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What's up everyone? Happy Friday. Friday
fry. Yay. Welcome to CNN headquarters
here in Atlanta, Georgia, where it is a
perfect 80° perfect for the last
official Friday of summer. That's right,
Monday at 2:19 p.m. Eastern time. The
northern hemisphere will enter the
autoutumnal equinox marking the start of
fall. This calls for a did you know? The
term equinox comes from the Latin word
equinoxium meaning equality between day
and night. Equinoxes occur twice a year
when the sun rises and sets directly
over the Earth's equator, causing day
and night to be roughly the same. This
year's fall equinox is this coming
Monday, September 22nd. It marks the
official start of the fall season. In
Japan, Atmundo Equinox Day is a national
holiday. It marks a time to pay respect
to deceased family members. And from
China to Great Britain, countries around
the globe celebrate various harvest
festivals rooted in ancient tradition.
Since it's such a lovely day and it is
the last official Friday of the school
year, I'm just going to do the whole
show from out here. That is the mansion.
1980 Ted Turner started it all right
there. All right, speaking of harvest
and festivals, this weekend marks a
milestone anniversary for a celebrated
event that's become a lifeline for
struggling farmers here in the US. The
40th annual Farmade Festival is set to
kick off in Minneapolis tomorrow,
featuring a star-studded lineup that
includes legendary country singer Willie
Nelson. Nelson dreamed up the event back
in 1985 when crashing crop prices and
record foreclosures were devastating
farms across the country.
>> I was a farmer and uh
I knew what they were going through. I
still know what they're going through.
They need all the help they can get.
Small family farmers
and now pretty much all farmers need
help. But I started out working for the
small family farmers because that's what
I could relate to. 40 years later, a new
generation of farmers is facing age-old
problems and new ones. Climate change is
fueling more extreme, unpredictable
weather, and tariffs have left many
farmers at the mercy of volatile
markets.
>> Our bill collectors want money now. The
chemicals, the seed companies, the
fertilizer companies, they need it now.
They don't want to hear, "Oh, I'm
waiting on a farm bill payment. It's
going to come 2 years from now." They
don't want to hear that. Organizers say
Farm Aid has raised more than $85
million to date for support programs
that help farmers. And if you want to
catch Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, and a
host of other stars this weekend, you
can watch the event live on CNN.
Pop quiz hot shot. What is the longest
river in the world? Amazon, Nile, Yangy,
or Mississippi?
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If you said Nile, you're right by a
mile. Actually, about 132 of them.
Africa's Nile River, which runs from
Lake Victoria to the Mediterranean Sea,
spans 4,132
mi. Second longest river is the Amazon
at about 4,000 mi long. In Egypt, a
priceless ancient artifact has met an
unfortunate end. Authorities in the
capital city of Cairo were on the hunt
for a missing 30,000-year-old golden
bracelet that disappeared from a
restoration lab. The lab was located at
the Egyptian museum, which displays some
of the country's most storied cultural
pieces. The priceless jewelry once
belonged to a pharaoh, King Amen, whose
tomb was rediscovered in 1940. Photos of
the ancient bling were circulated at
airports, seapports, and border
crossings in an effort to foil potential
smugglers. Officials at Egypt's interior
ministry finally cracked the case, but
it was too late. They say a restoration
specialist took the bracelet, then sold
it, and the artifact was eventually
melted down. The suspects have been
arrested, and the proceeds from the
sale, only about $4,000,
were seized. Doom scrolling, bedrock.
You've heard the terms. A recent study
from the Pew Research Center shows that
nearly half of US teens say they are on
social media, quote, almost constantly.
That's up nearly 25% from a decade ago.
And 96% of teens say they use the
internet daily. But after growing up
chronically online, some Gen Z activists
are leading a movement to take back
control of their attention by logging
off of addictive social media apps. Our
Phoebe Goolson spoke to one of them. I
reached a breaking point. I distinctly
remember hearing a buzz of a
notification, having a Pelovian response
to grab for my phone. Why am I being
controlled by something else? I'm I'm
someone who values control and agency,
and I'm just giving that all away like a
dog. Literally responding to a bell or a
whistle. Gen Z tech activist Emma Lemi
is one of a growing number of teens and
young adults leading a movement to take
back control of her attention by logging
off. They're pushing back against
addictive platforms, not just for
themselves, but their peers. And experts
say they're on to something. Teenagers
are very smart, and my students all tell
me that they know that social media is
really, really bad for them. The problem
is that it's so difficult to disconnect.
I do think it's very significant that
teenagers are increasingly recognizing
that something needs to change. And
that's often a shock to adults.
>> Nearly half of US teens today say
they're on social media almost
constantly. According to Pew Research,
for many, disconnecting feels
impossible, especially when everyone
else is still online. Researchers asked
college students, "How much would we
have to pay you to deactivate Instagram
or Tik Tok for 4 weeks?" The average
amount was $50.
Now, how much would we have to pay you
if everyone else here did the same? The
answer is that the college students were
willing to pay the researchers to make
that happen. Users are questioning more
than just how much time they're on
social media when debating whether to
log off entirely. Teens wonder if it's
still serving them and why they're
plugged in in the first place. I do
something called the five minute power
scroll every few weeks and I have to be
incredibly picky and mindful and
intentional. So every photo I go through
I'll stop and say how does this make me
feel and I have to act based off those
feelings. So if I feel frustrated and I
and I don't like the content I'll
unfollow the person and I do that every
few weeks as kind of a a digital reset
as a way of maintaining a digital
experience that serves me rather than
exploiting me. You've seen people post
videos about digital detoxes. you've
seen other larger celebrities and other
influencers take breaks.
>> I have taken a break from social media
uh for my mental health.
>> I think it is the role and job of
individuals in Gen Z and other
generations to help continue to raise
the status quo to talk about healthier
habits and to pursue them without
judgment.
[Applause]
Today's story getting a 10 out of 10. a
reminder that even the smallest acts of
kindness can have a domino effect of
impacts. A young man receives a letter
written by his mom 24 years after she
passed away on September 11th. But the
path this letter traveled is not what
you might expect. I got to warn you,
this story is a bit of a tearjerker, but
it is one we just had to share is so
sweet. This is from our CNN affiliate TV
station, WPTV in Florida.
A letter came to my attention at the
television station the other day. Its
real recipient lives in Fort Pierce.
>> It's like a piece of history right here.
>> It was for Javon Castrio dated March of
2001.
>> Ancient artifact
>> and it was full of praise.
>> Dear Mr. Thurman,
Javon read a book last night
that he brought home from the library.
He read it from cover to cover.
I told him that I would write you a note
and tell you what an outstanding job he
did. We are very proud of him and we'll
continue to work with him at home.
Again, thank you for your dedication and
courage to the job that you do. CeCe LS
very touching
cuz it seems very sweet
and it seems like something she would
definitely say. You know,
>> the writer of this letter, Javon
Castrio's mother, was CC Ross Lyles.
This former Fort Pierce detective was a
flight attendant on board Flight 93 that
crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania on
911. The letter was sent to me by
Javon's kindergarten teacher, Tammy
Thurman.
>> Full circle.
>> Full circle.
>> Thurman tells me she kept this letter as
she moved to four different schools in
Lee County. As a mom, I know you need to
see those words from your mom and she
was a wonderful woman and you were a
wonderful student.
>> Thurman even sent along a class photo.
>> There we are. Best of buds.
>> Thank you so much for
>> You're welcome.
>> Both of the roles you guys played in
getting me this note. Yeah, you guys did
great.
>> A father now to a three-month-old,
Castrio tells me he'll continue to make
his mom proud since he knows she was
proud of him.
>> All right, that's all I have time for,
but I do have time for some shout outs.
It's time to show some love. Play that
Friday music nod there. This first one
goes to Mrs. Egan and Northern Valley
Regional High School in Old Tapan, New
Jersey. Rise up and Mrs. Franklin Koenig
and Dalabore and all our friends at
Redwood Cooperative School in Lexington,
Kentucky. Thank you for following us at
CNN 10 on Instagram. Go on out, make
someone smile this weekend. You never
know who, when, or how, but you may be
the spark of joy someone needs. Enjoy
your last official Friday of summer. I'm
Koi Wire and we are CNN 10.
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Heat
up
Yeah.
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