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United Nations General Assembly Kicking Off This Week; Raging Wildfires are Breaking Records in South America; Helping Sea Turtles Find Their Way Home. Aired 4-4:10a ET
Aired September 23, 2024 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ISABEL ROSALES, CNN 10 ANCHOR: Hello everyone, I`m Isabel Rosales filling in today for Coy, who has the day off. It is so good to be with you.
It is Monday, September the 23rd, and I`ve got 10 minutes to get you caught up on your news for the day right here on CNN 10.
We begin in New York City where the U.N. General Assembly kicks off this week. It is an annual meeting of world leaders that has happened every year
since the United Nations was founded back in 1945. The summit features speeches from presidents and prime ministers from all over the world and
lots of meetings about important international topics.
But this year`s UNGA takes place against a backdrop of global conflict. There`s the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. Russia invaded Ukraine
in 2022 and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is due to give a speech on Wednesday.
Then there is a growing conflict in the Middle East. Israel has been at war with Hamas since a terrorist group attacked its citizens on October 7th.
More than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in this ongoing war.
And now the conflict appears to be spreading as tensions between Israel and another terrorist group in the region known as Hezbollah escalate.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has already delayed his trip to New York for the United Nations General Assembly because of what`s
happening there. Hezbollah has one of the most powerful paramilitary forces in the Middle East and its main base sits on the Israel-Lebanon border.
There have been some skirmishes between Israel and Hezbollah since October the 7th. But in the last week, they have traded their most intense fire. It
ramped up after a suspected secret operation by Israel to blow up wireless devices belonging to members of Hezbollah. The Israeli government has not
acknowledged that.
But Hezbollah retaliated, firing scores of rockets and missiles over the weekend into Israel. Most of those were intercepted, but some fell, causing
damage.
Israel also carried out hundreds of strikes inside Lebanon. And what the military said was preemptive action against a planned Hezbollah attack.
Because of this intensifying situation, the U.S. State Department is warning Americans not to travel to Lebanon and says they should leave if
they`re already there.
Next up, we head to South America, where the continent is setting records for the number of wildfires seen in a year. From Brazil`s Amazon rainforest
to Peru`s croplands, officials there are doing what they can to fight the flames as climate conditions become more severe.
CNN`s Gustavo Valdes reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUSTAVO VALDES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Amazon region is on fire. Flames engulf large swathes of land, mainly in Brazil and Peru,
overwhelming responders and polluting the air in many countries struggling to contain the blaze.
This week, the Peruvian president declared three regions under state of emergency, as firefighters do their best to contain the fires.
I beg you to stop burning grassland, says Gustavo Adrianzen, president of the Council of Ministers who said every single one of the more than 200
fires reported in all but two of the country`s 26 regions were allegedly started by humans, trying to clear land for agricultural purposes. He says
Peru has limited resources and has not ruled out requesting help from the International Community. So, far, at least 16 people have died because of
the fires, according to the government.
A severe drought in the Amazon is making things worse. This is a regional crisis, says Adrianzen, explaining that the drought extends throughout the
whole Amazon region. Also affecting Ecuador, Brazil, and Paraguay. Brazil, South America`s largest country, is struggling to contain the fires.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva says they will spend some $90 million dollars in their efforts to control the flames.
The drought in Amazonia is so severe that sections of the mighty Amazon River are so shallow that ships can`t navigate it. Even those not in the
path of the fires are at risk.
Dr. Aldo Villavicencio says the air quality over much of Bolivia is too dangerous. The government there has encouraged schools to go back to
virtual learning to avoid exposure to toxic air.
Almost 60 active fires were reported in Bolivia in one week. More than 3,000 firefighters are deployed on the ground, while planes dump water from
the air to assist in their efforts.
September is typically the rainy season in the region. But this year, experts doubt it will be enough to stop the fires.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROSALES: It is time for 10-second trivia. The hatchlings of, what animal have only a one in 1,000 survival rate in the wild? Is it penguins,
alligators, sea turtles or ostrich?
The right answer here is sea turtles. They face a number of dangers like prey and pollution, and all seven species are endangered.
With sea turtles facing so many threats, efforts to protect them are underway. One island on the coast of Georgia has become a safe haven for
sea turtles. During nesting season, only red lights are allowed on the beach at night because other light colors can be disruptive to hatchlings.
CNN`s Elisa Raffa gives us a look at the most robust sea turtle conservation effort in the country.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELISA RAFFA, CNN WEATHER ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A trek from sand to sea.
(On camera): Someone got stuck in a footprint, but he made it out.
(Voice over): Leaving behind their own tracks as they follow the glow of the moonlight.
(On camera): We don`t want to use any other type of white light that could disorient them or confuse them.
(Voice over): The red lights guide experts on nighttime patrols as they check on nest.
DAVIDE ZAILO, RESEARCH PROGRAM MANAGER, GEORGIA SEA TURTLE CENTER: All these little markings, these are all crabs.
RAFFA (voice over): And other signs in the sand.
ZAILO: We`re looking for large turtles coming from the ocean, the tracks left by one as they emerged, or hatchling tracks, which are much, much
smaller. We are just about to get on to Driftwood Beach.
RAFFA (voice over): Scientists and students have been monitoring the beaches of Jekyll Island, Georgia for more than 50 years.
Today, Davide Zailo and his research team continue that work on one of the most robust sea turtle conservation programs in the country.
(On camera): Sea turtles really respond to temperature, so the experts here do a lot of patrols late at night and early in the morning, when those
temperatures are coolest.
(Voice over): More intense storms and higher seas could flood these nests more often, eroding habitats moms need to lay these eggs.
ZAILO: Let`s get back down in there and confirm that we have eggs. And we do. Here there`s a lot of loggerhead sea turtle egg. We`re going to let
them safely excavate. Now that we know exactly where that egg chamber is, we`ll put a flag here. Grab some managed materials. And we`re going to put
this right center over this nest.
RAFFA (voice over): A mom can lay more than a hundred eggs at a time, but for every 1,000 eggs laid, only one hatchling makes it to adulthood, an
increasingly difficult feat due to climate change.
(On camera): Are they coming up faster because it`s getting warmer?
ZAILO: Yes, so you certainly see that, but there is -- there`s an upper limit where it`s going to be too hot, and that development is actually
going to arrest and halt.
RAFFA (voice over): Eggs incubating in an environment temperature cooler than 82 degrees hatch male, hotter than 88 degrees hatch female.
As our climate warms and many more eggs are hatching as female, creating an imbalanced gender ratio for an already endangered species.
ZAILO: We just have to be ready, prepare as best as we can, and learn as much as we can about these animals beforehand, so we can proactively try to
improve management and improve resiliency here across the coast.
RAFFA (voice over): Reducing plastic, regulating coastal development and paying attention while boating and fishing are huge steps that help these
little ones take more of these steps.
These tiny but mighty turtles waddled the Earth with the dinosaurs, now facing their toughest test of resilience against our warming climate and
changing coast to find their way back home.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROSALES: Today`s story getting a 10 out of 10, is this unbelievable renovation. This farmhouse in Maine had to relocate some residents before
construction started inside the home because of a massive colony of bees. The honeybees had apparently been living inside the wall for decades.
It looks like there are a bazillion of them, but the actual number is around 40,000 bees. They were moved to a beehive box outside the farmhouse
to keep on buzzing.
"Hive" got a feeling those little guys are going to love their new home.
All right, superstars, it is the best part of our show. It`s time to send a shout out to Mountain Lake Academy in Lake Placid, New York. We see you.
That is our show for today. Thanks for letting me be your guest host to start off the week. Coy will be back here tomorrow.
We are CNN 10.
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