Hello and happy Wednesday. I'm Ky Wire.
This is CNN 10. It's also at your word
Wednesday. So listen closely to see if
the vocabulary word you submitted on my
socials helped us write today's show. A
lot of great stories for you today,
including acknowledgement of today's
date, March 18th, 2026. Today is Global
Recycling Day, a worldwide reminder that
one person's trash can be another's
resource. From plastic bottles to old
electronics, experts say recycling helps
conserve natural resources and cut
pollution. But let's be honest, we still
have millions of tons of waste ending up
in landfills each year. The movement
encourages us and governments and
organizations to treat recyclables as a
seventh resource alongside Earth's six
natural ones. Water, air, coal, oil,
natural gas and minerals. And in metro
Atlanta, one program is taking recycling
to the next level because not everything
can fit into your curbside cans. The
Centers for Hard to Recycle Materials or
Charm gives things like old paint,
electronics, batteries, and household
chemicals a second life. Our Issa
Cardona gives us a behindthescenes look
at how they get it done.
>> Global Recycling Day is an great day to
remember that we all need to recycle
every day. We have, you know, 3 to 400
visitors a day that separate all their
plastics and all their other materials
and bring it here so it can properly be
recycled. We are planning for a move
overseas, as a matter of fact, and we
have some things that can't be used over
there. So, we wanted to make sure it got
into the right hands for people who
could use it here. Hard to recycle just
means that you can't put them in your
curbside bin and they can be easily
recycled. They are things that take a
specialty recycler to remake them. For
instance, styrofoam. Styrofoam is one of
those things that if we send them to the
landfill, eventually it gets covered up.
We plant grass on it and move on. So
what we do here is we take the the raw
material and we put it into a machine
that literally shreds it and blows it
up, recompresses it and makes a material
that looks like this. But all of it can
be recycled and it's made into an
material that is soft and smooth. What
happens to this is it's taken and it's
sent to a local company that makes
ceiling tiles for insulation in your
home. On the bottom of all plastic,
there is a triangle which gives you a
resin code. And what the resin code is
is it tells you what type of plastic the
plastic is made of. We have so many
plastics in our world that we need to
make sure we recycle them instead of
using oil. They're all come from oil and
petroleum is very expensive these days.
So, we want to make sure we recycle to
make new materials out of these. Just
remember when you purchase something,
what am I going to do with it when I'm
done? Am I going to reuse it or do I
find a way to recycle it?
>> Now to Hawaii, where residents are
dealing with the devastating aftermath
of a powerful weather system known as a
Kona storm. The seasonal storms form in
colder months and get their names from
the Hawaiian word for the leeward or
western side of an island. But this
storm shattered a 75-year rainfall
record on the islands, spurring severe
flooding, landslides, and power outages.
And on the second largest island of
Maui, torrential rain swallowed entire
roads, even houses. One couple watched a
small creek that's normally 75 ft from
their home transform into a raging
river, sweeping their dream home away.
>> Never expected my whole house to
disappear.
But yeah, so everything's gone.
>> Mother Nature wins and she watches. She
takes you. She didn't take us. She just
took the house. So, we're grateful for
that. We have each other and we we're
doing fine.
>> Now, to a turtly awesome story worthy of
a celebration. In southern India,
hundreds of olive ridley sea turtle
hatchlings were making waves, literally
and figuratively, as they were released
into the sea in a bid to help the
species recover. Normally, these teeny
turtles go at it alone, but concerns
over poaching and human disturbance led
forestry officials to take matters into
their own hands. Nests were moved to the
safety of a hatchery, and the youngsters
were escorted to the surf to ensure safe
passage. Named for their bright green
carrapases or shells, these turtles have
been listed as endangered since 1986.
And today's biggest threat, getting
caught in commercial fishing nets as
they make their way to shore during
mating season. But thanks to
conservation efforts, there's new hope
that this species will keep swimming on
forward. Pop quiz hot shot. Actor Josh
Gad plays Lefu in Beauty and the Beast.
What's another Disney character he's
voiced? Flounder in The Little Mermaid,
Olaf in Frozen, Stitch in Lilo and
Stitch, or Lightning McQueen in Cars?
If you said Olaf, warm hugs. The Frozen
filmmakers actually rewrote the
character to match Gad's natural warmth,
comedic improv style, and childlike
delivery. He was originally written as a
more mischievous snowman. "Do you want
to build a snowman?" The engineers at
Disney said, "Already done." They
created an incredibly realistic and
interactive Robo Olaf. The scene
stealing star of the Frozen franchise
will make his public debut at Disneyland
Paris later this month, ready to melt
hearts. Our Julia Vargas Jones got to go
one-on-one. Even got some warm hugs and
the behindthe-scenes peek at the tech
that brings this ebullant snowman to
life.
>> Hi, I'm Olaf and I like warm greetings.
So, here's a special one just for you.
Hugs from everyone. Wow, you are tall.
>> No, Olaf has not jumped out of a movie
screen and into the real world. Although
for a second there, I thought maybe he
did. He is a robot created by Walt
Disney Imagineers and will make his
public debut at Disneyland Paris on
March 29th.
>> Oh my goodness, this is incredible.
>> It's almost like uncanny, right?
>> Yes.
>> We were able to work with the actual
animators that worked on the film in
order to bring this character to life.
>> You're almost as tall as me, actually.
So before we ever even build a robot, we
create a virtual world where we bring a
character into simulation and we teach
Olaf how to walk, how to interact, um
how to wave. Um and that allows us then
to focus on these incredible
details that allow us to bring Olaf to
life in a way that no one's ever seen
before.
You
see you later.
>> An update now on a story that's been
appealing worldwide. The abandoned baby
monkey known as Punch is finally finding
his social circle at a zoo in Japan. If
you've seen the viral videos, you know
Punch and his stuffed toy have been
pulling at heartstrings everywhere. Our
Haneko Montgomery reports.
Amid a constant stream of unsettling
news, this little monkey has brought
comfort to millions, young and old. We
we need this warmth and love right now.
You know, when you're scrolling through
the feeds, you're just getting negative
negative when you see something like an
animal coming up and just hopefulness
and just they have nothing but care and
and love to give.
>> Japan's Punch is the internet's latest
star. Videos of him dragging around a
stuffed toy, his adopted mom, or getting
bullied by bigger monkeys have tugged at
heartstrings around the world.
>> As you can see, Punch has quite the fan
base. Hundreds of people are here from
all around the world just to see this
baby monkey.
>> Yeah, I think we all could relate to
some sense. Being in an unfamiliar
environment, um, not knowing the people
around you and then just trying to fit
in as much as we can. These days, Punch
may have found a friend. His keeper says
he's relying on the toy less, mostly
holding on to it when he sleeps,
relaxes, or after getting scolded by
older monkeys.
>> He's been doing his best to grow,
learning from those early experiences.
Now he's communicating with other
monkeys, and it's great to see him
reaching those milestones.
Punch still spends a lot of time alone
and isn't fully part of the group yet,
>> but when things get tough, Punch still
has someone to cling to.
>> Today's story getting a 10 out of 10. An
afterchool club teaching young girls how
to maintain their natural hair and grow
their confidence between every twist,
braid, and ponytail. I just remember how
I felt about my hair at that age and I
see it a lot in them. Kids used to make
fun of me. They would be like, "They
can't see around me in class because my
hair was so big."
>> Growing up with a single dad, fourth
grade teacher Jade Lambert had to teach
herself how to do her own hair. Now, as
a teacher, she's passing down the skills
she learned to her students.
>> That natural hair isn't some form of
being uncapped. Actually, maintaining
your natural hair is probably the most
care you can take to do hair at all.
I'mma show you and then I'm undo it so
you can do it.
>> I have a mannequin at home and sometimes
I like to practice what we learned in
school. Learning more about my hair so I
can do it on me, too.
>> I'm going to start adding pieces of the
longer hair. We have a lesson coming up
where they're going to make their own
products based on like their hair
texture and type and paracity. It's
quite literally an act of protest to
wear your natural hair out. So, I just
feel proud that I can like give that
information to them.
>> Way to grow, team. Big congrats to our
your word Wednesday winners, Early
College Academy High School in Los
Angeles, submitting ebulliant, an
adjective meaning very energetic,
positive, and happy. Mr. Medina or Mr.
Madina or aka Mr. Gucci, your students
say you are a bulliant and quote, "The
flyest history teacher in the game."
Rise up. And I have a shout out going to
my friends at Buford High School in
Buford, Georgia. Mrs. Puit, Coach
Jackson, Reese Carson, Hunter, Melody,
Sebastian, Zeke, and the Alex's. Thank
you for all the love. And this shout out
goes to Mrs. Bagnal at the Horizon
School in Indianapolis, Indiana. I'll be
in your city soon to see and cover the
final four. So, holler if you see me.
Rise up and make it an awesome day,
everyone. I'm Koi Wire and we are CNN
10.