What's up, sunshine? Rise up. It is the
most wonderful time of the year. Hope
those of you who had a Thanksgiving
break came away with lots of love, hugs,
and grub. I'm Koi Wire. Happy to be back
with you. Feels good. And today marks my
favorite time of the year. It is Monday,
December 1st, and on this day in
history, December 1st, 1959, 12
countries signed the Antarctic Treaty,
one of the most important international
agreements ever created. It set aside
the entire continent for peaceful
purposes and scientific cooperation.
After several countries had been
actively exploring the Arctic region,
dozens of research stations were
established. But in order to mend
relations after the Cold War, heads of
state determined a treaty would stop any
territorial disputes and prevent any
militarization of Antarctica. To this
day, the treaty has mandated no military
bases, no weapons testing, and a ban on
nuclear experiments. Now that 50 nations
have signed on to the treaty, it also
promotes scientific cooperation, making
Antarctica a natural laboratory with no
national borders. Speaking of
Antarctica, a new satellite is giving
scientists an allnew look at the icy
continent. It's part of a program that's
capturing amazing photos from some of
the planet's most remote regions. Our
Patrick Cornell has more on how it all
came together. Starting from up above,
rapidly returned images of Earth,
courtesy of the European Space Ay's new
eye in the sky, the Capernacus Sentinel
1D satellite, such as this stunning view
of the Tiara del Fuego, South America's
southern tip, contrasted using multiple
types of radar waves to showcase the
land in yellow and snowy mountain peaks
in blue. About 600 m south, the
Antarctic Peninsula in black and white
contrast the ocean and the continent's
icy landscape. The satellite launched in
early November and started returning
these stunning images within 50 hours.
Something the space agency says is
likely a record launch to data delivery
time for such a satellite. The
Capernicus program is intended to supply
night and day imagery of Earth's surface
and all weather conditions for
scientific observation as well as aiding
in emergency response and humanitarian
crisis. In economic news, today is Cyber
Monday which means the holiday shopping
season is in full swing. The National
Retail Federation estimates a record 187
million shoppers flocked to stores or
bought something online between Black
Friday and today. That makes it the
busiest retail weekend of the year.
According to Adobe Analytics, online
shoppers spent nearly 12 billion dollar
on Black Friday alone. But another key
shopping day, Small Business Saturday,
was especially important this year for
communities like Altadena, California,
which was devastated by wildfires
earlier this year. Our Julia Vargas
Jones got a look at how small businesses
are helping the community continue to
recover.
>> A lot of these businesses are opening
for the first time since the fires. I
want to show you just behind me. This is
one of the buildings that has not yet
recovered from that fire. But along this
strip, so many small businesses coming
together, getting their community out to
support them and help them get back on
their feet. So far, we've heard for some
of from some of these business owners.
They're saying they're overwhelmed with
the amount of people that have come out.
Some of them saying they've actually
sold out of items and we spoke to one of
them specifically. Take a listen to what
she said. It's awesome to see people
walking in the door, just seeing cars on
the street. I intentionally wanted to
reopen for this season to
give people a reason to come up here. I
think everyone needs to see and and see
the rebuild and or just be patient with
all the businesses here who are trying
to make it small businesses. Supporting
small businesses is like, you know, our
it's our true passion to be a little um
small mom paw shop. So, we love it.
>> No, I have to say it is striking to see
such warmth and positivity in this very
intersection. 11 months ago, this
intersection was being ravaged by fire.
We were here reporting on that fire and
now to see it full of people, families,
uh literally a holiday choir singing
behind us, it is truly heartwarming. And
some of these vendors are saying that
this can really make a difference for
their business until the end of the
year.
>> Pop quiz hot shot. How do elephants
communicate across long distances?
Whistling, ground vibrations,
trumpeting, or ear flapping.
It's just a good vibration. If you said
ground vibrations, stomp your feet.
Elephants create low frequency
vibrations that travel through the
ground. Specialized pads in their feet
and trunk pick up these signals lets
them sense danger or find other
elephants even when they are far away.
Congratulations are in order to two
Asian elephants at the Smithsonian
National Zoo in Washington DC. The zoo
just shared this video of 12-year-old
mama Niin getting an ultrasound of her
calf. Staff are carefully monitoring the
calf's fetal development, heartbeat, and
movement. If all goes as planned, this
would be the first Asian elephant calf
born at the zoo in 25 years. But every
birth is a celebration for this
endangered species. Because fewer than
50,000 Asian elephants remain in the
world. The average pregnancy of an
elephant lasts 22 months, the longest of
any land mammal. Staff say they are
cautiously optimistic they will see a
new baby elephant in 2026. Now to an
inspiring story that turns tragedy into
heroism multiple times over. More than
100,000 people in the US are currently
waiting for a life-saving organ
donation. A new person is added to this
weight list every 8 minutes. But just
one person who becomes an organ donor
can help many people. Our Stephanie Elum
has an incredible example of how the
death of one Sacramento police officer
started a movement.
>> 25 years ago, the Cherez family was
waiting for their youngest son, Joe, to
get home from work and celebrate a late
Thanksgiving.
>> We know you get off at 5:00. I said,
"We'll have a turkey at 5:00."
>> Joe, just 24 years old, had been
training to become a Sacramento police
officer.
>> He wanted to help everybody.
>> But that Thanksgiving day, Jess and
Teresa Chz got a call from the chief of
police. While making an arrest, Joe
collapsed from an aneurysm.
The family rushed to UC Davis Hospital.
>> I told myself, "All of this doesn't look
good." Joe was on life support and
doctors said he wasn't going to survive.
>> My spirit is already telling me Joe is
not here. He's gone.
>> But Joe's father recalled a conversation
he'd had with his son months before.
>> He goes, "If anything ever happened to
me out on the street, I want to donate
my organs."
>> Faced with that decision, Jess was
initially torn.
>> I said, "God, what do I do?" and he told
me if I honored my son,
I'd be honoring him.
>> Joe Chirez, badge 238, was taken off
life support, and his heart, lungs,
liver, kidneys, and pancreas were all
donated, saving four lives. But Joe's
legacy doesn't end there. Devastated by
the loss, his father, Jess, struggled
for years until finding inspiration. I
just says, "You know what? I'm going to
do what my son envisioned. Let me see
what I can do and try to help other
people."
>> Jess became an advocate for organ
donation. For the last two decades, he
has given speeches, interviews, attended
events, all to generate as much
attention on the cause as possible.
>> He will never say no to a speaking
engagement. If he's available, he's
there.
>> No more speaking I did, the better I
felt inside. Jess has carried on his
son's legacy by connecting with hundreds
of thousands of people.
>> His son's death gave him new purpose.
Joe by donating his organs, he helped
save four lives and it actually saved
me.
Today's story getting a 10 out of 10 or
maybe an 11. One Stranger Things
superfan giving his family's home an
epic holiday makeover. Colorado teen
Jared Meisner is celebrating the hit
Netflix show's final season by trading
traditional holiday decor for something
straight out of the upside down.
>> Probably 10 out of 10 on Stranger Things
fan.
>> The unique display makes you feel like
you've stepped into Hawkins, Indiana.
And Jared and his family made it all
from scratch.
>> So all the arms here are PVC pipe. These
teeth are made out of modeling clay. Max
is hung by a 100 lb fishing line coming
from the roof.
>> The project took more than 2 months and
while mom and dad still aren't sure if
it counts as Halloween or Christmas
decor, they say it has been a huge hit.
>> I mean, we usually get at least 40 cars
a night that come by. We found out
there's a lot more fans around and they
love coming out.
>> That's all for today. Thanks for joining
us. Our first shoutouts of December go
to Mr. Morgan at Robert Blue Middle
School in Eagle Grove, Iowa. Thank you
for checking out our bonus content on
YouTube over the break. And this shout
out goes to Mrs. Calberg, who is
watching us all the way from the island
nation of Teeour at the QSI
International School. Thank you for all
the love from afar and soak up those
final moments before retirement.
Congratulations and thanks to all of you
for tuning in today. I will see you
right back here tomorrow. I'm Koi Wire
and we are CNN 10.