CNN10 2025-01-31
CNN 10
Surveying The Streets of Syria; In NASA Asteroid Samples, Scientists Discover Key Building Blocks of Life; Why Hawaii's Kilauea Volcano Keeps Erupting? Aired 4-4:10a ET
Aired January 31, 2025 - 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, and welcome to CNN 10. I'm Coy Wire. Happy Friyay. It is January 31st. We've already made it to the last day of the first month of 2025. My goodness, let's rise up and finish this week strong with your quick 10 minutes of news.
Now, first, there is a developing story happening near the nation's capital. The tragic plane crash that at the time of this recording was believed to have taken the lives of 67 people when an American Airlines flight and a U.S. military Black Hawk helicopter collided in midair Wednesday night.
Because information is still coming in, we want you to know that you can head to CNN.com if you'd like to stay up to date on the latest.
Our next story takes us to Syria, which has just named a new transitional president nearly two months after the fall of dictator Bashar al-Assad. The interim leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, led the militant group responsible for the lightning offensive that took down the Assad regime in a matter of weeks.
The amount of work ahead of this new regime to build the war-torn nation is massive.
The Assads ruled Syria with an iron fist for several decades. And since 2011, the U.N. says the brutal civil war there killed more than 300,000 people and displaced millions more. The conflict there was sparked by the Arab Spring, when the Assad regime suppressed pro-democracy movements.
The heavy-handed response plunged the country into full-scale war. The chaos enabled the growth of the terrorist group ISIS, which temporarily gained power in the country.
Now, the interim president is starting a new transitional phase of government suspending the constitution under the Assad regime and dissolving the former regime's army and political party.
The new government has been authorized by a temporary legislative council that will work to draw up and enact a permanent constitution. And as the new government takes shape, Syrians are left to cope with $250 billion worth of destruction that will take decades to rebuild.
CNN's Clarissa Ward is on the ground in Damascus, Syria's capital, to show us firsthand what that looks like.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We're just about a 15-minute drive here from central Damascus. And these suburbs of Damascus really were essentially the heart of the uprising against Bashar al-Assad. And you can see how they've just been smashed to bits. They've been bombed.
They were besieged. People were starved.
They were forcibly displaced. And now, being here on the ground, you get a sense of the full scale of the devastation, the kind of rebuild and reconstruction that we're talking about. Estimates had been around $250 billion, which once seemed like a figure no one could get their head around. But when you're here on the ground and looking at it, it's clear that it is going to cost hundreds of billions to rebuild.
(Voice-over): What's not clear is where those dollars will come from. Syria's economy has been hollowed out by years of war, corruption, and crippling sanctions.
In the suburb of Darayya, life has returned to the streets, but making a living is hard. Imad Abu Kalam runs a shawarma shop. Like most here, he is optimistic about the future, but realistic about the challenges.
(On camera): So he's saying that it's going to take a lot of money and a lot of time to start to really rebuild Darayya.
(Voice-over): Much harder to rebuild are the broken lives. Darayya is a town of widows and orphans. Schools are starting to reopen, but few are paying salaries.
OK. Thank you. Thank you. According to UNICEF, two million children are now not going to school inside Syria. These kids told us that they actually just got out of school and we're heading now to a place that's been set up by a charity. Essentially, it's a safe space where kids can come and play.
(Voice-over): It opened just weeks after the fall of the regime of Bashar al-Assad and is run by INARA, a charity whose work I support that focuses on children affected by war. As the euphoria of liberation begins to subside, the hard work ahead is becoming clear, and communities like Darayya will need all the support they can get.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WIRE: NASA scientists say they have found the building blocks of life on an asteroid orbiting within our solar system. The discovery comes from rock and dust collected from the asteroid Bennu. Researchers have discovered that this rock and dust contains an array of organic molecules, including amino acids and components found in DNA.
The samples were captured in October of 2020 during the OSIRIS-REx mission, NASA's first ever mission to send a spacecraft to land on and collect material from an asteroid. The spacecraft then dropped off a capsule of the samples as it swung by Earth in September of 2023. Their findings were revealed this week in the journals Nature and Nature Astronomy.
One study found thousands of organic molecular compounds, including 33 amino acids, as well as compounds rich in nitrogen and ammonia. A different study uncovered a, quote, "soup of elements," including salts and minerals that are crucial to the formation of life. While the findings do not show evidence of life itself, scientists say that the ancient space rock reveals conditions in the early solar system may have been conducive to the formation of life on other planets and moons.
Pop quiz hot shot. What is the most active volcano on Earth when it comes to eruptions? Sakurajima, Fuego, Yasur, or Kilauea?
If you said Kilauea, you are correct. It is the youngest and most active volcano, and it's located on the Big Island of Hawaii.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SAMANTHA LINDELL, CNN PRODUCER: Kilauea volcano is one of the world's most active volcanoes and is now in a period of eruption that began on December 23rd. The current eruption has had seven episodes of activity, with pauses in between each of them.
But why is it so active? Well, the Hawaiian Islands were formed by a volcanic hotspot, and Kilauea sits above that hotspot, which is high in magma supply and feeds magma from within the Earth's mantle. This causes frequent eruptions and explains why this volcano has cyclic eruptions.
Scientists warn high levels of volcanic gas are being released from the volcano and are causing some concern for residents downwind.
Gases such as sulfur dioxide can react with the atmosphere and create what's called Vog, a hazy air pollutant that can irritate the skin and have respiratory effects. It's only when eruptions are active that the gas emissions are elevated. This eruption will stop when magma has enough time to cool in the vent so it won't be able to restart again.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WIRE: Today's story getting a 10 out of 10 goes to a man on a record- breaking mission. Ben Melham is now the Guinness World Record holder for most museums visited in 24 hours. But the Brit only needed half that time shattering the record with 42 London museums in just 12 hours.
He said reading about the world record with his kids inspired him. When they challenged him to do it, it was a done deal. And he's not done. Now he is attempting to beat the world record for most museums visited in a year. He already has 85 visits under his belt since he started the challenge in October.
Now for the best part of our show, Friyay shout out. This one's going to the Mustangs at J.W. Mitchell High School in Port Richey, Florida. Rise up.
I hope you have an awesome weekend.
Cue that Friday music, Nadir. Thanks to all of you who've been following me on social and to all of you who have subscribed and commented on our CNN 10 YouTube channel for your shout out requests.
Make someone smile this weekend. You never know when or how, but you just might be the light someone needs. You're more powerful than you know.
It's been a blessing to spend this week with you.
END
CNN 10
Surveying The Streets of Syria; In NASA Asteroid Samples, Scientists Discover Key Building Blocks of Life; Why Hawaii's Kilauea Volcano Keeps Erupting? Aired 4-4:10a ET
Aired January 31, 2025 - 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, and welcome to CNN 10. I'm Coy Wire. Happy Friyay. It is January 31st. We've already made it to the last day of the first month of 2025. My goodness, let's rise up and finish this week strong with your quick 10 minutes of news.
Now, first, there is a developing story happening near the nation's capital. The tragic plane crash that at the time of this recording was believed to have taken the lives of 67 people when an American Airlines flight and a U.S. military Black Hawk helicopter collided in midair Wednesday night.
Because information is still coming in, we want you to know that you can head to CNN.com if you'd like to stay up to date on the latest.
Our next story takes us to Syria, which has just named a new transitional president nearly two months after the fall of dictator Bashar al-Assad. The interim leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, led the militant group responsible for the lightning offensive that took down the Assad regime in a matter of weeks.
The amount of work ahead of this new regime to build the war-torn nation is massive.
The Assads ruled Syria with an iron fist for several decades. And since 2011, the U.N. says the brutal civil war there killed more than 300,000 people and displaced millions more. The conflict there was sparked by the Arab Spring, when the Assad regime suppressed pro-democracy movements.
The heavy-handed response plunged the country into full-scale war. The chaos enabled the growth of the terrorist group ISIS, which temporarily gained power in the country.
Now, the interim president is starting a new transitional phase of government suspending the constitution under the Assad regime and dissolving the former regime's army and political party.
The new government has been authorized by a temporary legislative council that will work to draw up and enact a permanent constitution. And as the new government takes shape, Syrians are left to cope with $250 billion worth of destruction that will take decades to rebuild.
CNN's Clarissa Ward is on the ground in Damascus, Syria's capital, to show us firsthand what that looks like.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We're just about a 15-minute drive here from central Damascus. And these suburbs of Damascus really were essentially the heart of the uprising against Bashar al-Assad. And you can see how they've just been smashed to bits. They've been bombed.
They were besieged. People were starved.
They were forcibly displaced. And now, being here on the ground, you get a sense of the full scale of the devastation, the kind of rebuild and reconstruction that we're talking about. Estimates had been around $250 billion, which once seemed like a figure no one could get their head around. But when you're here on the ground and looking at it, it's clear that it is going to cost hundreds of billions to rebuild.
(Voice-over): What's not clear is where those dollars will come from. Syria's economy has been hollowed out by years of war, corruption, and crippling sanctions.
In the suburb of Darayya, life has returned to the streets, but making a living is hard. Imad Abu Kalam runs a shawarma shop. Like most here, he is optimistic about the future, but realistic about the challenges.
(On camera): So he's saying that it's going to take a lot of money and a lot of time to start to really rebuild Darayya.
(Voice-over): Much harder to rebuild are the broken lives. Darayya is a town of widows and orphans. Schools are starting to reopen, but few are paying salaries.
OK. Thank you. Thank you. According to UNICEF, two million children are now not going to school inside Syria. These kids told us that they actually just got out of school and we're heading now to a place that's been set up by a charity. Essentially, it's a safe space where kids can come and play.
(Voice-over): It opened just weeks after the fall of the regime of Bashar al-Assad and is run by INARA, a charity whose work I support that focuses on children affected by war. As the euphoria of liberation begins to subside, the hard work ahead is becoming clear, and communities like Darayya will need all the support they can get.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WIRE: NASA scientists say they have found the building blocks of life on an asteroid orbiting within our solar system. The discovery comes from rock and dust collected from the asteroid Bennu. Researchers have discovered that this rock and dust contains an array of organic molecules, including amino acids and components found in DNA.
The samples were captured in October of 2020 during the OSIRIS-REx mission, NASA's first ever mission to send a spacecraft to land on and collect material from an asteroid. The spacecraft then dropped off a capsule of the samples as it swung by Earth in September of 2023. Their findings were revealed this week in the journals Nature and Nature Astronomy.
One study found thousands of organic molecular compounds, including 33 amino acids, as well as compounds rich in nitrogen and ammonia. A different study uncovered a, quote, "soup of elements," including salts and minerals that are crucial to the formation of life. While the findings do not show evidence of life itself, scientists say that the ancient space rock reveals conditions in the early solar system may have been conducive to the formation of life on other planets and moons.
Pop quiz hot shot. What is the most active volcano on Earth when it comes to eruptions? Sakurajima, Fuego, Yasur, or Kilauea?
If you said Kilauea, you are correct. It is the youngest and most active volcano, and it's located on the Big Island of Hawaii.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SAMANTHA LINDELL, CNN PRODUCER: Kilauea volcano is one of the world's most active volcanoes and is now in a period of eruption that began on December 23rd. The current eruption has had seven episodes of activity, with pauses in between each of them.
But why is it so active? Well, the Hawaiian Islands were formed by a volcanic hotspot, and Kilauea sits above that hotspot, which is high in magma supply and feeds magma from within the Earth's mantle. This causes frequent eruptions and explains why this volcano has cyclic eruptions.
Scientists warn high levels of volcanic gas are being released from the volcano and are causing some concern for residents downwind.
Gases such as sulfur dioxide can react with the atmosphere and create what's called Vog, a hazy air pollutant that can irritate the skin and have respiratory effects. It's only when eruptions are active that the gas emissions are elevated. This eruption will stop when magma has enough time to cool in the vent so it won't be able to restart again.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WIRE: Today's story getting a 10 out of 10 goes to a man on a record- breaking mission. Ben Melham is now the Guinness World Record holder for most museums visited in 24 hours. But the Brit only needed half that time shattering the record with 42 London museums in just 12 hours.
He said reading about the world record with his kids inspired him. When they challenged him to do it, it was a done deal. And he's not done. Now he is attempting to beat the world record for most museums visited in a year. He already has 85 visits under his belt since he started the challenge in October.
Now for the best part of our show, Friyay shout out. This one's going to the Mustangs at J.W. Mitchell High School in Port Richey, Florida. Rise up.
I hope you have an awesome weekend.
Cue that Friday music, Nadir. Thanks to all of you who've been following me on social and to all of you who have subscribed and commented on our CNN 10 YouTube channel for your shout out requests.
Make someone smile this weekend. You never know when or how, but you just might be the light someone needs. You're more powerful than you know.
It's been a blessing to spend this week with you.
END