Top of the morning to you. I'm Koi Wire.
Happy St. Patrick's Day. The annual
March 17th holiday honoring the patron
saint of Ireland by commemorating his
death around 461 AD and his bringing of
Christianity to Ireland in the fifth
century. What was once a religious day
of feasting has become a global
celebration of Irish culture, including
by wearing or turning things green. I'm
feeling very lucky today to bring you a
shamrocken episode of CNN 10. And we are
going to start with a Did you know the
city of Chicago dyes the Chicago River
green on St. Patrick's Day? The
tradition began in 1962. The city's
plumbers union was using a special leak
detection die to identify where illegal
pollution was entering the water system.
Well, one day a union member noticed
that a worker's white overalls were
turned bright green after a spill of the
dye. That sparked an idea. What if they
used the dye to color the river for St.
Patrick's Day to honor Irish heritage?
Dying the river has become one of the
most famous parts of Chicago St. Patty's
Day celebrations alongside the city's
parade. The tradition usually happens
the Saturday before St. Patrick's Day,
drawing thousands of spectators along
the Riverwalk and bridges. Despite the
bright color, the dye actually looks
orange when it's first poured into the
water. It only turns green after mixing
in with the river. Over time, the city
refined the process. Today, only about
40 lbs of a fishafe vegetable-based dye
is used, but the ingredients for the
formula, well, they remained a
trademarked top secret institution by
Chicago's Plumbers Union.
Now, to an update on the ongoing partial
federal government shutdown and the
impact it's having on air travel. The
partial shutdown began in midFebruary
when funding for the Department of
Homeland Security lapsed due to a
standoff in Congress over federal
immigration reform. Now, one month
later, the heads of major US airlines
like American, Delta, United, and
Southwest are speaking out. They sent an
open letter to Congress calling on them
to find a bipartisan solution and
highlighting the real impacts this
shutdown is having on aviation workers
and travelers. Part of that letter
reads, quote, "Once again, air travel is
the political football amid another
government shutdown. This problem is
solvable and there are solutions on the
table. Now it's up to you, Congress."
The Department of Homeland Security says
more than 300 agents at the
Transportation Security Administration
or TSA have already quit after missing
their first full paycheck. Security
lines at major airports like Atlanta's
Hartsfield Jackson are reaching a
breaking point. Airlines say they expect
about 171 million passengers this
spring, raising concerns over how much
worse these impacts could get. One TSA
worker told CNN they still haven't
recovered from the last shutdown in
November. with that shutdown that
happened back in November or October
going into November, uh officers had
resources that they could tap into and
things like that with the proximity so
close to this uh shutdown. Those
resources are not there anymore.
>> Uh so they don't have the ability to go
and say, "Can I get more?" They were
working on paying back what they've
already taken out. So it's absolutely
worse than it was the first time. to the
Middle East now where an online
community is helping ease the burden for
those desperate to relocate as the Iran
war unfolds. Because of quarantine laws
and finances, some people were unable to
bring their pets when they evacuated
places like the United Arab Emirates.
One organization is helping them find
temporary homes. Our Ryan Young has
more. Animal rescuers and shelters in
the UAE say they're overwhelmed with the
numbers of abandoned pets. In the days
following the first strikes, No Pet Left
Behind was created as an online
community to help abandoned pets in the
United Arab Emirates find foster homes
and adopters after their owners fled the
region. The community uses a Telegram
chat form for advice and discussions
among members. They've also used social
media as a way to spread the word. They
now have over 8,000 followers on
Instagram. you can actually get a lot of
resources from the community in terms of
people who've already relocated with
their pets, advice on that. Um, and then
of course we can also put you in touch
with people who have applied to be
foster homes or adoptive homes.
>> No Pet Left Behind partner with three
animal rescuers in the UAE. Along with
connecting people with local
organizations, the community also
provides resources for how to relocate
out of the region with your pet. We have
some amazing volunteers who've stepped
forward to help us who are just amazing
and they do this on a daily basis and
it's really incredible to see people
band together over their love of
animals.
>> When UAE resident Anna saw No Pet Left
Behind's photo of Milo and Bruno, she
reached out to adopt them.
>> The fact that you're incapable of doing
anything in the situation makes you kind
of lost. So by being able to support
just in the smallest way by bringing in
a pet in your house and taking care of
that animal is I feel like it just gives
some sort of purpose in this whole
situation that we have absolutely no
control over.
>> Pop quiz hot shot. What year was the
sport of basketball invented? 1891,
1902, 1923 or 1937?
If you said 1891, you are on the ball.
Invented by Dr. James Naymith, the first
game of basketball was played on
December 21st, 1891 using a soccer ball
and two peach baskets.
March Madness is officially here. The
NCAA women's basketball tournament tips
off tomorrow and the men's tournament
today. Over the next three weeks, March
Madness will be in full swing as 68
squads from across the country battle it
out to become national champions.
Millions of fans around the world fill
out brackets in a bid to correctly pick
each game's winner and the eventual
champion. Did you know that no one has
ever picked a perfect bracket? The odds
of correctly guessing the winners of all
63 games are 1 in 9.2 quintilion. For
some perspective, researchers at the
University of Hawaii estimate that there
are only 7.5 quintillion grains of sand
on Earth. But if you want to boost your
chances of being the first to pick a
perfect bracket, our resident
brackettologist Andy Scholes has some
analytics that might help boost your
chances. What's up, Andy? All right,
Coy. March Madness is here and it's time
to start diving into this bracket and
filling it out. And we know it's always
fun to pick an upset in the first or
second round. have that Cinderella and
brag that you had it in your bracket.
But if you want to beat your friends and
do well in a bracket competition, the
final four is the most important. And if
you really want to beat everybody, you
got to try to pick that national
champion correctly. And there are
certain trends that can help you do so.
One of them is called Ken Palm. It
measures a team's offensive and
defensive efficiency. And every single
champion since 2002 has been top 40 in
offense and top 22 in defense. So, who
qualifies for that right now? We can
look at these teams. Duke, Arizona,
Houston, Florida, Tennessee, Michigan,
Michigan State, Iowa State, Virginia,
Gonzaga, and Yukon. All of these teams
you can expect to do well in the
bracket. One seeds win the overwhelming
majority of the time. 28 times a one
seed wins your bracket. That's who
you're going to want winning the
national championship when you're
filling it out. Now, take a look at this
map. See this red line right down the
middle of the country? Since 1997,
every single champion has come from east
of this line. Where are we finding our
teams that we have left? The three
teams. Michigan's over here. Duke's over
here. Arizona is the team in the west
over here. But in 97, who did win? It
was those Arizona Wildcats. I think that
the drought after 29 years, Koi, is
finally going to end. And the Arizona
Wildcats from the West are going to win
the national championship. But hey, if
it doesn't happen, Koi kids, don't blame
me, blame the numbers.
Today's story getting a 10 out of 10. A
group of veterans traveling far beyond
the walls of their assisted living
apartments without ever leaving the
building. One Air Force veteran went
skydiving.
>> It takes me instantly to a different
world. An army veteran came face to face
with sharks underwater.
>> It was so realistic.
>> The program created by Mind Immersive is
specially designed for older adults,
offering trips and experiences they say
can help with mental health.
>> We're able to bring it right to their
room and again bring that veteran out of
that darkness, whatever they're
experiencing, and bring them to their
happy place.
>> Doctors can now even prescribe the
virtual reality as part of their
therapy. The technology is already being
used in more than 100 state veterans
homes and VA medical centers, turning a
virtual reality headset into a ticket
just about anywhere. All right. Hey,
hey, happy St. Patty's Day. I have some
shout outs today. And the first one is
going to Mrs. Ireland. So fitting for
St. Patty's at McKon Elementary in
Newton, New Jersey. They sent us this
awesome scarf and a book that Mrs.
Ireland wrote about idioms. Uh, you
know, things like a piece of cake and
down to earth or let's see another good
one here. Night owl. Yeah, this is
incredible stuff and kind of what it
means. So smart idioms, all their
meetings. Awesome stuff. Next shout out
goes to Nestu at Pittston Township,
Pennsylvania, my home state. They sent
us these very cool 3D glasses, a printed
shamrock, perfectly fitting for St.
Patty's Day and a limmerick or an Irish
poem. Uh it says, "There once was a guy
named Wire. His broadcasting skills were
fire. A shout out. We need the knowledge
you feed every day with news you
inspire. Rise up. I see you. And I will
see you again tomorrow, too." I'm Koi
Wire and we are CNN 10.