Hello and welcome to the show. I'm Koi
Wire. It is Wednesday, March 25th. It is
also your word Wednesday here on CNN 10.
So listen up. See if the vocabulary word
that you submitted helped us write
today's show. Let's get to it. We begin
with the ongoing chaos at airport
security lines across the United States
this week, mostly a result of the
partial government shutdown, which is
now in its second month. As of this
taping, lawmakers are still working
towards a funding deal to reopen the
Department of Homeland Security, the
issue at the center of the shutdown, and
it's causing extreme delays and
frustration at some of the country's
busiest airports. At Houston's George
Bush Intercontinental Airport, travelers
have faced long lines at all hours of
the day with warnings that wait times
could exceed 4 hours. At Atlanta's
Hartsfield Jackson International
Airport, the busiest airport in the
world by passenger volume, lines snake
through baggage claim all the way
outside at times. Officials stopped
posting wait times because lines were
too long for computer systems to track.
>> This is insane. We didn't think it was
going to be this bad. I got there 3
hours early and I made it to my gate
like 20 minutes before they were
boarding. It was bad.
>> The delays are largely due to a growing
number of Transportation Security
Administration or TSA officers calling
off. They haven't been paid in more than
a month, and many say they needed to
find part-time jobs. DHS says more than
450 officers have quit since the
shutdown began. Many have continued
working without pay. Some relying on
things like food banks to get by.
>> My son usually goes to spring break
camps and I can't afford that right now
because I mean there's no money coming
in and it's just I don't know what to do
anymore. There's no babysitter. I'm up
to my last like almost $100.
>> On Monday, the federal government
deployed Immigration and Customs
Enforcement or ICE agents to some of the
hardest hit airports. ICE agents are
considered essential employees and are
paid during shutdowns. Officials say
more could be deployed this week to
support TSA with things like crowd
control.
>> This is about going to helping TSA do
their mission and get the American
public through that airport as quick as
they can while while adhering to all the
security guidelines.
>> Some critics, including TSA workers,
appear skeptical that the move will help
improve an already untenable situation.
>> I don't believe that they're trained in
a way that they can help us. Since I've
been here, I've seen them outside
standing around. I don't know if if they
are doing anything. I don't know.
>> I guess the question that now has to be
asked is this going to be the new norm?
You know, is is every weekend uh you
know going to be a 5 6 hour wait uh at
the checkpoints to get get on your
flight if you can even make it.
>> I do say that I think they should just
fund uh the Department of Homeland
Security, pay those workers. They're
here for a reason to protect us every
day. And
I don't think ice agents should really
be up there just filling in the hole.
>> Pop quiz hot shot. Which layer of the
atmosphere contains the oxygen and
nitrogen humans and animals use to
breathe? Troposphere, methosphere,
thermosphere, or stratosphere.
If you said troposphere, you're a breath
of fresh air. The stratosphere protects
our planet from harmful UV rays, but
pollutants like vehicle emissions and
burning fossil fuel can damage both
layers of our atmosphere. A newly
released global study is sounding the
alarm on the global rise in air
pollution in certain cities. The report
from IQ Air analyzes air pollution data
from 9,500 cities in 143 countries with
a 23% jump in unhealthy air particles.
The report ranks Looney, India as the
most polluted city on the planet, likely
driven by dust storms, seasonal smog,
industrial emissions, and crop burning.
Only about 14% of cities worldwide met
the World Health Organization's air
quality guidelines in 2025, down from
17% the year before. But the good news
is there are plenty of cities and
countries taking care of the air up
there. According to Noah and NASA,
scientists say the hole in the ozone
layer is shrinking. Last year, it was
the fifth smallest since 1992.
A survey of largely unexplored limestone
caves in northwestern Cambodia has just
uncovered a range of new species. They
include a turquoise pit viper, a flying
snake, several geckos, two micro snails,
and two millipedes. The conservation
charity Fauna and Flora surveyed the
region between November of 2023 and July
of 2025. It explored 64 different caves
across 10 hills. Our next musings take
us to the museum with a
behind-the-scenes look at the High
Museum of Art in Atlanta. Turns out
there are a lot of career paths
available to those of us with an
interest in art. We got to explore one
exhibit that blends fashion, creativity,
and innovation, and learn the different
careers that bring big ideas from
runways to museum floors. Check it out.
Here at the High Museum in Atlanta,
Georgia, if you love art, did you ever
think about making a career out of it?
Creativity isn't just in the art we see.
It's something people do for a living.
From bold fashion exhibitions to
hands-on learning programs, a whole team
works behind the scenes to make art
meaningful for visitors of all ages. One
of their most eye-catching projects was
the Victor and Ralph fashion exhibition,
and we got to learn about the work
behind the WOW. They create these
designs that are sculpture. So, they
push the edge, and they're very
theatrical. They're very unexpected
upside down dresses and perforated
things and things that a lot of people
say to me that's impossible to wear and
I said yeah they want to challenge you
to think about what fashion is and
fashion as sculpture and that I think is
a very big part of what we wanted to
convey here at the high is that sure
fashion is art absolutely it's design
but it is also art and when you walk
through these galleries we wanted you to
feel it was almost like a theatrical
production
or an opera
>> from vision
to fruition.
>> Immediately begin working with our
in-house exhibition designer and her
team to envision what this is going to
look like. What are the paint colors?
Where is the music going to be playing?
How do all of these sort of
technological aspects, how are those
integrated into the exhibition for our
venue? Months of design, construction,
and collaboration helped bring the
international show from Munich to
Atlanta, but exhibitions are only part
of the museum's mission.
>> I work in our learning and civic
engagement department, and it's my job
to try to make us a a more
thought-provoking institution. So, my
job is to research, to learn more about
our visitors.
>> Her work focuses on how people,
especially young visitors, connect with
the art. I'm so wowed by the personal
connections these young people make, you
know, with these works of art because
it's not so much about exactly what the
artist wanted you to know, that intent,
but it's what the artist made you feel.
And young people are so open and so they
make amazing connections. I almost
always learn something new when I talk
to kids in front of art,
>> just like these awesome students we ran
into on a field trip.
>> RISE UP. Museums rely on many careers
from educators to event planners to
storytellers.
>> It's a business, right? So, we need a a
chief of financial officer. We need
accountants, right? We need people who
are great at logistics and can help us
manage a huge event. Um people who raise
money, people who um know how to tell a
great story. We have a big PR and
marketing department. That's an
important part of our business. So, it's
a there's a lot of different kinds of
jobs at an art museum. For chief curator
Kevin Tucker, that career began with
curiosity about how things are made. And
even as technology evolves, Kevin says
human creativity remains irreplaceable.
AI is just another tool in the toolbox.
And I think it has to draw from existing
bodies of creativity, existing bodies of
work. But what I think is so very
special about the individual's
interaction with art and the creative
process is just that individuality and
the individual expression I think is
always going to be conveyed by those
works that are touched by individuals.
>> The museum's goal to leave visitors
inspired to see the world in a new way.
What's the one thing you hope people
take away from this exhibit?
>> I'm going to say two. Okay.
>> And that's excitement and curiosity. And
I think if you're curious, excitement
follows. You know, that's one of those
things because you're discovering new
things as you walk through the
galleries. And it's always been my hope
that visitors walk away and go, you know
what? I want more. I want to know more
about art and I want to be involved in
that. So, if they walk away excited and
curious, I'm happy.
Today's story getting a 10 out of 10. A
group of students from Bangor, Maine,
reaching for the stars, literally.
>> We're sending yeast to the stratosphere.
>> The science project called Yeast in the
Stars will expose active baker's yeast
to UV radiation and freezing
temperatures and then measure the
changes back on Earth. It's all part of
NASA's Techrise Student Challenge, a
nationwide competition where students
design real experiments for flights.
From high alitude balloons to suborbital
spacecraft, these students are one of 25
teams selected.
>> I was super duper happy when I uh heard
that our school won.
>> Students built the project themselves,
learning skills like coding, soldering,
and engineering along the way.
>> We're learning how to solder. We're
learning hands-on stuff. Wiring it.
They're learning a lot, too. And
mounting is it's amazing. The team
presents its work to NASA in May,
turning a classroom idea into a real
mission in motion. All right,
superstars, we have a shout out going to
Miss Dejar at the Artsbased School in
Winston Salem, North Carolina. Thank you
for making us part of your day. Rise up.
Thanks to everyone subscribing and
commenting on our socials and our CNN 10
YouTube channel. You make this the best
10 minutes in news. And we would be
remiss if we did not give a huge
congratulations to our your word
Wednesday winners, Mr. Galott's class at
Aadia Middle School in Clifton Park, New
York, for submitting untenable, an
adjective meaning unable to be defended,
maintained, or justified against
criticism. Thank you for increasing our
vocab today. I'll see you tomorrow,
everyone. I'm Koi Wire, and we are CNN
10.