Today's CNN 10 Transcript

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MEENA DUERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening, wherever you are in the world. I'm Meena Duerson in for Coy Wire, and I'm so glad to be back with you on this Wednesday, May 27th.

It is also Your Word Wednesday, so listen closely and see if the word you submitted helped us write today's show.

We begin with some big news out of the U.S. Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve, or Fed, is the country's central banking system and one of the most powerful economic institutions in the world. And now it has a new leader.

Kevin Warsh has been sworn in as the 17th Fed Chairman. He was nominated by President Donald Trump in January to succeed Jerome Powell, who had been in the role since 2018, serving two consecutive terms under both President Trump and President Biden.

So, what exactly does the Fed Chair do? In short, they are the voice of the U.S. economy. They act as the central bank's chief executive and oversee the Federal Open Market Committee, which decides what interest rates will be. And those impact everything from credit cards to mortgages.

And although the Fed is an independent institution, the Chair is responsible for fostering a sense of synergy with the Treasury Department and many other key parts of the government. Warsh is stepping into the role at a critical time amid uncertainty over inflation, geopolitical conflicts and volatile financial markets. But at Friday's swearing-in ceremony, he made it clear that he's up for the challenge.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN WARSH, U.S. FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN: I will lead a reform-oriented Federal Reserve. Learning from past successes and mistakes both, escaping static frameworks and models, and upholding clear standards of integrity and performance. Today marks a return to an institution that I do in fact cherish.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DUERSON: An urgent effort is underway to reach seven villagers trapped underground in a cave in Laos. They've now been there for nearly a week after flash flooding from heavy rain reportedly blocked the exit. One group coordinating the rescue says teams will have to navigate a more than 1,000-foot-long tunnel to reach the villagers.

CNN's Mike Valerio filed this report from Beijing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE VALERIO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Rescue teams squeezed through narrow, flooded tunnels in rural Laos, their goal reaching seven people trapped underground for almost a week. We're told local villagers often visit the site to search for gold deposits. Videos recorded by rescue divers from Thailand show them navigating a more than 1,000-foot-long tunnel.

For most of the way, they have to crawl. In some places, they have to submerge completely to find a way through. One of the groups coordinating the rescue says that at its narrowest point, the tunnel measures just 23 inches.

Outside, other team members run cables through a gap between the rocks to guide rescuers to its lower reaches. Three divers from the crew were involved in the dramatic 2018 cave rescue of 12 Thai boys and their football coach.

VALERIO: No word on this latest incident from Laos' Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Southeast Asian nation is a one-party communist state that often closely regulates the release of information.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DUERSON: And it's time for 10-second trivia.

What is the lowest point on Earth on dry land?

Is it Death Valley, the Grand Canyon, the Dead Sea, or Lake Assal?

If you said the Dead Sea, your knowledge is deep. The Dead Sea's shoreline lies more than 1,400 feet below sea level.

The Dead Sea isn't just the lowest point on Earth, it's also one of the planet's biggest natural wonders. It gets its name from its extremely high salt content, nearly 10 times that of the ocean, which makes it impossible for fish, plants, and other aquatic life to survive. The sea's unique waters and mineral resources have been cherished by civilizations throughout history. But scientists are sounding the alarm over a troubling trend. They say the Dead Sea is dying.

Our Jeremy Diamond got a rare first-hand look at the fight to save this storied sea.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jake Ben Zaken is one of the only people licensed to operate a boat on the Dead Sea. And for the last 12 years, that's what he's done.

DIAMOND: So, you know it well?

JAKE BEN ZAKEN, FOUNDER, SALTY LANDSCAPES: Yeah. I got to see all the faces.

DIAMOND (voice-over): Giving him an unparalleled view of one of Earth's natural wonders, and the fast-moving environmental disaster threatening its existence.

BEN ZAKEN: So, every year we get about seven and a half meters of new shoreline, because the sea is dropping.

DIAMOND (voiceover): The Dead Sea is dying. Its surface area has shrunk by about one-third in the last 50 years, and its salt-encrusted shores now stand as a testament to the rapid pace of change.

BEN ZAKEN: This is last year, two years ago. Every step, it's a year.

DIAMOND (voiceover): Each step shows how much the sea level has dropped from one year to the next, at a rate of about four feet per year, like nothing else in the world.

Dr. Yael Kiro has been studying the Dead Sea for over a decade.

DIAMOND: There's no other place on Earth like the Dead Sea.

DR. YAEL KIRO, SENIOR SCIENTIST, WEIZMANN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE: No, no.

DIAMOND (voice-over): To understand why it is shrinking, and what can be done about it.

KIRO: The main reason is because of the utilization of the water resources around the Dead Sea. This contributes around 60 percent of the drop. And then there is the Dead Sea factories, both the Jordanian and the Israelis, that pump directly the brine and evaporate it in order to extract minerals. And they contribute about 40 percent for the lake level drops.

DIAMOND (voice-over): Israel's Dead Sea Works and Jordan's Arab Potash Company pump tens of billions of gallons of water out of the Dead Sea each year, evaporating much of that water to extract potash and magnesium, key fertilizer ingredients. Some who want to save the Dead Sea have proposed building a pipeline and pumping water in from the Red Sea. Others advocate for replenishing the Jordan River, allowing the water to flow naturally into the Dead Sea.

But while ideas abound, government action is still missing. The impact isn't just environmental, it's also financial. This graveyard of palm trees and graffiti buildings was once a thriving beach resort. The road leading to it explains why it's been abandoned.

DIAMOND: Tourists used to take this road all the time to get to the Dead Sea, but now sinkholes like this one line its path. And the whole area has been abandoned. And the concern is that more sinkholes will continue to happen as the Dead Sea drops and tourism will be severely impacted.

KIRO: Since the lake level started to drop, this salt layer, instead of being exposed to the Dead Sea brine, it is exposed to more freshwater and then eventually you get a collapse.

DIAMOND (voice-over): Aboard his boat, Ben Zaken says he sees new evidence of the Dead Sea's man-made decay every day. The uncertainty it spells for its future and his own.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DUERSON: Tis the season for Celebrity Commencement Speakers. You can expect us to bring you the most inspirational moments from college coliseums and stadiums across the nation in the next several weeks. And today we're highlighting some words of wisdom from one of our favorites, CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

He spoke to the University of Michigan Medical School graduates. Dr. Gupta stood in their same spot 33 years ago before becoming a neurosurgeon, performing life-changing operations, traveling the world, and reporting medical news. With all his experience, he shared some great advice to his fellow Wolverines that many of us can learn from too.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Spend your time asking the right questions, even if they seem dumb. Because those are often the questions everyone else is too afraid to ask. And along the way, you may find that you are no longer someone who is just continuously memorizing the past, but instead you start to become someone who is changing the future.

Make a pledge to yourself and to each other. Over the last four years, you have made some of the best friends you'll ever have in your life. That was certainly the case for me. Always answer their calls. Be there in their times of need. Fly around the world, graduates, for their weddings and the births of their children. Always be there for one another, and I promise you it will become one of the most precious touchstones you ever have in your life.

Don't forget, graduates, the path that you've chosen is one that will always require not artificial intelligence, but authentic intelligence, that uniquely human touch.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DUERSON: Today's story getting a 10 out of 10, a unique shell-ebration for the Catalan culture in Spain. The world's largest snail-eating festival, a three-day event, attracted 200,000 people to Lleida, a Spanish city that has been hosting this local tradition for decades. The taste? Described by one person as a protein candy, this was definitely not a sluggish affair. Over 30,000 pounds of snails were eaten. It's loved by many, and this festival is said to continue growing every year. I guess my invite is still in snail mail.

Congratulations to today's Your Word Wednesday winner. Mr. Wolverteen at Los Molinos Middle School in California, who submitted "synergy," a noun which means the interaction of elements that, when combined, produce a total effect that is greater than the sum of the individual contributions.

All right, superstars, I've got time for one shout-out today. Mr. Josh at the Pines School in Lino Lakes, Minnesota, thank you for making us a part of your day, and we are so glad we can be your window to the world. We are rooting for you.

And we are rooting for all of you who are winding down the school year. Hope you have an awesome day. Coy will be back tomorrow.

I'm Meena Duerson, and this is CNN 10.

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CNN 10's Weekly News Quiz

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