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Situation in Israel and Gaza; A simple Question Leads to a Korean History Lesson; Girl Gets Paid More Than 4,000 Bucks a Week to Play the Card Game, UNO. Aired 4-4:10a ET

Aired October 17, 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. Terrific Tuesday to you. I`m Coy Wire. Thank you for spending part of your day with us right here on CNN 10,

the best 10 minutes in news.

Today, we`re going to be covering a bunch of topics from the situation in Israel and Gaza to the Korean War. We`ll also learn about a girl who gets

paid more than 4,000 bucks a week to play the card game, UNO. That, and more right here on today`s show.

We start with the latest on the war between Israel and Hamas. In Gaza, residents have been leaving their homes and evacuating south. Experts say

conditions there have deteriorated dangerously with serious shortages of clean water and food. That`s as tens of thousands of Palestinians attempt

to flee crippling airstrikes and an impending Israeli ground defensive. And the world is not just watching and waiting, but reacting.

While many are coming out in solidarity for Israel, others around the world are showing support for the Palestinians in Gaza. These protests are

happening in U.S. cities, including Washington, D.C., Chicago, New York. And in Europe, including London and Frankfurt, stretches all the way to

Sydney, Istanbul, and South Africa.

Now, it`s difficult for me to report on and watch something of this magnitude and maybe it is for you too. So on Thursday`s episode, we`re

going to give you a behind the scenes, look at how we, here at CNN, report on what we`re seeing, and we`re even going to offer you some tools, for

managing this type of distressing news.

To help us out, we`ll have a very special guest and we cannot wait for you to see just for you here on CNN 10, where we tell you the what, letting you

decide what to think.

Next up, do you ever wonder about the past lives of your parents or maybe even your grandparents? Well, my friend, CNN Anchor, Amara Walker, decided

to find out. She tells us how she got her father to share his childhood experiences during the Korean War. She says it changed her perception of

her entire family history and her heritage.

History lesson of the day, the Korean War began on June 25th, 1950, the North Korean people`s army wanted to militarily conquer South Korea and

therefore unified Korea under their communist regime. It was also the first war that the United nations played a part in. In fact, when asked to send

military aid to South Korea, 16 countries sent troops and 41 sent equipment or aid. And Americans who participated in the action actually accounted for

90% of those troops. It was a three year bloody and brutal struggle that left millions from both countries dead, and created a refugee crisis that

swept up Amara Walker`s family. Here`s more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: During the Korean War, it was from 1950 to 1953, the communists were abducting young boys into the

communist army. My father remembers the conversation that his mother had with his brothers, and she told them to go escape into the local mountains

and to hide there until the war was over.

No one knew if they were going to see their loved ones again. There was so much more to learn about his history. We all want to know where we come

from, right? Technically, I can say I`m North Korean.

I grew up in Southern California and I really knew nothing about my roots. My childhood, I guess, was pretty normal. For an immigrant family, my

father owned a gardening business. He moved to America in 1974 and he never had a chance to ever go on vacation. I said, hey, what`s your bucket list

vacation? And he is like, well, I`ve been on YouTube a lot. And I`ve been looking a lot at Alaska. Oh, then let`s do it.

We were on this beautiful train ride through Denali National Forest. It was a glass car. This is a horrible photo. But this was inside the train. And I

just randomly asked, hey dad. So tell me about the war. He kind of was taken aback. I obviously don`t think he was expecting that question from

me.

He just started telling me, he was eight or nine years old. It was pure chaos. He said, Amara, I was running for my safety, for my life in the

middle of this war while bombs were flying and I was barefooted. Didn`t even have shoes.

My dad escaped down towards Seoul. That`s a long journey from what is now North Korea. His most vivid memory was being hungry as a child at night.

Like the noise, his tummy would make. I don`t think I had ever seen my father cry until that moment. You know, he was probably holding in all that

pain, that he never talked about with anyone else until Alaska.

That was really a pivotal moment in my life. I understand my father so much more now. You know, we -- I used to always be like, dad, you don`t ever

talk you`re -- you always look so stern. You`re always working, working, working. You always have a goal. And now I know why. He was able to leave,

come to America and build a life for himself and set up his children to succeed. He`s a survivor. I will tell my children when they`re of age,

their roots. So if you want to learn more about yourself, ask questions.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WIRE: Ten second trivia.

What board game was patented on December 31, 1935?

Monopoly, Scrabble, Candy Land, or Chutes and Ladders?

If you said Monopoly, you are correct. Although the rules had been created much earlier in 1903 by a woman named Elizabeth Magie. That`s a story that

had been lost for decades until recently.

Now, ever since games and puzzles have been big business. And for one lucky player, the game UNO has also meant a big paycheck for her. She`s earning

thousands of dollars each month to play the game she loves.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LITZY SANTANA, CHIEF UNO PLAYER, MATTEL: That will be game.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, got it.

SANTANA: Yes, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is 22-year-old Litzy Santana. She just graduated from college a few months ago and now Mattel is paying her to play its new

game, UNO Quatro, with strangers on the streets of New York.

SANTANA: You just won UNO Quatro, yay.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Her salary, $4,444 a week for only four hours per day. That`s almost $278 an hour.

SANTANA: My job responsibilities as Chief UNO Player include one, having fun.

I don`t think you guys are going to beat me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wow.

SANTANA: That`s game.

Number two, explaining the games, the rules of UNO Quatro and then playing some UNO Quatro and hopefully winning a lot.

JARED WATSON, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF MARKETING, NYU: So Chief UNO Player as a campaign is quite fascinating. Everyone says, wow, that is so much money.

It`s irrational to pay an individual that much to play this game. On the flip side, not only will they have the firm generated content, they`ll also

have multitudes of -- of consumer generated content all for the low price of about $18,000.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Litzy isn`t an influencer or a household name. She doesn`t have thousands of followers, but she landed the job anyways. Thanks

to an open call audition on You Guessed It TikTok.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You like playing UNO, you liked making money.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s a tactic on the part of companies like Mattel to draw on younger customers on social media.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, and you should probably be friendly and have really good vibes. Because you`re going to be challenging Randalls to play with

Quatro.

WATSON: When we think about an influencer, traditionally, we think about someone who has an organic following.

SANTANA: And why should I be the first Chief UNO Player? Let me try make a launch real quick.

WATSON: The Chief UNO Player, they were not selected due to their role as an influencer, given that they were given a title from this company,

they`re given credibility.

SANTANA: Here to tell you and give you the ultimate scoop on how to win UNO Quatro every single --

WATSON: Consumers are increasingly skeptical of brands in the marketplace, but having this intermediary, whether it`s an influencer, a creator,

consumers develop what are called parasocial relationships. They treat it like a real relationship. They say this person won`t lie to me. I trust

this person.

SANTANA: 1, 2, 3, 4. Awesome. Love it. Thank you guys.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WIRE: Finally, we`re traveling to the New York Comic Con known for its detailed and extensive costumes. It`s not uncommon to see fans cost playing

all around New York City. The New York Comic Con is an annual New York city fan convention dedicated to all things, comics. That includes everything

from graphic novels to anime, popular media and even video games. The convention was first held in 2006 and its north America`s most attended fan

convention.

Today`s special shout out is going to Mr. Hawk`s class at William Cook in Richmond, B.C., Canada. We hear you watch us every day as part of your

morning routine. And then write in journals about the core values of caring for yourselves, caring for each other and your community. That is

incredible.

And I want to give a shout out to all the educators out there with some teacher time Tuesday. Thank you for inspiring, uplifting and caring for all

of us. Students, give your teacher a handshake, high five or fist bump today and let them know, we see you. I`m Coy Wire and we are CNN 10.

END