Hello everyone. Hope you're having a
terrific Tuesday. I'm Natasha Chen in
for Koiwire who is out on a very cool
assignment today. You'll hear more about
that later. I've got lots of important
stories to tell you about on this May
5th, 2026 or Cinco deio. Today marks the
hugely popular and often misunderstood
Mexican holiday. While the 5th of May is
widely confused for Mexican independence
day, Cinco deio actually celebrates a
Mexican victory over France at the
Battle of Pueba back in 1862.
A small force under the command of
Ignasio Zaragoza defeated a much larger
French contingent. And the rest, as they
say, is history. And if you're still
wondering, Mexican Independence Day is
actually celebrated on September 16th,
commemorating the Mexican War of
Independence from Spain. While Cinco de
Mayo is still celebrated across Mexico
to this day, it's also become a wildly
popular springtime celebration in the US
over the years. So, if you're planning
on grabbing some tacos and guac after
school to celebrate, now you know why.
Now to a major development that's
upending the world of air travel. The
collapse of Spirit Airlines. The
pioneering budget airline abruptly
ceased global operations this weekend
following years of financial struggles.
The sudden shutdown left thousands of
passengers stranded and many more
scrambling to change travel plans. Our
Raphael Romo has more on how the impact
is being felt at the world's busiest
airport.
Passengers attitudes about what's
happening with the shuttering of Spirit
Airlines can be described with one word,
confusion. When we got to the Spirit
Airlines in Atlanta earlier today, the
area was cordoned off. Signs that
normally direct passenger traffic were
set up as barriers and screens. Had a
message for passengers saying the
following. And here I quote, "We regret
to inform you that Spirit Airlines has
ceased global operations. All Spirit
flights have been cancelled and customer
service is no longer available. It has
been our honor, it says, to bring
friends and families closer together for
34 years. This decision will put 17,000
workers out of a job, including 14,000
Spirit employees and thousands of
contractors and other people whose jobs
depend on Spirit and its operations at
multiple airports around the country.
Spirit Airlines demise has stranded
thousands of passengers who have to
adjust plans and perhaps millions who
have tickets for future dates. Customers
have been instructed not to come to the
airport. Those who book directly through
the airline with a credit or debit card
will be issued refunds and have been
instructed to rebook travel on other
carriers including JetBlue, Southwest,
Delta, and United Airlines. All of which
have announced they are offering lower
cost rescue fairs so that Spirit
customers can rebook flights. US
Transportation Secretary Shan Duffy said
some lastminute efforts intended to save
the airline were ultimately
unsuccessful.
>> The president was like a dog on a bone
uh trying to figure out a way uh to keep
Spirit afloat. Uh he was concerned about
the employees of of Spirit. I was in the
Oval many times hearing him talk about
the employees and the customers. uh in
the end this was a creditor issue.
Again, they have the final say of
whether they want to do a deal with the
government, but also from the
government's perspective, um we
oftentimes don't have a half a billion
dollars laying around in a spare account
that we can uh put into a bailout of a
of an airline. And let's remember,
Spirit filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
protection in November 2024, but then
emerged from it in March of the
following year, 2025, only to file again
5 months later in February. The airline
was able to reach a deal with its
creditors to move forward, but then fuel
prices surged and ultimately contributed
to its demise. Spirit is the first
significant US airline in nearly 25
years to go out of business because of
financial problems.
Three people are dead and at least three
others are sick following a suspected
outbreak of haunt virus aboard a cruise
ship in the Atlantic Ocean. Hont virus
is a rare but deadly disease carried by
rodents. It can pass to humans through
contact with their saliva, urine or
droppings, causing severe and often
deadly respiratory issues. According to
the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, nearly 40% of people who
develop symptoms may die. The ship in
question, the MV Hondias, is currently
anchored near Cape Verde, an island
nation off Africa's western coast. About
150 passengers and 70 crew members are
believed to be on board. The company
that owns the ship says health officials
have visited the boat, but passengers
are not allowed to disembark yet.
>> And what's happening right now is very
real for all of us here.
We're not just a story. We're not just
headlines. We're people. people with
families, with lives, with people
waiting for us at home.
>> Health officials say a 70-year-old man
and his wife are among those who died
and another person is in intensive care.
Two symptomatic crew members have
required urgent medical care as well.
The World Health Organization is working
to provide medical care to the
passengers and crew. The team is
conducting a full assessment of the
situation and says there's no current
public health threat. Now to an update
on an animal welfare story that's gained
national attention. 1,500 beagles at a
Wisconsin medical testing facility are
getting a new leash on life thanks to a
deal the company struck with animal
advocacy groups. The dogs made headlines
earlier this year after activists broke
into the property in a bid to recover
them. Now they're finally being freed.
The first batch of dogs arrived at local
volunteers farms over the weekend where
they were checked by teams of
veterinarians. The dogs will now head to
shelters across the country to embark on
their new lives. But the volunteers who
helped make it all happen hope this
batch of beagles sends a bigger message.
>> Let's all come together and and as a
nation put pressure on our politicians
to do the right thing for animals.
>> All right, it's time for 10 second
trivia. Which country has the highest
robottoworker ratio in its economy? Is
it the United States, China, Japan, or
Russia?
The answer here is Japan. According to
the International Federation of
Robotics, Japan had more than 400
industrial robots per 10,000
manufacturing workers in 2025, including
receptionists, servers, and factory
workers. While robots are being
developed to help make life easier
across the globe, the most important
part of their training is how to be more
human. And how they do that is by
identifying patterns and copying
examples from real workers. It's a
training so specific that coders are
having trouble finding enough people to
do it. So one company has a unique
solution. Our Stephanie Yang has more.
Looking for a side gig? You've seen
humanoid robots do back flips,
cartwheels, and kung fu. Now their next
big mission is cleaning. But first,
they'll have to learn how using videos
of humans doing it first. That's created
a new kind of gig economy where people
are paid by the hour to record
themselves doing odd jobs around the
house. All around the world, thousands
of workers are strapping cameras to
their heads before starting on a list of
basic tasks like cutting fruit, cleaning
countertops, and watering plants. Then
the footage is marked up so that robots
can translate the visual cues into
physical responses. This type of human
data is turning into a multi-billion
dollar industry since companies say it's
going to take billions of hours of
training before robots can be deployed
into people's homes. Analysts say that
the data from these videos isn't as
effective as having humans guide robots
through the tasks themselves, but it's a
lot cheaper and faster to collect. As AI
advances, developers are combining human
and virtual training methods, all in the
name of building the world's most
advanced Android. Now to a tiny new fur
baby, giving conservationists big
optimism. A zoo in Belgium just welcomed
a golden snub-nosed monkey, the first
ever born outside of Asia. The Nature
Conservancy estimates there are only
about 3,000 of these monkeys native to
China remaining in the wild. Living in
massive troops up to 300 strong, they
hunt for tree lyken. But that's getting
harder to find due to habitat loss.
Another contributing factor to
endangerment, illegal hunters.
Conservationists say mom Lulu and her
newborn are a major win in the fight to
protect the species. Sometimes saving
the planet starts with one tiny life.
Today's story getting a 10 out of 10.
Hundreds of South Koreans gathered in
Seoul to catch Z's and maybe a W. By the
Han River, the city of Seoul hosted
their third annual powernap contest,
which is aimed to address the nation's
sleep deprivation issue caused by stress
and long working hours. The competition
requirements looked a little different
than most. Winner hopefuls came in
costumes with full bellies and then
finally slept on the job. Participants
were judged based on how fast they fell
asleep. They wore heart monitors and a
stable reading from the Sleeping Beauty
indicated a deep, peaceful slumber. All
right, superstars. I've got time for two
shout outs for you today. The first one
goes to Mr. Samayoa's middle school
engineering class at Irving Steam Magnet
here in Los Angeles, California. And the
next one goes to Mr. McNeel at Windham
High School in Windham, Maine. Thank you
all for making us a part of your day.
And thanks to all of you for watching.
Koi will be back tomorrow. I'm Natasha
Chen and this is CNN 10.