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After Three Weeks of Failed Attempts, Congress Elects a Speaker of the House; A Record Storm Slams Into Southern Mexico as Hurricanes Intensify; Ivory Coast Makes Great Use of Plastic Trash; Drone Show Above The Lake in Central Park in New York City Inspired by Starling Birds. Aired 4-4:10a ET
Aired October 26, 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. Let`s go ahead and smell of flowers and
cool the soup. Get our minds right, so we can dominate this day. I`m Coy Wire. This is CNN 10, the best 10 minutes in news.
We start today with news of the new speaker of the house. Republican Congressman Mike Johnson was voted in on Wednesday becoming the 56th
speaker of the House in U.S. history. He represents the Fourth District of Louisiana, serves on the Judiciary and Armed Services Committee. He has a
solidly conservative voting record. He also supported efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
The House of Representatives had effectively been on pause for 22 straight days without a speaker. After Kevin McCarthy was historically voted out of
the position. There were three unsuccessful votes to find a replacement. But now the House can get back to work. One of Speaker Johnson`s first big
challenges will be to pass a spending bill, as without one the government will run out of money on November 17th.
Speaker Mike Johnson is now third in line for the presidency of the United States behind President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Our other top story of the day takes us to Acapulco, Mexico, a major tourist destination and home to some 800,000 people. Residents are now
enduring Hurricane Otis, the strongest storm on record to hit this area of Southern Mexico.
Wednesday morning, Hurricane Otis began as a tropical storm, but accelerated to a Category 5 in just 12 hours` time. The storm`s rapid
intensification was among the fastest on record. That burst of power gave people a little time to prepare.
When we produced this show, the impact of the storm was not yet clear, but reports had indicated that the storm had knocked out all communication. For
the latest on this storm, you can head to CNN.com.
Ten second trivia.
Yamoussoukro and Abidjan are two capital sites of what African nation?
Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Rwanda, or Gabon?
Officially the Republic of Cote d`Ivoire Ivory Coast is your answer here.
We take you now to Ivory Coast, a country in West Africa, between Ghana and Liberia. It is the world`s top cocoa producing nation, as well as the top
cashew producing nation. And it has one of the fastest growing economies in Sub-Saharan Africa. But the Southern City of Abidjan is dealing with a
problem. Trash is piling up, especially plastic. We`re about to learn why and how some locals and creative business leaders are finding ways to use
that trash to make and save some cash. CNN`s Zain Asher has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZAIN ASHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: On the edge of Abidjan in the Ivory Coast, waste is being dumped every day. Most of it, plastic. Hundreds of workers
in the country have long collected waste to sell on the informal market. But now informal workers like Martine San say the process is being
formalized through industrialized recycling circuits, where she`s guaranteed around 16 cents per kilogram.
MARTINE SAN, PLASTIC WASTE COLLECTOR (through translator): We used to collect waste without knowing who we could sell it to. There were no real
outlets, but since we`ve started with this structure, things are better. We are always paid within the week for what we bring back. Since we have this
structure, I have enough money to pay for my children`s school and to feed my family. Sometime I even manage to save a little.
ASHER: Experts, say the move towards formalizing a circular economy for waste in the Ivory Coast benefits the economy at large. According to
UNICEF, only 5% of Abidjan`s waste is currently recycled.
KOPIEU GOUGANOU, INSTITUTE OF CIRCULAR ECONOMY ABIDJAN: In the last few years, it`s developed to the point where we produce fuel from recycled
plastic. There are young startup that have launched this, and it`s something to promote. With plastic, we can also make furniture or tables
and benches for school children. The trash that used to cause us problems must now be seen as a local opportunity.
ASHER: From fuel to furniture entrepreneurs across the country are finding the best ways to utilize plastic trash. One Columbian company, Conceptos
Plasticos has that big on building the circular economy in the Ivory Coast. They`ve built entire schools out of recycled plastic bricks saying the
bricks are 40% cheaper than traditional building materials and are more solid. 30 employees at the company`s Abidjan plant sort, crush, mix and
transform plastic into these bricks. Selling them primarily to programs, run through NGOs like UNICEF.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our business is not to sell bricks. Our business is to have innovative solutions around circular economy.
ASHER: Even though Africa only produces around 5% of the world`s plastic, it`s the continent that`s most affected by plastic waste. Until 2017, Asia
was the primary destination for the world`s plastic waste, largely generated by Western countries. But many Asian countries began taking
action against imported plastic.
In the Ivory Coast, the production import and marketing of plastic bags has been banned since 2013, though, the application of the law has been hard to
enforce.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WIRE: On Tuesday, dozens of states from California to Georgia to Maine filed a lawsuit against Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram
and all of our students out there today are at the heart of this case. The state attorney`s general say that Meta is contributing to an adolescent
mental health crisis, arguing that the company designed Facebook and Instagram to be addictive. They say these platforms give the, "false
promise that meaningful social connection lies in the next story, image, or video and that ignoring the next piece of social content could lead to
social isolation."
Now, Meta issued a statement saying it has over 30 tools to support teens and their families, and that they`re willing to work with agencies to
improve the user experience. But Meta, along with other social media companies like Snapchat and TikTok are infer more legal battles as they
face dozens of similar lawsuits from states like Florida and hundreds more from private individuals. That`s the what, we`ll let you decide what to
think.
Today`s story getting a 10 out of 10 is emblematic of teamwork makes the dream work. Exhibit A, these are starlings swarming, each individual bird
sinking its movements with the others, creating a mesmerizing display of poetry in motion ornithologist, scientists who study birds believe the
patterns they create help the birds confuse and allude predators. Well, these patterns inspired the drone operating artists in our next story to
light up the nighttime sky above central park this past weekend.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RALPH NAUTA, DRIFT CO-FOUNDER: We started our studio in 2007. We were studying bird behavior at the time. Immediately, we thought, how cool would
it be if we would take that movement of birds, but have it tangible in the sky. And that merged into what you see behind us.
So behind us, you see a thousand drones in their docking stations. Every box has like six drones. It looks kind of like your basic drone, but it`s
specifically developed for this application.
LONNEKE GORDIJN, DRIFT CO-FOUNDER: Today, we`re flying a thousand drones. It`s the biggest performance that we have done so far. And we were so happy
to secure the first permit ever in Central Park to fly drones. This is one system, it`s thousand drones that`s that all are connected. And -- and with
one press on the bottom, they come in the air.
Really our goal to bring people with lots of different backgrounds and different moments in their life together in this moment. And that everyone
relaxes and gets tuned into the same frequency.
The art piece is called Franchise Freedom. It`s for us to understand that in society, we have to make sacrifices to function together as a social
structure. If you look at birds swarms, you know, in our mind, it`s this most free flying beautiful organic shape, but in reality, it`s really like
based on very specific rules. For me, that is what this swarm represents. It`s this collective body of individuals functioning as a group to be the
most sufficient, beautiful outcome of multiple cultures and different people coming together to be the best version of itself.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WIRE: Shout out to all of our bright shining lights out there. You know, American poet, Henry David Thoreau once said, it`s not what you look at
that matters, it`s what you see. Let`s make it a great Thursday. Or as we like to say, Happy Friday Eve. Today`s shoutout is going to the Jaguars at
Blue Springs South High School in blue Springs, Missouri, rise up. I`m Coy Wire. And we are CNN 10.
END
