Cnn Student News 2010年10月7日

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: Hope you know your branches of government, 'cause they're all showing up in today's show. It's Thursday; I'm Carl Azuz; this is CNN Student News, bringing today's headlines right to your classroom.

First Up: War in Afghanistan

AZUZ: First up, leaders in Afghanistan and Pakistan are trying to stop something that started nine years ago today: the war in Afghanistan. These leaders are getting together for meetings this week to work on ways to end the fighting. One group that'll have to be involved in any kind of peace deal: the Taliban. That is the militant group that used to control Afghanistan when the war started back in 2001. They're not in power anymore; they were kicked out by the U.S.-led coalition. But they are the ones who are fighting against U.S., Afghan and coalition forces. Ivan Watson explains some of the challenges in getting the sides to agree.

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You've got to bridge a huge gap to get two warring parties to sit down at the negotiating table. And what you've got right now is the Taliban insisting it will not talk peace until what it calls "foreign occupying forces," some 150,000 U.S. and NATO troops, leave the country. The U.S., for its part, it says that a negotiated peace would require the Taliban to cut ties with al Qaeda, to follow the Afghan constitution, and to put down weapons. So, there's a lot of space between these two enemies right now. The Afghan government seems to be trying to fit somewhere in between right now.

Medal of Honor

AZUZ: A U.S. soldier who gave his life while fighting in Afghanistan is being awarded the Medal of Honor; that is the military's highest honor. In 2008, during a battle with the Taliban, Staff Sergeant Robert Miller, a Green Beret, purposely drew the enemy's fire so that his team could get to safety. The Army says Sergeant Miller's actions helped save his fellow Green Berets and 15 Afghan soldiers. President Obama presented the award to Sergeant Miller's family yesterday. His parents said that they feel a sense of pride, knowing that their 24-year-old son gave his life so that others could live.

Twisters in Arizona

AZUZ: What you are looking at right here is the damage left behind when tornadoes hit parts of Arizona on Wednesday. At least two twisters struck near Flagstaff. Authorities say the storms derailed a train. They also damaged more than 100 houses and injured at least seven people. Officials said none of those injuries were thought to be serious. The train that was derailed, it had actually stopped on the tracks because of the tornado warning.

Is This Legit?

TOMEKA JONES, CNN STUDENT NEWS: Is this legit? The legislative branch of the U.S. government is responsible for interpreting the country's laws. Not legit! Interpreting the country's laws is the responsibility of the judicial branch.

Extent of Free Speech

AZUZ: The top part of that branch, the U.S. Supreme Court, is dealing with a case that involves the freedom of speech and the right to privacy. It all has to do with a small church that protested at the funeral of a U.S. soldier who died in Iraq. The church says it's protesting against soldiers who, in its view, fight for a country that tolerates homosexuality. Church members argue that the freedom of speech gives them the right to express their beliefs by protesting at certain events, including funerals. The father of the soldier whose funeral was protested says his son was not gay. He argues that the protest was an invasion of privacy. The Supreme Court isn't expected to rule on the case for several months.

CALM Act

AZUZ: Swinging back over to the legislative branch of government. It's responsible for making laws, as you know, you've learned in government class. Congress is working on a law right now that could bring some CALM to TV. All right, you know how when you're watching a show and a commercial comes on. Well, not when you're watching CNN Student News. But, okay, the commercial comes on, and it's way louder than the show? That could stop. Last week, the Senate unanimously passed the CALM, or Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act. Basically, it says a commercial can't be louder than the show. If the House approves the bill later this year and President Obama signs it, it'll be the new law.

Sound Check

DR. PHIL MCGRAW, HOST, "DR. PHIL": When you get into the internet, the problem with that is the bully doesn't have to look the victim in the eye. You know, they don't have to deal with them one on one. They don't see the repercussions of what they're doing. I call them keyboard bullies, you know. They can just do this stuff with great anonymity. 85% of the time, research tells us, there's no consequence to what they do whatsoever.

Bully Free Pledge

AZUZ: We've been talking about different kinds of bullying all week long. Today, we want to talk about solutions, ways to try and stop bullying. Carol Costello visited a school in Oklahoma where students are promising to stand up against bullies. She talked to two students -- one who's been bullied, one who bullied other people -- about why they think this is such an important issue.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

WESTERN HEIGHTS HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS: I am somebody. I can make a difference.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: At Oklahoma City's Western Heights High School, students are pledging to protect the bullied. It's especially important to Susan Le. She knows how bullying feels.

Is it worse with words, do you think?

SUSAN LE, OKLAHOMA HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT: I think it is, because when I was little, like, people always said I was, like, really ugly. And it, I never knew it affected me so much. And, like, people would ask if I was a boy or a girl, and I was hurt. I never wanted that to happen and, like, it lowered my self esteem really bad. And I never wanted to go to school.

COSTELLO: So, I see it hurts you. I see it hurts you so much. But you know you're beautiful, right? Yes.

It's the kind of pain that affects so many children. One in three kids are bullied or bully every year.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kids being bullied don't always tell you about it.

COSTELLO: Marissa Velasco, who is also participating in Western Heights' anti-bullying campaign, knows exactly what Simmons is talking about. In junior high school, she was a bully. Why?

MARISSA VELASCO, OKLAHOMA HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT: I don't really know if there was a reason. It was just an easy target, I guess.

COSTELLO: Is it because other kids were making fun of those kids too?

VELASCO: Yes, there was a lot of others also bullying.

COSTELLO: So, sort of like a mob mentality.

VELASCO: Yes.

COSTELLO: When you were calling people names, did it make you feel better?

VELASCO: It's not that it made me feel better. It's that I knew they felt worse.

COSTELLO: Susan Le, Marissa Velasco certainly know the consequences. They're hoping to make this school year bully free.

(END VIDEO)

Blog Report

AZUZ: All right, there are a few places where you're keeping this conversation going. From our blog, it doesn't look like many of you think bullying's gonna go away. Listen to Teddy: He thinks bullying is a part of life, and says "we all just have to live with it." And Francis: "It takes a strong person to stop bullying when they see it. We need more strong people." Something new we're doing this year: the CNN Teachers' Lounge. This is also on our front page, right under our blog. Here's what some of your teachers are saying about bullying. Chrisbloom says his middle school has tried several anti-bullying programs, "but each year, students still list bullying as the number one problem." He says it's frustrating that this persists. RMS Groves tells us "the biggest issue among students is the fear of telling adults, either for fear of personal harm or getting a reputation as a tattle tale." And Teacher 12345 suggests trying to catch bullying before it starts. "If you see mild conflict with two students, stop that before it turns into bullying."

Shoutout

STAN CASE, CNN STUDENT NEWS: Today's Shoutout goes out to Mr. Zielke's social studies classes at Pacelli High School in Austin, Minnesota! What is featured on the U.S. presidential seal? Is it: A) The White House, B) The president's picture, C) A bald eagle or D) An American flag? You've got three seconds -- GO! A bald eagle is front and center on the presidential seal. That's your answer and that's your Shoutout!

Podium Malfunction

AZUZ: All right, so this is a little different than what we normally do, because President Obama usually doesn't show up in our Before We Go segment. You're about to see why he is today. Watch this.

U.S. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: We cannot sustain... [THUD] Oops. Was that my, uh...? Oh, goodness. That's all right. All of you know who I am.

AZUZ: Yes, the president suffered a podium malfunction when the presidential seal just slipped right off the front of the podium. He recovered, though.

Goodbye

AZUZ: And just seeing that certainly gets our seal of approval. For CNN Student News, you all know who I am. Back tomorrow, when our Friday show will be awesome. We're looking forward to seeing you then. Bye now.