Today's CNN 10 Transcript

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COY WIRE, CNN 10 ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to the show. I'm Coy Wire. This is CNN 10 and I hope you're having an awesome Friday Eve.

Mine got off to a rough start. My daughter asked, can I have a bookmark? Five years old and she still doesn't know my name is Coy.

Let's get to your news for Thursday, August 20th, starting with some unsettling news. We've already seen more foodborne illness outbreaks in the United States this summer than in any of the previous five summers. We are on pace for a record.

Experts say there are several reasons why. Extreme summer heat can create conditions where some bacteria multiply faster, especially when food isn't kept at safe temperatures, and some pathogens are particularly tough to track down. Pathogens are things like bacteria, viruses, and parasites, and they're capable of causing disease.

Funding cuts at the state, federal, and local levels have also made it harder to determine where these outbreaks start.

Speaking of outbreaks, a CNN investigation into one of the biggest companies tied to this summer's outbreak, Taylor Farms, is shedding light on how they've handled similar situations in the past and what it could mean for food safety going forward. Our Kyung Lah has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYUNG LAH, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is the headquarters for Taylor Farms.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is private property.

LAH: OK.

LAH (voice-over): Taylor Farms won't talk to us on camera today. We'd already asked for an interview and had not heard back. This is the company the FDA linked to the historic cyclospora outbreak; 6,000 sick, hundreds hospitalized, and two dead.

Here's what we wanted to ask the company. The government traced at least five different outbreaks directly to Taylor Farms in the past 13 years and a CNN review finds time after time, the company turned to a similar playbook, deflecting blame. How? By relying on negative test results to imply that Taylor Farms products are not responsible, even though investigators mainly find the source of outbreaks by figuring out what and where people who got sick ate.

BILL MARLER, FOOD SAFETY ATTORNEY: It's deja vu all over again. I sort of feel like we're on a repeat record.

LAH (voice-over): This month, Taylor Farms said, "According to the FDA, there are no confirmed positive sample results for product testing for cyclospora as of August 5th, 2026. We are confident in our food and food safety systems."

Let's rewind through the known outbreaks linked to Taylor Farms. 2013, eerily similar cyclospora cases connected to Taylor Farms salad. CEO Bruce Taylor said at the time, "All our tests have been negative. And we have no evidence of cyclospora in our product." 2015, a multi-state E. coli outbreak. Taylor's public response, the tests were "preliminary findings," and "It looks like a false alarm." The FDA later said a product with Taylor Farms produce was the likely source. 2024, another E. coli outbreak traced to onions distributed by Taylor Farms. The company said it found, no traces of the bacteria. All Taylor Farms products in the market today are safe to consume.

MARLER: I think they have played a little bit fast and loose with the facts.

LAH (voice-over): Food safety attorney Bill Marler has sued Taylor Farms a dozen times in multiple outbreaks, representing more than a hundred clients. He says the company implies its food may not be to blame by telling the public their testing found no trace of the microbes. But Marler says that doesn't prove anything.

MARLER: Taylor Farms is using those negative results to muddy the water. The scientists at Taylor Farms know better; that the products that get tested are not the products that people consumed. And I always say this, and it sounds like I'm making a joke, but people eat the evidence.

LAH: About half of America's domestic lettuce is grown here in the Salinas Valley in central California. It's also where Taylor Farms is headquartered. But the focus of this cyclospora outbreak is in Central Mexico at the Taylor Farms facility there, the same plant linked to another cyclospora outbreak in 2013.

MARLER: It's the same facility. They're drawing iceberg lettuce in from the same area and expecting a different result.

LAH (voice over): Taylor Farms tells CNN, it invests more than 200 million a year in food safety. The problem is that nothing can kill cyclospora on fresh vegetables without cooking.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WIRE: Now to Colombia, where communities are still reeling after last week's devastating 7.4 magnitude earthquake. As the nation begins the process of rebuilding, one of Colombia's most famous daughters is coming home to help. Shakira, the global superstar, returned this week to visit one of the hardest hit areas, the Choco Earthquake Zone.

The four-time Grammy winner has inspired crowds on the biggest stages, and now she's trying to inspire something even more powerful, hope. Shakira is helping rebuild 11 local schools in partnership with the Howard G. Buffett Foundation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHAKIRA, GRAMMY AWARD-WINNING SINGER: We are living through one of the worst tragedies Colombia has ever experienced, but we are united and we are going to fight, and we are not going to stop until every child returns to school, until every child can regain a sense of normality, return to their life, to their friends.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: This is about more than just bricks and walls. It's about rebuilding routines, community, and a sense that tomorrow might be better than today. More than 280 people were killed and thousands more were injured in last week's quake.

Now to Hong Kong, where artificial intelligence is helping a blind man navigate the world around him like never before. Chung Chi Ming has been blind since birth, but now using a wearable A.I. device, he's able to explore and even go shopping in his city all by himself for the very first time. Check it out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This small device is transforming how 40-year-old Chung Chi Ming navigates his city. It uses generative A.I. to detect his surroundings, translating into an audible format.

SEEKR.AI (through translation): These vegetable include carrots and cucumbers.

CHUNG CHI MING, SEEKR.AI USER: I'm completely blind, totally blind since birth.

Through A.I. technology, I can understand the world.

(OFF MIC)

CHI MING: Yeah, correct.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Lamia Sreya Rahman co-developed the device called Seekr.AI to be hyperlocal.

LAMIA SREYA RAHMAN, CO-FOUNDER AND COO VIDI LABS: Generative A.I. or these chatbots were built for people like you and me, sighted individuals. But what visual-impaired people need is another added layer of information. We've built our own database of information that any visual-impaired person can tap into and navigate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That extra layer of detail on everyday life is what sets Seekr.AI apart. While volunteering during COVID, Lamia realized the elderly and visually impaired people she met weren't using other assistive tech available on the market. By pressing one button, Ming can get details like expiry dates, nutritional value, price, and up to 12 different languages.

CHI MING: If my friend, my family are not available, this technology is a very good kind of thing to help me to do things independently.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WIRE: Pop quiz, hot shot.

Which species is believed to be the first domesticated by humans?

Horses, sheep, dogs, or birds?

If you said dogs, bow, wow, wow, yippee, yo, yippee, yay. You've unleashed the right answer. Scientific evidence suggests domesticated canines were living alongside humans at least 14,000 years ago. Man's best friend for thousands of years.

According to new research from the University of Vienna, dogs are pretty good at reading the room. They can detect when we're happy, when we're sad, even scared. Researchers scanned the brains of eight dogs while showing them images of strangers displaying emotions from happiness to sadness, anger, even fear. When the dogs saw happy human faces, researchers detected increased activity in brain regions associated with higher level processing and reward. They responded differently to negative emotions, but their brains still showed distinct patterns of activity. So, they may not know why we're having a rough day, but scientists suggest they may know something is up.

Today's story, getting a 10 out of 10. Hollywood's most famous sidewalk just added a groundbreaking new star. Hailing from Benin, music icon Angelique Kidjo made history this week, becoming the first Black African performer to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

(CHEERING & APPLAUSE)

WIRE: Kidjo's career has spanned decades. She's earned a whopping 17 Grammy nominations, winning five of them, and she's collaborated with stars ranging from Alicia Keys to Bono to Quavo. At her ceremony, there was singing, dancing, there were tears. Here's some of what Kidjo had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANGELIQUE KIDJO, GRAMMY AWARD-WINNING SINGER: The star for me means that my vision of the world as a small village is a reality. We have the same needs, doesn't matter where we come from, which language we speak, which skin color we have. We are human. It's one human family. I don't believe in any other person telling me otherwise.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: Kidjo's impact extends far beyond music. She's served as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador since 2002 and co-founded the Batonga Foundation, which works to empower girls and young women in Africa.

Now from one superstar to some of you superstars. Shout out to Coach Gillette at St. Andrews Middle School in Columbia, South Carolina. Thank you for sharing some of your students' assignments with us, and congrats on being named Coach of the Year. That is awesome.

This next shout out goes to Mr. Schaefer at Green Hill High School in Mount Juliet, Tennessee. Thank you for making us a part of your day, and be sure to send us some pictures of that pizza party.

Happy Friday Eve. Go make someone smile. It costs you nothing, only takes a moment, and it just may be the spark of someone's needs. I'll see you tomorrow. I'm Coy Wire, and we are CNN 10.

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