Top of the morning to you, I'm Coy Wire.
Happy St.
Patrick's Day, the annual March 17th holiday honoring the patron saint of Ireland by commemorating his death around 461 AD and his bringing of Christianity to Ireland in the 5th century.
What was once a religious day of feasting has become a global celebration of Irish culture, including by wearing or turning things green.
I'm feeling very lucky today to bring you a shamrockin' episode of CNN 10, and we are going to start with a.
Did you know?
The city of Chicago dyes the Chicago River green on St.
Patrick's Day?
The tradition began in 1962.
The city's plumbers union was using a special leak detection dye to identify where illegal pollution was entering the water system.
One day a union member noticed that a worker's white overalls were turned bright green after a spill of the dye.
That sparked an idea.
What if they used the dye to color the river for St.
Patrick's Day to honor Irish heritage?
Dyeing the river has become one of the most famous parts of Chicago's St.
Paddy's Day celebrations alongside the city's parade.
The tradition usually happens the Saturday before St.
Patrick's Day, drawing thousands of spectators along the riverwalk and bridges.
Despite the bright color, the dye actually looks orange when it's first poured into the water.
It only turns green after mixing in with the river.
Over time, the city refined the process.
Today, only about 40 pounds of a fish-safe, vegetable-based dye is used.
But the ingredients for the formula?
Well, they remained a trademarked top-secret institution by Chicago's Plumbers Union.
Now to an update on the ongoing partial federal government shutdown and the impact it's having on air travel.
The partial shutdown began in mid-February when funding for the Department of Homeland Security lapsed due to a standoff in Congress over federal immigration reform.
Now, one month later, the heads of major US airlines like American Delta, United and Southwest are speaking out.
They sent an open letter to Congress calling on them to find a bipartisan solution and highlighting the real impacts this shutdown is having on aviation workers and travelers.
Part of that letter reads, quote Once again air travel is the political football.
Amid another government shutdown.
This problem is solvable, and there are solutions on the table now.
It's up to you, Congress, unquote.
The Department of Homeland Security says more than 300 agents at the Transportation Security Administration have already quit after missing their first full paycheck.
Security lines at major airports like Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson are reaching a breaking point.
Airlines say they expect about 171 million passengers this spring, raising concerns over how much worse these impacts could get.
One TSA worker told CNN they still haven't recovered from the last shutdown in November.
With that shutdown that happened back in November or October, going into November, officers had resources that they could tap into and things like that.
With the proximity so close to this shutdown, those resources are not there anymore.
So they don't have the ability to go and say, can I get more?
They were working on paying back what they've already taken out.
So it's absolutely worse than it was the first time.
To the Middle East now, where an online community is helping ease the burden for those desperate to relocate as the Iran war unfolds.
Because of quarantine laws and finances, some people were unable to bring their pets when they evacuated places like the United Arab Emirates.
One organization is helping them find temporary homes.
Our Ryan Young has more.
Animal rescuers and shelters in the UAE say they're overwhelmed with the numbers of abandoned pets.
In the days following the first strikes.
No Pet Left Behind was created as an online community to help abandoned pets in the United Arab Emirates find foster homes and adopters after their owners fled the region.
The community uses a Telegram chat forum for advice and discussions among members.
They've also used social media as a way to spread the word, and they now have over 8000 followers on Instagram.
You can actually get a lot of resources from the community in terms of people who've already relocated with their pets.
Advice on that.
And then, of course, we can also put you in touch with people who have applied to be foster homes or adoptive homes.
No Pet Left Behind partnered with three animal rescuers in the UAE.
Along with connecting people with local organizations, the community also provides resources for how to relocate out of the region with your pet.
We have some amazing volunteers who've stepped forward to help us who are just amazing.
And they do this on a daily basis.
And it's really incredible to see people band together over their love of animals.
When UAE resident Anna saw No Pet Left Behind's photo of Milo and Bruno, she reached out to adopt them.
The fact that you are incapable of doing anything in the situation makes you kind of lost.
So by being able to support just in the smallest way by bringing in a pet in your house and taking care of that animal, I feel like it just gives some sort of purpose in this whole situation that we have absolutely no control over.
Pop quiz, hot shot.
What year was the sport of basketball invented?
1891, 1902, 1923, or 1937?
If you said 1891, you are on the ball.
Invented by Dr James Naismith.
The first game of basketball was played on December 21st 1891 using a soccer ball and two peach baskets.
March Madness is officially here.
The NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament tips off tomorrow and the Men's Tournament today.
Over the next three weeks, March Madness will be in full swing, as 68 squads from across the country battle it out to become national champions.
Millions of fans around the world fill out brackets in a bid to correctly pick each game's winner and the eventual champion.
Did you know that no one has ever picked a perfect bracket?
The odds of correctly guessing the winners of all 63 games are 1 in 9.2 quintillion.
For some perspective.
Researchers at the University of Hawaii estimate that there are only 75 quintillion grains of sand on Earth.
But if you want to boost your chances of being the first to pick a perfect bracket, our resident bracketologist, Andy Scholz, has some analytics that might help boost your chances.
What's up, Andy?
All right, Coy March Madness is here and it's time to start diving into this bracket and filling it out.
We know it's always fun to pick an upset in the first or second round.
Have that Cinderella and brag that you had it in your bracket.
But if you want to beat your friends and do well in a bracket competition, The final four is the most important.
If you really want to beat everybody, you got to try to pick that national champion correctly.
And there are certain trends that can help you do so.
One of them is called Ken Palm.
It measures a team's offensive and defensive efficiency.
And every single champion since 2002 has been top 40 in offense and top 22 in defense.
So who qualifies for that right now?
Right now, we can look at these teams.
Duke Arizona Houston Florida Tennessee Michigan, Michigan State, Iowa State Virginia, Gonzaga and UConn.
All of these teams you can expect to do well in the bracket.
One seeds win the overwhelming majority of the time.
28 times a one seed wins your bracket.
That's who you're going to want winning the national championship when you're filling it out.
Now, take a look at this map.
See this red line right down the middle of the country?
Since 1997, every single champion has come from east of this line.
Where are we finding our teams that we have left, the three teams?
Michigan's over here.
Duke's over here.
Arizona's the team in the west, over here.
But in 97, who did win?
It was those Arizona Wildcats.
I think that the drought after 29 years Coy is finally going to end and the Arizona Wildcats win from the West, are going to win the national championship.
Hey, if it doesn't happen, Coy, kids, don't blame me, blame the numbers.
Today's story getting a 10 out of 10.
A group of veterans traveling far beyond the walls of their assisted living apartments without ever leaving the building.
One Air Force veteran went skydiving.
It takes me instantly to a different world.
Army veteran came face to face with sharks underwater.
It was so realistic.
The program created by Mind Immersive is specially designed for older adults, offering trips and experiences they say can help with mental health.
We're able to bring it right to their room and again bring that veteran out of that darkness and whatever their experience, and bring them to their happy place.
Doctors can now even prescribe the virtual reality as part of the therapy.
The technology is already being used in more than 100 state veterans' homes and VA medical centers, turning a virtual reality headset into a ticket, just about anywhere.
All right.
Hey, hey, happy St.
Paddy's Day.
I have some shout outs today.
And the first one is going to Mrs. Ireland.
So fitting for St.
Paddy's at McKeown Elementary in Newton, New Jersey.
They sent us this awesome scarf and a book that Mrs. Ireland wrote about idioms. uh you know things like a piece of cake and down to earth or let's see another good one here night owl yeah this is incredible stuff and kind of what it means so smart idioms all their meetings awesome stuff next shout out goes to nestu at pitston township pennsylvania my home state they sent us these very cool 3d glasses a printed shamrock perfectly fitting for saint paddy's day and a limerick or an irish poem uh says there once was a guy named wire his broadcasting skills were fire a shout out we need the knowledge you feed every day with news you inspire rise up i see you and i will see you again tomorrow too i'm coy wire and we are cnn 10 hey i'm anderson cooper On my podcast, All There Is, we explore grief and loss in all its complexities.
You'll hear deeply moving and honest discussions with people who have faced and are living with life-altering losses.
My conversations with Robert Irwin.
Robert grew up in the public eye.
His dad, Steve Irwin, was known around the world as the crocodile hunter.
But one of the greatest gifts in my life is the fact that my entire existence and my childhood, growing up with dad, was all captured on camera.
I mean, it is all there.
And you watch dad for two seconds and you get a pretty good picture of the sort of passionate individual that he was.
Talking grief, building community.
That's what the podcast is all about.
This is all there is.
Listen and follow wherever you get your podcasts.
