CNN Student News Transcript: August 22, 2008

(CNN Student News) -- August 22, 2008

Quick Guide

Fay Drenches Florida - Discover the damage caused by Tropical Storm Fay as it batters Florida.

Madam Secretary - Learn the causes of recent tension between the United States and Russia.

Olympic Pin Trading - Check out a popular sideshow at this year's Summer Games: pin trading!

Transcript

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

CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: It is the best day of the week. Thanks for spending part of it with CNN Student News. From the CNN Center, I'm Carl Azuz.

First Up: Fay Drenches Florida

AZUZ: First up today, President Bush declares a state of emergency in Florida thanks to Tropical Storm Fay. We've been talking about this storm all week. It's been smashing into different parts of the state since Monday. And as the rains fall, the flood waters rise. Some residents are wading through more than two feet of them. Forecasters say there's more to come. Fay made its third landfall in four days on Thursday, hitting Flagler Beach in northeast Florida. Rusty Dornin was in nearby St. Augustine when the storm came ashore again.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. GOV. JEFF KOTTKAMP, FLORIDA: This storm is not over, and we urge everyone in north Florida, including all of you in this room, to prepare for the rain that is coming.

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN REPORTER: Fay will forever be known as a rainmaker. NASA reported the Cape Canaveral area was drenched by 21 inches on Wednesday, and forecasters say the storm could dump up to 30 inches on the state by the end of this week. The National Guard evacuated some residents in Melbourne, Florida, who were surrounded by water.

LOCAL RESIDENT: They were wonderful. They came right to the door and helped us out. We didn't expect the water to be waist deep. We'll be glad when it's over. Hopefully it will all start going down.

DORNIN: The storm lumbered along the east coast of Florida, at times moving only two miles per hour. Forecasters say that's why the rains were so torrential. Emergency officials warn residents: Don't underestimate the force of flood waters.

BEN NELSON, STATE METEOROLOGIST: One foot of flowing water can sweep any kind of vehicle, SUV or smaller, off the road.

DORNIN: Many businesses and public offices remained closed Wednesday as residents were warned to hunker down till the storm passed. Fay continues to confound forecasters. What began as a highly disorganized storm has speeded up, slowed down and changed directions.

GOV. CHARLIE CRIST, FLORIDA: I mean, nobody knows for sure exactly where this is going to go. That's why it's so important for people to stay in touch with local news reports. Stay in touch with local officials. Make sure they keep abreast of what's happening with the storm.

DORNIN: The immediate concern is for flooding, as they are expecting anywhere from 5-15 inches of rain when the storm comes ashore. Tropical Storm Fay becomes the storm that just won't go away. For CNN Student News, I'm Rusty Dornin reporting in St. Augustine, Florida.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

I.D. Me

NINETTE SOSA, CNN STUDENT NEWS: See if you can I.D. me! I was born in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1954, and my life has been filled with firsts. I was the first woman and first African-American to become provost of Stanford University. I'm the first woman to serve as the U.S. National Security Adviser. And I'm the first African-American woman to serve as U.S. Secretary of State. I'm Condoleezza Rice, one of the World's Most Influential People, according to Time Magazine.

Madam Secretary

AZUZ: Secretary Rice is in Iraq this week meeting with officials about the nation's security. Yesterday, she sat down with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki -- he's on the right, there -- to work on an agreement that would put Iraqi troops in charge of the country's security. But this plan is still in progress. In Secretary Rice's words: "When we have a deal, we'll have a deal."

Negotiating treaties with other countries is a big part of the job for the secretary of state, who's the president's chief adviser on foreign affairs. Secretary Rice did reach an agreement on a different deal this week. It'll place U.S. missiles in Poland as part of a defense system. But Russia says those missiles are too close for its comfort. As Zain Verjee tells us, it's just the latest action to strain relations between Washington and Moscow.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN REPORTER: Her signature on a missile defense deal with Poland, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice put it like this:

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Missile defense, of course, is aimed at no one.

VERJEE: But the idea of a U.S. missile defense shield in its backyard has Russia seeing red. Now, the Kremlin is threatening its former Soviet satellite Poland with a nuclear attack. In an interview with CNN, Rice warned Moscow: Don't even think about it.

RICE: The Russians must know that we have an Article 5 guarantee to Poland as a member of NATO. They must know that the United States would never permit an attack on the territory of an ally.

VERJEE: The U.S. says the ten interceptor missiles to be based in Poland are to ward off threats from Iran or North Korea. Rice called the timing of the deal coincidental, but her visit, a poke in the eye to Moscow at a time the world wants Russian troops out of Georgia.

RICE: The Russian president is beginning to sound like a broken record. First, he says troops are going to be out on Monday. Then, his troops are going to be out on Wednesday. Now, his troops are going to be out on Friday. I'm beginning to wonder if the Russian president is ever going to keep his word.

VERJEE: And Secretary Rice says reports of permanent Russian checkpoints in the Georigan town of Gori violate the cease-fire it signed. So far, threats of a diplomatic deep-freeze have failed to get Russia out. In fact, Russia is now threatening to suspend ties with NATO.

RICE: Sometimes it takes a little time for diplomatic isolation to set in as a fact. Sometimes it takes a little time for a state to weigh the cost of what it has done.

VERJEE: Secretary Rice says the Russian president is only embarrassing himself by not keeping his word and by not withdrawing Russian troops from Georgia. In the end, she says that Russia has only gained isolation and a bad reputation. Zain Verjee, CNN, Warsaw.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Fast Facts

AZUZ: Time for some Fast Facts! The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO, was formed in 1949. Originally, 12 countries were members of the organization, but that number now stands at 26. The goal of NATO is to protect the freedom and security of its member nations by political and military means, and it often plays an important role in international peacekeeping.

Olympic Pin Trading

AZUZ: Alright, we're going to switch gears now to tell you a little bit about the Olympics. They are closing up, the closing ceremonies wrapping up on Sunday. We've talked about some of the outstanding athletic accomplishments of the Games. But there's another sport taking place in Beijing, one where everyone can win something. Emily Chang brings us along as she tries her hand at Olympic pin trading.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUD KLING, SENIOR PIN COORDINATOR: And it's as simple as you point to something and say I really like that pin, and I point to something I like. And we sometimes just trade right away, sometimes there's a little bit of negotiations.

EMILY CHANG, CNN REPORTER: Ok, so I'm starting with 18 CNN Beijing pins made just for this Olympics, and I'm told the media pins are pretty popular. So we're gonna see what we can get with these, and Bud here is going to be my first customer.

KLING: Well, I've got a mixture of USA pins because I'm an American. I've got some pins here from Beijing, which are quite rare and remarkable.

CHANG: Ok, I think I'm going to go for the U.S.A. baseball pin since it is the last Olympics with baseball.

KLING: Ok, now I'd like to trade for the red ones.

CHANG: I really like the Fuwa, the official Olympic mascot, so I'll take one of those. Alright. Here you go.

CHANG: This for this. Ok. That's a deal. No. No. I'm only trading the CNN pins. These are the media pins. They're very valuable. No? No? Ok. They didn't want my CNN pins.

SID MARANTZ, SENIOR PIN COORDINATOR: Who has CNN pins?

CHANG: I have CNN pins.

MARANTZ: Media pins you can't buy. Team pins you can't buy. So, the only way to get them is to be able to trade someone, so it proves that you have the ability to access people that are not so accessible.

CHANG: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and you have six. Alright, so I think we can make an even trade.

MARANTZ: Let's do that.

CHANG: Ok, so we're done, and I think we did pretty well. I started with 18 CNN Beijing pins and I ended up with 19 pins because he was very generous and gave me this pin for free. So, I feel pretty good about it. Maybe I'll see these guys at the next Olympics. Emily Chang, CNN, Beijing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

What's on the Blog?

AZUZ: We've been getting a lot of blog comments about whether the drinking age should be lowered to 18, as some university presidents recently suggested. Travis says he hates alcohol because he's personally seen it destroy lives and break up homes. But he asks, if a person is old enough to fight in our nation's military, how can we say that same person isn't old enough to drink? Jacob feels that if they do lower the drinking age, more people are going to get drunk and more car crashes are going to occur. A lot of folks agreed with that, connecting drinking with drunk driving. Also, Kalib, or "Kaleb," said lowering the drinking age is like giving a toddler the steering wheel. But Ashley asks, if the age doesn't get lowered, then most people will just do it illegally, so why not make it legal at 18?

Goodbye

AZUZ: This blog's gonna be up all weekend, so we hope you'll comment at CNNStudentNews.com.