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March on Washington Exactly 60 Years Ago; Severe Drought Affecting the Panama Canal; Toxic Algae Impacting Wildlife. Aired 4-4:10a ET
Aired August 28, 2023 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
COY WIRE, CNN 10 ANCHOR: Hello, sunshine. It is time to rise up and fuel our minds. Great to be back after what was hopefully an awesome weekend.
What was your favorite part? Message me @Coywire. Mine was meeting so many of you who came up to say hello, like Ellie, Lilly and Maddie representing
Beacon Hill Middle School in Decatur, Georgia, rise up.
Since Monday is mostly just a state of mind. Let`s get our minds right and start this week off strong, shall we. Let`s brush up on some history to
start, 60 years ago today more than 250,000 people congregated at the Lincoln Memorial for the March on Washington for jobs and freedom. That`s
where civil rights leader, Martin Luther king Jr. gave his famous, "I have a Dream" speech, this speech and the movement from the 1960s pushed to
advocate for equal civil and economic rights for African Americans.
It also called to end segregation, ensure fair wages and economic justice advocate for equal voting rights and education, among other things. It`s
one of the most famous days in history and historically credited with putting pressure on then President John F. Kennedy and his administration
to initiate a federal civil rights bill in Congress.
On Sunday, tens of thousands of people assembled at the same location to spread the message that the fight against racial inequality is not yet
over. The event was a Testament to the enduring influence of the original March on Washington. And that MLK`s legacy of pushing for civil rights is
still relevant today.
Up next, CNN National Correspondent, Jason Carroll met with two men who were at the March on Washington 60 years ago today.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do we want now?
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was a call for economic and racial equality, a call to action that brought more than
200,000 people to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on August 28th, 60 years ago. A day best remembered for Martin Luther King Jr.`s historic "I
Have a Dream" speech.
MARTIN LUTHER KING JR., CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER: Now is the time to make real, the promises of democracy.
CARROLL: Among the hundreds of thousands, two young activists who were filled with hope.
COURTLAND COX, CHAIRMAN, SNCC LEGACY PROJECT: I was all the way in the top.
CARROLL (On camera): All the way in the top, over to the left.
COX: Yeah, over to the left.
CARROLL (voice-over): Courtland Cox is now 82, but 60 years ago, he was a 22-year -old working for the Civil Rights Organization`s SNCC, The Student
Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.
COX: And what I remember is the platform is there in the mid-center.
CARROLL: Edward Flanagan was there too.
(On camera): Where were you?
EDWARD FLANAGAN, ATTENDED MARCH ON WASHINGTON IN 1963: I was sitting on the wall up top there by the entertainers.
CARROLL (voice-over): Flanagan is 80 now, but on the day of the march, he was a 20-year-old who had just finished his shift as a waiter. Like scores
of others, he wanted to take a stand for civil rights.
FLANAGAN: I was very close to Joan Baez. OK, I was able to notice she was barefoot. And I had on a new pair of shoes.
CARROLL (on camera): She was barefoot?
FLANAGAN: She was barefoot.
(MUSIC)
CARROLL (voice-over): A march six decades ago now seen through the eyes of two different men who shared the same goal many did that day.
FLANAGAN: It was, in fact, a march for jobs and freedom.
COX: Our thought to today is that we succeeded in changing this country.
CARROLL: As a young organizer, Cox was responsible for arranging safe transportation for people making the trek from the south to Washington,
D.C. He says there were challenges from top to bottom. Much had to be done in very little time.
(On camera): The challenge from the bottom was the logistics of getting people here. Over an eight-week period, I`m trying to get trailways buses.
I`m trying to get greyhound buses. And the drivers are saying, look, it`s dangerous bringing people to the south.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`ve been here before. You`re never been here before.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`ve never been here before.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, that`s very --
CARROLL (voice-over): This week, Flanagan brought his daughters back to the place history was made.
FLANAGAN: That`s the fact where the entertainers were.
CARROLL: Cox prefers to stay away this time, saying his marching days are behind him. Both agree while much was accomplished that day, the work is
not over.
FLANAGAN: We are still, well, in a much better place than we were in `63, not in the place where one would expect 60 years on.
COX: We succeeded in doing a number of things by what we did in the past, but we also know that we have to do much more for the future.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WIRE: Ten second trivia. In what country would you find? The engineering Marvel nickname, the world`s greatest shortcut?
China, Brazil, Panama, or South Africa?
If you said Panama, put your hands up. The Panama canal saves about 8,000 nautical miles. When ships travel between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans
to the east and west coast of the U.S.
Panama, a country in central America is having one of their driest seasons on record and vessels. Traveling through the Panama canal are in a bit of a
conundrum. The Panama canal is a 50-mile waterway that was completed in 1914 to connect the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and to decrease travel
times for ships. It`s very important for maritime trade and allows ships to avoid traveling all the way around south America.
But now use of the canal is in jeopardy because of lower water levels. That`s being caused by a lack of rainfall this year, which is impacting the
fresh water lakes nearby upon which the canal relies. The system uses at least 50 million gallons of water for each vessel that floats through.
In response canal, authorities have imposed restrictions on things like daily traffic and how much each vessel can weigh. Just this week, they
extended the restrictions for another 10 months while the direct impact to U.S., consumers, retailers and manufacturers seems to be minimal right now.
The potential for more disruptions are growing. We`ll continue to follow this story for you right here on CNN 10.
This summer beach goers have found hundreds of sea lion and dolphins washed up across the shores of Southern California. Some of the animals sick, some
dying. And Marine life experts believe a harmful algae bloom is to blame. The algae is called pseudo-nitzschia and it produces a neurotoxin which can
be poisonous to sea birds and fish, and can then travel all the way up to food chain, making larger animals like dolphins, sea lions, and even humans
sick. CNN Correspondent, Stephanie Elam visited a marine animal care center to learn how they`ve been rescuing and caring for a sea lion with the goal
of getting them back to the ocean.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A joyous moment months in the making, as two six sea lion now fully recovered, burst onto a Southern
California beach slide into the sea and swim off to freedom. The journey back into open water for these two was long and uncertain, which made
preparing for the release all the more rewarding.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everybody ready?
ELAM: The sea lions were driven to nearby Cabrillo beach for their final release. Thanks to the heroic efforts of animal rescuers at the Marine
Mammal Care Center.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m sorry, sweetheart.
ELAM: Who have been treating more than 120 sea lions for domoic acid poisoning in recent months, some sea lines didn`t survive despite being
treated, poisoned by an extended toxic algal bloom along the Southern California coast, that spread from Santa Barbara to San Diego.
JOHN WARNER, CEO, MARINE MAMMAL CARE CENTER: It was the worst for many reasons, the size, the scale, the scope of it, but also the toxicity of the
algae.
ELAM: CNN was there, the day rescuers found one of the two sea lion released this week.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She is having a small seizure. What we`ll do is just be very gentle with her.
ELAM: She`s now known as Sophie. Sophie gained 35 pounds while in the center`s care. And that adds up to a lot of fish. The extreme crisis
stretched the center`s ability to care for so many six sea lion. Algal blooms occur in nature, but this year, the high levels of toxins led to
record poisoning. This one, growing stronger alongside his mother every day is now able to participate in puppy playtime, socializing with other baby
sea lions until the pups and their mothers are able to be released as well and join the first two ready, willing, and finally able to return to the
sea.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WIRE: And today`s story getting a 10 out of 10 is really measuring up to be a good one. We`re talking, measuring all sorts of critters like penguins
and parrots, all being weighed and measured by these zookeepers at a London Zoo. Imagine having that job where you have to figure out how am I going to
get this critter to stay on the scale.
Now every year, the zoo measures and weighs thousands of animals like this cute little monkey and holy moly, even spiders. Keep that thing away from
me. They`re going to record these important statistics that can also help to measure their health and wellbeing.
All right, I have a Monday motivation challenge for you. Try saying the alphabet backwards as fast as you can. Z, Y, X, W, V, U, T, S, R, Q, P, O,
N, M, L, K, J, I, H, G, F, E, D, C, B, A, like that.
All right, today`s special shout out this magnificent Monday goes to Summit Virtual Academy in Salisbury, North Carolina, shine bright y`all. I`m Coy
Wire. We are CNN 10 and we`ll see you tomorrow.
END
