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CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: I'm Carl Azuz and this is CNN Student News! Bringing the world to your classroom with 10 minutes of commercial-free headlines. And we're kicking things off today in the Middle East.
First Up: Transfer of Power
AZUZ: March 19, 2003: President George W. Bush announces the start of the war in Iraq. September 1, 2010: Defense Secretary Robert Gates says the U.S. is no longer at war in the Middle Eastern country. Iraq's security is now in the hands of Iraqis, and American forces there are now part of "New Dawn." That's the new name for the U.S. military operation in Iraq. A ceremony in Baghdad on Wednesday marked the transition. Secretary Gates and Vice President Joe Biden were there. It happened at one of the palaces of the late Saddam Hussein, the former Iraqi leader whose government was kicked out of power by the U.S.-led invasion back in 2003. During the ceremony, Vice President Biden paid tribute to the sacrifices made by Americans and Iraqis during the past seven years.
President Obama talked about the transition during a televised speech on Tuesday night. Before he addressed the nation, some Republican leaders urged the president to talk about the success of the 2007 troop surge in Iraq. That was ordered by former President Bush; Mr. Obama had been opposed to the surge. But when he talked to the nation Tuesday night, President Obama chose to focus on the future.
U.S. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: We persevered because of a belief we share with the Iraqi people, a belief that, out of the ashes of war, a new beginning could be born in this cradle of civilization. Through this remarkable chapter in the history of the United States and Iraq, we have met our responsibilities. Now, it's time to turn the page.
AZUZ: The president is focusing on another part of the Middle East right now. He's hosting a group of leaders from that region who are getting together for a series of peace talks. This has to do with Israelis and Palestinians. There have been problems between the two sides for decades. They've tried working out a peace agreement before, but those talks have been stalled for about a year and a half.
President Obama met with Israeli and Palestinian representatives yesterday, as well as with the heads of Egypt and Jordan, countries that border Israel. He made this speech at the White House after those meetings. These pictures coming into us live as we recorded today's show. There are a lot of obstacles to a peace deal, issues that the Israelis and Palestinians don't agree on. Some officials admit that it's hard to be too optimistic at this point, but they argue that just starting the talks back up again is sign of progress.
What's the Word
TOMEKA JONES, CNN STUDENT NEWS: What's the Word?
to make something out of raw materials either by hand or with machines
MANUFACTURE
That's the word!
Economic Indicators
AZUZ: The amount of products that a country makes -- its manufacturing activity -- can give an idea of how that country's economy is doing. In the U.S., manufacturing is up. There's a new report out that says the industry got bigger in August. That is the 13th month in a row that it's expanded. But some experts are warning that these numbers can be open to interpretation, and they're concerned that the manufacturing industry might run out of steam. The stock market had a positive reaction though to yesterday's report. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, a collection of some of the most traded stocks on Wall Street, jumped up more than 250 points.
AZUZ: Hurricane warnings and watches along parts of the North Carolina and Virginia coastlines. Some people are being told to get out of the area. All because of Hurricane Earl. It's getting closer to shore. This weekend is Labor Day, one of the last big weeks for summer vacations. But a lot of people may be steering clear of the beach. Experts say Hurricane Earl probably won't actually reach shore, but it will affect the shore. This storm is about two hundred miles wide, and it could bring heavy rain, gusty winds and high surf along the coast. Some swimmers are already dealing with rip currents, strong currents that can pull you away from shore. A lot of experts say if you are ever caught up in one of these things, you should swim parallel to shore until you are out of the rip current and then start making your way back. Rob Marciano caught up with some rescue workers in Virginia Beach to talk about some of the dangers there.
(BEGIN VIDEO)
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Beautiful day today. Looks relatively safe out there, but you're pulling people out of the water.
TOM GILL, VA. BEACH LIFESAVING SERVICES: Gorgeous day today. We came out hoping that we wouldn't have to put the red flags up. Within the first five minutes we were on the stands, we made one rescue already. The surf started to pick up. We started to see some intermittent, pretty large swells come in. So, we put the red flags back up, went to a waist-deep restriction for the day, and we still had 15 or 16 rescues with about 65 victims pulled in.
NEAL HOLSAPPLE, RIP CURRENT VICTIM: Got caught up with the waves and trying to ride them in. It actually was taking us out further and further. My wife was like, "We're not making any progress." Next thing we know, we saw the lifeguards coming up. I wasn't actually scared until the lifeguards got up and were trying to get us in. And then, there was two of them and two of us, and we were still getting pulled out.
GILL: As we saw on Saturday, when we went from a high tide into a low tide situation, the tide was going out, that water that was sucking out just pulled and pulled and pulled. But that was Danielle on the other side of Bermuda. This is Earl, stronger, stronger than Danielle and a whole heck of a lot closer. We're going to have to really be on our game this week.
(END VIDEO)
AZUZ: What makes a school successful? What are the qualities of a good teacher? That's some of what we've been talking about this week in the "Fix Our Schools" segment. Today, we're gonna take a look look at your education and who's responsible for it. I recently met with a group of 11th and 12th graders for CNN's "Fix Our Schools" project. They're willing to take ownership of their education, I'm sure a lot of you are too. Take a listen to what these young folks had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO)
AZUZ: How many of you feel that what you get out of your education is on you? [All students raise their hands] What do you think students can do to get a better education?
ZACK KENT, APALACHEE HIGH SCHOOL: Personally, I believe you take AP classes and at least honors classes.
AZUZ: Do you think students should push themselves?
ALEX KELLY, CARVER HIGH SCHOOL OF HEALTH & SCIENCE RESEARCHERS: I have noticed that some students probably wouldn't last in an AP class. I wouldn't say they don't have the capability to learn, but you have to push yourself to learn as much as you can in whatever class you're in.
JANVI CHAWLA, WALTON HIGH SCHOOL: I think that the students, they need to take it upon themselves. If they don't understand something, then they need to attend student sessions, they need to go to the teacher and ask for help.
JULIA ABELSKY, NORTH SPRINGS CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL: I think simply raising your hand in class and saying something and taking an active role in just a single class helps you stay more involved.
MARIA FLORES, ETOWAH HIGH SCHOOL: Don't just put your education in a little box at school. Go above and beyond that.
AZUZ: How many of you guys are involved in extracurricular activities? [All students raise their hands] How do you deal with the pressure of keeping up in your after-school involvement as well as maintaining good grades?
LARRY HOWARD, DEKALB SCHOOL OF THE ARTS: With me, it's always about prioritizing, because for me, even though I go to a performing arts school, I always say my academics come first.
KRISSY ROBINSON, DEKALB SCHOOL OF THE ARTS: Just knowing that I can't be everywhere at one time. A lot of people want to be at basketball and soccer and at cross country at the same time, but they just have to know to limit themselves.
ABELSKY: I'll do homework waiting in line at the store, in the car, anywhere I can to just finish up the last little bit of homework.
AZUZ: With everything you guys are doing, how do you have fun?
MCCALL STILES, NORTH OCONEE HIGH SCHOOL: My personal, really close friends have just gone way on the overachieving side, and been president of five different clubs and six different languages. And I mean, there's a point where their childhood is being affected.
FLORES: Entering my senior year, I told myself I was going to be involved in things I like doing, because if I'm going to invest my time in it, at least I should be having fun. I've got time management down and I'm a lot better balanced. So, it's a whole lot easier, even with so many AP classes. It's just great to have that overall feeling of being balanced.
AZUZ: Sounds like time management is pretty much central to all of you in your success.
HOWARD: It sounds weird, but you have to set an organized time to have fun. If you know your best friend's birthday party is next weekend, do not plan to have a rehearsal or go, you know. Just make sure you come up with some excuse.
ROBINSON: I make it a point to make sure my weekends are for me.
AZUZ: Jeez, you guys are so much like all the adults I know.
(END VIDEO)
AZUZ: We got sort of a laugh out of that in that conversation. The reason I mention that is because with a lot of my adult friends, we have to plan things months in advance and I was kind of surprised that so many of you students have to do the same thing that you can't just go out and have fun whenever you want. I guess that brings in the importance of balance that young lady talked about.
Before We Go
AZUZ: Before we go today, we want you to see if you can find what is wrong with this picture. Alright, you see anything weird with this? Take a closer look. Or maybe you don't mind driving on Inde-ped-nence Boulevard. Yeah, that's supposed to be Independence. We guess someone's spelling skills aren't quite up to snuff. Or they forgot to spell check. Either way, the televised typo is getting a lot of attention. Officials say a replacement will go up soon.
Goodbye
AZUZ: It's a good sign that they can fix their mistakes so quickly, even if the person who types them out is suffering a bad spell of embarrassment. We know you're de-ped-nent on us for puns. If you want an inside look at how we come up with those puns, we want you to go to our Facebook page. The latest video on our Facebook page tells you how the pun process sometimes goes. Facebook.com/cnnstudentnews. We'll be back tomorrow to close out the week. See you soon.