CNN Student News - August 16, 2016

CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: Thank you for taking 10 minutes to get up to step on international world events. I`m Carl Azuz. This is CNN

STUDENT NEWS and our second show of the academic year.

We`re starting with an update on the civil war in Syria. We`ve been covering this since 2011 when that war begun. It involves the Syrian government that`s fighting to hold to power, rebel groups that are trying to overthrow the government, terrorist groups who are trying to expand

their power in Syria. It also involves the United States, which is using Special Forces and airstrikes against terrorists, as well as Russia, which is launching airstrikes in supporting Syria`s current government.

Since 2011, more than 250,000 Syrians have died in their nation`s civil war and one site of some of the worst fighting and destruction is the Syrian city of Aleppo. It used to be the country`s most populated city.

To date, part of it is controlled by government troops, part controlled by rebels, and United Nations officials are trying to figure out if an attack on the rebel-controlled part of Aleppo involved chlorine gas. That`s a chemical weapon. Rebels and doctors in the area say at least three people died in an apparent chemical attack.

The Syrian government has been accused of using chemical weapons before in this civil war. The government denies it. But this is significant because chemical weapons are illegal, even in war.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Chemical weapons are known as the "poor man`s atom bomb", because at relatively cost, they could have devastating effect, both in terms of casualties, but also in the sheer horror of the injuries and the sheer fear of contamination.

In the history of warfare, they`ve been used very seldom. You have to go back to World War II for widespread use, although Saddam Hussein used in the late 1980s, killed some 5,000 people in northern Iraq, in Kurdistan. More recently, the Assad regime has used them repeatedly in the war in
Syria. It`s estimated, some 1,500 people have been killed, 15,000 injured in chemical weapons attacks in Syria.

The Geneva protocol of 1925 banned the use of chemical weapons in warfare, but not the production. It was until the early 1990s that the Chemical

Weapons Convention banned the production and stockpiling as well, and since then, some 90 percent of the world`s chemical weapons have been destroyed.

But still, to this day, there`s a lot out there in 17 countries still have them from the ones you`d expect, North Korea for instance, which did not sign on to any of those treaties, but also the U.S., although the U.S. has committed never to use them in warfare and is committed to destroy all of them by the 2020s.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: Following up now on historic flooding in the U.S. state of Louisiana. Forecasters say more rain is on the way to the area of the capital Baton Rouge.

According to Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards, the National Weather Service can`t really predict how wide or deep the water is going to get because this flooding is so far above anything they`ve seen before. He expects to declare disaster areas in almost 30 of Louisiana`s 64 parishes.

That will speed up government money and assistance to the places that need it.

At least five deaths have been blamed on the floods. First responders have rescued tens of thousands of people and some of the hardest places aren`t

even those where most of the rain fell.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We`re standing in the middle of what used to be an intersection in this neighborhood, and now it`s become part of the Manchac Bayou, which is actually just behind these homes. And you can see just how high the water level is, going into these homes and destroying just about everything inside.

I can tell you this area specifically and this neighborhood actually didn`t get a whole lot of rain compared to a lot of other areas here in Louisiana, but rather, it was the flow of the flooding from other locations that really caused the bayou to rise dramatically.

And in a matter of hours, a woman told me that late last night, she looked outside and there was really not much flooding. And then, early this morning, getting close to 3:00 a.m. about a foot of water started coming into her home.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: Next story today, when you go out to eat, you might have noticed a disclaimer at the bottom of many menus, consuming raw or undercooked meats,

poultry, sea foods, shellfish or eggs may increase your risk of foodborne illness. That`s there in part to protect restaurants and to warn customers in case they insist on ordering something raw.

But that concerns food that`s prepared. What about food is stored, how it`s packaged, where it`s placed in the kitchen, the temperature it`s kept before at before it`s put on a burger or burrito.

There are a number of ways to keep track of those temperatures and now, our next report explains one. It can cause a restaurant several hundred to several thousand dollars a year, and that doesn`t include additional monitoring costs. The reason, it`s online.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REPORTER: Americans like to go out to eat, so much so that we`re expected to spend $720 billion this year dining out. But to stand out from the competition, restaurants have to work hard to meet our demands. Healthy food is one of the top reasons we choose a restaurant, and we don`t want food that makes us sick.

One in six Americans get sick from food every year and half of food outbreaks happen in restaurants, one of the industry`s biggest concerns.

KYLE BROWN, SENIOR TRAINING MANAGER, HONEYGROW: What a danger zone is nearly above 41 percent degrees. It`s the temperatures at which bacteria can grow and thrive in.

REPORTER: To help control that temperature, restaurants are getting help from digital technology like fresh temp.

BROWN: What Fresh Temp allows us to do is using a thermometer probe and Bluetooth connected to an iPad. If it`s bad and it`s a no, it`s going to say, OK, this is out of temp, what do you want to do? You can either discard, you can cool it, you can switch it out with something that is at temp.

REPORTER: Before, that information would be written down in a law.

JEFF RIEGER, FOUNDER & CFO, FRESH TEMP: This kind of brings us back to where we got our start.

REPORTER: Which left room for error or simply forgetting.

RIEGER: Someone handed me this and said, is there any way that we can get this in a computer and they could very easily do so.

REPORTER: Jeff Rieger and his company figured out how to connect sensors and probes to the Cloud. It tracks temperature data, stores it in one place and sends it directly to the chain`s headquarters.

RIEGER: So, we have wireless sensors that capture temperature data. Surprisingly a low is equally concerning as above if you walk in cooler, goes to 20 degrees and everything freezes, that`s very bad.

REPORTER: Fresh Temp is helping smaller restaurants and chains compete with larger ones, that have their own in-house operations. It also helps restaurants keep up with new federal guidelines around food safety. Digital tracking is easier to trace and monitor.

JUSTIN ROSENBERG, FOUNDER & CFO, HONEYGROW: When you take that temperature, it`s logged. So, you can`t say, oh, it`s 53 degrees, I`ll just put in 40 just in case the health department come. We need to know, is there a refrigeration problem. What`s going on here?

So, for us, it`s that extra step in ensuring the food safety that`s critical for our business.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(MUSIC)

AZUZ: Can you make a living just by playing in the sand? No. But some people can make one by sculpting sand. Fees are between $300 to $500 an hour. Yearly salaries of more than $60,000, all possible. Most professional sand sculptors only work part time and what they build goes far beyond waterside castles.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAREN FRALICH, PROFESSIONAL SAND SCULPTOR: The process is making a sand sculpture, you can`t just do soft, fluffy, dry sand. It has to be very wet, it has to be very compacted, before you can start carving it.

It`s one of the biggest misconceptions in sand sculpture is that it`s a super easy job where you sit on a beach and then you carve and it`s actually extremely physically and technically interesting.

The Sugar Sand Festival is like a great big sand sculpture park inside a tent and there`s probably eight to ten sculptors working in here and I`m just one of them.

MARK MASON, PROFESSIONAL SAND SCULPTOR: It is a hobby turned into a passion, turned into a profession. We probably got 1,200, maybe 1,400 tons of sand in this tent.

FRALICH: So, behind me is Jimi Hendrix and he`s about nine feet tall and it took me three days and about eight hours a day to create just this part behind me.

The tools that we use in sand sculpture are anything and everything. It can be a spoon from a kitchen, a melon baller. I used a lot of margin trowels that you use for dry wall work. Anything will do, even straws.

MASON: As an art, sun sculpture is the fastest medium from conception to finish product that I could ever think of.

I love this. But I do want this to be here forever? No, I don`t. I`d love to make this sand something else. You know, I want to work on things.

You don`t miss it. You continually build. That is the fun of sand sculpture.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: So, sun sculpting certainly seems to depend on how things shape up. Whether they make waves, whether the end result holds water and whether the artist is willing to watch all wash away, it surely someone whose skills go against the grain.

I`m Carl Azuz for CNN STUDENT NEWS. Thank you for watching.

CNN Student News - August 15, 2016

CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: Mondays are awesome -- at least this one is.

CNN STUDENT NEWS is launching into a brand new academic year. We are 10 minutes of international events serving a worldwide audience and we`re grateful you`re part of it.

My name is Carl Azuz.

Our coverage today begins with severe flooding in part of the southern U.S. Baton Rouge is the capital of Louisiana. It`s in the southeastern part of the state and the area around Baton Rouge has been soaked.

The community of Livingston, for instance, has gotten more than 24 inches, more than two feet of rain and that since last Wednesday alone. The

National Weather Service says that a chance of any area getting this much flooding in a given year is just 1 percent.

At least three people have died because of this. Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards deployed the National Guard and says more than 7,000 rescues have been made so far.

Here, you see a man saving a woman and her dog after trying to open the convertible top of her sinking car. More rain is expected. A flash flood emergency has been declared in some areas.

Now, a quick explanation on the difference between a flood and a flash flood.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: This is the radar estimated total. You can see the color coordinated legend at the top of your screen. That

shading of white indicating 500 or more millimeters of rain. And this has significant impacts on the rivers and streams across Louisiana. They all flow into the Gulf of Mexico, of course.

This is interesting. This is a flood gauge from the Comite River. And I want you to see that rapid rise in the river. It actually rose 25 feet in 12 hours and that my friend is called flash flooding. That line right there that you see in top portion of this graph, that is the record flood

stage. It`s actually was higher than that by about four feet.

But take a look at this. This is a difference, a flood is a rise of a river or stream out of its natural banks. But a flash flood is the rapid rise of a river or stream and people just cannot handle a rapid rise in the water, including this 911 call center. They had to be evacuated.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: National Guards are also been activated in the northern U.S. state of Wisconsin but for a different reason. On Saturday afternoon, two police officers in the city of Milwaukee pulled over a car for what police called suspicious activity. The two people inside the car tried to run away on
foot. Authorities said one of the suspects, a 23-year-old man was armed with a gun and that he did not drop it when the officer ordered him to.

The officer opened fire and killed the suspect.

Violent demonstrations then followed Saturday night. Protestors burned several businesses and cars and threw rocks at police. A city alderman says Milwaukee has been a powder keg for potential violence this summer. He says the area`s African-Americans have faced injustice, unemployment and
under-education. Officials planned to meet with church and community leaders yesterday to discuss ways to move forward.

This was one a series of incidents involving U.S. police and communities over the summer. In July, two African-American men, one in Louisiana and

one in Minnesota were shot to death by police. And in Texas, during a protest over those killings, an African-American military veteran killed five police officers and wounded seven others. That shooter was later killed. Violence continues and tensions remain high in several parts of the U.S.

Now, moving to the Southern Hemisphere. Despite the spread of the dangerous Zika virus, a lasting economic recession in Brazil, government

corruption scandals, a suspended president, and widespread violent crime, the show has gone on for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Opening ceremonies were on August 5th. The Olympics wrap up next Sunday.

And when we put this show together, the United States had the lead in total medals won, with more than 60. China had earned more than 40 medals.

Great Britain more than 30. Russian and Japan rounded out the top five medal-winning countries.

The values of the medals themselves: gold is worth about $564, a silver $305, a bronze, not as much. But U.S. athletes do have to pay taxes on the medals and the prize money they bring home.

In swimming, one athlete`s success is bringing money to the sport itself.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REPORTER: The story of Michael Phelps can be told in numbers. Five Olympic games, a gold medal count higher than most countries, countless calories consumed and powers in the pool.

Phelps is the greatest swimmer of all time. But he`s always been clear that to him, his career was about more than races won.

MICHAEL PHELPS, OLYMPIC SWIMMER: I want to change the sport of swimming and take it to a new level. That`s been the one thing that I`ve wanted to do my whole entire career.

REPORTER: By any count, Phelps achieved that goal. But aside from records broken, and medals won, his biggest contribution to the sport might be the dollars he`s earned.

Michael Phelps made his Olympic debut in 2000. And even though he didn`t win a single medal in Sydney, his potential made him a marketing star.

Then, in Athens in 2004, he racked up eight medals and scores of sponsors. Not all of those endorsements survived his assorted controversies or his

foray into and out of retirement. But he still has deals with Under Armour, Omega and Aqua Lung, which makes a line of swimsuits under the MP brand.

According to USA Swimming, the sports governing body, Michael Phelps made swimming cool again and his endorsements invincibility pumped more money into the sport than ever before.

Swimming events used to air on the (INAUDIBLE). Now, they get live primetime coverage. More eyeballs means more attention from sponsors, and more sponsorship money means swimmers can afford to stay in the sport.

USA Swimming now pays swimmers a stipend of about $40,000 a year for living expenses and develops programs to let the best swimmers win larger purses at meets. USA Swimming says Phelps will stay on as an ambassador after he retires. So, while all eyes will be on the hard assets he earns in Rio,

it`s his liquid assets that will leave a lasting legacy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: Got a "Character Study" for you today on the 21-year-old Australian man who started with what he called a crazy idea, put two washing machines and two dryers in the back of an old van and drive it around, washing people`s clothes for free. The impact that his nonprofit has had goes well

beyond hygiene.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC MARCHESI, CNN HERO: Most people take for granted putting a fresh clean set of clothes on. Going for job interviews, or just trying to have a chat, you can`t really do that with dirty clothes.

For someone who is sleeping rough and who really doesn`t have access to washing and drying their clothes is something that`s continually overlooked.

Orange Sky Laundry is Australia`s first ever mobile laundry for the homeless.

First thing in the morning or really late at night, we`re going to their communities where they feel comfortable to wash and dry their clothes for free.

It`s the opportunity to take someone`s only possessions and return them in a better condition.

We`re able to restore respect. My whole stand (ph) is we found ways through our service to actually train and employ our homeless friends.

But the biggest thing homeless communities need is that connection.

Our service is run by 622 amazing volunteers who help us foster really renewed (ph) conversations. They`re not trying to train anything. They`re trying to be really emphatic and listen and through that opportunity to have a massive impact on someone`s life.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: First impressions count a lot. If they see you day after day in dirty clothes, they develop a certain impression about you but if you can freshen up your clothes, that`s a different way in which you`re treated.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If I come and talk to you -- that`s great, that`s the young generation that`s willing to not be worried about stigma.

MARCHESI: I couldn`t think of anything better that we`re doing in my life right now, the people that we help are not customers, they`re our friends.

No matter who you are, wherever you are, being clean and being confident is something that everyone deserves all around the world.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: Before we go, when you gather a whole bunch of people dancing at one time, you have a party. When you gather more than 1,000 robots dancing at one time, you have a new Guinness World Record. This video comes to us from Shandong, China. Not every robot made the cut. Some fell over or just didn`t want to dance. But 1,007 of them, quote, "bopped and shimmied" according to Guinness. They were reportedly controlled from a single cellphone.

They could certainly pop and lock, and while they didn`t appear to moonwalk, they totally own the electric slide, maybe those that malfunction were simply break dancing. One thing is for sure: all of them were unstoppable at the robot.

CNN STUDENT NEWS is pun-stoppable. Our puns will grow on you, kind of like a pungus. I`m Carl Azuz, a pretty pun guy and we`ll look forward to seeing you tomorrow for our second show.

CNN Student News - June 3 2016

Hi. I`m Carl Azuz and Fridays are awesome! Last time I`ll say that on air for the 2015-2016 school year. Our daily show will pick up back again on Monday, August 15th.

All right. Let`s get to today`s current events.

First up, this morning, the southern and central parts of Texas were under a flash flood watch. May was the wettest month in the U.S. state`s history, but June hasn`t brought any relief so far. Rainfall of more than two inches per hour is in the forecast.

The governor has declared a state of emergency in 31 Texas counties and what that does is speed up assistance to the areas that need it most. The grounds are already saturated in many parts of the state. So, our forecast of more rain can only increase the threat of floods.

For perspective, last month alone, Texas got more than 35 trillion, that`s trillion with a T, 35 trillion gallons of rain. That would have been enough to cover the entire state with almost eight inches of water, though the rain was concentrated in specific areas.

Where is it all going?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We`ve already seen the water come up and actually, the sheriff office came by and said, have you seen the water go down? Because we think we`ve crested it.

No, it hasn`t crested yet. It`s still coming up. And let me get out of the way here. You can see behind me.

This is the river. It`s Brazos River. We should be talking about a river that`s about 200 feet wide. It is well over a mile to the other side.

This is not a boat ramp. This is an exit ramp from the turnaround to go under the bridge and back up unto the highway the other direction. People won`t be driving on this for quite some time.

The rain continues in places that have seen now up to 20 inches of rain just this month. So, all this dirt that I`m standing out of here, I`m over kind of on the side, over by a fire ant hill and fire ants aren`t that happy about this rain either.

But all of this is completely soggy. Nothing that rains today is going to soak it. It`s just going to run back off. This whole place is like a big concrete parking lot. When it rains, it runs off, and these rivers are still coming up. They will be coming up still four days.

This rain doesn`t stop until Saturday afternoon, maybe Sunday, we`re watching upstream because all that water has to run back down right here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: Some residents of the city of Fort McMurray, Canada, have begun returning home. Last month, the massive wildfire forced the evacuation of 80,000 people in the area. Thousands of firefighters are still trying to get a handle on it, though the blaze is no longer a threat to Fort

McMurray. The fire destroyed about 10 percent of the city, at least 2,400 buildings or homes.

Not everyone in Fort McMurray is allowed to come back yet. Authorities say debris from the fire has to be removed before some homes can be occupied.

Many are still intact, but some residents don`t know what they`ll see.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUBTITLE: Coming home after a wildfire.

A massive wildfire in northern Alberta has destroyed more than 877,000 acres.

Some of Fort McMurray`s 61,000 residents are returning to their damaged community.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: From Canada, we`re moving across the Atlantic to Switzerland, where the longest, deepest tunnel in the world is now open. It`s named the

Gotthard Base Tunnel. It`s 35 miles long and runs underneath the Swiss Alps. In some places, it`s one and a half miles deep and the trains that traverse it hit speeds of up to 155 miles per hour.

Will it save time? Yes. Officials say trains will be able to get from Zurich, Switzerland, to Milan, Italy, about an hour faster on this route than trains on other routes.

Would it help in other ways? Yes. Officials say freight will be moved more quickly, more efficiently and more reliably.

What was the cost? The tunnel took seventeen years and $12 billion to build, about 2,600 people worked on it along the way.

(MUSIC)

AZUZ: Thank you for all of your "Roll Call" submissions this school year. We received more than 100,000 requests.

The last three schools we`ll mention with Avon Grove Charter School. It`s in West Grove, Pennsylvania, the home of the Wolves.

Moving west to Charlotte, Michigan, hello to the Orioles. Great to see everyone at Charlotte High School today.

And in Big Sky Country, the community of Big Sky, Montana, we totally dig the miners of Ophir Middle School.

There are a number of ways scientists can measure air quality, monitoring stations can keep track of the air in one specific place and detect any changes. Trucks loaded with mobile instruments can be sent to different areas, measuring carbon monoxide and ozone levels. And satellites can track pollutants and how the move over a city.

There`s another way to measure the quality of the air, though, by flying right through it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: 0600 hour, NASA prepares to fly. A beautiful sunrise masks by a lingering haze, one of the reasons this DC-8 jetliner is here in South Korea.

This flying laboratory will find out what pollutants are here, who`s causing them and how they can be measured more accurately from space.

Eight hours flying the length and breadth of South Korea, over cities, mansions (ph) and seas, collecting and analyzing data.

The equipment on this flight may be state-of-the-art, but the plane itself is almost half a century old. It first flew back in 1969 I`m told, as part of the Al Italia fleet. But, as you can see, NASA has completely refitted it to suit its purposes -- 25 different instruments for measuring solution and 34 scientists.

All of them excited to be part of this mission, a joint study with the South Korean environment agency.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don`t think it`s a discovery but the air here is pretty dirty. We kind of knew that.

HANCOCKS: South Korea has long blamed China for much of its pollution, so- called "yellow dusts" is known to blown in from deserts in Mongolia and northern China, picking up some pretty toxic hitchhikers along the way.

But fine dust particles, very detrimental to your health, may often originate closer to home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The flight we`re on today, we`ve seen some of the largest pollution that we`ve seen in the entire campaign. And most of that is coming from local sources.

HANCOCKS: To capture some of this data, the plane has to fly low, involving skillful flying from former Air Force pilots and some deft negotiating with air traffic controllers and a fed dose of turbulence.

It`s not every day you fly just a few hundred feet over the center of a 10 million strong metropolis. South Korean ranked 173rd out of 180 countries in terms of air quality in a recent study by Yale University. But this year`s environmental performance index underlies the fact it is a global problem, saying more than 3.5 billion people, half of the world`s population, live in nations with unsafe air quality. As more than one scientist on board told me, at least South Korea was acknowledging it`s a problem and opening up its air space to NASA and its expertise.

Paula Hancocks, CNN, onboard NASA`s DC-8 research jet over South Korea.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: We`re not going to run away without a look at, let`s call it lighthearted news, or in this case, light-footed.

Check it y`all. A moose on a loose. This happened in Watertown, Massachusetts, earlier this week, not too common a sight in the neighborhood.

The wayward mammal didn`t really hurt anyone or cause any mischief, though it did leave police on 45-minute chase. Eventually, it moosied (ph) over into the woods, it moose have realized its moose-take and decided to huff it.

Maybe it woods having fun in the forest. It wanted to stretch its moose- cles or look for something more amoosing. But straying into the suburbs probably wasn`t the antler.

My name is Carl and I`m Azuz on a loose. We`ll see you again on August 15th. Please keep up with us over the summer on Instagram, Facebook, or

Twitter. I`m @CarlAzuzCNN.

And thanks to the millions of you who`ve watched worldwide in this extraordinary year for CNN STUDENT NEWS.

END

CNN Student News - June 1, 2016

Welcome to Wednesday`s edition of CNN STUDENT NEWS. My name is Carl Azuz. We`re grateful to have you watching.

First up, every city that`s hosted the Olympic Games in recent years has faced considerable challenges. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is no exception.

The cost of hosting the games, which is in the billions, keeping residents and visitors safe, just making sure they can all get around from place to place, and building many of the venues where athletes will compete. These are common obstacles.

But there are a number of unique challenges to Rio and Brazil as a whole that officials worldwide are concerned about. Olympic organizers and city officials say these games which are the first ever to be held in South America will be a big success. So, why do some critics have doubts?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This has been a particularly rough run-up to the Olympic Games, which was scheduled to start here in Rio in just over two months, a whole set of challenges facing not only Rio, the host city, but Brazil as a whole.

(voice-over): It`s hard not to be seduced by Rio de Janeiro. This spectacular city soon to be the host of the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Two months before the start of the games, construction crews are putting in the final touches at the Olympic venues.

GUSTAVO NASCIMENTO, HEAD OF OLYMPIC VENUE MANAGEMENT: Everything`s going to be ready on time. We`re going to deliver the park fully commissioned the 24th of July.

WATSON (on camera): But despite Rio`s beauty, the city and Brazil as a whole are facing some pretty daunting challenges. A whole series of unexpected setbacks leading some to wonder, are Rio`s Olympics somehow cursed?

(voice-over): Just days ago, a warning from more than 100 international doctors, calling for the games to be postponed or moved, because the mosquito-born Zika virus could threaten an expected half a million foreign visitors.

That view rejected by the World Health Organization, which does advise pregnant women to avoid the Olympics entirely, because of the risk of severe deformities to unborn children.

And then there`s the political and economic crisis. Turmoil after Congress suspended Brazil`s elected president in an impeachment process last month, and high-level corruption scandals, during the worst economic recession in generations, which has left more than 10 million Brazilians unemployed.

The economic hardship aggravating Rio`s endemic problems with violent crime. Daily gun battles between police and drug gangs in the city`s impoverished favelas, as well as a surge in robberies.

This month, members of the Spanish Olympic sailing team mugged at gunpoint.

FERNANDO ECHEVARRI, SPANISH OLYMPIC SAILOR: We just turn around to see what was happening and we saw the pistols, like this.

WATSON: Olympic sailors also worried about Rio`s notoriously polluted bay, a dumping ground for much of the city`s raw sewage.

VICTORIA JURCZOK, GERMAN OLYMPIC SAILOR: We don`t want to swim in it.

WATSON: Rio`s mayor warns this isn`t a first world city.

MAYOR EDUARDO PAES, RIO DE JANEIRO: Don`t come here expecting that everything will be, you know, perfect. We live in a country that has an economic crisis, a country with lots of inequality. With all the problems we have seen concerning corruption, briberies. But the city will be much

better than it was when we got the games.

WATSON: But even one of the mayor`s new infrastructure projects is now a deadly failure.

(on camera): This brand-new spectacular cliff side bike path was supposed to be a showcase project for the Olympics. Instead, it became a tragic setback when the waves took out part of the trail, killing two people last month.

(voice-over): In the turbulent run up to the Olympics, a virtual storm of bad new that leads you wondering, what could possibly happen next?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: Across the Pacific Ocean, Southeast China is where we`re starting today`s call of the roll.

In the city of Foshan, thank you for watching from Nanhai Senior High School.

To the U.S. state of West Virginia, we`ve got some Vikings there. Petersburg High School is in the city of Petersburg.

And watch out for the Hornets. They`re making a buzz in Charlotte, North Carolina, where you`ll find Albemarle Road Middle School.

The term "500-year flood event" basically means there`s a rare 1-in-500 chance that a particular flood would hit in a given year. Southeast Texas has seen two of these 500-year flood events in two months, what a CNN meteorologist described as very bad luck.

Last week, there were record-setting rains in the region. At one point, the city of Brenham got 19 inches of rain in 48 hours. It stopped falling last Friday night, but not before swelling flood waters that killed six people, some of whom were trapped in cars and high water.

The National Weather Service has given several warnings, telling people not to drive through flooded areas and to be careful need riverbanks. Hundreds of homes have been flooded or swept away. Another storm is in the forecast for later this week.

Today is the official start of the Atlantic hurricane season. It runs from June 1st through November 30th, though forecasters say that these storms can form at any time. This is just when they`re more likely.

Predicting how many storms will form in a given season is not an exact science and predictions are often inaccurate. But they give coastal residents, emergency workers and insurance companies an idea of what to look out for.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JENNIFER GRAY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: NOAA has just released their numbers for the upcoming hurricane season. Their predictions on how active this season will be and they`ve actually predicted a very normal season, 10 to 16 named storms, four to eight hurricanes, and one to four major storms. It`s pretty much all in line with what the other agencies are saying, 12 to 14 named storms.

Now, a normal year, you may say, so what? But it`s actually been a while since we`ve had a normal year. You have to go back to 2012. Ever since then, we have had below normal seasons. So, forecasting a normal season, this year, will actually mean more storms, possibly.

One reason we have had some pretty slow years is because of El Nino. The jet stream shifts to the south during an El Nino year, increasing the wind shear which will rip those storms apart. But we are forecasted to go into La Nina, which means that jet stream will shift back up to the north.

We`ll have decrease in wind shear and it could be just that perfect environment to get some of the storms going in the Atlantic.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: CNN has used a lot of hurricane footage that people captured on their phones. Digital photography is something we just tend to use without thinking about it. But 41 years ago, when the first digital camera was made, it weighed around eight pounds, it took 23 seconds to record its first picture and the resolution was 1/100 of 1 megapixel.

So, maybe all that`s why Kodak wasn`t in a hurry to invest in the technology.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RACHEL CRANE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The great irony of Frankenstein is that the doctor`s greatest discovery, creating a living, breathing human from dead matter led to his demise. Kodak can relate.

One of their engineers, Steven Sasson, invented the first digital camera in 1975.

They called the technology filmless photography. But they were never able to capitalize on it. In fact, their competitors trounced them in the digital photography space. And in 2012, 131 years after its founding, the company filed for bankruptcy protection. By then, an estimated 2.5 billion people owned digital cameras.

And that changed the business, too -- especially this business, journalism. Video and images captured on digital cameras could be instantly reviewed and transmitted all across the world.

The first journalists to use digital camera for the "Associated Press" did so at the first Bush inauguration in 1989, and cell phone cameras have made every citizen a potential reporter.

Time and time again, footage captured by amateurs on digital cameras has been vital first hand sources of information, even medicine has benefitted.

Doctors can see inside your body, thanks to tiny digital cameras, and then they can store and share those images quickly and easily with colleagues across the globe.

The list goes on and on, but if you could excuse me, I have to go Facetime with my mom.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: On the golf course, you might encounter a bunker or a lake, hazards you generally want to avoid. Here`s another kind: this massive scale reptilian beast of a hazard was seen in the greens at a Florida golf course, recently. The alligator is estimated to be 15 feet long. The man

who shot this video said the thing was so big, it looked like two guys in an alligator suit.

It didn`t cause any problems, besides maybe abject terror. Good thing no one tried to club it. Its teeth could leave a hole in one attacker. It doesn`t need to take a shot to take a slice, and its simple presence is off putting. You know what a golfer yells when an alligator is on the course?

Carni-four (ph)!

I`m Carl Azuz and we`ll see you gator.

END

CNN Student News May 31, 2016

It`s the last day of May 2016 and our last week on air for the school year. We`ll return to our daily broadcast, August 15.

Let`s get started. One of the biggest stories we`ve covered this academic year centers on the millions of migrants and refugees streaming into Europe, the most since World War II. Some are leaving war-torn countries behind them. Some are running from terrorists and their control. Some are just looking for a better life than their home countries have to offer.

Many of these people are trying to get to Europe by cross the Mediterranean Sea. It`s dangerous. They`re often overloaded on small votes and over the past week, at least 65 people have died trying to cross. But hundreds are still missing from several shipwrecks. And officials are afraid that more
than 700 lives might have been lost.

It could have been worst. Italian authorities say they`ve rescued more than 14,000 people in the Mediterranean, just in the past week. The overcrowded boats aren`t the only thing officials have to watch for.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The route from Libya to Europe across these waters is really exploding, especially since Greece and Turkey cracked down on their shores. You could be talking about 100,000 people trying to cross the Mediterranean.

But that`s not the only problem. ISIS are trying to get in on it.

SUBTITLE: Smuggling Jihadis to Europe.

WALSH (on camera): This trade in human souls is awful enough until you think that perhaps ISIS are using this passage of human life into Europe to try and infiltrate the continent with sleeper cells.

(voice-over): A smuggler said it begun about two months ago, 52 Tunisians tried to travel from Libya to Europe in the last (INAUDIBLE), he said. And he was also offered $40,000 by an ISIS leader to take 20 ISIS people across, but he declined.

So, ISIS already control about a tenth of Libya`s huge coastline, about 4,000 to 6,000 fighters are in that area, but the U.S. thinks many in the main stronghold of Sirte. They`ve been helped by Libya being in chaos, with three different governments now claiming they should be in charge.(on camera): Fighting the migrant across this, the whole coastline of Libyan capital Tripoli are just six boats like this, some of which not in particularly good service. You simply can`t imagine how under-resourced things are here, so close to Europe.

(voice-over): Libya`s been a failing state for years, but now, it`s a new and thriving home to ISIS as well. And what`s so staggering is that after they`re allowed to grow in Syria and Iraq, that is happening again, this time even closer to Europe and the West is doing next to nothing about it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: Not far from the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, a battle is raging for the city of Falluja. The ISIS terrorist group took over the area in 2014.

But now, Iraqi and local forces who are supported by a U.S.-led coalition are fighting to get the city back. The international group has captured some of the surrounding areas and they entered the city yesterday in fighting described as intense.

Meantime, there were several suicide attacks in Baghdad that reportedly killed dozens of people. ISIS said it was responsible for those. The terrorist group is also suspected of killing men and boys in Falluja who refused to fight for ISIS. Hundreds of families have fled the city to safe areas nearby, but officials say tens of thousands of people could still be caught in the crossfire.

Yesterday was Memorial Day in the United States. It`s observed every year in the last Monday in May, and it`s a time for Americans to remember those who died while serving in the military.

As commander in chief of that military, U.S. President Barack Obama participated in the traditional wreath-laying at the Tomb of the Unknowns.

The monument was originally used for the burial of an unidentified American soldier from World War II. Unidentified troops from other U.S. wars were added in later years.

Memorial Day started as Decoration Day, a time when Americans decorated the graves of Union and Confederate troops from the Civil War. Now, flags, flowers, services and ceremonies are held nationwide in honor of falling U.S. troops.Barbara Starr attended in observance at Arlington National Cemetery.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: This was really basically an empty green meadow, and over the years, it has filled as families have laid their loved ones to rest here. This is really the history of the last 15 years of war for American troops and for American military families.

You see, it all basically written here. The battles that have come back into our headlines, Falluja, Ramadi, Baghdad in Iraq. The Korengal, Jalalabad, Kabul, Kandahar in Afghanistan.

We see these families repeatedly come here year after year to visit their loved ones.

I want to have the camera pan over just a bit. You will see, there is a 90-year-old grandmother here. There are small toddlers here. These are people who pause as so many Americans do across this country to pay their respects, we see battle buddies coming here to visit their friend who didn`t make it all the way home. It is quite an awestruck sight every year that we see.

People sort of refer to Section 60 as the saddest acre in America. I got to tell you, I don`t see it that way. On a day like today, what I see is an acre that is full of probably the most solid love that you are going to find. That these are people who are coming to pay their respects, to pay their love to America`s fallen.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: These three schools have two things in common. One, they all made a "Roll Call" requests at CNNStudentNews.com, two, they`ve never been featured before.

Casper Classical Academy is in the city of Casper, Wyoming, and it`s the home of the Cougars.

But they`re not the only ones. Cougars are also watching from Chesapeake High School. It`s in Pasadena, Maryland.

And from Calle Margarita Este, Costa Rica, hello to everyone at Tree of Life International School.

For the first time, a very dangerous superbug has infected an American. She`s a 49-year-old woman from Pennsylvania. She was recently admitted to

Walter Reed National Military Medical Center with a very rare kind of E. coli infection.

Health officials don`t know how she got it, but the infections called a superbug because normal antibiotics don`t kill it, even the antibiotic that doctors use as a last resort.

The CDC and the Pennsylvania Department of Health both investigated the case. The women survived. She reportedly responded to other antibiotics, though one report suggests that half the people who get this kind of infection would die from it.

The head of the CDC says doctors should stop prescribing antibiotics when people don`t need them and that new drugs need to be developed quickly.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Antibiotics are one of the miracles of modern medicine. They have saved countless lives. But there`s another side to them.

The bacteria that live in our body, they`ve learned how to outwit many of our most powerful antibiotics. These drug resistant bacteria are called superbugs. Every year, these superbugs infect more than 2 million people in the United States and kill at least 23,000.

Here`s how a bug becomes a superbug. When you take in antibiotic, there could be some bacteria that know how to resist that antibiotic. While those smart bacteria, they`re the ones that survived your round of antibiotics and they flourish. And that`s when you get a proliferation of superbugs.

And the more that we as a community take antibiotics, the more chances the bacteria have to become resistant.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: Majestic, stately, magnificent, proud. This ain`t no petting zoo pony we`re talking about. We`re talking about Frederik the Great, whose long, flowing locks are stampeding across Facebook and earning him the nickname "The Most Handsome Horse in the World."

The Friesian stallion grazes the fields of Arkansas. He`s 15 years old but just recently went viral because of -- well, this -- he`s been given a lot of nicknames but the Fabio of horses. That seems to be the main one, heh.

Maybe he`s equestri-aiming for a beauty contest. Maybe he`s cultivating a winning look to trample all of naysayers. He`s a horse without echooves (ph) and a lot of people are finding beauty in the beast.
I`m Carl Azuz and we`re done horsing around. Hope to see you tomorrow.

END

CNN Student New - May 27, 2016

Well, guess what? Fridays are awesome! Thank you for making us part of your day. I`m Carl Azuz.

First up, Hiroshima, Japan. This is the site of where the U.S. dropped the first of two atomic bombs on Japan. More than 200,000 people were killed


on those bombings, but they were created with bringing World War II to an end, and avoiding an American invasion of the Asian country.

Today, U.S. President Barack Obama is set to become the first sitting American leader to visit Hiroshima. There`s some controversy about the trip. Some analysts say it will be seen as a U.S. apology for the bombing. Some Japanese say the American president should apologize for the attack,

some Americans say he should not. That Japan should apologize first for its mistreatment of U.S. prisoners during World War II.

The White House says President Obama will not apologize for the use of the atomic bomb, but that he`s hoping to draw attention to his goal of reducing the world`s nuclear weapons.

Up next, new leadership for the Taliban. This is a group that once ruled Afghanistan. It allowed the al Qaeda terrorist organization to operate and train there.

That`s why the U.S. led an invasion in 2001 to knock the Taliban out of power. But the group still operates in Southeast Asia and last weekend,

President Obama authorized the drone strike that killed the Taliban`s leader as he was traveling through Pakistan.

U.S. military says Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour was planning new attacks on U.S. targets, but the nation of Pakistan objected, calling the U.S. airstrike on Pakistani soil illegal. Mansour has been replaced.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUBTITLE: Who are the Taliban in 2016?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The Taliban is hard line religious movement based in Afghanistan and Pakistan, but in Afghanistan, were partially involved in fighting the Soviets then through a civil war came to power between about 1996 and then were ousted in 2001 by the United States after they sheltered al Qaeda and bin Laden.

What followed was a slow-growing insurgency against the U.S. presence there and now, we`ve seen lost a series of leaders pretty fast. Now, the Taliban`s main constituencies often been in the south, but over a period of time has begun to fracture. It`s got younger radicals in the ranks, more criminal elements, and become frankly a more tired given the lengthy level of fighting they`ve had to endure against the United States.

But its leadership has endured the substantial changes. Mullah Omar, the founder, having died sometime about 2012, 2013. His death being kept secret until Mullah Mansour took the helm. He was then pretty quickly killed by U.S. drone strike just inside Pakistan.

Now, they`ve announced that Haibatullah Akhundzada will be the new leader of the Taliban. All of these potentially shifting the group in a more radical direction. Mullah Mansour opposed peace talks, killed by the White House, the say, because of that. But still, his successor Akhundzada has pretty radical deputies, Siraj Haqqani, the man known by the U.S. as the main facilitator for al Qaeda in Afghanistan. The Taliban still there holding more territory than they have any time since 2001 and it seems more radical at this stage.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: We have hundreds of requests coming in for our "Roll Call". The one place our producers look for them is CNNStudentNews.com.

The Egyptian capital of Cairo is first up today. Thank you for making us part of your day at Al Afak Al-Gadeda International School.

Homer Junior High School is next. From the village of Homer Glen, Illinois, we welcome the Mustangs. And it kind of makes sense that the mascot in a school in Aspen, Colorado, would be the Skiers. That school is Aspen High School.

To the U.S. campaign trail, a CNN count of Republican Party delegates shows that businessman Donald Trump has clinched the Republican nomination for president. He passed the threshold of 1,237 delegates that a GOP candidate needs. He`s now considered the presumptive nominee that will be made official at the Republican National Convention this July.

There are two Democrats in the race for their party`s nomination. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton leads with 1,776 pledged delegates and 528 superdelegates. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has 1,491 pledged delegates and 42 super delegates. A total of 2,383 delegates are needed to clinch the Democratic nomination.

There are more than 600,000 bridges in the U.S. and almost 60,000 of them need work. The concrete use to make many American bridges is cheap and strong, but overtime, it can crack and crumble and it needs to be patched to keep the bridge standing. An engineering professor has developed a bendable concrete. It`s about three times the cost of regular concrete but he says builders can use less
of it and maintain it less often.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RENE MARSH, CNN AVIATION AND GOVERNMENT REGULATION CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Sixty-eight thousand vehicles cross the Arlington Memorial Bridge between D.C. and Virginia every day. This is what the drivers don`t see.

JENNY ANZELMO-SALRES, NATIONAL PARK SERVICE SPOKESWOMAN: It`s just eroding and the concrete is falling off.

MARSH (on camera): We have to wear masks and gloves inside of the bridge because this taint is all lead paint. Now, this beam is helping to support the bridge and if you take a look, it`s badly corroded and you see how thin that steel is, you see holes in the steel.

(voice-over): The original support beams from 1932 have never been replaced.

RAY LAHOOD, FORMER TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: We`re like a third world country when it comes to infrastructure.

MARSH: Federal government spending on infrastructure has declined 9 percent from 2003 and 2014. Every state has some degree of bad bridges that need to be repaired. From Los Angeles, where trees are growing out of cracks in this bridge, to Chicago where netting is in place to protect drivers from falling concrete.

LAHOOD: The reason we have 57,000 deficient bridges is because we have not made the investment as a national government.

MARSH: Former Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood blames Congress to failing to raise the gas tax in 23 years, which funds projects like bridges and roads.

(on camera): Have you been against raising the tax because it`s just bad politics?

REP. BILL SHUSTER (R), PENNSYLVANIA: First of all, the economy hasn`t been great. Raising the gas tax doesn`t solve the long-term funding problem.

MARSH: As Congress has to figure out this long term solution, bridges crumbling. So, what do we do right now?

SHUSTER: Well, our bill, the FAST Act, which we passed in December, the president signed it into law, we put more dollars into focusing on the

critical infrastructure.

MARSH (voice-over): His Republican colleague disagrees.

REP. JIM RENACCI (R), OHIO: It`s funded for five years, but we use 10 years worth of gimmicks to pay for it. These are the kind of things that don`t make sense.

MARSH: Anthony Foxx is the current head of the Department of Transportation.

(on camera): But isn`t everyone guilty? I mean, when Democrats were in control of Congress, this situation was what it is today as well.

ANTHONY FOXX, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: I think every year we go by, the challenge gets that much greater. And that`s why we don`t have another moment to waste.

MARSH: Researchers at the University of Michigan believe they may have a solution, a bendable concrete that can heal itself from cracks.

PROF. VICTOR LI, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: (INAUDIBLE) set our targets towards creating infrastructures that will last a hundred years.

MARSH: Regular concrete can fail quickly and suddenly.

But Professor Victor Li says the bendable concrete can withstand a force hundred of times more powerful.

This sped up video shows it responds to pressure, cracks heal themselves with the help of air and water.

The technology lines portions of this bridge in Michigan, the hope is it could help already crumbling bridges like the Memorial Bridge near the nation`s capital.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: Before we go, who needs a car alarm? The 68-year-old woman who owns this wagon has the security of nature. Yes, those are bees. Yes, they sting. No, you don`t want to put in your groceries.

This apparently happened when a queen bee got stuck in the back of the car. So, the swarm showed up and tried to free her for two days until beekeepers managed to sweep them into a cardboard box and cart them all the way.

So, did anyone actually get stung, you`d better bee-lieve it. How could you expect them to beehive at a time of royal crisis? It didn`t take their rescue long to jelly (ph) and at least their owner got a free car cleaning.

I`m Carl Azuz for CNN STUDENT NEWS. We will be off the air for Memorial Day on Monday. It`s part of the U.S. tradition of remembering its fallen servicemen and women. We look forward to seeing you again on Tuesday.

CNN Student News - May 26, 2016

Rolling through the week, we`re rolling through a number of different subjects today and we`re glad to have you along.


First up, the G7, in short for group of seven. Its annual meeting is going on right now in the nation of Japan. The G7 is a membership of seven major world economies, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the U.K. and the U.S. It used to be known as the G8 and included Russia. But after that country`s controversial annexation of Crimea in 2014, the other nations suspended Russia`s membership.

G7 leaders meet each year to talk about the global economy and international security. As part of that, a big focus this year is going to be on terrorism, as well as last Thursday`s mysterious crash of an Egypt air flight in the Mediterranean Sea. Other topics for the leaders include uncertainty in the global economy, climate change and infectious diseases.

Earlier this week, we discussed the Obama administration`s decision to remove a ban on U.S. weapon sales to Vietnam. One aspect we haven`t talked about, though, the economic one. Vietnam has dramatically increased its military spending in recent years, during a time of territorial disputes with China.

In 2005, Vietnam spent an estimated $1 billion on defense. Last year, that had increased to more than $4 billion. The vast majority of its military purchases had been made from Russia.

But with the U.S. arms embargo lifted, analysts think Vietnam will look across the Pacific for military equipment.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Bloody conflicts and ongoing military tensions mean that countries from nearly every corner of the planet are looking to increase their arsenals. And who is the world`s largest arms exporter is right in the middle of it all? It`s the United States, dealing in weapons ranging from assault rifles to fighter jets and armored tanks.

So, who is on the receiving end? With escalating situations in Syria, Iraq and Yemen, it may not surprise you that the U.S. sells most of its weapons to its Middle Eastern allies. Saudi Arabia was the top recipient of U.S. arms. Between 2011 and 2015, they had purchased everything from American made F15 fighters, M1 Abrams tanks, Apache attack helicopters and Patriot missile batteries.

The United Arab Emirates, Turkey and many other countries are also big customers. Now, these governments are essentially being given the arms as the U.S. government contributes billions to foreign military financing. Roughly $5.7 billion is planned for 2017. Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan
and Iraq are the top recipients of this U.S. largesse.

This trade is not just in the Middle East. Taiwan and South Korea are also big customers, largely in response to China and North Korea, and funding for African militaries will more than double in 2017, from 2015 levels. Likely the consequence of increased terrorist activity in places like Mali, Somalia, and Nigeria.

All told, the United States was responsible for 33 percent of worldwide weapons exports between 2011 and 2015.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: In terms of weather, it`s been a rough week in the Central U.S. There were at least eight tornadoes reported, as the storm system rumbled across Kansas. Vehicles, including a tractor trailer were flipped over. Several people were injured and some homes were damaged.

One meteorologist said multiple centers of circulation developed. What exactly does that mean?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: This is a two-dimensional look of the storm on radar. But meteorologists see a tornado. But what is it exactly that meteorologists see?

Well, let`s take a look. The yellow and green colors you see here are going to be your very heavy rain in the storm. The red color indicates your hail core.

And then all the way down there, the purple circle, that`s where your tornado is going to be. Meteorologists often refer to it as the hook echo, because of the hook shape that it ends up taking.

But these aren`t the only features we look for. We also have to take a look at the winds inside the storm. Imagine this flagpole was inside of our storm and the flags going all the way up to the very top of the cloud. The thing is, the wind changes direction as you go up. So, this naturally creates that rotation necessary for funnel clouds and also even tornadoes.

So, now, let`s take a look at the base of that storm. What you have is you have very warm inflow, warm air coming into the storm and rising, because that`s what warm air does, it goes up. But you also have cold air coming down from the tops of the clouds, and sinking all the way down towards the base. Now, together, these help to create wind shear, down near the perimeter and that is what helps create some of the more violent tornadoes.

Now, what if your tornado has been on the ground for at least a little bit? Then, you start to get this, the debris cloud, which is essentially a collection of all of the stuff that tornado has been able to pick up, everything from dusts, to trees, to even homes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: We have more than a thousand requests each day for the "Roll Call". If you haven`t been announced yet, please keep trying.

Broad Creek Middle School is first up today. From Newport, North Carolina, the Bulldogs are hunkered down for CNN STUDENT NEWS.

Next, from the city of Andover, Minnesota, how about the Huskies? Great to see everyone at Andover High School.

And finally in the Pacific island nation of the Philippines, thanks for watching from Assumption College, San Lorenzo, in Makati City.

According to the North American Meat Institute, the meat and poultry industry is the biggest segment of U.S. agriculture. Every year, it produces more than 90 billion pounds of beef, chicken, turkey, lamb and pork. When it comes to red meat, so think beef or lamb, the World Health

Organization said last year that people who eat more of it are probably more likely to develop cancer. The North American meat industry says that several studies show no correlation between meat and cancer.

But is there a happy medium, a food that`s essentially a vegetable but still tastes like meat?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CRISTINA ALESCI, CNNMONEY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For most meat lovers, a good burger makes life worth living.

ETHAN BROWN, BEYOND MEAT CEO: Thanksgiving Day, when we`re -- when playing football. They`re literally tearing turkey (ph) from going and eating it.

I mean, this meat is so central to who we are.

ALESCI: But this burger might make the average carnivore uneasy. It`s made of pea protein. Yet, the juicy patty sizzles, it turns from red to brown on the grill and it crumbles in your mouth, just like the real thing.

In fact, Beyond Meat CEO Ethan Brown doesn`t see the difference.

BROWN: We`re not going to argue that we`re a veggie burger. What we argue is we`re a meat made from plants.

ALESCI (on camera): Veggie burgers, they`ve gotten a bad wrap. What is noble about Beyond Meat approach to creating a non-meat burger?

BROWN: So, we studied the composition of meat. We studied exactly what makes you want meat, what makes meat insatiating for you, what makes meat nutritionally valuable for you, we`ve gone out and found those in the plant kingdom and we put them in the same architecture as meat. Now, there`s
also the issues because plants don`t taste exactly like meat, obviously, right?

ALESCI: Well, it certainly looks like a burger.

It`s good. Not like a real burger, but the taste is awesome compared to like the traditional non-meat burgers that you would buy in the store.

(voice-over): And it has to, to attract the company`s target audience.

(on camera): Are you really trying to get the McDonald`s consumer?

BROWN: Yes, 100 percent.

We`re not going after vegans, vegetarians. We`re going after people who want to change their diet by reducing meat consumption. They`re not necessarily eliminating meat consumption, but they`re reducing it.

ALESCI (voice-over): And the numbers back it up. Meat consumption has declined in the U.S. And the industry is keenly aware of changing consumer sentiment.

BROWN: Three or four years now, when you into the meat section, almost any major supermarket, you`ll be able to buy plant-based version of meat right next to an animal (ph).

ALESCI: The plant-based version has the same amount of protein as an animal burger with none of the cholesterol.

BROWN: You can eat as many as you like. Like my son, he could this every night for dinner and I would be delighted. I know exactly what`s in it.

So, they`re having burgers every night and not worry about it.

ALESCI (on camera): Ha, I would love that.

(voice-over): But it still doesn`t taste exactly like meat.

(on camera): There`s a lack of chewiness, of gumminess.

BROWN: Sure.

ALESCI: And that it kind takes the fun of eating a burger, it`s like, arr, it kind of like animal, it`s like instinct.

BROWN: Sure. We`re going to take our time, we`re going to get there and we`re going to create something that is absolutely distinguishable from animal protein. But it does take a little time. We`ve invested millions of dollars in this process. We`ll continue to invest millions of dollars.

So, it is actually possible with no scientific obstacle to doing this. But it doesn`t happen overnight.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: Getting the police escort to proms sounds like it can either be you`re really good or really bad thing. In this case, it`s a good one.

The girl you see here is Aleena Kondek. She`s a daughter of a police office who was killed in 2014. So, as a surprise, a number of his colleague showed up last Saturday night to give her an unforgettable escort to the dance. One of the officers said it was their responsibility and honor to stand in for her father.

Plus, it undoubtedly insured her date followed all traffic laws. And while a lot of guys wear black and white tuxes to prom, Aleena`s friend seem to

look their best in blue.

I`m Carl Azuz. We`ll be back tomorrow to escort you to more current events.

END

CNN Student News - May 25, 2016

A major battle has begun for a city in Iraq and that`s where we begin today`s show. I`m Carl Azuz, thank you for watching.


Falluja is located in central Iraq, along the banks of the Euphrates River. It`s been controlled by the ISIS terrorist group since early 2014. In fact, it was the first Iraqi city that ISIS captured as part of its plan to create its own Islamic state in Iraq and Syria.

The fight to take Falluja back involves Iraqi troops, police and militias and they`re supported by U.S.-led airstrikes. But trapped in the crossfire between these forces and the ISIS fighters who control the city, an estimated 10,000 civilian families according to the United Nations.

The Iraqi forces dropped leaflets on the city, telling residents how they can get out safely. But activists in the area say ISIS is not allowing civilians to go and that some have died trying to leave.

Falluja is where dozens of U.S. troops were killed during the Iraq war in 2004. It`s a strategic city that`s no stranger to terrorists or violence.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Falluja has a long history of bloody battles. It`s considered a hotbed of Sunni insurgent groups.

SUBTITLE: Why Falluja matters.

KARADSHEH: This was the first city to fall to ISIS, months before any other city in Iraq in January of 2014. Extremist groups like ISIS and al

Qaeda in Iraq before that use Falluja as a symbol of Sunni resistance.

Now, for the Shias of Iraq, many of them feel that a lot of the terrorist attacks that target them, whether it`s ISIS or al Qaeda in Iraq before that, those attacks they feel stemmed from Falluja, especially with its proximity to Baghdad. So, they really have wanted to see ISIS cleared out
of that city for a very long time.

SUBTITLE: In May 2016, Iraqi security forces launched an operation to recapture the city from ISIS.

KARADSHEH: Now, with this new offensive underway right now, it`s expected to last a very long time and expected to be bloody if history is anything to go by.

Here, what remains a major issue is the civilians who may still be trapped inside that city.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: The head of security for the U.S. Transportation Security Administration has lost his job. A House of Representatives committee announced the change earlier this week. It followed a congressional hearing on mismanagement at the TSA, the organizations in charge of screening passengers and cargo at airports across the U.S.

But the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the TSA, says it`s had a number of security failures recently, and some had swelled long lines at airport checkpoints, causing hundreds of passengers to miss their flights.

The TSA says Kelly Hogan wasn`t fired specifically for doing anything wrong, but that the agency wanted a different approach to security leadership. It`s saying that a number of management changes are ahead, and that they`ll deliver better leadership and screening operations at American airports.

Starting in Brazil on today`s call of the Roll. The nation has 26 states, and in the northeast state of Ceirra (ph), hello to all of our viewers at

Escola de Ensino Medio Liceu do Crato.

San Juan Hills High School is next. From the U.S. state of California, the Stallions are roaming in San Juan Capistrano.

And one state over, in Arizona, we`ve got some Wolverines watching today. Mountain Vista Middle School rounds out our roll from San Tan Valley.

The walkman, the floppy disks, the dot matrix printer and the VHS, the video home system, these are some of the inventions of the 1970s that have become obsolete with the passage of time and the progress of technology.

But there are some designs of the disco era that we can`t imagine living without, email, the first video games, cellphones. And one thing that doesn`t get a lot of credit but has revolutionized shopping, the bar code.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RACHEL CRANE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: On June 26, 1974 a pack of Juicy Fruit gum made history when it was the first item ever to be scanned via a state- of-the art technology: the barcode.

And now, more than 40 years later, as many as 5 billion barcodes are scanned every day across the world.

The code itself, those black lines of varying width on the label, was inspired by Morse code. But the holy smokes component of the innovation was how it was scanned by lasers.

Lasers had been the stuff of nerd fantasies until the early 1960s, when the Hughes Aircraft Company unveiled the first one at a press conference.

A Los Angeles newspaper reported the story underneath the headline, "LA man discovers science fiction death ray."

But the fact of the matter is, no one really knew what to do with that new technology until that June morning in 1974 when a pack of Juicy Fruit gum in Ohio changed the world.

Today, barcodes are the unsung heroes that make everything from shipping to boarding an airplane to keeping track of medication possible.

But the biggest beneficiary is retail. Think about a grocery store from yester-year.

Every individual item had to be marked with its price, and the cashier had to manually input it into the register.

So, thanks to the barcode, you`re waiting in the checkout line a whole lot less and the stores themselves benefited big time. The barcodes allow them to keep accurate, real-time inventory. That`s a major advance in efficiency, even if it cost some grocery staff their jobs.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: For about 20 people who live in a housing project in Richmond, Virginia, Craig Dodson has become a sort of father figure. The 37-year-old leads a non-profit organization called Richmond Cycling Corps. It allows young people whose opportunities are extremely limited and whose schools
are some of the lowest performing to join cycling teams and to train to ride.

The lessons and the benefits go far beyond the bike trails.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. Come on back, guys. Rows of five.

CRAIG DODSON, CNN HERO: The thing is for you. You got to get into the woods and then settle in to your rhythm. Do you know what I mean?

Stay positive. Run, run, run.

There you go. That`s how it`s done.

We`re doing great. You see our kids are going through this roller coaster of emotion.

Come on, Jake. I know you fell, dude, but you`ve got this.

What a lot of people can`t say is that our kids have the equivalent of ten suitcases each of baggage that they`re carrying on that bike.

The kids who live in Richmond, public housing, it`s not just bad because of drugs, violence, guns.

You`ve got to tighten up, man. I`m not playing with you right now, man. I`m being serious. You`re clown and way too hard. That`s why we`ve been on you so hard. Matt is going to be here in the morning to pick you up. We`re tired of getting messages from everyone that you`re ducking school.

It`s got to stop or you`re going to fail ninth grade.

Our organization is not about getting kids positive life experiences through bikes. Our job is to get them out of public housing.

Bad news is he got a little suspension, so we can pick him up in the morning next week, put him to work at least.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That`s what I do here with him.

DODSON: This is a war to me.

What time do you wake up?

It`s me against the circumstances that these kids live in.

You come in and hold them accountable and it shows a level of care that they`re not used to.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Craig, he taught me a lot. He taught me to be your own person. Don`t be what you live around. We never give up.

DODSON: So proud of you, man.

We see the side of these kids that is genius. There are so many things that we wish the world can see. These are kids that have been let down.

Jazz, we`ll pick you up tomorrow around same time, all right?

My promise to them is I`m not going to leave you.

I see you Thursday.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: Those of you who are not "Star Wars" fans are going to see this and think, OK, well, loud sliding door.

But those of you who are "Star Wars" fans might hear it and think --

So, again, the R2D2 screaming door.

Maybe the laughter is not as infectious as the viral Chewbacca mask video, but it certainly made some folks Chewback up to hear it again, thinking it

was R2D2 good to skywalk through just Obi-Wan time.

That`s it for today`s puns solo. It`s part of my Jabba. And for putting up with them, Yoda best.

CNN STUDENT NEWS will you catch Vader.

END

CNN Student News - May 24, 2016

Welcome to CNN STUDENT NEWS. I`m Carl Azuz.

The Southeast Asian country of Vietnam is where we start today. U.S. President Barack Obama arrived there over the weekend. His goal, to improve relations with a government that was a U.S. enemy during the Vietnam War.


The conflict extended from 1954 to 1975. The communist government of North Vietnam and its allies eventually defeated South Vietnam, which was supported by the U.S. More than 58,000 U.S. troops were among the millions overall who died in the Vietnam War.

Former President Bill Clinton reestablished U.S. diplomatic ties with Vietnam in 1995 and President Obama is hoping to increase economic and security cooperation between the two countries.

Reactions to this trip are mixed. Some veterans groups say it will help remind Americans of the war and those who served. Others say the president needs to ask about more than 1,600 U.S. troops who are still listed as missing from the war.

But there`s another factor in this visit. The U.S. sees Vietnam as a partner in slowing down the influence of China. That country has become increasingly territorial in the South China Sea.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REPORTER: Like his father before, Le Tan makes his living from the sea. He`s fished these waters for 31 years. But lately, his job has become a lot more dangerous.

LE TAN, VIETNAMESE FISHERMAN (through translator): First, they took our fish and then the essential equipment. If they lacked it, they took it.

If they didn`t, they throw it away.

REPORTER: Tan describes a day when Chinese men boarded his boat, stole his equipment and threaten him and his sons. This happened last year, but he says his boat has been targeted four or five times over the past decade.

Tan says he`s being targeted because he fishes in the Paracels, the chain of islands claimed by Vietnam, China and Taiwan. Vietnamese authorities say hundreds of fishermen from Ly Son, a small island of the east coast of Vietnam, report being intimidated, beaten or robbed by men on Chinese
flagged boats within the Paracels.

Yet, despite the danger, the local government says it`s encouraging men to keep fishing these waters, calling them "defenders of Vietnamese territory".

The Chinese foreign ministry says it has no knowledge about Vietnamese fishermen being beaten or chased away, and the Paracel Islands are its sovereign territory, along with most of the South China Sea.

China is building manmade islands, laying down airstrips, deploying surface to air missiles in defiance of competing claims by other regional players.

And the U.S. has weighed into the fight, challenging China by running freedom of navigation operations in the region and calling for an end to the militarization of the area.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: The North African nation of Egypt, which borders the Mediterranean Sea, has sent a submarine to look for the remains of EgyptAir Flight 804.

It disappeared last Thursday on the way from Paris, France, to Cairo, Egypt. There were 66 people aboard.

Searchers have found wreckage in the Mediterranean -- life vests, plain parts, personal belongings. But locating the fuselage with the plane`s flight data recorders would help explain exactly what happened.

Officials don`t know if the problem was mechanical or terrorism related. Either way, the incident adds to a list of troubles Egypt is facing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The last five years have been rough on Egypt. The hope and optimism borne in the uprising to depose President Hosni Mubarak have been eclipsed by instability, terrorism, violence and repression.

In 2012, Egypt had its first ever democratic presidential election, electing the Muslim Brotherhood`s Mohamed Morsy. But after a year, he was ousted by the Egyptian military after massive popular protests. Then Defense Minister Abdel Fattah al-Sisi took power and later won a presidential election.

Sisi promised to bring stability and prosperity and crack down on terrorism, but so far, he`s failed on all fronts.

Militants in the Sinai Peninsula had set up an ISIS statelet there and they claimed responsibility for the bomb that brought down a Russian MetroJet airliner in October 2015. This came a month after Egyptian security forces killed 12 tourists, wounded 10 others in the country`s western desert after
they were mistaken for terrorists.

Tourism is important part of the Egyptian economy and has taken a nosedive. And with the crash of EgyptAir Flight 804, things were probably only get worse.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: On the "Roll Call" this year, we`re happy to say we have visited every continent but Antarctica so far.

Beehive International School from the Czech Republic is first up today. It`s in the nation`s capital of Prague.

Next from Gloucester, Massachusetts, we`re setting sail with the Fishermen of O`Maley Innovation Middle School.

And finally, hello to Waialua High and Intermediate School. It`s in Waialua, Hawaii, the home of the Bulldogs.

In the school district of Cleveland, Mississippi, there are 3,600 students. Sixty-seven percent are black, 29 percent are white, 4 percent are Asian or

Hispanic. And the district has been ordered to desegregate.

Why? Well, the U.S. Supreme Court`s Brown versus Board of Education ruling in 1954 said that states cannot segregate or separate black and white students in school. A federal court says that Cleveland, Mississippi schools are currently divided by race. The school board proposed two plans
to desegregate the schools. The U.S. government proposed one and the judge ordered Cleveland to implement the government`s plan.

But Cleveland might appeal. It says calling its districts segregated is misleading and incorrect.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The legal fight lingering over the schools in this tiny Mississippi town is almost as old as these buildings. A federal court ruled Cleveland, Mississippi, schools are still segregated 62 years after the landmark ruling Brown versus Board of Education.

The feds argued schools on the east side of town are still all black or virtually all black. On the other side of town, campuses have been historically and disproportionately white. The town`s two high schools are at the center of the longstanding case.

And east side`s high school graduation ceremony this week, no white students to be seen. On the west side of town, Cleveland High has a fairly even racial split far from the two-thirds black, one-third white makeup of the community.

The Cleveland School District is now being ordered to merge both its middle and high schools before the next academic year.

It`s a move the district attorney argues would disrupt proven success.

JAMIE JACKS, REPRESENTS CLEVELAND SCHOOL DISTRICT: We think that the choices that we`ve afforded parents over the years have created a system where we have students of both races learning side by side.

SANDOVAL: You have to take a look back to 1965 to understand how the Cleveland School District got to this point.

Bolivar County, the school system that included Cleveland was sued at the height of the civil rights struggle demanding schools desegregate.

District officials maintain they have taken steps to make integration happen over the years. Just four years ago, they eliminated attendance zones divided by worded trains used to run. Open enrollment was implemented, meaning students were now free to choose where they wanted to go.

JACKS: The district certainly feels like it hasn`t been sitting back and doing nothing. We feel like we`ve definitely made that good faith effort.

The fact that we haven`t gotten full-time enrollment in east side doesn`t mean we don`t have an integrated system.

SANDOVAL: Talk to the students at the heart of the legal fight and reaction is mixed.

LONNIESHA SAMPSON, EAST SIDE GRADUATING SENIOR: At East Side, it`s more African-American. It`s not Caucasian. So we really don`t know the full effect of being mixed with different races, you know, getting along with different races.

KOLBY JOHNSON, EAST SIDE GRADUATING SENIOR: I think the change would be good for the town, but I don`t think the tradition between the two schools should go away.

SANDOVAL: A look across the country reveals this issue is not unique to Mississippi or the South. In 2014, the U.S. Department of Education counted ten other states where black students are least exposed to whites. Michigan and Nevada shared the spotlight with Mississippi as the top three.

In fact, a report by the Government Accountability Office this week found that 16 percent of the nation`s school re-segregated often by both race and income and in a rate that has almost doubled over the recent 13-year period.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: If you like chocolate, coffee and waffle cones, this sounds like a good idea. But if you try to make this to yourself, chances are one of three things happen. One, the coffee pours the waffle cone and spills. Two, the coffee dissolves the waffle cone and then spills. Three, the coffee melts the chocolate, then dissolves the waffle cone, then spills.

The creator of this who says it`s the most Instagrammed coffee ever reportedly use four chocolate compounds to solve the problem. Well, for about 10 minutes anyway. Then it spills -- which means you can`t have your coffee in the cone and drink it, too.

For those who want chocolate and waffle cones, this could coffeed a craving, though coffee connoisseurs might take some cone-vincing because

without the time they favor to savor the flavor, they probably waffle on the whole bean idea.

I`m Carl Azuz. CNN STUDENT NEWS is serving more current events on Tuesday.

END