Hello everyone and welcome to another
episode of CNN 10. I'm Don Redellin for
my buddy Koi Wire. I'm so excited to be
here and I promise I'll try not to break
anything. Today is Thursday, January
22nd. Ready for some news? Let's get
started. We'll kick off in Davos,
Switzerland, where world leaders are
gathered this week for the annual World
Economic Forum. It's a summit that
brings together many of the world's most
powerful minds to discuss global issues,
including trade, climate change, and
geopolitical instability. But this
year's event is something that your kids
might be reading about one day in the
history books because it's taking place
against the most turbulent global
backdrop in decades. US President Donald
Trump still wants to acquire Greenland.
He took the stage Wednesday and whilst
he ruled out using force to acquire the
Danish territory, he doubled down on his
claims that only the US can keep it
safe. It's been said that through all of
this, Trump could gain an island but
lose a continent. What happens next
could not only threaten the United
States standing with many of its most
vital allies, but could entirely disrupt
the current status of NATO, the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization.
>> It's the United States alone that can
protect this giant mass of land, this
giant piece of ice, develop it, and
improve it and make it so that it's good
for Europe and safe for Europe and good
for us. They have a choice. You can say
yes and we will be very appreciative or
you can say no and we will remember.
>> Trump's speech comes less than a week
after he threatened other allies with
tariffs or trade taxes as part of his
efforts to force control of Greenland.
But even as European leaders sought to
cool rising tensions on the sidelines of
the summit, ripple effects from the
unprecedented dispute have already begun
to appear. European Parliament members
voted the same day to block parts of a
landmark trade deal between the US and
the European Union indefinitely. Now to
some big baby news back in Washington
DC. You might have heard of a bump in
the polls. Well, this is more like a
bump in the office. Second Lady Usha
Vance and Vice President JD Vance have
announced they're expecting a baby this
summer. The baby boy is due in July and
will be the couple's fourth child
joining brothers Euan and VC and sister
Mirabel. This marks the first time that
a sitting second lady will have a baby
while in office. But it's not without
some presidential president. First
ladies Francis Cleveland and Jackie
Kennedy both gave birth while their
husbands were serving as
commanderin-chief.
Some news now from my home country, the
UK, where the British government is
exploring a possible social media ban
aimed at better protecting children
online. Ministers say they'll visit
Australia to learn more about its ban on
Social Media Down Under for those under
16, which took effect last month.
They're also considering stronger age
verification checks and tougher rules on
students using phones in schools.
10-second trivia. Which desert is the
largest hot desert on earth? Is it
Kalahari, Sahara, Sonuran or Atakama?
Well, the answer here is Sahara, which
spans parts of 11 countries in North
Africa, the world's largest cold desert.
Well, that would be the Antarctic, which
covers almost all 5.4 million square
miles of Antarctica.
All right, the skies above Libya have
been transformed this week, turning
bright orange as a result of a seasonal
phenomenon. What you are seeing here is
a powerful dust storm sweeping through
the city of Benghazi. It looks pretty
cool, but it causes real problems. Thick
clouds of dry sand and soil blowing in
from the desert, swallowing the
coastline, and cutting visibility
drastically across the city. This storm
was so intense that flights were
temporarily suspended at the country's
two main international airports. Scenes
like this are not unusual here. About 90
to 95% of Libya is covered by the Sahara
Desert. That's according to the United
Nations Development Program, making it
especially vulnerable to these seasonal
storms. Okay, have you seen the movie
Marty Supreme yet? I can tell you it's
highly entertaining. It might land
Timothy Shalamé and Oscar in March. And
it's sparked some interest in the sport
of table tennis in the United States, a
sport which is usually much more popular
in China, Korea, and Japan. But ping
pong is gaining popularity in the United
States with its first ever professional
league, Major League Table tennis, now
in its third season. And just a few
weeks ago, the league's power rankings
were topped for the very first time by a
female player, Lily Jang. I've been
chatting with Lily about her journey in
the sport which began, get this, while
her family was doing the laundry.
>> I started playing because my parents uh
they're both from China. So, uh it's
kind of like the national sport there
and everyone plays. So, um they would
play for fun and then they kind of
introduced the game to me when I was 7
years old. And funnily enough, we
actually started at the laundry room at
Stamford campus because my dad was a
professor there. So I would just play
with them for fun to kill time while we
waited for our laundry.
>> Were you good at it straight off the
bat, so to speak? Do you think you just
kind of always have had a natural talent
for it?
>> I mean, I don't want to brag, but
>> I do think I
>> Yeah, I do think I I had maybe a natural
affinity to the sport. You're a
four-time Olympian uh already and when
you went to the London Games in 2012, I
believe you were the youngest in the
team.
>> For me, it was a dream come true to have
actually made it and to be in that
environment was so surreal. I mean, I
remember multiple times in the games
thinking like, why am I here? How am I
here? And I remember like specifically a
moment during the opening ceremonies. It
was like Serena Williams to my right and
then Kobe Bryant to my left and I was
like this isn't like this is not real.
>> Wow. What an experience. Uh at that
point did you think you would go on to
play in three more?
>> Uh no definitely not. I, you know, had
the Olympics as my dream, but once I
made it, um, especially in the US, it's
pretty customary for kids to stop
playing when they reach university age.
Um, so I think that was my initial plan
or vision is just to make the Olympics,
get that on my college resume, and then,
you know, focus on education. But I
think, you know, table tennis is
something that I really, really love,
and it feels like ingrained in my
identity. So, I kept coming back
somehow. You know, I always felt there
was something missing in my life.
>> And just literally a few weeks ago, you
did something that no female player has
ever done by topping the power rankings
ahead of all the other men that play the
game.
>> Yeah. So, that's part of um Major League
Table tennis, MLTT, which is the first
ever professional table tennis league in
the US. And it's the teams are a mixture
of men and women. Somehow I found myself
on the top of the power rankings which
is crazy because at the time I think
even in the top 10 there were no other
women. I was really surprised and
shocked but at the same time it's like
such an amazing feeling because all
those years of hard work and time and
effort really did pay off in the end.
And I think it's also a testament to how
much I've I've put in over the years.
And hopefully as well it shows, you
know, another young girl out there
watching that anything is possible and
and she deserves to belong to be in the
space. Um especially since, you know,
sports itself is is more male-dominated.
It just feels like a dream come true
because again, I never had that example
growing up as a little girl. So to even
be in this position is such, you know, a
privilege and an honor.
>> What an inspirational story. Lily Jang
started in the laundromat and then she
took everyone to the cleaners.
Today's story getting a 10 out of 10
from us. A home renovation turning up an
unexpected link to the past. And this
story is just wild. When the Chapman
family moved to Fargo, North Dakota,
they settled on this century old
fixerupper and they began making it
their own. We looked at at a number of
houses and when we walked in the door of
this house, it was this is the one.
>> During the renovations, contractors
discovered an 80year-old newspaper
underneath the floorboards. That's an
old trick to level the floors. But when
Casey Chapman took a closer look, he saw
a very familiar face staring back at
him. It was his own mom.
>> Looked at the picture, and the picture
just to the right of the terror is my
mother. That's my mom right there.
>> Turns out Casey's mother was homecoming
queen at a local university eight
decades earlier and she just so happened
to grace that day's front page. The
coincidence which Casey has called a
quote godwink left him with goosebumps.
The Chapmans are taking it as a sign
that mom approves of their home choice
and they are framing the treasured find
so she can be a part of it forever.
We've got just enough time for a couple
of shoutouts today. First up, Mr. Dubar
at Buouie High School in Buouie,
Maryland. Thank you for watching us
every day. And two from Roswell High
School in Georgia, Mrs. Chilton keeping
chemistry cool. And Mr. Burton in the
math class who is always helpful, not
hurtful. Thanks for spending part of
your day with me. Koi will be back
tomorrow. I'm Don Redell and this is CNN
10.