Today's Show Transcript
COY WIRE, CNN 10 ANCHOR: What's up, everybody? Welcome to another episode of CNN 10, where we tell you the what, letting you decide what to think. I'm Coy Wire. Hope you're having an awesome day.
We have some really interesting stories to get to today, and we're going to start with this one. Do you love to fly, and are you looking for a new challenge? Because there's one airline that may just have the ticket for you. Offering a new route, they're touting as the world's longest direct flight. They say it's also the first commercial flight to connect to antipodal cities or cities on opposite sides of the earth.
China Eastern Airlines has this long-haul flight that is a marathon. It'll take you from Shanghai, China to Buenos Aires, Argentina in about 25 hours. The return leg is a whopping 29 hours, but there's a catch. Both legs have a two hour stop in New Zealand. So, while it's technically direct, it's not nonstop. So, which airline does hold the crown for longest nonstop flight? That would be Singapore Airlines. Their direct flight from Singapore to New York City covers 9,537 miles over more than 18 hours. Our Richard Quest actually took that trip back in 2018.
This new flight is also opting for an unusual southern flight path, crossing some of the world's most remote waters, even getting close to Antarctica. It's a choice the airline says will help shave at least four hours off of the total journey.
Have you ever heard of a ghost ship? It's a term for a sunken ship that's expected to never be found. Well, there's this one ghost ship out there that has now been found.
A 144-foot boat sank to the bottom of Lake Michigan way back in 1886, and it's just been discovered after decades of searching. The FJ King met its unfortunate end during a ferocious storm off the coast of Wisconsin. The crew was rescued by a passing schooner, but the ship disappeared. It's gone. And a joint effort by the Wisconsin Historical Society and the Wisconsin Underwater Archaeology Association just announced their big find this week. This calls for a --
Did you know? Lake Erie, which touches the U.S. states of Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, and Michigan, has the world's highest density of shipwrecks. The Great Lakes altogether are home to anywhere from 6,000 to 10,000 shipwrecks, most of which remain undiscovered.
The ships that have been discovered so far have largely been found well-preserved. Why? Because the Great Lakes are cold freshwater lakes, which helps keep wood and metal from degrading.
But efforts to find them have ramped up recently because they are increasingly being destroyed by an invasive species of mussels.
Pop quiz, hot shot.
What was the first Latin American country to eliminate illiteracy nationwide?
Brazil, Cuba, Mexico, or Argentina?
If you said Cuba, muy bien. Led by Fidel Castro in 1961, an aggressive campaign to teach all adults and teens to read reduced the illiteracy rate from about 20% to under four in less than a year.
Starting all over in a new country. Well, that would take guts, grit, maybe a little caffeine. CNN's Boris Sanchez knows that firsthand. He's a Cuban-American immigrant who understands the challenges of finding your path in a brand-new place. So, he headed to New Jersey to visit a Cuban cafe that's doing way more than serving strong coffee and pastelitos. It's helping Cuban-Americans build their futures one cup at a time.
Here's Boris with the story and probably some cafecito.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ADAM SAN MIGUEL, CEO, CORTADITOS: I'm very proud of Cortaditos, a five-store, going to be six- soon, Cuban coffee shop chain. We're building careers and pathways to resettling and growing in this country, and to support specifically Cuban-American students.
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: I am a Cuban-American immigrant, and my family came to the United States the day that I turned 3. I feel very connected to Adam in part because of our shared background and the idea that our families fled our homeland in order to create a new life.
Coming to Cortaditos feels like a slice of home. It feels like I'm back in Miami sharing cafecito and talking about the events of the day.
You hire a lot of Cuban migrants.
SAN MIGUEL: We are very purposeful about it. So, we work with refugee resettlement agencies, and we go specifically to their job fairs, and we recruit. And so, I always tell them, I want you to have a career with us or a career without us, and we're going to help you get there.
IVONNE BENITEZ, CORTADITOS MANAGER (through translator): As a young girl, I always wanted to leave Cuba. I came to achieve a dream, to be a professional.
SANCHEZ (through translator): What would be your goal now for yourself?
BENITEZ (through translator): My first goal is to learn English and improve myself a little more, because I really would like to know a little more about business.
SANCHEZ: It can be extremely intimidating as a new arrival in the United States to try to carve a path for yourself and your family, especially if you don't speak English. What Adam is doing at Cortaditos is giving an express lane to these folks to assimilate and to pursue their dreams.
SAN MIGUEL: When I say welcome, you say, CAALE. Welcome.
GROUP: CAALE!
SAN MIGUEL: I founded CAALE in 2013, the Cuban American Alliance for Leadership and Education.
Our mission is to build leadership capacity in the next generation of Cuban-American leaders. We give out three $10,000 scholarships a year, and the goal of the program is to build a professional, one that is successful in their career, has a spirit of service, and they know and care about their cultural identity, which is Cuba.
My grandfather always marveled at how big and how great this country was, and he always knew the opportunity was there. If he would have saw, you know ...
SANCHEZ: Of course.
SAN MIGUEL: ... not just what I have accomplished, because I don't think owning a coffee shop is so special, but I know he would be very, very proud of how I did it. He would be proud because I did it helping people.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WIRE: Today's story getting a 10 out of 10. A group of young athletes from Afghanistan celebrating victory before they even take the pitch. FIFA is backing their bid to compete as the first Afghan refugee women's football team. Our Amanda Davies has this inspirational story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELAHA SAFDARI, AFGHAN SOCCER PLAYER: Obviously, just an amazing moment for all of us. I can't wait to share it with my family.
They're probably going to see me from TV, but the thing is, it's how sad it is that I don't have them by my side to celebrate them like other -- my teammates who are going to share with their family.
AMANDA DAVIES, CNN WORLD SPORT: In 2021, Elaha was 17 and had earned her first call up for the Afghan women's national team as a goalkeeper. She never got to play.
For her and her teammates, their role as footballers and what that meant in the eyes of the Taliban meant they were forced to flee their homes and country.
Elaha's father was ill, so her parents were unable to travel. She and her brother had to leave without them.
(On camera): I feel very honored being your passenger after you just passed your test. Am I safe?
SAFDARI: Yes. Like you guys should trust me.
DAVIES: For everything they've lost, there are so many ways this group live in defiance of the rules the Taliban have imposed on women in Afghanistan -- learning to drive, gaining an education, securing jobs and playing football.
(On camera): The only thing they've not been able to do is go from playing their football here in Doncaster to representing their country, wearing the shirt of Afghanistan on the international stage.
NARGES MAYELI, AFGHAN SOCCER PLAYER: FIFA has said that Afghanistan's women national team title should come from Afghanistan Football Federation which we do not accept. And it is running by Taliban now, and we do not recognize Taliban.
ZAINAB MOZZAFARI, AFGHAN SOCCER PLAYER: We want the people to recognize us as an international women -- Afghan, and we are tired of calling -- get called "refugee." We've been called "refugee" for four years now.
DAVIES: Because the Taliban believe women playing sports is against Sharia law and have refused to acknowledge the women's team, their ability to play internationally has depended on the intervention of world football's governing body, FIFA.
It has taken until now for them to create the Afghan women's refugee team. Set to take part in a four-team tournament in Dubai in October.
None of this would have been possible without Khalida Popal, the first-ever captain of the original Afghan women's side, founded in 2007.
KHALIDA POPAL, FORMER AFGHAN SOCCER CAPTAIN: We have been screaming out loud. We have been knocking every closed door to listen, to get FIFA's attention, to listen to our voices. And we have really faced silence. For four years, these girls lost their time.
DAVIES: FIFA did not respond to our questions about the desire of some of the players to be referred to as the national team.
It did, however, stress in a statement that its financing facilities and personnel in what it called a significant and landmark step forward in giving Afghan players the international platform and recognition to which they aspire.
GROUP: Afghanistan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WIRE: That is awesome stuff. All right also awesome, you. Shout out time. This first one goes to Miss Lipscomb at Holbrook Middle School in Lowell North Carolina. Zaley one of the students there you've been showing the show so much love so we need to return the favor. So, go Lions. Rise up.
And this shout out goes to Miss Pete at the St. Ann's School in Thunder Bay Ontario Canada. Oh you're getting me ready for the cold weather.
Excellent swag, thank you very much.
Remember kindness is free so sprinkle that stuff all over like glitter. Have an awesome day, everyone. I'm Coy Wire and we are CNN 10.
ENDCNN 10's Weekly News Quiz
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