Hey everyone, I'm Mina Derson in for
Koiwire and I am so happy to be back
with you while he travels back to the US
from Italy this week. A lot of things
happening in the world around us on this
Tuesday, February 24th. So, let's get
you your news. We begin in our nation's
capital where tonight all eyes will be
on President Donald Trump as he delivers
the State of the Union address. Each
year, usually in January or February,
the sitting president travels to Capitol
Hill to deliver the address before both
chambers of Congress, the Supreme Court,
and other key members of the government.
It's an opportunity to give them an
update on the nation's condition,
highlight key issues, and outline
legislative priorities. Did you know the
duty is enshrined in article 2 of the US
Constitution and it actually originated
from a ritual address given by the
British monarchy at the opening session
of parliament. This year will mark
President Trump's sixth address to
Congress and the 109th time a US
president has delivered the address in
person. It also comes just one week
before primary elections begin for this
year's midterms, giving the president a
chance to make the case for Republicans
to maintain control of the government.
But it also comes at a time where
tensions are high across all three
branches of the federal government.
Political analysts and White House
insiders say you can expect the
president to speak about immigration
enforcement operations and the cost of
living. Funding for the Department of
Homeland Security is at the center of a
partial government shutdown that
Congress has yet to resolve. Following
the president's address, it's tradition
for the opposing party to deliver their
formal response. This year, Democratic
Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger
will speak on behalf of her party. Let's
turn now to some major winter weather
that's wreaking havoc across the
northeast United States. A massive bomb
cyclone has brought hurricane force
winds and extreme snowfall to much of
the region to begin the week. As of this
taping, at least four states have been
blanketed with more than 2 feet of snow.
I trudged through like 2 feet of it just
to get here for you guys this morning.
Major cities like Boston, New York, and
Philadelphia are enduring their biggest
snowstorms in years. So far, nearly 40
million people are under blizzard
warnings and more than 650,000 power
outages have been reported. Seven states
have declared states of emergency in
order to mobilize resources to help
impacted residents. The treacherous
conditions are having a heavy impact on
travel as well. More than 10,000 flights
were cancelled to start the week. Some
cities have also paused public transit
or imposed travel bans to help keep
people off the roads. And here in New
York City, students even got their first
official snow day since 2019. Mayor
Zoran Mamani announced the rare move
with a surprise call to an unsuspecting
student.
>> Hello. Oh my god, the mayor. Hi.
>> Hi, Victoria.
>> Hi.
>> So, I thought as the mayor, I wanted to
call you and give you some news. We've
got a full snow day tomorrow. No online
school,
>> no remote learning,
>> full classic snow day. Ah,
>> so my only ask to you is that you just
stay safe, stay indoors during the
height of the storm. Once that has
passed, feel free to go out and sweat.
>> Time for 10-second trivia. Which of the
following best describes carmine? Is it
a petroleum based dye, a mineral-based
powder found in clay, a color derived
from insects, or a plant extract from
berries?
If you said insects, bug out. Female
cotchnil insects produce carminic acid
which has a vivid red pigment. The
insects live on certain types of cacti
found only in Mexico and Central and
South America. You've probably heard of
the makeup brand Elf. Its affordability
and approachability have made it super
popular with Gen Z. Well, the company's
CEO is garnering newfound attention for
taking a major risk with its customers
when it comes to responding to increased
costs. This is all about the federal
government's tariffs. those taxes we've
told you about before where the US put
an extra charge on imported goods which
makes foreign products like the red dye
carmine more expensive. CNN's Claire
Duffy explains how the beauty brand
handled those policies and built an
empire.
ELF Beauty CEO Terang Amin is on a
mission to build a beauty empire for Gen
Z. his formula, low prices, social media
savvy, and last year, the $1 billion
acquisition of Haley Bieber's Road, a
beauty brand that young consumers line
up around the block for E.L.F. has
always been so good at having its pulse
on what younger consumers want. How do
you keep up?
>> So, I'm always learning, but we were one
of the actually the f one of the first
beauty brands on Tik Tok as a way of
kind of engaging with Gen Z.
>> Look at you.
>> The first beauty brand to have our own
channel on Twitch. the first beauty
brand with their own branded experience
on Roblox.
>> For Amin, the key to understanding the
brand's customers is to hire them.
>> No one's ever going to accuse me of
being a makeup enthusiast. Uh so I
absolutely rely on our young, passionate
workforce to have a pulse on what
consumers want cuz they are our
community. 76% of our team are women.
74% are Gen Z or millennial. 44% are
diverse. They absolutely represent the
community we serve.
Donald Trump's war on DEI is on.
>> That focus on diversity stands out at a
time when companies like Meta and
Walmart have scaled back their diversity
initiatives in the wake of right-wing
pressure.
>> Our country is going to be based on
merit again.
>> For Amin, diversity is a priority. Why
have you decided to stick with it?
>> What would be riskier is us abandoning
what we stand for. Our community would
know about it right away and they would
hold us accountable for it. We believe
if your team represents communities you
serve, your results will be better. And
and we're living proof of that.
>> Last year, White House trade policy
threatened another pillar of ELF's
success, affordability. To account for
tariffs, the company announced it would
raise prices by $1 on many products
despite warnings from President Trump to
eat the tariffs. Was that something that
worried you prior to this announcement?
>> Uh, no, it didn't worry me at all. Our
whole point is being transparent with
our community and what I find consumers
are smart. So if you try to put some
other twist um it actually gets in the
way of that genuine dialogue we have
with our community.
>> According to a mean roughly 75% of ELF's
products remain priced under $10. An
effort to protect the affordability that
made the brand a disruptor in the first
place.
>> We're known to make the best of beauty
accessible to every eye and face. And
frankly that resonates in any economic
environment.
A bonafide discovery in Costa Rica is
digging up new clues about animals from
the ice age that once towered over the
region. The fossils include remains from
a mastadon relative that scientists
estimate weighed about 11,000 lbs with
tusks stretching more than 5 feet long
along with a giant ground sloth that
stood up to 16 feet tall and weighed
roughly 9,000 lb. A local resident first
spotted the bone fragments on private
land and alerted scientists at Costa
Rica's National Museum.
I said, "Look, I have this one here.
What do you think?" The man bends down,
cleans it, feels it. Young man, this is
a mastadon tusk. You've just made
history.
>> Early analysis suggests the fossils are
between 10 and 40,000 years old from
near the end of the last ice age. So
far, scientists have recovered dozens of
fossil pieces and believe the site could
hold far more than bones.
>> The geological layer has a lot of
information, not only vertebrae, but it
has seeds, leaves, plants, and possibly
has microorganisms that we want to
analyze together to realize climatic
data, for example. Researchers say
discoveries of this scale are rare in
Costa Rica and help reconstruct how
prehistoric ecosystems once looked
across Central America.
Today's story getting a 10 out of 10.
One Minnesota grandpa is bringing the
Winter Olympics to life in his own
backyard. Meet Steve Ble and his Papa
Bear Plunge. Starting in 2022, he
transforms a snowy hillside into a
nearly 300 ft ice luge carved, packed,
and polished through hours of work. All
for his family to enjoy.
>> I'm just very grateful to have a grandpa
who like does this. and I really love
it. It's really fun.
>> The result, unlimited rides and high
fives for his eight grandkids.
>> Any grandparent will tell you all they
want to do is have fun and take care of
the grandkids.
>> When Steve's daughter shared the slide
online, it snowballed into millions of
views. But the joy the slide brings to
his family is what matters most.
>> Sure, it's nice. I I can't deny that.
But that's not why I'm doing it, you
know. Hi, pal.
That's why I'm doing it right there. See
the smile on their face?
>> All right, superstars. I've got time for
two shout outs today. First up, Miss
Percy Roberts at South High School in
Columbus, Ohio. Thank you for
subscribing to our YouTube channel. And
Mrs. Robbins at Rereaths Puffer Middle
School in Moskegan, Michigan. Go
Rockets. Tomorrow is your word
Wednesday. Submit your vocabulary word
to our latest post on Instagram at CNN10
and we'll choose a winner to work into
tomorrow's show. Have a good one
everybody. Dr. Sanjay Gupta will be with
you tomorrow. I'm Mina Derson and this
is CNN 10.