Today's Show Transcript

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COY WIRE, CNN 10 ANCHOR: Rise up, everyone. Welcome to Milan, Italy. It has been a wild final weekend at these Winter Games and there was no shortage of jaw-dropping moments.
Norway became the first country ever to win at least 18 gold medals at a single Games, thanks in large part to the Golden GOAT, Johannes Hosflot Klaebo. He now has 11 career golds and is the first athlete ever to win six gold medals at a single Winter Games. He won every event he was in.
And in hockey, an incredible ending for Team USA. Both the men's and women's squads facing off against Canada in the finals with the women coming through from a thrilling come-from-behind overtime finish. And the U.S. men's team striking gold as well. It's their first gold medal in 46 years. The famed Miracle on Ice upset win against the Soviet Union in 1980.
But one of the biggest moments of this year's Games, a gold medal for 20-year-old American Alysa Liu. Her electric free skate propelled her to the top of the podium, making her the first American woman figure skater in two decades to win an individual medal of any kind.
I had the chance to sit down with Miss Alysa following the positively stunning performance to see how it's all sinking in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALYSA LIU, OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST: It didn't really change how I felt about anything. The moment I finished my program, I was like on such a high. Literally nothing could bring me higher or lower.
WIRE: When you stepped away from figure skating, what did maybe the silence and the absence of the crowd teach you that the roaring arenas never could?
LIU: I mean, it showed me a different side, that's for sure. And I got to experience something new and that's always valuable.
WIRE: Watching you out there, I don't know what was stronger, your jumps or your joy. It's just emanating from you.
LIU: Thank you.
WIRE: Who is Alysa Liu now compared to the 13-year-old kid who burst onto the scene?
LIU: Oh, I mean, I would say I know myself a lot better, but you know, I'd hope I do at 20. But yeah, I don't know. I'm a lot happier now.
WIRE: As athletes, through all the highs and the lows, the ups and the downs, parents, family are there every step of the way. How much has your family meant to you in this journey?
LIU: Family is everything to me. Same with my friends. They keep me grounded and yeah, honestly, like they're the reason why I feel like I am able to do so much.
WIRE: When young girls look at you now, what do you hope they see?
LIU: I hope they see that they have limitless potential. Limitless?
WIRE: Yeah.
LIU: Yeah.
WIRE: What do you hope you being you says to anyone out there kind of struggle to find their place?
LIU: Oh my God, I hope they know that it's good to break down, I guess, barriers and do risky things and, you know, go against some people sometimes. Yeah, it's liberating.
WIRE: Can you teach me a pose --
LIU: Yes.
WIRE: -- a position?
LIU: Yes.
WIRE: I got to -- I got to show these to my daughters.
(CROSSTALK)
LIU: OK, we'll do my ending pose. So, you point your toe --
WIRE: Point your toe.
LIU: Hand on your hip.
WIRE: Hand in my hip.
LIU: And then point up --
WIRE: Point up.
LIU: -- and that's it.
WIRE: I got that gold medal glow.
LIU: You did.
WIRE: Congratulations.
LIU: Thank you.
WIRE: Amazing.
WIRE: Alysa Liu's performance has captivated the world, but nowhere has it resonated more than her hometown rank in Oakland, California.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Crazy that she lives in Oakland, like so close to our home. I want to be that good.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just the sound of her spinning and jumping is like everyone's silence and we're against the boards just in awe.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Big smile, you see, she had that in sixth grade.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She ice skates like right here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel like one day I could pop in and just see her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WIRE: Next up, NASA's first manned moon mission in more than half a century appears to have hit a snag. The agency says they have identified an issue with the Artemis II rocket that could prevent it from taking off during next month's planned launch window. The issue, which concerns the propulsion system, will require them to roll the towering rocket back to the Vehicle Assembly Building from its launch pad.
And that's no small feat. Teams of engineers and scientists are actively reviewing the data in hopes of preserving an April launch window. The Artemis II mission is slated to be the deepest human spaceflight ever.
Four astronauts will travel around the moon and back in preparation for the 2028 Artemis III mission when NASA plans to return astronauts to the lunar surface for the first time since 1972.
Pop quiz, hot shot.
Which species of sea turtle is the largest in the world?
Loggerhead, green, hawksbill or leatherback?
If you said leatherback, you are turtle-ly awesome. Leatherback turtles can grow to nearly 1,000 pounds. They're named for their soft, rubbery skin and are the only turtle that lacks a shell and scales. Shell out.
If you've ever visited a beach or lived near one, you may have seen the communal efforts to protect sea turtles. Coastal communities often keep street lamps off and porch lights low during nesting season so that baby turtles can find their way to the ocean. Well, a new study out of the U.K. suggests that turtles' food sources may be a more dire problem. Our Allison Chinchar explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST (voice-over): All over the world, conservationists protect sea turtle eggs from predators so the babies can survive and make their way to the ocean. But a new long-term study of loggerhead sea turtles found that climate change is presenting new challenges to their survival.
For 17 years, researchers have been tracking individual female loggerhead sea turtles in Cape Verde, home to one of the world's largest loggerhead nesting populations. They found that the warming oceans are causing the turtles to nest earlier and produce fewer eggs. Fitra Nugraha of London's Queen Mary University is part of that team.
FITRA NUGRAHA, QUEEN MARY UNIVERSITY OF LONDON: So, climate change has influenced the nesting timing of the populations and also the inter-nesting interval within a season. The increasing temperatures may speed up egg development inside the body, thus shortening the successive clutches.
CHINCHAR: A clutch is a nest of sea turtle eggs and a female turtle lays multiple clutches throughout a typical season with 10 or more days in between. The earlier arrival of the Cape Verde turtles and shorter time in between clutches tells researchers they have adapted to the warming ocean. But Nugraha says after a deeper look, a troubling issue emerged.
NUGRAHA: But when we follow individual turtles, a complex picture emerges and that tells us that something is happening in the oceans and it is beyond the temperature. It is the ocean productivity that matters to all of this.
CHINCHAR: The researchers started looking at sea turtle feeding grounds for answers and found a declining trend of chlorophyll in plants and algae over many years. They found that re-nesting intervals lengthened from about two years to four years over the course of their study. When the turtles did return, they laid fewer clutches and fewer eggs per nest.
Cape Verde hosts tens of thousands of nesting female turtles each year and Nugraha says the future of the species depends on safeguarding their feeding habitats rather than just beach protection.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WIRE: Today's story getting a 10 out of 10, a Nevada woman helping honor veterans who dropped out of school to serve their country.
Charm McElree has spent 16 years with Operation Recognition, which helps vets from World War II, Korea and Vietnam get their diplomas from their original high schools if they hadn't been sent to war.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHARM MCELREE, HELPS VETERANS ACQUIRE MISSING DIPLOMAS: I think it gives closure and dignity to the veterans and I didn't realize how much it meant to them, but the more I do and the more I give them, it really makes me feel good.
WIRE: She's helped secure more than 60 diplomas across 26 states, sometimes even posthumously or after the veterans have passed away.
MCELREE: This ceremony in South Dakota, where this gentleman graduated and this man lives in Bellingham, Washington.
WIRE: These veterans' education may have been interrupted, but thanks to Charm's efforts, they will never be forgotten.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
All right, superstars, I've got two shout outs for you before I hop back on this flight to the U.S. of A. First one's going to Mrs. LaPointe at Whisconier Middle School in Brookfield, Connecticut. Thank you so much for subscribing and commenting on our YouTube channel.
And this shout out goes to Ms. Tillman at John McCandless Charter School in Stockton, California. I hear you are putting on your own Olympics this week. That is pure gold.
Thanks to all of you for making us a part of your day. I'm so grateful to share this incredible experience with you.
I've got some good friends filling in the next few days as I get back into action in Atlanta, but I'll see you stateside.
I'm Coy Wire and we are CNN 10.
END

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