Hey there, happy May.
Thanks for hanging out with us today.
We've got some great stories for you that'll bring a smile to your face.
I'm Christabel Polanco, and this is CNN 5 Good Things.
My hope with every person that we take out is they realize that life can still be exciting.
Hear about the joy rides that mean so much to so many.
Plus...
It's so hard just to get your foot in the door.
So being able to provide a platform for artists, it's really fulfilling for me.
You might walk into this grocery store for milk and eggs and leave with a new favorite band.
Later on, new research suggests an ancient solution could address the very modern threat of microplastic pollution.
And in Colorado an oncologist is traveling hundreds of miles to bring cancer care to communities in need.
When we come back.
There were so many things that could have went wrong.
I just am so thankful that I'm still here.
I'm just beyond blessed.
A stallion manager might not be at the Kentucky Derby today had he not been watching Monday Night Football.
We'll explain.
Stick around.
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Someone on Depop wants what you've got.
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The Kentucky Derby kicks off today and racing fans across the country are breaking out their big hats and seersucker suits for what many call the most exciting two minutes in sports.
But for one Derby fan, just being in the stands at Churchill Downs feels like a win.
I'm very, very appreciative of still being here and having a second chance.
Mark Toothaker from Frankfort Kentucky, works at Spend Thrift Farm, one of the top stallion breeders in the state.
They own one of the top contenders at this year's Derby, further ado.
Last December, an ordinary night at home turned into an ordeal he'll never forget.
All because of a botched field goal kick during an NFL game.
I started laughing and my wife was like, what happened?
And I said, well, I've never seen this happen before in football.
You know, this guy missed the ball.
It's almost like reminds me of Snoopy.
You know the classic move from Charlie Brown when Lucy yanks the football away just before Charlie Brown takes the kick.
You know, it was just one of those things that made me laugh.
And so we play it back and she starts laughing.
And that's really the last thing I remember.
Mark ended up laughing so hard it triggered a seizure.
I'm not kidding.
That's what he said happened.
His wife Mallory, called the paramedics and got him to a hospital where a CT scan revealed he had a tumor the size of a tennis ball.
It was certainly a night that we'll never forget.
You know, it just was the scariness of not knowing if it's cancerous or not.
And, you know, just amazing miracles what it is.
Two days later, the tumor, which turned out to be benign, was removed.
And today he's nearly back to 100%.
So this Derby Day, Mark says he'll be cheering for further ado, but he'll be celebrating something bigger than the race.
You know, there were so many things that could have went wrong.
I just am so thankful, you know, that I'm still here.
I'm thankful that my wife's not a widow and I'm just, you know, beyond blessed.
Are you Tony?
Yes.
Are you coming out for a ride with me today?
People just want a human connection.
They just want to feel alive.
They just want to get out of the house.
They want to be with somebody else who enjoys life and, you know, have a moment with them.
And for some, that moment may happen at 100 miles an hour in a sports car.
Grand Burghini is a project by Mark Cody from Sheffield, England that gives elderly people free joyrides to help combat loneliness.
And it all started with a promise to his own grandmother, Hazel.
For years we'd had this running promise, which was one day.
I'm going to pick you up in a Lamborghini.
We're going to go out for a fun day out.
But in 2021 she took her own life when she was 78 years old, after struggling with isolation and loneliness.
The tragedy rocked Mark and his family, but it inspired him to follow through.
It wasn't a promise I could keep with her, but I knew it was a promise I could keep with many other people and ultimately prevent them from ever being in a similar situation to where she was.
He started giving joyrides to seniors over two years ago, first by renting the sports car and finding passengers in his local community.
Now he owns a bright pink Lamborghini his grandmother's favorite color and spends five days a week out on the road.
Anyone can nominate a loved one for a free ride on their website.
A joyride can be as short as 20 minutes or as long as two to three hours down memory lane, literally.
This is fantastic.
We can go and visit your old friends, go to the street you were born on.
I don't care.
Let's get you out of the house and let's show you, you know, the best time.
What I found was it was therapy for me.
I get to ask all of the beautiful questions that I wish I'd asked my grandmother.
Who was your first boyfriend?
What things scare you?
What's out of your comfort zone?
And it creates such meaningful conversation.
And now Grand Burgundy has plans to go global.
Through a new app he's building called JoyRiders, Mark is recruiting other sports car owners around the world to join the mission.
The goal?
One million JoyRides.
My hope, with every person that we take out, is they realize that life can still be exciting, that life is there to be grabbed.
I don't care if you're 40 50, 60 or 100 years old.
We have no assurances of tomorrow.
It's about you know, trying to maximize the time we have here.
If you want to nominate a Joyrider or become a driver, head to joyriderscom.
That's joyriders.com.
Hello, Fiesta Fresh.
My name is Al Zamora.
So grateful to be here.
This song is called 24 Hours.
Fiesta Fresh isn't a bar or a concert venue.
It's a family-owned grocery store in Newcastle, Delaware.
And they're taking a page from NPR's book by hosting their own versions of Tiny Desk concerts.
Don't hear anything that you yell at me.
I've been lying in the dark since 17.
Except, instead of performing in an office cubicle, they're jamming out in the middle of the produce section with sessions called Mercadito Concerts.
Whoever is shopping at the store.
Obviously they get a free concert, but also kind of like an even trade with the artists, because obviously nowadays it's super important for artists that are developing just to be out there and let people hear them.
Jose Luis Aguilar Garcia is the co-owner of Fiesta Fresh Market with his dad and sister.
The 28-year-old also runs his own record label and music's been a part of his life for as long as he can remember.
It was born in Mexico, where his grandfather and uncles played in a mariachi band.
His family moved to the US in 2006, settling down in an apartment building that was right next to a local supermarket.
Then in 2024, his family took over the store's location and opened Fiesta Fresh Market.
That's when Jose saw an opportunity to bring his two worlds together.
I promise.
It started just as Latin artists.
Because of my resources in the music industry and the favors I could ask,
But now we've had artists of all different types of genres reach out.
That was an artist named Ere, and this performance is from a band called Games We Play.
So hard just to get your foot in the door.
So being able to provide a platform for artists, it's really fulfilling for me.
Yep.
A team of scientists from Brazil and the UK say an ancient solution could help tackle a modern problem microplastics in our drinking water.
Exposure to these tiny particles have been linked to serious health risks, such as heart attacks and strokes.
Enter the moringa tree.
Used for millennia to purify water, researchers found its seeds were just as effective at filtering out microplastics as commonly used chemicals.
My colleague, senior climate writer Laura Patterson, dove deep into their findings.
So Laura, this sounds promising.
How does it work?
Hi, Krista.
The moringa tree is pretty special.
Known as a miracle tree, it's one of the most nutrient-dense plants on the planet.
It's fast-growing, it's drought-resistant, and as you said, it can purify water.
So extracts from its seeds work as a coagulant, basically a substance which causes tiny particles in water to stick together so they can be filtered out.
The scientists tested moringa seeds against the commonly used chemical coagulant known as alum.
They used PVC microplastics in their experiment.
These are believed to be amongst the most hazardous kind.
And they added them to tap water.
They then ran this contaminated water through an experiment that simulates water treatment plant processes.
And they found moringa was more than 98 effective at removing microplastics, which is similar to alum.
The big advantages of moringa over alum are that it's natural, it's biodegradable, it doesn't produce large amounts of sludge and it has far fewer toxicity concerns.
And experts say it could eventually offer a cheaper and more sustainable solution to getting microplastics out of our tap water.
It's scary if they weren't here because I might not be able to get through this.
In parts of the U.S., cancer care can be hundreds of miles away.
Meet the doctor bringing it closer to them.
Finding a source you can trust for weather forecasts should be easy, right?
This is CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam, thrilled to introduce the new CNN Weather app.
Check your daily forecast to plan your day, the weekly forecast to see what's on the way and prepare for any major storm with our robust real-time video coverage.
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Download the CNN weather app on iOS today.
Hi, unplug and here we go.
In rural America, cancer care can be difficult to access.
Off we go to Trinidad.
So once a month Dr Richard Hoyer from Colorado Springs hits the road and travels over 400 miles to try to change that.
So our goal with this clinic is to bring everything we would normally do at our clinic in Colorado Springs and bring it to these communities.
I've held the idea that everybody in the United States should have access to the same health care.
I really firmly believe that, that access should be the same no matter where somebody lives.
And the need is clear.
In Colorado, there are no licensed oncologists in the eastern part of the state, where just over 112000 people live.
And across the country, many rural hospitals operate in the red.
Since 2014, more than 20% of them have stopped offering chemotherapy.
And rural patients across the country are nearly 10 more likely to die from cancer, according to a study published in 2022.
All right, we're just going right in here.
I'm good.
How are you doing?
I'm good.
Thank you.
On this five-day visit, Dr Hoyer and his care team have seen nearly 100 patients, like Shauna Varner.
She was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer last September.
Shauna had to quit her job, didn't have a car and couldn't afford to drive to Colorado Springs for treatment.
Now she gets care closer to home from Dr. Hoyer's team, including nurse practitioner Rose Gates.
Dr. Rose has seen me cry.
She's seen me laugh.
She's comforted me because I really thought at one time I was dying.
And she took my hands and she told me I was going to be all right.
That's pretty special.
And for Shauna, there's more on the line.
I have a little girl.
She's seven.
I'm a little miracle baby.
I don't know.
It's scary if they weren't here, because I might not be able to get through this and be here for her to watch her grow up.
I feel good now.
I was scared for a while, but I feel a lot better now.
Dr Hoyer's practice is part of a much bigger story about a healthcare system stretched thin in rural America, the patients forced to navigate it, and what happens when the person bringing that care can't do it forever.
Watch the full documentary on CNN All Access.
The link is in our show notes.
Can ICE be nice?
The Trump administration's immigration enforcement operation is attempting a bit of a reset.
CNN's Priscilla Alvarez examines whether a softer touch on social media is translating to a lighter touch in the streets.
Have a good day.
Till next time.
What do we know about how much AI is contributing to energy consumption, energy demand right now?
And how does that compare with other industries?
The best resource for that is the International Energy Agency, which is sort of the global energy think tank that collects data on all of this.
And what they predict is that about 8 of the additional electricity that we're going to need by 2030 that will be for data centers.
The other 92% is for other things, industry electrification, electric vehicles.
And AI is really only driving part of that increase in demand.
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