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5 Good Things: How the WNBA Draft is Inspiring the Next Generation
CNN 5 Things
Apr 20, 2024
Three college recruits reflect on the WNBA draft and the moment the sport is having right now. A family in Oklahoma granted their son’s wish to get a pet octopus, but they had no idea she would end up giving birth! A college dorm surprises their hall’s security guard with the gift of a lifetime. Why a recent gift comes just in time for the iconic cherry blossom trees in Washington, DC. Plus, would you ride to the edge of space in a helium balloon?
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Episode Transcript
Krista Bo:
00:00:00
Hey there! Need a breather from the breaking news? Then you're in the right place. Each Saturday, we focus on stories that remind us of the good stuff happening. You know, the kind of stuff that brings a smile to your face. One college dorm surprised their hall's security guard with a really thoughtful gift.
Daniel Singh:
00:00:18
We just wanted to do something nice for someone who really deserved it.
Krista Bo:
00:00:20
Plus, what's the cheapest new way to get to the edge of space? Riding a balloon, apparently. From CNN, I'm Krista Bo and this is 5 Good Things.
Krista Bo:
00:00:31
Lots of attention was on the WNBA draft this week, where Caitlin Clark, Kamilla Cardoso and Angel Reese were some of the NCAA stars to take their talents to the next level. It comes at a big moment for women's basketball, with viewership and ticket sales through the roof, and the next generation is paying attention.
Joyce Edwards:
00:00:49
Their performance on the court is allowing more people to look at them and have like, they have favorite girl basketball players.
Krista Bo:
00:00:56
18 year old Joyce Edwards is the Gatorade Player of the year and committed to the University of South Carolina. That's the team that won the 2024 women's NCAA championship.
Joyce Edwards:
00:01:06
I mean I'm just excited and I'm happy for the people who paved the way for me, like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, you know, you got to give it up for them.
Krista Bo:
00:01:13
High school senior Leah Harmon's committed to the University of Miami. She got to attend this week's draft and said she could feel the excellence, energy and love in the air.
Leah Harmon:
00:01:22
I just think that it's really good to see as a player that's going into college and seeing what they did in college and the attention they brought to women's basketball as a whole this year just is really inspiring.
Krista Bo:
00:01:35
18 year old Jaloni Cambridge is committed to Ohio State, where she'll play alongside her older sister. Jaloni thinks the entire freshman class has a lot to prove. But here's her advice for young women athletes...
Jaloni Cambridge:
00:01:46
Don't let the haters, you know, bring you down honestly. You can do anything that a man can do. There are no limits to what you can do based off your gender. It doesn't matter.
Krista Bo:
00:01:58
Cameron Clifford from Oklahoma told me his nine year old son Cal's been asking for a pet octopus since he was three.
Cameron Clifford:
00:02:05
He is absolutely infatuated with octopuses, and so we knew pretty quickly that it wasn't something that was just going to be a fad.
Krista Bo:
00:02:12
Well, last summer, Cameron told Cal he found out it was possible to actually own one.
Clifford family:
00:02:18
Why are you crying?
Cal Clifford:
00:02:19
That's amazing. I never knew I could do that.
Krista Bo:
00:02:24
And Cal's emotional reaction is what inspired the family to go all in.
Cameron Clifford:
00:02:29
If you think about as a kid, like, what would be, like, the world's greatest thing to happen to me, that was him right then.
Krista Bo:
00:02:35
'So after months of intense planning and research, the Clifford family welcomed Terrance and started documenting their new pet chronicles on their viral TikTok account @doctoktopus. But things took an unexpected turn when they discovered that Terrance or Teri for short, was actually a female that had laid eggs. It's pretty rare for female octopuses to live after this. But Teri did, and so did dozens of her babies.
Cameron Clifford:
00:03:02
It was something that not many people get to do or have the experience of seeing firsthand, especially in your kids room in Oklahoma.
Krista Bo:
00:03:12
Now, Cameron says they found homes for all of Teri's offspring at research organizations and universities who can take good care of them.
Krista Bo:
00:03:20
One dorm at Providence College teamed up to surprise their hall's security guard with a trip home to Nigeria for the first time in more than a decade.
Daniel Singh:
00:03:29
We just want to do something nice for someone who really deserved it.
Krista Bo:
00:03:32
Daniel Singh, the RA, helped organize a GoFundMe to pay for James Mogaji’s flights.
Daniel Singh:
00:03:37
James is one of those people that will get to know your name and where you live. Also someone who's willing to be patient and talk us through it and give us advice so we can improve.
Krista Bo:
00:03:47
The dorm spread the word about the fundraiser at school and on social media, and within a week they had $3,000 of donations, and they were able to all surprise James with the money for his tickets home.
Daniel Singh:
00:03:57
So we came together.
Daniel Singh:
00:04:00
Our gift to you is a trip to Nigeria.
James Mogaji:
00:04:02
I don't know how much I can thank you guys.
Krista Bo:
00:04:06
James was overwhelmed with emotion and teared up.
James Mogaji:
00:04:09
God guys, how did I deserve this?
Dorm residents:
00:04:13
We love you James!
Krista Bo:
00:04:18
And Daniel said there were a lot of hugs.
Daniel Singh:
00:04:22
It's something that, it's a picture and an image I'll never forget. It was just like, we're going to change this man's life.
Krista Bo:
00:04:27
So not only did James get to book his flights, but Daniel says donations hit over a whopping $30,000 after a video of the surprise went viral, all of which will go to James.
Krista Bo:
00:04:42
I hope you take some time to stop and appreciate the beauty Mother Nature has to offer on Monday for Earth Day. Personally, my favorite trees to hug are cherry blossoms. In Washington, D.C, the National Cherry Blossom Festival just ended, where thousands of people visit from near and far to see the beautiful pink and red flowers bloom. Did you know that Japan gave the U.S. 3000 cherry trees more than 100 years ago, that now line the National Mall and Tidal Basin Reservoir? Well, the country just committed to plant 250 more trees there in 2026 to honor the US's 250th birthday. And the gift comes just in time, because construction crews are going to start removing nearly 160 of these trees soon. Which is sad in the short term, but the National Park Service is doing it to strengthen the city's seawall for the long term against flooding. So even more of these iconic beauties can grow and blossom.
Krista Bo:
00:05:39
Coming up, a new way to hitch a ride to space? Helium balloons. Stay with us to hear how that could work after a quick break. But before we go, can't get enough of all this goodness? Well, then you've got to sign up for CNN's The Good Stuff newsletter for a weekly dose of more uplifting news and cute animal videos straight to your inbox every Saturday. You can find the link to sign up in our show notes. We'll be right back.
00:06:10
Would you ride a helium balloon to the edge of space? CNN's Taylor Galgano is here to explain a new frontier in space tourism. Hey, Taylor.
Taylor Galgano:
00:06:20
Hey.
Krista Bo:
00:06:21
So how exactly does this work?
Taylor Galgano:
00:06:23
Yeah. So good question. A few companies are working on these near space adventures. Now one is called Halo Space, where the plan is for a huge helium balloon to carry around a space capsule, and they just revealed their interior design of it. And the capsule can hold eight people and has a toilet and everything.
Krista Bo:
00:06:40
Wow.
Taylor Galgano:
00:06:40
And it plans to go all the way to the stratosphere, meaning you'll actually be in the atmosphere Krista and able to look back at Earth.
Krista Bo:
00:06:47
I mean, wow, I bet the views are crazy, but I'm scared to ask how much it costs.
Taylor Galgano:
00:06:52
So their goal is to start offering six hour commercial flights in 2026 for... wait for it, $164,000 a person. So granted, it is cheaper than some of the other options out there like SpaceX and Blue Origin, but it's definitely not cheap Krista.
Krista Bo:
00:07:09
Oh my gosh. A six figure ticket for a six hour ride. I'm not going to lie, though, the idea of floating around the stars with just a balloon is a little scary, don't you think?
Taylor Galgano:
00:07:20
For sure. Halo says it's already completed five successful test flights. But yeah, personally, I don't do very well with heights, so I don't think I'll be saving up for a ticket.
Krista Bo:
00:07:33
Alright, that's all for now. Join us tomorrow for the next edition of One Thing. Host David Rind sits down with CNN's Ivan Watson, who took a trip to Australia to see how events fueled by climate change affected the country's beautiful coral reefs, the wildlife and more. 5 Good Things is a production of CNN Audio. This episode was produced by Taylor Galgano and me, Krista Bo. Our senior producer is Faiz Jamil. Greg Peppers is our supervising producer. Matt Dempsey is our production manager. Dan Dzula is our technical director. And Steve Lickteig is the executive producer of CNN Audio. We get support from Joey Salvia, Haley Thomas, Alex Manasseri, Robert Mathers, Jon Dianora, Leni Steinhardt, Jamus Andrest, Nichole Pesaru, and Lisa Namerow. Special thanks to AJ Willingham, David Allan, Eryn Mathewson, and Katie Hinman. Thanks for listening. Til next time.
