A Visit to 'The Land of Enchantment'

Hello, sunshine. Welcome to another CNN tent. field trip i'm koi wire happy friday i'm here in the great southwest and picturesque new mexico i'm in the town of hatch which is considered the chili capital of the world i'm going to turn up the heat on my taste buds and things are going to definitely get spicy but today

also a bit bittersweet. It's our last week of daily shows before heading into summer break, but I'll still be with you next week. More on that later in the show. Let's get to your 10 minutes of news where I tell you the what letting you decide what to think.

Did you know New Mexico is home to the world's largest gypsum dune field? Gypsum, a powdery sulfate mineral, is rarely found as sand because it dissolves easily in water. But New Mexico's dry desert and weather patterns make it the perfect environment. for this unique geological formation. Check this out. Welcome to White Sand National Park in New Mexico, a vast, vivid valley of sparkling white dunes stretching as far as the eye can see. At 275 square miles, it's the largest gypsum dune field

in the world. This dazzling desert is the result of millions of years of geological gyrating. Mountains rose, ancient seas receded, gypsum-rich water evaporated, leaving this sensational. This area has played some significant roles in American history. Nearby White Sands Missile Range is famous for its role in technological testing. 60 miles north, the world's first atomic bomb was detonated July of 1945. And today, Just next door is Holloman Air Force Base.

Next up, we cover the recent news out of Gaza where Israel allowed aid trucks to enter the enclave for the first time in almost three months. The trucks were loaded with flour, baby formula, and food supplements to be distributed by aid agents. on the ground there. This World Food Program supported bakery received much needed flour and began baking bread for the first time in 11 weeks.

Israel says the blockade, along with a new military campaign, is intended to pressure the terror group Hamas, which has been operating out of Gaza. They say they're trying to force the release of the dozens of hostages still being held by Hamas. In Gaza, there are many Palestinian people who are innocent, not affiliated with the terror group. And sadly, the closures by Israel have caused severe food shortage and malnutrition that's impacting them as well.

Instead of five trucks, 500 are needed to provide sufficient food for the Gaza Strip. Most people's health has deteriorated. They can barely survive. We want essential supplies like flour, rice and cooking oil to enter without being tied to political conditions. Officials from the World Food Program told CNN Israel will need to allow much more aid to enter Gaza to feed the struggling population.

Earlier this month, we brought you an in-depth CNN report on an environmental crisis affecting Florida's manatees. Their food supply, seagrass, has become scarce in their native waters, causing large numbers of them to starve. Now, the nonprofit organization... to protect their food source just had a big win in court.

I was ecstatic. It felt like Christmas for the manatees. Katrina Shaddix and the group Bear Warriors United are celebrating a giant leap forward for the protection of manatees in Florida. We recently saw firsthand where the manatees are starving to death in Florida's Indian River Lagoon, which stretches from Palm Beach County to Daytona Beach. The lagoon is where manatees come for the warm water.

But in recent years, the northern end of the lagoon has been a death trap for them. All these homes along the lagoon that are on septic tanks are slowly leaking literally tons of nitrogen and phosphorus into the system. So this algae is reducing light down. to the seagrasses, essentially smothering them and killing them. He says manatees need to eat nearly 100 pounds of vegetation a day. Between December 2020 and April 2022, more than 1,200 manatees died of starvation.

most of them here in the northern part of the Indian River Lagoon. Now, a federal judge has temporarily halted the approval of any new septic tank permits along the lagoon. There was lax leadership from the state of Florida. over decades that allowed this problem to get worse and worse. The judge found a definitive causal link between Florida's Department of Environmental Protection wastewater regulations and the ongoing risk to manatees.

Just this week, he agreed to what was essentially a wish list from Bear Warriors United, things they wanted the state to fix on behalf of the manatees. In addition to halting septic tank permits, Florida must submit a plan to monitor manatees' health and set up a supplemental feeding program for manatees in this lagoon. If we do this feeding program and give them... an abundance of their natural food source, a healthy food source, starvation goes away.

Zookeepers in Germany are celebrating a rare event. A beautiful Barbary macaque has given birth to twinning tykes. That's right, two tiny treasures. And these precious primates, they usually present just one petite package at a time. And in the wild, wrangling teeny weeny ones can be woefully wearisome, especially with pesky predators prowling about looking for a primate platter.

This marvelous mama macaque will have plenty of primate partners in parenting, including the proud papa and a whole troop of other macaques ready to lend a helping hand. Zookeepers say their biggest concern is whether mom can produce enough milk. for both bouncing babes. Double delivery calls for a double dose of dairy, but they are hopeful and are going bananas with excitement nonetheless.

Pop quiz hotshot, what's the longest commercial flight in the world? New York to Singapore, Perth to London, Melbourne to Dallas, or New York to Auckland? If you said New York to Singapore, you are correct. At a whopping 9537 miles of air travel, it takes 18 hours and 50 minutes to complete the trip.

Today's story, getting a 10 out of 10, goes to a teen's flight for cancer awareness, breaking a world record. Ethan Guo has been flying since he was just 13 years old when engine troubles stalled his attempt to break the world record for the youngest person to fly.

around the world, he shifted gears. His new goal, fly over all seven continents solo. And news of a family member's diagnosis gave Ethan new motivation. While preparing for this journey, my cousin and best friend was diagnosed with stage four blood cancer. Now, Ethan's journey is also a fundraising mission. The goal? Raise a million dollars for the advancement of childhood cancer research and treatment at St. Jude's Research Hospital.

As I fly around the world, I will visit different hospitals. You know, St. Jude has partners all around the world, you know, showcase the global fight against cancer, how we're working together.

And after almost a year of flying, Ethan has flown from North America to Europe, through Africa, Australia, and Asia, crossing the Pacific Ocean on his way to South America. His last stop... antarctica all right everyone our shout out today goes to zia middle school in las cruces new mexico especially you mr torres good luck with your haircut as i mentioned earlier this is our last full week of the school year so special shout out to my cnn

team. They work so hard for all of you to make this the best 10 minutes in news. They are the best. I speak for all of my team when I say thank you for the love that you've shown for making us part of your day. We love learning with you and we love it so much that we're going to keep

the show going with an episode every Friday, wrapping up some of the biggest news stories of the week all summer long. So go ahead, subscribe and set up an alert for our CNN 10 YouTube channel, or be sure to check out the CNN 10 homepage.

every Friday. To all the teachers out there, keep uplifting, informing, and inspiring. You're making impacts that will last a lifetime. And to all those moving on and moving up, especially the seniors, rise up. Take the next chapter by storm. We're here for you wherever your journey may be.

lead cue that friday music we wish you many blessings finish this school year strong and then take boundless energy into the summertime make it a goal to make someone smile each day you never know when or how but you might be the light someone needs you are more powerful you know. I'm Koi Wire. It's been a blessing to spend this year with you.