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CNN 10
A Gathering Of World Leaders; CNN`s Champions for Change, The Man Behind "Adaptive Surfing"; Unexpected Customer That Surfaced at a Starbucks Drive-Thru. Aired 4-4:10a ET
Aired September 20, 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: What`s up sunshine? I`m Coy Wire. This is your CNN 10, especially on a #YourWordWednesday. Follow me @coywire on
Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok, and put your unique vocabulary word and definition in the comment section of my most recent post. And we`ll choose
a winner to work into tomorrow`s show. Let`s go.
We start with the United Nations General Assembly in New York, also known as the UNGA. Every year world leaders and members of the United Nations or
U.N. gather here for an international summit. This is their 78th session with 140 heads of state and government scheduled to attend, including U.S.
President Joe Biden and Ukraine`s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. This will be Zelenskyy`s first in-person appearance at the summit, since Russia
invaded Ukraine in 2022. The U.N. has 17 big goals known as sustainable development goals. They range from ending poverty and hunger to improving
education, gender equality, and climate action. All those goals and more are on the table this year.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OMAR JIMENEZ, UNITED NATIONS: It`s the United Nations meeting place for most of the world`s countries from the most powerful, such as the United
States, China and Russia to the smallest and most vulnerable. The U.N. has been involved in everything from assisting refugees to negotiating peace
among nations. Of all the languages in the world, the U.N. uses six to communicate, (through translation) Arabic, Chinese, English, French,
Russian and Spanish.
In some combination of those six, the U.N. deliberates on global issues. For judicial matters, they look to the international court of justice, the
economic and social council, otherwise known as ECOSOC deals with you guess it, the world`s economic social and environmental issues. The trusteeship
council helps countries become self-governed and independent while the secretariat, another part of the U.N. family tackles day to day issues that
include keeping the press informed.
(On camera): Where I`m standing is one of the more recognizable places in the U.N., the Security Council. It determines threats to international
peace and works to solve those problems right here in this chamber, a gift from Norway in 1952. And on top of that, this council selects the secretary
general.
(Voice-over): Who is then formally appointed by the General Assembly, the main representative body of the U.N. The GA as it`s called meets from
September to December every year, but the world`s problems don`t exactly follow the calendar. The U.N. has to operate year-round. And one of the
ways they`re staying current is through social media and you can follow the organization in any of its official languages.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WIRE: Also in attendance at this year`s summit, Iran`s President Ebrahim Raisi. He addressed the United Nations General Assembly in New York on
Tuesday after Iran made headlines this week over a prisoner release agreement with the United States. Ahead of the UNGA, Iran released five
Americans who had been detained there some for years. They landed in Washington D.C. yesterday.
In return, the U.S. released five Iranians and unpro (ph) 6 billion of Iranian funds. Republicans, including Senator Lindsay, Graham and Ted Cruz
have criticized this deal. Some say it sets a dangerous precedent. In a statement from the White House, though, Biden said his administration has
always prioritized reuniting wrongfully detained Americans with their loved ones. He also warned Americans not to travel to Iran and said the United
States would continue to impose costs on the country.
Pop quiz hotshot. In surfing, to what does the term "hang 10" refer?
Performing a trick that scores 10 points, A 10-second ride, Surfing with at least 10 friends, Hanging 10 toes over the board?
Very skilled surfers can walk to the front of a long board and hang all 10 of their toes over the front of the board.
Our CNN series Champions for Change brings you stories about everyday people who are lifting humanity up. My champion is Jesse Billauer. And his
story reminds us that when we don`t give up, we cannot fail. When Jesse was 17, he was named one of the top 100 surfers in the world, just weeks from
turning pro. But one morning he was thrown head first into shallow water and was instantly paralyzed. But he didn`t give up, he helped to create
adaptive surfing, went on to win three world titles, and he created life rolls on the foundation, which helps people discover and rediscover their
potential that lies within.
JESSE BILLAUER: The feeling that I get when I`m on the water, and that`s when I feel the most free. When I was a kid, I fell in love with surfing.
By the time I was a teenager, I was on the right path to becoming a professional surfer and Surfer Magazine named me as like one of the top a
hundred surfers in the country. People, they don`t understand how lucky they are until something like that`s taken away.
WIRE: Take us back to that day, March, 1996?
BILLAUER: And the day it was beautiful, the waves were really good. And I took off on a wave and pulled inside the barrel. And when I came out, the
wave hit me in my back and I didn`t have too much time to put my hands up. It was shallower than I thought. And I hit my head on the -- the bottom. My
whole body just went limp and numb. And I knew I couldn`t move. After that, I woke up in the hospital in this rotating bed.
When the doctor told me that I broke the sixth vertebrae in my neck and that I was paralyzed, I was devastated. I mean, like I`m 17 years old. I`m
in high school. I`m about to be a professional surfer. And now I`m paralyzed. All I wanted to do was just be a kid and be with my friends. And
it was a difficult time because I didn`t know what my life was going to look like.
WIRE: Growing up for me, sports were my life, just like Jesse Billauer. My dream was to make it to the NFL. I made it, but in my sixth season and I
had a really scary moment. I -- I hit this guy and his head came down and slammed right on top of mine. And I got this burning sensation down my
neck. There was this tingling sensation, like pins and needles down my right arm. And I didn`t really have any strength in it. So I needed
surgery. They put a plate, four screws keeping my fifth and sixth vertebrae together.
Fortunately for me, I was able to come back, but not everyone who gets a spinal cord injury can make it out on the other side. The same as they were
before. What happened to Jesse, it probably would`ve completely ruined most of us. But Jesse found out a way to shine.
BILLAUER: And so it took a few years to really get back into the water to surf, because nobody was really doing this before me. Started doing it more
often and figuring it out.
WIRE: And Jesse Billauer is a trailblazer. He`s one of the pioneers of adaptive surfing. The International Surfing Association created the world
para surfing championships in 2015. Jesse`s won it three times. The thing is Jesse not only got himself back up, he`s now helping people around the
world. He started his foundation Life Roll On.
BILLAUER: We take people with various disabilities, surfing skateboarding, and now fishing. We offer these things free to the public.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For us, having her not in pain all the time and happy as you could see, it gets us through all the hard times.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because I never thought I could serve. And when I met you, it made a big difference in my life.
BILLAUER: It`s amazing, be able to get back and to see the smiles on their face and the parents` face. And I mean, to me, that`s priceless. At the end
of the day when the lights and the cameras and the people are all back at their house to be paralyzed, lose that independence, that freedom, that`s
the real stuff. That people need to like see. Surfing and all that`s easy. Being paralyzed is hard.
I don`t think our circumstances truly define us because to me as I`m in a wheelchair, I shouldn`t be able to surf, but I look at it like I just do it
in a different way. Figure out the strength with inside you and then you can help other people. I`m Jesse Billauer and I`m a surfer.
Finally some baristas at a Starbucks in River Falls, Wisconsin got an alpaca surprise at the drive through window.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KERRI HARTING, OWNER OF EAGLE EYE FARM: Yes, I`d like a Pup Cup for my alpaca, please.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WIRE: Me, Oliver, the alpaca going viral after his owner, Kerri, drove him to get a treat at Starbucks. He didn`t drink coffee or even lemonade, just
straight whipped cream homie. Of course, the baristas had their phones ready and the videos have gotten millions of views on TikTok.
Now back at Oliver`s Farm, Eagle Eye Farms, you can do yoga with Oliver and his alpacas, you could also behoove you to not try to stretch your next leg
then, though. These alpacas even got introduced to some football being from Wisconsin. I guess we could call them the Green Bay Alpakers.
All right. Remember, #YourWordWednesday puts your vocab board in the comment section of my most recent post on Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok
with the school and teacher names too. And I`ll pick one winner to sneak into tomorrow`s show.
Special shout out today goes to the owls of Wake Young Leadership Academy in Raleigh, North Carolina, rise up. Brooklyn, Dr. Terry, you rock.
END
