CNN Student News with transcript Week 49, 2014

CARL AZUZ, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to CNN STUDENT NEWS into the first day of December. I`m Carl Azuz kicking off ten minutes of commercial free

current events.

First up, Black Friday. It ain`t what it used to be. Traditionally, one of the busiest shopping days of the year in the U.S. It`s losing a little

ground to Thanksgiving Thursday.

This year, a company that tracks retail sales found that American spending had increased on Thanksgiving Day and slightly decreased on Black Friday.

As compared with last year.

There are also changes in where people shopped. Sales at brick and mortar stores, the ones you can actually visit, were reportedly less than they

were last year. Sales online were mixed. The National Retail Federation says all things considered, the average American shopper spent just over

$380 this holiday weekend. That`s down from $407 last year.

Economists watch retail spending to get an idea of how the U.S. economy is doing.

When we left you last week, violent protests had begun in Ferguson, Missouri. Many of the demonstrators had wanted a white police officer,

Darren Wilson, to be charged in the fatal shooting of a black 18-year old Michael Brown. But a grand jury decided not to charge Officer Wilson after

hearing evidence and accounts from witnesses and police.

Hundreds of protesters have been arrested, both in the town of Ferguson and in several other U.S. cities where people demonstrated against the grand

jury decision. Over the weekend, the policeman resigned from his job. Darren Wilson said it was for the safety of other officers and the

community, and that he hoped it would help Ferguson heal.

While the demonstrations in other cities have mostly been peaceful, those in Ferguson have not.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: On the streets of Ferguson the morning light revealed the devastation after two nights of destruction.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop throwing objects, it`s police and disperse immediately.

SIDNER: The announcement of the Grand Jury decision brought an explosion of anger and violence in Ferguson. Police surrounded this auto part store

early in the evening, but rioters torched it. The store lit up the night sky and continued burning well into the next day.

Ferguson Market and Liquor is a store where Michael Brown allegedly stole some cigarillos just minutes before he was fatally shot. It became an

especially symbolic target for looters. But some hose to stand up for their town. Andre Thomas didn`t even know the owner of this wig shop.

(on camera): Tell me what you are doing out here.

ANDRE THOMAS, PROTESTER: I saw some people looting, that`s not what I`m about. So, I just want to protect it.

SIDNER (voice over): Others tried to save Cathy`s Kitchen. A favorite local restaurant run by a local family.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Leave this alone! Leave this alone!

SIDNER: Still, even Cathy`s was vandalized and the days and weeks before Monday`s decision, business owners boarded up hoping for the best, but

their best efforts were no match for this week`s fury.

This is what`s left of Little Caesars, prime beauty supply, Flood Christian Church.

More than 2,000 National Guard troops were ordered to the streets Tuesday. The governor promising there would not be a repeat of Monday night`s

violence.

Still, another police car was set on fire and flipped over, more businesses were trashed as police tried to break up crowds with tear gas and smoke

bombs.

Natalie Dubose`s Bakery was heavily damaged.

NATALIE DUBOSE, OWNER, NATALIE`S CAKES AND MORE: It kind of feels like I`m in a twilight zone, that I`m watching this happen. But I`m actually happen

to live it and the destruction here is just absolutely – it`s unbelievable.

SIDNER: By daylight, there were small glimmers of hope, volunteers turned up to help with the cleanup. Natalie Dubose`s turned to crowd funding for

help. More than $100,000 has been pledged, and at Cathy`s Kitchen ..

JEROME JENKINS, OWNER, CATHY`S KITCHEN: I can rebuild, I will make it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: As requested on last Tuesday`s transcript page at cnnstudentnews.com, today`s “Roll Call” takes us to the capital of Russia.

The Anglo-American School of Moscow is watching. Hello to the penguins in Moscow. In Wisconsin, the village of Boyceville is barking with bulldogs`

Boyceville Middle High School is on the roll. And the Mount Rushmore stayed as home to the Warriors. They are at Bennett County High School in

Martin, South Dakota.

The Middle Eastern country of Iran has a controversial nuclear program. Western nations, including the U.S. are concern that Iran is building

nuclear weapons. Iran insists its program is only for peaceful purposes like nuclear power. Last week, in an international meeting in Vienna,

Austria, everyone involved in negotiations over Iran`s nuclear program said good progress had been made. But no agreement was reached by the deadline,

and some officials are asking if an agreement is possible.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, what happened here in Vienna? Why no agreement after so many months of talks? And remember Vienna was just the

most recent stop. There were previous rounds in Geneva, in New York at the U.N. General Assembly, other meetings in Oman, Paris, London, and still no

agreement.

At the end, the issues that divide the two sides now are the same ones that divided them at the very beginning. One, can Iran have a civilian nuclear

program that the West, the U.S. is confident is not a cover for military nuclear program. And can the West give Iran economic relief without losing

its leverage?

Now, both sides say they wouldn`t keep negotiating unless they`ve made progress on those issues, but they will leave Vienna without the biggest

question answer, and that is can the two sides come to that balance without a constant regime of sanctions against Iran, which may or may not work, or

in the worst case, military action against Iran by the U.S. or Israel, which may or may not work either.

Now, on the good side, the West, the U.S. and Iran, they are talking. More than a year ago, a simple phone call between the American president and the

Iranian president was huge headline news.

Now, U.S. and Iranian officials are in contact almost every day. But despite that engagement, they still have not been able to reach agreement,

and they will leave here in Vienna without a resolution.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: Time for the “Shoutout.” Which of these U.S. cities is oldest? You know what to do. Is it Baltimore, Maryland, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,

Chicago, Illinois or Savannah, Georgia? You`ve got three seconds, go.

Founded in 1729, Baltimore is the oldest U.S. city on this list. Its harbor connects to the Chesapeake Bay. That`s your answer and that`s your

shoutout.

The Frigate Constellation, the first ship of the U.S. Navy launched in Baltimore Harbor. The Battle of Baltimore inspired Francis Scott Key to

write the lyrics to the “Star-Spangled Banner.” Despite its reach history, Baltimore Harbor`s also been rich in pollution. At one point, it was

labeled un-swimmable and unfishable.

The new installation is helping to change that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KELLET, FOUNDER, CLEARWATER MILLS: The water will powered trash in receptor`s purpose is to collect all of the trash and debris that comes

down this river, and this river drains a big part of Baltimore City and Baltimore County.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And now that our children can`t swim in the harbor or the streams feeding the harbor because it`s polluted.

DANIEL CHASE, OPERATIONS MANAGER, CLEARWATER MILLS: It works from river current and solar power. The river current itself brings the trash to it,

lows on the conveyor. The conveyor is powered by the water wheel, it`s really like an engine.

So far it`s collected over 100 tons of trash in the four months that it`s been in here.

It`s almost all cigarette butts, plastic bottles. We get plastic bags, chip bags.

KELLET: There is needles, there is, you know, sewage.

We can pick up as much as 40,000 pounds a day.

LAURIE SCHWARTZ, PRESIDENT, WATERFRONT PARTNERSHIP OF BALTIMORE: As soon as that wheel went in, we saw an immediate impact in reduction of trash in

the harbor.

KELLET: It`s not a Baltimore unique problem, and you can see that because there is islands of plastic the size of Texas out in the Pacific.

SCHWARTZ: We`ve had inquiries from all over a 100 different cities, all interested in finding innovative ways to remove trash from their water.

KELLET: 50 years ago, this was an industrial wasteland, and people thought that this could never become a tourist attraction, and today millions of

tourists come each year.

SCHWARTZ: We need to have a clean harbor. We deserve to have clean water.

KELLET: There`s still plenty to do, but it`s a great start.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: How do dogs drink? It`s not as simple as we thought. Their tongues don`t simply scoop water into their mouth, according to a new study.

Researchers at Virginia Tech stuck a water-proof camera at the bottom of a bowl, and got slow motion video of thirsty dogs. They found that dogs;

tongues curl backward as they are plunged into the water. The water then sticks, so to speak, to the back of the tongue and makes a column that the

dog drinks.

So, if you wag your tongue at dogs, know their tongues do tongues of work to let – not leap or simply lick the drink they drink to cool their tongue.

Tongue-tied and dog-tied, I`m Carl Azuz. We`ve lapped up our time this Monday on CNN STUDENT NEWS.

CARL AZUZ, CNN ANCHOR: Where to draw the line when protecting free speech on social media? That`s what leads off this Tuesday edition of CNN STUDENT

NEWS. The case is Elonis versus United States. The Supreme Court started hearing arguments yesterday. It involves a man named Anthony Elonis.

After his wife left him in 2010 and he lost his job, Elonis started putting violent posts on Facebook. There`s a federal law that says whoever

transmits communication threatening to injure someone, shall be fined or imprisoned. Elonis was convicted of threatening his wife and law

enforcement officials and he was imprisoned for several years.

Elonis says he was just writing rap lyrics, that his rants were therapeutic, that he never meant to seriously threaten anyone. His lawyer

says that justices should consider that, whether Elonis intended his posts to be taken literally.

A lawyer for the government says what matters here isn`t intent. It`s whether a reasonable person would feel threaten by Elonis` posts.

So, what exactly did he post?

Teachers, you may want to preview this first segment. It contains some of the violent phrases that are central with these cases.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAMELA BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are going to talk a little bit about your client in this case, because this really centers on what he posted on

social media.

JOHN P. ELLWOOD, ATTORNEY FOR ANTHONY D. ELONIS: What matters legally is what a reasonable person would think of it. Or what he intended by it.

One of them said, essentially, you know, if I knew then what I know now, I would have killed you and dumped you in toad creek.

They were styled as raps.

The government`s reasonable person standard would make you criminally liable. It would make you a felon, would disentitle you from voting, would

disentitle you from owning a firearm.

Anytime you fail to anticipate that what you say is going to be interpreted as a threat.

BROWN: He`s being very clear. What did he expect to accomplish with these comments?

ELLWOOD: Then he said, you know, this is therapeutic for me. This is just for me, it`s not for anybody else.

And there`s a reason why all these graphic songs are written, and that they are cathartic, they work through experiences. When, M&M wrote these

things, that he`s been prosecuted for a felony for writing this songs. Which are virtually indistinguishable.

It was the government position that they said again and again. And their argument to the jury it doesn`t matter what he thinks, and in the United

States, I don`t think you can say it doesn`t matter what the defendant thinks, in the speech prosecution.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: Yesterday was World AIDS Day. An international event that goes back to 1988. It`s held every year on December 1. And it`s aimed to raise

awareness about AIDS, a quiet immune deficiency syndrome, an HIV, human immunodeficiency virus, which causes AIDS.

Organizers of World AIDS Day estimate that 34 million people worldwide are living with HIV and that 35 million people have died from it.

AZUZ: World AIDS day raises money to fight the disease and to educate people about it. Medical treatments have come a long way since the 1980s,

allowing people to survive indefinitely with HIV, still it hasn`t gone away, and symbolic red ribbons are worn as reminders and in remembrance of

AIDS victims.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just the facts: on April 26, 1986, there was an explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power station in what was then the

Soviet Union. About 30 people were killed in the blast, and the nuclear radiation spread across borders. Hundreds of thousands had to be

evacuated, forests and farms were contaminated. People and animals became sick or contracted cancer in the years that followed. It was the worst

disaster in the history of nuclear power.

AZUZ: A nearby town in what is now part of Ukraine was abandoned. Just under 50,000 people had to evacuate their homes. 30 years later, it`s a

ghost town, with rotting Soviet-era houses, factories, parks and gyms.

There`s another place like it. Fukushima, Japan where an earthquake and tsunami in 2011 caused the world second worst nuclear disaster. It left a

more modern town completely empty, but quick visits are giving glimpses of the past.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The first thing people ask about, is the radiation. Is it even safe to go in when most are kept out?

Our local government tour guide says contamination levels are low. Allowing quick trips into the safer parts of Fukushima prefecture, still

empty from the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.

Nearly four years later, outsiders were getting a rare look at this desolate, abandoned place. Damage from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami

sits untouched.

Crumbling buildings are falling further into disrepair. Weeds are slowly taken over.

(on camera): What do they say when they see it for the first time?

YUSUKE KATO, TOUR ORGANIZER, BRIDGE FOR FUKUSHIMA: At first they say, of the bubble.

RIPLEY (voice over): Nobody can leave here, not yet. Fear lingers about the invisible threat from radiation released by the damage reactors. Soil

and groundwater is contaminated.

(on camera): Agriculture gone.

KENICHI BAMBA, TOUR ORGANIZER, BRIDGE FOR Fukushima: Gone

RIPLEY: Business is closed.

KENICHI BAMBA: Absolutely.

RIPLEY: So, what`s left?

KENICHI BAMBA: Nothing.

RIPLEY (voice over): Kenichi Bamba says these tours are part of a longterm plan to rebuild Fukushima prefecture. For him, a painful, personal task.

(voice over): You are from Fukushima?

BAMBA: Yes, absolutely.

RIPLEY: What do you think when you look around it all these damage?

BAMBA: I came here several time, that`s still I cannot say anything.

RIPLEY: The nuclear plant is being taken apart, it will take decades and billions of dollars to make it safe. I was there a few months ago, forced

to wear protective gear. It`s one of the most dangerous places on earth. And it`s visible in the distance. Far too close for many to ever feel safe

here again. Survey show only about a fifth of former residents even want to come back. For many, moving on is easier than facing this.

RIPLEY: We are standing two kilometers, more than a mile from the coast. Yet here seats a boat that was picked up and dumbed by the tsunami. Boats

and cars are all over this field, reminders of all the people who died here.

Fukushima tour guides hope by sharing the plight of these people, others will be inspired to calm here and rebuild.

BAMBA: We want to encourage local people for revitalization of Fukushima.

RIPLEY: They hope this school gym, graduation banner still hanging, will have students again. This dusty piano will have someone to play it. And

this nuclear ghost town will someday be brought back to live. Will Ripley, CNN, Fukushima, Japan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: Glasgow, Columbia and Abuja are the three cities featured on today`s “Roll Call.” We`ll start in Kentucky. That`s where we heard from Barren

County High School. The Trogents are watching in Glasgow. To the northeast, they load everyone at Eastconn EVC. They are located in

Columbia, Connecticut, and across the Atlantic Ocean, great to see you in Abuja, Nigeria. Our viewers at the American International School of Abuja.

Get out and exercise, drink more water, eat a tomato, floss your teeth. It`s not hard to find healthy habits or the studies behind them, that prove

they help you stay healthier, feel better and leave longer. But what does it take to be awesome besides being a Friday. It seems U.S. founding

father Ben Franklin was onto something.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DHANI JONES: Early to bed, early to rise, Ben Franklin says, makes a man and a woman healthy, wealthy and wise.

I didn`t want to wake up early. It`s just so difficult. But then I read some studies, if I wake up late, I`ll eat more fast food, and I`ll gain

more wait. I don`t want to be that guy. No. I want to be healthy. I`m a healthy kind of guy. If I wake up early, I`m going to have a better GPA,

I`m going to graduate at higher level, get a better job. It all makes a lot of sense. It`s a little bit difficult at first, but here is a couple

of tips. Before you walk into the bedroom, set the time at which you are going to plan on waking up. Don`t give me five different times that you

can set the snooze. Pick one time you are going to wake up. And you know what? When the alarm clock goes up. Get up!

Also, go to bed a little bit earlier, then you can wake up a little bit earlier, and don`t spend time on your phone going through Instagram, going

through your Facebook, going through your Twitter and going through (INAUDIBLE). Breeze. And go to sleep.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: Gallier Hall, a building in New Orleans dates back to 1853. It stands about three stories high. It was once city hall, but it`s never

been lit up like this. A French company that brings together light and art has set up free nightly shows, showing off the lighter side, get it, of

Gallier Hall. Organizers are hoping to spark interest among local artists, so they can learn the craft and use it throughout New Orleans. Crowds

would call it delightful. It sheds light at the new type of art, brings people together in the lighthearted randez with you all. That was big, it

won`t be easy to illuminate the Big Easy, but it`s certainly a bright idea. CNN STUDENT NEWS has more enlightening stories coming at you tomorrow.

CARL AZUZ, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to CNN STUDENT NEWS. First up this Wednesday, President Obama has announced a new taskforce: its job – study

police practices, work with law enforcement and community activists to build accountability and trust between communities and police. This has to

do with Ferguson, Missouri. Racial tensions flared when a white police officer shot and killed a black 18-year old on August 9. After hearing

evidence, the grand jury decided not to charge the officer with wrongdoing.

Another round of violent protests followed. Police cars, businesses and property in Ferguson were destroyed. President Obama and outgoing Attorney

General Eric Holder say distrust between police and minority communities is a national problem.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERIC HOLDER, ATTORNEY GENERAL: The reality is that what we see in Ferguson is not restricted to Ferguson. There are other communities around this

country that have these same issues that have to be dealt with, and we at the Justice Department are determined to do all that we can to bridge those

divides.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: Those divisions are deep. For example, the president wants limits on the ability of law enforcement agencies to buy military style equipment.

In the initial protests after the August shooting, some demonstrators and officials accused police of using unnecessary force by firing rubber

bullets and tear gas on sometimes violent protesters. But after protests last week, some officials say not enough was done to protect the community

that more armed members of the National Guard should have been there.

Protests over Ferguson have been nationwide. Many demonstrators say Officer Darren Wilson should have been charged in the shooting of Michael

Brown. Others say it was Michael Brown`s actions that led to his death.

Five players for the St. Louis Rams took the field Sunday with their hands up showing support for the witnesses who said Michael Brown`s hands were up

when he was shot.

The gesture angered the St. Louis Police Officers Association who cited evidence suggesting Brown didn`t have his hands up when Officer Wilson

opened fire.

You can see how this has touched a nerve among Americans. President Obama believes body cameras worn by police could help. He`s asking Congress to

approve funding to cover half the cost for them with states expected to pick up the other half, but they are not cheap.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I want to show you a body cam, this is an example of one, this is a recording device, this is the actual camera.

Police here in Daytona Beach, Florida, started testing these out in 2011, and they say the cameras have helped ease tensions in several cases.

Daytona Beach police have 75 cameras right now with plans to add 50 more by the end of the year. Each camera costs $950. And the department is paying

$23,000 a year to store the video. It`s a lot of money, but Chief Chitwood (ph) says it`s money well spent.

CHIEF MIKE CHITWOOD, DAYTONA BEACH POLIE DEPARTMENT: I can just tell you just from the few incidents that we had here, how it`s been just a God-sent

for us (ph).

MACHADO (on camera): So why is there so much resistance? Why doesn`t every police department in the country have these body cams?

CHITWOOD: Change is number one, cops don`t like change. Cost is number two.

MACHADO (voice over): And another reason, according to critics .

BERNARD KERIK, FORMER NYPD COMMISSIONER: Every single thing you say is going to be recorded, scrutinized and so forth, and I think that would put

a hindrance on cops, it would create a problem with them in dealing with the everyday public.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel that I can do my job a lot better now.

MACHADO: Officer Dale Kelig (ph) uses a body camera every day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This camera will protect me .

MACHADO: We were with him as he responded to a call. His body camera engaged capturing his drive to the scene and what he did once we arrived.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What`s your name?

MACHADO (on camera): When would you say the camera is most useful?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would say any time that you come in contact with the (INAUDIBLE).

MACHADO (voice over): We wanted to see for ourselves, how the cameras work.

(on camera): So, right now, you are recording.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right now we are recording.

MACHADO: Everything you see, everything you hear is being captured by that camera.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That`s correct.

MACHADO (voice over): After a brief demonstration, Officer Mike Terry (ph) helped me gear up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wind it up with the tabs and push down until it clicks. Good.

MACHADO: The recording device on my belt, the camera on my head.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good.

MACHADO (on camera): It`s not that uncomfortable.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

MACHADO: It`s kind of like wearing a headband.

(voice over): I turned it on.

(on camera): All I have to do was just .

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You press that button twice.

MACHADO (voice over): And went for a walk recording my every move.

(on camera): Right now we are in the shade.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.

MACHADO: So if I were to work out into the bright sun, what would happen?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The camera will adjust.

MACHADO (voice over): The technology, Chief Chitwood says, is invaluable.

(on camera): Is this the future?

CHITWOOD: In my heart, this is the future, it`s here. We might as well embrace it .

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: Concussions and football: legal cases involving how leagues have handles these injuries already exist at the professional and college

levels. A new one has been filed at the high school level. It`s only in the state of Illinois, but the attorney involved says he hopes to sue every

high school athletic association in the U.S. to change the rules to make football safer.

The suit was filed on behalf of a 29-year old man who played high school ball between 1999 and 2003. His lawyer says he had many concussions, but

wasn`t educated about the risks or the effects of them. And that more than ten years later, he still has migraines and memory loss.

The non-profit Illinois High School Association which regulates the state`s athletics, says concussion management remains a top priority. Some

neurosurgeons say because adolescents are still developing, concussions are especially dangerous for them.

Synthetic drugs, or designer drugs are incredibly dangerous, and they are hard for police to keep track of.

Many are made overseas, mostly in China. According to the U.S. government. It`s substances like bath salts, spice and K2 are constantly being altered

to help makers avoid breaking laws against known drugs. They are popular among teenagers, they can kill in one use.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In a week of June 10, 2012, law enforcement in Grande Forge were dealing with an outbreak of violent

overdoses, a mystery drug on the streets had already killed two teenagers.

TIMOTHY PURDON, U.S. ATTORNEY, DISTRICT OF NORTH DAKOTA: We`ve got multiple overdoses, we`ve got two young men that have lost their lives. I

mean what`s more serious than that?

GRIFFIN: Tip Purdon is a U.S. attorney for North Dakota.

PURDON: That was unprecedented, you know, I had – I`ve a U.S. attorney now for going on four years. This is the only time we`ve reached out to a

school system, to the university and said hey, there is this danger on the streets right now that people need to be aware about.

GRIFFIN: As the emergency warnings were being issued, investigators were desperately trying to find out just what this drug was, and more

importantly, where it came from.

CHRIS MYERS, FIRST ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY, DISTRICT OF NORTH DAKOTA: It took lab analysis to determine the true nature of these substances. When

we learned what they were, 2C-NBOMe, 2CC- NBOMe that was new to us.

GRIFFIN: 2C-NBOMe and 2CC- NBOMe are synthetic designer drugs, chemicals designed to imitate the high of the band drug LCD. North Dakota`s top

federal drug prosecutor had never heard of them, and neither had Christian Bjerk`s parents.

DEBRA BJERK, CHRISTIAN BJERK`S MOTHER: I had to go to the Internet and look up information on it. And I really didn`t understand the whole

synthetic drug, I didn`t know what it was, didn`t know who dangerous they were.

KEITH BJERK, CHRISTIAN BJERK`S FATHER: The message we got after we went on the Internet was that somebody said it was OK for these drugs to be on the

street, and they`ve been tweaked. But that`s all we know.

GRIFFIN: Synthetic LSD has been blamed for at least .

Parents across the country are now learning the painful truth about synthetic designer drugs.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Investigators say he overdosed on the synthetic marijuana.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Otherwise known as K2.

GRIFFIN: With deaths and overdoses reported almost daily.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFFIN: Hi, guys. This is Drew Griffin. I want to thank Carl for letting me speak to you just a little bit. You know, there have been 300

of these so called designer drugs. They are chemical poisons. That is what they are. When they come out of these laboratories in China, they are

stamped, not for human use. Research chemicals. And that`s why the DEA, the parents, all want to send out the warning that listen, you shouldn`t

try these because nobody knows the potency or just how dangerous they are.

AZUZ: When a lot of people hear the term “maverick” they think “top gun”. We think Madison, Mississippi, that`s where the mavericks are watching

today. Great to have you aboard over a Germantown High School. One state east, in the city of Auburn, Alabama, we are calling on the Tigers. They

are at Auburn High School in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. It`s home to Broughal Middle School. It`s where rockets are blasting off.

We may be away from having packages delivered by drones, but robots are helping move products around warehouses. They look like a fleet or rumbas,

and they are mighty. They are not advanced enough to pick things off the shelves, but they are strong enough to pick up the shelves and move them to

Amazon`s warehouse workers.

An analyst says, they will eventually replace jobs, Amazon insists they won`t. There`s no denying they save workers a lot of steps.

Tried to interview them, they were kind of robotic. They seemed really remote, and they just tended to drone on. But they drive circuits around

the warehouse. They take a lot of orders, and they still find their tasks fulfilling. We are shipping more stories and punch (ph) your away

tomorrow. I`m Carl Azuz.

CARL AZUZ, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to CNN STUDENT NEWS. One start today with a nod to my friends at Lamkin (ph) County High School who visited CNN

Center yesterday. It`s great to see all of you. Welcome to CNN STUDENT NEWS. First up this Thursday, December Fourth, the Syrian town of Kobani.

You`ve heard us mention it before. It`s right by Syria`s northern border with Turkey.

It`s been targeted for months by the ISIS terrorist groups, which controls about a third of Iraq and Syria.

But ISIS hasn`t been able to take total control of Kobani. It`s been hit by U.S.-led airstrikes. American and Syrian officials disagree about

whether these airstrikes have been effective in stopping ISIS.

But the terrorists have also gotten strong resistance in Kobani by Kurds and other ethnic groups. All this has taken its toll on the border town.

Some areas are just hips of rubble. Previously, we could only show you fighting there, from our journalists who were across the border in Turkey.

Now, with the help of some of those who are fighting ISIS, we are able to show you what it`s like inside Kobani.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC PATON WALSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We`ve been taken down these streets towards the eastern frontline behind those curtains they have put up to

protect them from snipers by Barfi (ph) and Media (ph), two of the female YPG fighters escorting us down there.

And this is their – the eastern front where there is much more intense fighting in the past three or four days. And while we get different

figures from whoever you speak to hear about quite how much of the city is controlled, and you see here quite remarkable devastation caused by the

explosive used. What`s quite clear is that ISIS are far from giving up on this fight. In fact, trying to take ground every day. They moved towards

the official border crossing three or four days ago. That was a substantial advance they tried. They were beaten back, but each night,

particularly last night, we had very intense clashes further down the street towards the eastern frontier.

You can hear the – you can see the absolute devastation here. As we get close towards ISIS`s positions here to the northeast of the city.

Some of these caused by airstrikes, but some, too, from the daily constant, sometimes every five minutes thump of mortars, some home-made by ISIS.

They have been pounding onto Kobani for months now.

We can see Turkey eventually just behind us. But here they are – through this wreckage, closer and closer to the places where ISIS are trying to

push forwards.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Time for the Shoutout. Which of these constellations was named for a mythological hunter? If you think you know it, shout it

out. Is it Aries, Orion, Pegasus or Leo? You`ve got three seconds, go.

One of the easiest constellations to find on winter nights, Orion. It`s named for the Greek mythological hunter. That`s your answer and that`s

your shoutout.

AZUZ: It`s also a name of NASA`s newest space capsule, which is scheduled for a test flight today. This Orion costs $370 million. It`s prepared to

launch from Florida`s Kennedy Space Center. The stakes are high, even though Orion isn`t carrying any astronauts. If this test flight fails, it

could ground NASA`s longterm goals of transporting people well beyond the Moon.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We could soon be one small step closer to humans landing on Mars. This is Orion, NASA`s first deep space capsule since the

`70s.

(on camera): Why is this the time to do this?

MARK GEYER, NASA ORION PROGRAM MANAGER: It`s a great time because we have a design, and it`s time to actually put the design into practice.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): Mark Geyer, Orion`s program manager says Thursday`s launch will test critical technologies like the heat shield and

re-entry system. Orion may look a lot like the Apollo capsule evolved, but it`s hoped this vessel will go beyond the Moon taking astronauts to an

asteroid and eventually to Mars.

And as in the past, private companies are playing a big role. United Launch Alliance is providing the rocket. Lockheed Martin designed the

spacecraft.

GEYER: So, we are trying to bring the best of all the world`s together.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (on camera): Are there any concerns about not having full control over the mission?

GEYER: Well, we are – no, again, because we put the right people in the right place.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): The Orion launch comes on the heels of two spaceflights that went horribly wrong. On October 28, an orbital

sciences rocket headed to the International Space Station, burst into flames moments after liftoff. Three days later, the Virgin Galactic

Spaceship II exploded during the test flight killing one of the pilots.

GEYER: You know, it just brings to forefront again that it`s a risky business, and everybody is doing their best to minimize that risk.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No one will be on board the Orion while it spends 4.5 hours traveling some 3600 miles. It`s expected to orbit the Earth twice

going through the Van Allen belts, an area of extreme radiation. If all goes well, Orion will parachute into the Pacific Ocean where it will be

recovered and loaded onto a Navy ship.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: The seventh state to achieve statehood achieved statehood in 1788. It`s Maryland. And Hagerstown, Maryland is on today`s roll where the Hubs

are watching in North Hagerstown High School.

Just east in New Jersey, the city of Trenton is where you`ll find Grace A. Dunn Middle School. The charges are here, and over on the West Coast to

Snohomish County Detention Center. Thank you for watching in Everett, Washington.

We know many of you really like our puns and some of you really don`t. But in China, they would be illegal. It`s a Communist country. Its citizens

don`t have the same freedoms of speech and press that Americans have. The government controls the media. And it says that puns could be misleading

to young people and make it harder to promote traditional Chinese culture. The bank will have an impact, at least in the short term. The Chinese

language has a lot of homophones, words that sound the same but have different meanings. So it`s ripe for puns. Critics are calling the ban

Orwellian, in reference to the George Orwell book “1984” saying the ban`s another way to keep people from criticizing the government.

Erik Weihenmeier lost his vision at age 13. It didn`t` stop him from learning to skydive solo. It didn`t` stop him from climbing Mount Everest.

He says learning to paddle through whitewater rapids was the scariest thing he`d ever done. With the guide in the separate kayak behind him,

Weihenmeier took on the Colorado River.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERIK WEIHENMEIER: My name is Erik Weihenmeier. And this is what it`s like to kayak the Grand Canyon blind.

Grand Canyon is a real iconic beautiful place in the world, and even though I can`t see it, I can still experience it, you know, with my hands touching

the rocks and experiencing the sound of the Canyon so where they echo.

Amazing rapids that you are right in the middle of feeling them under your boat, just throwing you in every direction, sometimes smashing through

them. You get plunged into absolute chaos and you have to react in a very short amount of time.

You are trying to process so much information. You know, I mean you are trying to read the river just by the sounds you are hearing and what you

are feeling under your boat, you know. And a rapid has a pattern that you can kind of figure out. You`re trying to listen to the waves and the pour

overs that you can start to identify that as a blank kayaker.

I thought, you know, it would be really intriguing to see if a blind person could sort of flourish in all that chaos. It sort of feels like you are an

astronaut going into space, in a lunching to the Moon or something.

Four different colors, 3,000 people, two win the title of one Guinness world record. It`s the biggest human Christmas tree. You see it shaping

up here as it did on December 2 in the Central American country of Honduras. This has been attempted before in Thailand and Argentina, but

Honduras won the record by more than 1,000 participants. The country`s president called the official record officially amazing.

Too bad Brenda Lee is not here to see. Folks record a record rocking around the Christmas Tree. When the plant was planted the trim trimmed the

form formed, the tree was guarantrim (ph) to succeed in record form. I`m (INAUDIBLE) Carl Azuz for CNN STUDENT NEWS.

CARL AZUZ, CNN ANCHOR: This December 5, CNN STUDENT NEWS would like to remind you that Fridays are awesome. I`m Carl Azuz at Atlanta, Georgia.

Our first story takes you to the Pacific Island nation of Philippines. People there are bracing for super-typhoon Hagupit. The word means “lush”

in Philippino (sic). Forecasters aren`t sure where exactly it`ll go. Something it will make a right turn and move north along the eastern

Philippines. Other think, it will hit the city of Tacloban over the weekend. We`ve mentioned that place before. When super typhoon Haiyan hit

Tacloban last year, it killed 6,000 people and wiped out entire neighborhoods. Evacuations have started ahead of Hagupit. It has

sustained winds of 178 miles per hour, it`s the equivalent of a category five hurricane.

Unrest in New York, it`s in response to events involving 43-year old Eric Garner. This summer police say he resisted arrest for illegally selling

cigarettes. He`d been arrested for that before. Officer Daniel Pantaleo put Garner in a chokehold, as others helped arrest him. Garner repeatedly

said he couldn`t breathe, he died later on the way to the hospital. Police union officials said Garner`s poor health caused his death, but a medical

examiner ruled that Officer Pantaleo`s chokehold contributed to it.

This came down to a grand jury. It had to decide whether the officer knew there was a substantial risk that Garner would die from the chokehold. It

decided not to charge Officer Pantaleo. And the protest heated up with demonstrators saying Pantaleo used excessive force.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D) NEW YORK: It`s a very painful day for so many of New Yorkers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Arrests made throughout the night as outrage pulls throughout the city streets for more than nine hours.

CROWD: Black lives matter! Black lives matter!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Most chanted Garner`s last words.

CROWD: I can`t breathe! I can`t breathe!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police, some in riot gear blocking intersections as protesters began shutting down the city`s most iconic landmarks, stopping

the flow of traffic into and out of the island of Manhattan for hours. Some lying down right in the middle of the road, the same inside Grand

Central Station.

CROWD: I can`t breathe! I can`t breathe!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where other protesters staged a massive dying as evening rush hour hit its peak. Police heavily guarding the Rockefeller

Tree Lighting Ceremony .

CROWD: Three, two, one!

(CHEERS)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As protesters tried to disrupt the show. The city`s public outcry reaching a fever pitch nationwide.

UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: (INAUDIBLE) have got to go .

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From Los Angeles .

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m Eric Garner!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m Eric Garner!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To Philadelphia.

CROWD: Hands up, don`t shoot! Hands up, don`t shoot!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The demonstrations across the country disruptive, but peaceful, fulfilling Garner`s family wish.

GWEN CARR, ERIC GARNER`S MOTHER: Yeah, we wanted to rally. But rally in piece.

BENJAMIN CARR, ERIC GARNER`S FATHER: No violence. (INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Officer Pantaleo said in the statement, it is never my intention to harm anyone, and I feel very bad about the death of Mr.

Garner.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: Next story today, good news and good news good news concerning the flu. The good news, the Centers for Diseases Control says flu activity

across the U.S. is pretty low. The bad news, this year`s vaccine isn`t particularly effective. The CDC says it`s because the flu has mutated.

When the vaccine was made, the strains of flu circulating around the globe were different than they are now. So, why not just make a new vaccine?

Well, the CDC says it`s too late, because that takes about four months to do.

Officials are still recommending the vaccine, though. They say it can reduce the severity of the virus, if you get it.

Amsterdam is the largest city in and capital of Netherlands. It`s second largest city Rotterdam, and that`s where we found the Rotterdam

international secondary school for Today`s “Roll Call”.

In the states, in Indianapolis, in Indiana, the rockets of Broad Ripple Magnet High School are in today`s show. And in the Southeast, in Mableton,

Georgia Floyd Middle School is on the roll. We are happy to visit the Panthers today.

AZUZ: Opossums, also called possums, are the only marsupials found in the U.S. And though they might hiss or bite if you mess with them, they are

usually not aggressive and they are unlikely to carry rabies. Why? Well, even though they are mammals, they have relatively low body temperatures,

and that might make it hard for the rabies virus to survive in opossum. Now, that`s random.

All right, cars that drive themselves. The technology is nearly here, but the law is Orant (ph). Only four states currently allow them to be tested

on roads. Pros, they might be safer. Most accidents are caused by driver error. They`d also allow you to get things done while you ride in them.

Cons, they are incredibly expensive, their cameras and sensors struggle in rain and snow and what if they are hacked, or who is responsible in a

wreck? One thing experts agree on, they are coming.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let`s start here. Point A. And over there, we`ll call that point B. How we get from here to there has never been more

important. There are more people on this planet going more places than ever before. We are going further, and we are going faster. It took us

fewer than 100 years to go from that first flight in Kitty Hawk to our first supersonic trip across the Atlantic.

Locomotives have evolved into high speed trains floating on magnetic fields. Cars have ditched gas for electricity. But where we are going

next, and how will we get there? Will highways really be filled with flying cars? Will virtual tourism mean that you can go everywhere without

going anywhere? Getting around is getting cooler every day. Just take a look.

For the last 80 years, the Art Center College of Design has trained many of the automotive industry`s top designers. Designers who created the style

of many of the most memorable cars around.

GEOFF WARDLE, GRADUATE TRANSPORTATION DESIGN: The more choices that we have for travel, the more complex it becomes to figure out how those means

of travel integrate together.

If you take the 60,000 foot view, automobiles are really quite stupid. They are extremely wasteful of energy, it`s an object that we spend a huge

amount of money on and then we are going to use for two hours out of every 24.

To me, it`s inevitable that we are going to move towards this automated truly automobiles.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The school has a list of questions about the future of cars. Like what do you hope to accomplish when you go from A to B?

It`s not driving. It`s life.

MAGGIE HENDRIE, CHAIR, INTERACTION DESIGN: The journey in an automobile will be more of a service than it is today. The car can come pick you up,

it will be customized to your preferences, and the vehicle is now part of this interconnected ecosystem of digital devices.

WARDLE: The dilemma is what morally should we put into cars, because you know, we are all very aware that we share the roads with people who are not

really concentrated on driving and more interested in texting and (INAUDIBLE). The faster we get to vehicles that are able to drive

themselves, or at least do part of the driving themselves, then the less of a dilemma it becomes.

With its two iconic white knobs, an etch a sketch is not known for being a precision art instrument. But it is for Jane Labowitch. She started

drawing on it when she was four years old, and she got really good at it. 20 years later, she`s etched out St. Basil`s Cathedral, the Mona Lisa, Van

Gogh`s “Starry Night.” She says the toughest part is learning how to use both knobs at once to created curbs and diagonals.

Of course, she had to drop on some (INAUDIBLE) skills, she`s got more than a trace of that. And the story deserves more than a cursory mention,

because there is nothing sketchy about her superior stylus. We hope you`ll etch out. Ten minutes for us again on Monday. I`m Carl Azuz. This is CNN