the state are unexpectedly offline. that caused energy supply to dip at a time when the heat wave was increasing demand. >> i don't have any potential reasons that i can share at this time. >> reporter: in a press call monday, ercott blamed the company. they just manage the grid. >> it's the responsibility of the generation owners to make sure their plants are available during the peak hours when customer demand is very high. >> reporter: it's the second time just this year the state's power grid has faced intense in february, a catastrophic winter storm left more than 150 people dead and millions without power for several days. >> the power system and power grid in the state of texas has never been better. >> reporter: just last week, governor greg abbott signed two bills he says would make the grid more reliable in extreme weather. >> there is weatherization to ensure whether it be in

wintertime or summertime, that there are safeguards in place. >> reporter: but it will likely take years before any changes are implemented. is it more of a power getting onto the grid to customers? or is it the actual grid itself? >> today it's a lack of generation capacity. a lack of power coming onto the grid. >> reporter: ed hurs is an energy fellow at the university of houston. are you expecting for there to be brownouts or blackouts this summer in texas? >> i wouldn't be surprised. this is a real serious public safety problem for the state of texas. no one takes responsibility for it, and no one is held accountable. >> reporter: hurs says the plants that are failing are the traditional ones. the coal, nuke, and natural gas. there's also some questions about price spikes. hurs says most texans are on fixed-rate plans, but those on variable-rate plans could see a spike in their bill if the prices go up. omar villafranca in dallas.

the heat wave has sparked raging wildfires across the west. it's also added to a devastating drought. in utah, the great salt lake is expected to reach its lowest point in modern history. and local farmers say if it doesn't rain soon, they may lose their entire harvest. jonathan vigliotti reports. >> i don't know how long we can survive because i don't know how bad it's going to get. >> reporter: on his property north of salt lake city, sixth-generation farmer ron gibson is covering his crops with plastic to conserve water. his water allocation was cut by 70%. >> if we don't get these crops to market, we can't survive. >> reporter: he also says the cost of feeding his dairy cows has doubled in a year. >> when agriculture's gone, then our ability to produce food is gone that's what scares me the most about this whole situation. >> reporter: the entire state of utah is experiencing drought. more than 90% in an extreme

category. we would be standing under water had it been a normal water year. zach frankel, executive director of the utah rivers council at the great salt lake -- >> 90% of our prescription comes in winter and snow. as our winter air temperatures continue to rise, we're getting less and less snow in our mountains. >> reporter: utah governor spencer cox has declared a state of emergency and called on people in utah to reduce their water use and pray for rain. >> we need some divine intervention. >> when the governor says pray for rain, what do you say to that? >> i say, the lord helps those who help themselves. the question is, are state leaders willing to accept that this is not a short-term drought, but that this is long-term climate change? >> reporter: utah is the second-driest state in the country, but has some of the highest public water consumption per capita.

back on the farm, gibson says a continued water crisis means an uncertain future. your family's been doing this 152 years. that's many generations. do you worry this is the last generation of farming in your family? >> you know, i can't sleep at night. most nights. because that's exactly the concern. >> reporter: we're told this marina would normally be floating on about ten feet of water. but like much of the state, it has dried up. utah feeds the colorado river. and less water in the state means trouble downstream, impacting nearly 40 million people in seven states. jonathan vigliotti, antelope island, in utah's great salt lake. spray, lift, skip, step. swipe, lift, spin, dry. slam, pan, still...fresh move, move, move, move

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outside washington. >> reporter: the tsa is just one of many entities short-staffed right now. restaurants, retail, and small businesses are reporting the same thing. earlier this year, the tsa made a pledge to hire 6,000 security officers by summer. it's only halfway there, and the resurging crowds are already here. american air travelers are hitting pandemic peaks, but across the country there's proof of security staffing shortage. >> it was long and slow. >> it was crazy. >> reporter: according to a tsa memo obtained by "the washington post," 235 airports are currently understaffed, including some of the nation's busiest. like boston logan, denver international, and washington dulles. some airports short as many as 100 officers. >> it was a long process. getting employees ready to screen passengers for theirhydr

skeptical the agency will hit its hiring target. why? >> right now there's not too many people applying. they look at other federal agencies and compare the pay. >> reporter: the tsa says it is, quote, well positioned to meet rising traveller volumes and is on pace with established benchmarks to meet hiring goals. part of its recruitment pitch includes a $1,000 incentive for new hires. over the weekend, passenger screenings at tsa checkpoints were at about 77% of their prepandemic levels, and it's only expected to push higher. >> the recovery in leisure travel demand is taking almost anyone in the airline industry by surprise. >> reporter: travel industry analyst henry hardevelt says while more tsa staff are needed, airline schedules are part of the problem. >> you can only travel when the airlines have flights going. if they have flights leaving at 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m., that's

when you go. and guess what, if all the other flights are leaving at 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m., there's going to be a bottleneck. everybody needs to pack a little patience as they go to the airport this summer. >> reporter: preach. to mr. hard avet's point, behind me there was a long baggage check-in line. it's lowered as people head to the security line. the tsa is asking office staff to volunteer, they'll help direct traffic, they won't screen luggage. but they are offering existing security officers at these short-staffed airports an extra $500 to work overtime and on their days off. >> erroll barnett reporting. if you think your summer vacation is going to be expensive, how about this? someone just bid $28 million for an 11-minute ride into orbit with amazon ceo jeff bezos. it marks the beginning of a new industry, space tourism. mark stras man reports.

> this is t the b beginning revolulution in s space travel blblue origin n is going t to tu therere. >> reporteter: in blulue origi visionon, yourr tickett to spac a rockeket away. company founder jeff bezos will go up first next month. an 11-minute flight to the edge of spspace. >> it'ss a thing i've wanted to dodo a all my life. >> repeporter: spspace, the fin frontier, , in tourisism. private companieses turningng sciencee fiction i into reality. sir richard brananson's virirg galactic intends s to fly customerss on suborbitalal flil nenext year. 60600 people prepaid up to $250,000 apiece for a future sat. >> people w want to go t to spa shouldld go to space, because ty come back changed. >> reporter: they go up a tourist, come down a an astron. >> this isis where you getet strapppped in. >> repororter: b billionairere isisaacman charterered a spacex spspaceship f for a three-daday ofof earth called "inspiration " a crew of four will fly higher

than the space station. they're all civilians. >> this is a first. making significance, that's responsibility. >> responsibility being the first, that there will be a second and a third and a fourth? >> absolutely. you have to get this one right for all the other great missions to follow. >> reporter: there are special packages available to the international space station, even a planned orbit around the moon. but lots of unanswered questions. is the space tourism market sustainable? what about risk? and access? today's ticket prices defy gravity. and most people's budgets. >> i certainly hope the costs finally start to go down. >> reporter: alan ladwick, formerly of nasa, wrote a book called "see you in orbit." >> i think a lot of people want to go for different reasons, to bring meaning to their lives, to do something different. but i also think some people just want to go because they can afford it and it's going to be a lot of fun. >> reporter: inspiration 4 crew member sion proctor believes

future access is key. >> opening up space for everybody, just, equitable, diverse, inclusive space. >> reporter: for now it's about to become the ultimate vacation selfie. spacee touristss prepapare for lift freedom. it's at the core of who we are. the freedom to live without fear. to jog where we please. to wear a hoodie. the freedom to breathe. before we celebrate the freedom most americans have, we must fight for the freedom all americans deserve. because all lives can't matter, until black lives matter. (veteranan) when covovid-19 h, i lolost my housusing and didn't k know what t to do. without hehelp from vava, i mimight be homomeless. (narrarator) if yoyou or a mer ofof your housusehold servrvn ththe militaryry and are facing fininancial harardshp caused b by covid-1919, va h has resourcrces that cacap you stay i in or obtaiain hous.

cacall the natational callll r for homemeless vetererans. due to covid-19, calling is the best and fastest way to get help. veterans without access to a phone should visit their closest va medical center. hey i'm wilmer valderrama and you probably know me as a pretty funny guy. well, at least, that's what my mom tells me. but today i'm here to talk about a topic that's anything but. it's kidney disease. and thirty-three percent of american adults are at risk. and did you know that diabetes and high blood pressure, which also happen to run in my family, put you at higher risk? in just a minute, you can find out if you're at risk for kidney disease, too. take our quiz at minuteforyourkidneys dot org. (d(drumsticks s rattle, feededback hums)s) (doooor closes i in distance) ♪ ♪ (o(overlappingng voices):: wewe are produducers, engigin,

singerers, songwririters, musis, tour andnd live prododuction cr, anand thousandnds more of f . (male voicice): without t us, the mumusic sto. (oveverlapping v voices): we n need your h help (femalale voice):: toto keep the e music playay. (male e voice): support t those impapacted toda: musisicares.org.g. in any marriage there are challenges. you just don't expect them in the first hour. here's cbs' steve hartman on the road. >> reporter: bride and groom elizabeth and jake landon say their wedding was like a fairytale. was. >> the ceremony was perfect. >> you may kiss your bride. >> everything we could have dreamed of. >> until? >> so my dad was doing his father of the bride speech. and just a minute in, he was interrupted by some of our guests. >> house on fire? >> reporter: that was the end of that. the cottage right next to their wedding venue on mackinaw

island, michigan, caught fire. everyone had to evacuate the area. this is a picture of the "newlyfleds" abandoning their reception. >> i didn't know where we were going, i figured we had to walk away from that. the church. d heading towards - >> reporter: the church where they'd just been married. this time they play prayed for everyone's safety. in the end, no one was hurt, even the building was saved. seemed like the only thing that couldn't be salvaged was their wedding day. but unbeknownst not bride and groom, while they were in that church praying, angels were swooping in from all over town. >> we needed to step and up do the right thing. >> reporter: first, the chef at the venue took all 120 meals, which were only partially prepared, and instructed his staff to get them out. >> we just ran with it. >> reporter: ran those meals to the restaurant next door. >> we just cooked it, sauced it, down the street it went. >> reporter: down the street to a resort that had an event space available.

>> everyon offered, how could they help? we started pulling everything that we had. >> reporter: what they didn't have, yet another restaurant provided. >> so we got it all on a cart, pushed it down main street. >> reporter: that's the other thing. mackinaw island doesn't have cars. so this whole migration was done manually, powered by sheer will and the kindness of strangers, like the bellhop who volunteered to be a bartender. and because of everyone's efforts, in less than an hour, the bride was back to blushing. what did you charge for this help? >> nothing. >> i didn't charge them anything. >> nothing. >> no. >> to have them pick up a reception out of ashes, in a very liter nse, made the weddindding better than we ever could have imagined. and one that, while we don't necessarily recommend, it's a day and an experience that we'll cherish forever. >> reporter: a perfect wedding after all. steve hartman on the road on

mackinaw island, michigan. >> and that's the "overnight news" for this thursday. check back later for "cbs this morning." porting from the it's thursday, june it's thursday, june 17th, 2021. this is the "cbs morning news." historic summit. president biden draws a red line with russian president vladimir putin. his stern warning about cyberattacks targeting the u.s. i stepped out, and it's like a different world. like the heat wave is crazy. >> sweltering heat wave. triple-digit temperatures grip the west. the possible blackouts and power grid problems threatening tens of millions of people. border wall crowd sourcing. how the state of texas is taking on the immigration crisis without help from the biden without help from the biden administration. captioning funded by cbs