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CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: It's the best day of the school-week and you're about to get a front-row seat to world headlines without a single commercial. In other words, CNN Student News. I'm Carl Azuz!
First Up: Arizona Shooting
AZUZ: First up: The giant American flag was recovered in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks in New York City. That was a little over nine years ago, the same day that Christina Green was born. She was one of the victims of a shooting last Saturday in Tucson, Arizona. So the flag was raised in Christina's honor with those who knew and loved the girl walking past it, on the way to a service to remember her. Five other people were killed in the shooting. Speaking at a memorial service for all of them on Wednesday night, President Obama said he wanted America to be as good as Christina envisioned it.
U.S. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Here on Earth, we place our hands over our hearts, and we commit ourselves as Americans to forging a country that is forever worthy of her gentle, happy spirit. May God bless and keep those we've lost in restful and eternal peace. May He love and watch over the survivors. And may He bless the United States of America.
AZUZ: Arizona Representative Gabrielle Giffords is a survivor of the shooting. She's one of six people still in the hospital, and the only one in critical condition. Wednesday, Giffords opened her eyes for the first time since the shooting and gave her husband a sign she could hear him.
AZUZ: Australia isn't the only country dealing with ravaging floodwaters right now. We're gonna take you to Brazil, South America, a nation in its summer rainy season. Rains that are out of hand in some places. We want you to look at this -- families that are in "extreme risk" of being washed away. This includes people in the mountains, and people near riverbeds, as landslides, mudslides, and rising waters leave thousands homeless. Around 400 people have died, many are missing. Some families are living in schools and gyms. In some spots, the only dry areas you can see are roofs and tree-tops. And more rains are in the forecast. The country's government is taking some heat for poor disaster planning and allowing people to build homes in dangerous, mountain areas.
AZUZ: This is what happens when Europe's most famous volcano gets active. Tremors started rumbling in Italy's Mount Etna on Tuesday. By Wednesday, you can see what was going on. The volcano's on the island of Sicily, about 18 miles from the nearest town. It may be spewing ash, but it doesn't seem to be threatening anyone at the moment. That wasn't the case in 1669, the date of Etna's most violent eruption, which killed 20,000 people.
I.D. Me
CNN STUDENT NEWS: See if you can I.D. me. I was born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1929. My name was changed from Michael King when I was five years old. In 1964, I became the youngest person at the time to win the Nobel Peace Prize. I'm Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., one of the most famous figures in the U.S. civil rights movement.
MLK Day
AZUZ: Many consider Martin Luther King the face of the civil rights movement. Between 1957 and 1968, King traveled over six million miles and gave more than 2,500 speeches. His message: Equality through non-violence. Dr. King organized boycotts and protests. He worked with presidents on creating civil rights laws. And in 1963, he helped lead the march on Washington where Dr. King gave his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. In that, he discussed his vision for a world where people would be judged by their character, rather than their skin color. On April 4th, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. Four days later, the idea of a federal holiday honoring him was first introduced in Congress. That proposal became law in 1983 and the first nationwide observance of the Martin Luther King holiday was in 1986. The holiday is on the third Monday of January every year, which is this coming Monday, January 17th. Many people use it as an opportunity to help out with community service projects. For everyone, it's a chance to remember King's dream and the legacy that he left in his work to achieve it.
AZUZ: Pizza sticks, tater tots, and hot dogs: the government wants those off your school lunch menu and replaced with foods like chef salad, baked sweet potato fries, and whole wheat spaghetti. It's a new proposal from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and part of the Obama administration's efforts to cut down on childhood obesity. Healthier foods often cost more, so the government plans to help poorer schools pay for the changes. Critics say it shouldn't be up to the federal government to decide what schools are allowed to serve -- that it's a state or local issue. The rule would limit calories for school breakfasts and lunches. If it takes effect, you could see changes several months down the road.
Shoutout
CNN STUDENT NEWS: Today's Shoutout goes out to Mrs. Goodman's journalism students at Grassfield High School in Chesapeake, Virginia! What is the atomic symbol for gold? You know what to do! Is it: A) Ag, B) Au, C) Go or D) Hg? You've got three seconds -- GO! The Latin word for gold is aurum; that's why its symbol is Au. That's your answer and that's your Shoutout!
How Gold is Mined
AZUZ: Gold, money and dreams: A dangerous combination that has been the downfall of many and the success of a few. The California gold rush of 1849 doesn't scratch the surface of gold's historic lure. Ancient Egyptians and Etruscans wore it. Entire currencies were based on it. But why gold instead of other metals? Well, it doesn't tarnish or corrode. It's easy to work with and shape. And it's very hard to destroy. Poppy Harlow takes us far underground, where modern miners cash in on methods their predecessors, didn't even dream about.
(BEGIN VIDEO)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, BARRICK CHIEF SAFETY OFFICER: Your self-rescuer is going to go probably on your right-hand side.
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM ANCHOR: We're gearing up to go two miles deep into one of the biggest gold mines in the country.
I can't believe we're two Empire State buildings down below the surface of the Earth. And we still have quite a ways to go. Hunting for gold goes all the way back to 4,000 B.C. And today, the obsession continues.
Here, in Barrick Gold's Cortez Mine in rural Nevada, more than one million ounces of gold were mined last year alone. That's over $1 billion worth.
DAVE BUNDROCK, GOLD MINER: Geology has figured out where the pot of ore is, then they just point us toward it.
HARLOW: But finding gold these days is much more complex and expensive than just, well, panning for it. In fact, you can't even see the gold in this mine.
I mean, it's amazing to me to think that this is gold, but it is.
RANDY HAGER, GOLD MINER:Yes.
HARLOW: It's right here.
HAGER: Yes. You can't see it. It's microscopic.
HARLOW: Miners have to drill and blast through layers and layers of rock to reach the gold.
HAGER: There's gold in this. And what I'm going to do is turn this into a pile of muck.
HARLOW: It looks like dirt, but muck is actually gold ore. Tiny particles of gold that will eventually make up a gold brick.
HAGER: I'm going to get about 10 truckloads out of here. About 10 ounces of gold - 10 to 15 ounces of gold at $1,400 an ounce. And we'll do this several times during a day's work.
HARLOW: Not bad money.
HAGER: Not bad money.
HARLOW: So, after the gold ore is mined, about 400 tons of it goes in massive trucks just like this one. Of that, only four ounces is pure gold. It's taken, it's crushed, then it's taken to a mill and then it's refined.
JULIUS STIEGER, PROCESS DIVISION MANAGER, BRARRICK-CORTEZ: After of the ore is crushed and ground, we leach the gold out. From there we put it into a pressure-cooker environment, high temperature and pressure with various chemicals, and that pulls the gold out. This is the final step before pouring the gold bar.
HARLOW: Barrick mines gold for around $300 an ounce, and gold is selling for record highs, around $1,400 an ounce. Those big margins mean jobs. Something desperately needed in Nevada, a state struggling with the highest in unemployment and foreclosure rates in the country.
JOHN ALEXANDER, SHOVEL OPERATOR: I can provide for my family. You know? And I don't know any other job in this world that can -- I get paid for what I get paid and survive now these days, the way the prices are.
HAGER: There's job security here with gold that high. Not going to run out of work.
(END VIDEO)
Before We Go
AZUZ: With snow falling and daily temperatures in the 20s this time of year, ideas for outdoor activities can come to a stalemate. But not for a pair of local artists in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Someone had this kingly idea for them to sculpt an ice chess set! Don't know how long they pawn-dered the proposal, but it took over a month and a half for them to piece this together and let the game begin.
Goodbye
AZUZ: It's something people can play by day, and by knights. A board to keep freedom in check, mate! I'm Carl Azuz, and our next move is gonna be January 18th! Enjoy the Martin Luther King holiday, and we'll see you on Tuesday!