential to the plot of the Apple Tv Series for all man kind. The status and where theyre headed. On the flight. Reporter Dyes Book Shuttle Houston Details the exhaustion necessary to rise to the position and monumental work of thousands of people that went into running the shuttle program. Liftoff of americas first Space Shuttle. And the shuttle has cleared the tower. Reporter the first u. S. Shuttle flight was 40 years ago this year. The last was ten years ago. And liftoff, the final liftoff of atlantis. I think we should have continued flying shutless for a long time because we had things we could do with it. Widespread understand being, but Space Shuttle was a way to take care of a space station. It has been complicated by the shuttles retirement. The station is being service pretty well these days by a variety of expandable and slightly reusable spacecraft. But theyre smaller and i wish we had that capability to bring large things up and bring large things back. We dont. This is videotape of the liftoff this morning of the Space Shuttle challenger. Reporter will dye was with nasa when two tragedies took place. Challenger exploding after taking off in 1986. Director confirms that. We are looking at checking recovery forces to see what can be done at this point. Reporter colombia breaking apart on reentry in 2003. The columbia is lost. There are no survivors. Reporter because Flight Directors work on a rotation, dye was not involved in coordinating either of those missions, but the pain remains. He is well aware mortal risks will always be inherent in Pace Travel as americans debate where they should put their focus next, the moon or mars. My opinion, with experience, is i would like to see us really focus on the moon so that we can build the capability to permanently live on a planet. I would rather have a major problem occur 2 1 2 days from home than eight months from home. So i guess im a little bit conservative, a little stepbystep in that regard rather than just going straight to mars, which we really could do. But id like to see us have a permanent presence. Okay, flaps coming, prelanding checklist is complete. Reporter dye firmly believes heavy investments in space should continue, both public and private. I think all you have to do is look at what nasa has contributed in the past. And i think you recognize, then, how important it is for the future. First is flatout inspiration. Holy smokes, look what we can do as a people. I mean, weve gone to the moon. Weve had people in orbit continuously. We are a space faring species for over 20 years. But then you also look at the technology that has come out. We take completely for granted today the micro Electronics Industry that basically grew out of the Apollo Program when they needed a small compact computer to go to the moon. Theres two big technology drivers in history, wars and a couple months back, we brought you the story of a sons love for his mother. And cheese steaks. Heres Steve Hartman on the road. Reporter by his own admission, Dustin Vitali is a mamas boy. Mom, are you ready . Reporter he cooks her breakfast every morning. Thats my baby. Reporter and thanks her for the privilege. Thank you, mom. Reporter and because dustin has such devotion. Youre going to make me cry. Reporter when gloria was diagnosed with terminal Bladder Cancer last year, he decided he would try to take her on one last trip, the trip she always dreamed of to see the pyramids in egypt, with the whole family. 14 people. Never mind that dustin works as a middle School Teacher in philadelphia and could never afford t 10,000 to fly everyone. He thought he could raise the cheddar, by selling cheese steaks. You dont own a restaurant. Yeah, yeah, i have a kitchen now. Reporter theres no way you were going to make enough money selling cheese steaks out of your house. Correct. Reporter given that, what was pushing you forward . Just my mom, you know. Just love for my mom. Reporter with his love and her recipe, dustin started making sandwiches, sandwiches so so big no container could contain. He peddled them to friends and family. Thank you. Thank you, man, appreciate your support. Reporter but those people must have told their friends and family, too, because almost immediately cars started double parking outside his house. Faces he didnt recognize started showing up at the door. Try, man. Reporter next, Word Spread on social media. Oh, my god. Reporter and before he knew it thats so good. Reporter folks were lined up around the block. A Food Truck Operator offered his services. And in just six weeks, dustin raised all the money he needed and then some. 18,000. If she would ask to go to the moon, i would have made that happen as well. Reporter gloria says cleapatra never had it so good. Its overwhelming. Shes probably as mentally as healthy as shes ever been in her whole life. Reporter amazing, the Healing Power of a loving child. Steve hartman, cbs news, on the road. Gloria walker got her wish. She and her family flew to egypt where she was treated like royalty. She got a private tour of the pyramids and the sphynx. And was given the key to the city of sharmel shanks. Gloria walker passed away. She was 56. That is the overnight news for this wednesday. Reporting from the nations capital, im jeff pegues. Its wednesday, july 14th, 2021. There is the cbs morning news. The twister century jim Crow Assault is real. Its unrelenting. Voting clash. President Biden Attacks gop efforts at the Ballot Box as he faces growing pressure to help change federal voting laws. Breaking overnight, Kidnapping Plot foiled. How a u. S. Citizen became the target of four iranian nationals accused of trying to lure her to iran. Dangerous delta strain. New covid infections skyrocket nationwide as health officials express worry about millions of children in low vaccinated areas