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U.S. Presidential Election; Golf Course Getting A Makeover. Aired 4- 4:10a ET

Aired September 08, 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: Good morning. Good afternoon. Good evening. Wherever you are in this world. Go on and smell the flowers and cool the

soup. It is Friday, baby. Let`s finish this week strong and kick our weekend off right. I`m Coy Wire. This is CNN 10 with the latest in

political news. The U.S. presidential election is coming up next year. And several days ago, we covered the first Republican presidential primary

debate and showed you the candidates that will be competing to become the next commander in chief.

While a new CNN poll released yesterday shows how Americans are feeling about the likely democratic nominee, incumbent president Joe Biden and the

direction of the country right now under current leadership. CNN Political Director, David Chalian discussed it on CNN this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: His approval rating is down at 39%, 61% of Americans disapprove. He`s been hanging at that low point guys, for

quite some time. We talk about the mood of the country, 14 months out from a -- from a presidential election, not that great. Three in 10 Americans,

that`s it, say things are going well in the country, 7 in 10 say things are going badly in the country. And 58% of Americans in this poll say that Joe

Biden`s policies have actually worsened economic conditions in the country, only 24% say they`ve improved economic conditions. This is why we hear him

talking about Bidenonics every day. He`s out and about in the country.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: David, the President is the oldest president in history. He was this morning. He will be

tomorrow. That`s just the reality. And White House officials acknowledge that. Don`t love talking about it, but have long made the case. That`s not

the kind of pervasive issue for voters. It`s not going to be the determinant factor. What does this poll show?

CHALIAN: Well, it`s certainly on the mind of voters. We`ll see how important it becomes, but it clearly is a major concern. We ask folks

though, do you think, are you seriously concerned that Biden`s age might negatively affect his ability to serve a full term? Three quarters of

Americans are indeed seriously concerned. Three quarters of Americans don`t agree on anything, but there`s concern there. You see it here too seriously

concerned about his current mental and physical competence being negatively impacted by his age and seriously concerned that his understanding of the

next generation`s concerns are impacted 68% say that and that -- and the economy, as we talked about that is what is behind these numbers.

Why Joe Biden is in a sort of dead heat margin of error race with nearly every Republican tested. Poppy noted that Nikki Haley is the exception to

that. She`s running outside the margin of error. But look at this Trump margin of error race, no clear leader. DeSantis, Pence, Scott, Ramaswamy,

Christie, they are all with no clear leader.

And I just want to know guys, one other thing that is going to cause agita for the White House team is this motivation factor. Are you extremely

motivated to vote in next year`s presidential election? Look at this, Republicans and Republican leaning independents, have a 10-point advantage

over Democrats on that score.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WIRE: Ten second trivia.

In golf, finishing a hole in three shots Under par is called a what?

Birdie, Eagle, Bogey or Albatross?

All of my Albatross bosses, put your hands up. Free under par for an albatross is extremely rare. One under par for birdie, two for Eagle.

Coming up next, we`ve got a golf course that four more than 50 years was perfectly manicured. Nice and neat. It was called the valley view golf club

in Akron, Ohio. But in 2015, it shut down. And today a range of grasses and native flowers are driving a whole new course of action. Accrue chipping

away at a major project in CNN`s Call to earth.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE JOHNSON, CHIEF OF CONSERVATION, SUMMIT METRO PARKS: You see there`s these large flowers down there. There`s some white ones, some pink ones.

That`s a native hibiscus. It`s in the mallow family and the wetland ones. They call them Marsh Mallow, get it. Marsh Mallows, yeah.

My name is Mike Johnson. I`m the Chief of Conservation for Summit Metro Parks. We are at the valley view area of cascade valley Metro Park. Today,

you would never know that this was ever a golf course. The vegetation that you see behind me, 90% of it is native. Whereas when this was a golf

course, 90% of it was non-native and invasive.

LISA KING, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, SUMMIT METRO PARKS: This park is right within the city of Akron limits. And when we started the acquisition, we

realized how important it was to connect the other two parks to this area. It allowed us to knit together 1800 acres. That is something that`s very

difficult to do in a county where everything is beginning to be built out.

JOHNSON: The first choice we had to make is do we allow it to restore on its own, just kind of let it go, or do we take a more active role in that

process? And because this was a golf course, we decided it was necessary to take a more active role.

We had to undo the golf course before we could restore the landscape. The next step was to establish a native cover of vegetation. And rather than

plant trees. We decided to plant nuts. And over the course of a fall, our volunteers brought us a quarter million nuts. And over the course of two

days, 600 volunteers showed up to plant, 120,000 of them.

This is the Cuyahoga River, and we`re looking out over a vast restored flood plain. When we acquired the property, the banks of the river were

steep. They`d been channelized, uh, the golf course, they wanted to keep the water out. We wanted to bring the water back into the landscape.

One of the biggest challenges of any park district is preserving our natural resources. And also at the same time, letting people come in and

enjoy them.

KING: What we knew we needed to do was one more phase where we could bring access to the river for the public. So phase two is under construction now.

JOHNSON: These parks and the wetlands and the streams filter pollutants from the water that we eventually drink. They clean the air. They provide

habitat for wildlife, including a large array of endangered species we have here in Summit County.

They`re also important for people, these are places for people to come and relax to de-stress. They`re important for recreation and connecting with

nature for especially young people to connect with nature and inspire them to become the next generation of land stewards.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WIRE: The endless game foundation in north Kansas city just blew the roof off the record books. They went all out, playing in the longest baseball

game, ever clocking in at a jaw dropping 100 hours and one minute of nonstop action. The old record was just over 83 hours. They played in

shifts, subbing in and out. So nobody got too burned out, but it gets even better.

During this epic five days showdown, the endless game foundation pulled in cash for not one, not two, but seven different charities. Talk about

putting the fun in raising funds.

All right, I have to give two shout-outs today. One to my high school, Cedar Cliff High School in Camp Hill, PA, rise up. You`ll see it. And even

old video of this dude. That`s 14-year-old me. You can apparently notice a difference, right?

My one-hour documentary airs on CNN and Sunday at 8:00 p.m. Eastern. And I have to shout out Mr. Pulsifer and his class at Indian Hills Middle School

in Sandy, Utah. Y`all are so far. You make hot sauce melt. I wish you all an awesome weekend. I`m Coy Wire. This is CNN 10. It`s been a blessing to

spend this week with you.

END