CNN Student News Transcript: September 25, 2008

(CNN Student News) -- September 25, 2008

Quick Guide

McCain Suspends Campaign - Hear how the current financial crisis is impacting the U.S. presidential race.

Voting Early - Examine the potential benefits and drawbacks of voting weeks before Election Day.

Four-Day School Week - Observe how fuel costs have prompted a school district to change its schedule.

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: With your Thursday edition of CNN Student News. I'm Carl Azuz. Thank you very much for joining us.

First Up: McCain Suspends Campaign

AZUZ: Major upheaval in the race for the White House, as John McCain suspends his campaign and urges Barack Obama to do the very same thing. The reason for all this is the financial crisis facing the U.S. McCain announced his decision yesterday afternoon, the Republican candidate saying he and his opponent should head back to the Senate and help work on a plan to help the struggling economy. You probably know President Bush proposed this massive federal bailout, but not everyone in Congress is exactly embracing the idea. McCain says there's simply too much at stake not to act.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We must pass legislation to address this crisis. If we do not, credit will dry up, with devastating consequences for our economy. People will no longer be able to buy homes and their life savings will be at stake. Businesses will not have enough money to pay their employees. If we do not act, every corner of our country will be impacted. We cannot allow this to happen.

AZUZ: Senator Obama said yesterday that he and Senator McCain were working on a joint statement about the bailout proposal just minutes before McCain made his announcement. Senator McCain has also suggested postponing this Friday's presidential debate. Obama says the event should still take place, and he gave no indication that he plans to put a hold on his campaign. Obama says this is the kind of situation that either he or McCain will face as the country's next president.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: With respect to the debates, it's my belief that this is exactly the time when the American people need to hear from the person who, in approximately 40 days, will be responsible for dealing with this mess. And I think that it is going to be part of the president's job to deal with more than one thing at once.

AZUZ: What happens next? Well, when it comes to Friday's debate, the University of Mississippi, who's hosting the event, says it's moving forward with preparations. But Senator McCain announced yesterday that he would only take part in the debate if there's a deal on the financial bailout by Friday morning. As for that bailout plan, yesterday evening, congressional leaders from both parties said they've made some progress in negotiations. And last night, President Bush weighed in. In a televised address, he talked about the potential impact of this crisis and he's urging Congress to pass his $700 billion proposal.

Spoken Word

U.S. PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: These are not normal circumstances. The market is not functioning properly. There has been a widespread loss of confidence and major sectors of America's financial system are at risk of shutting down. The government's top economic experts warn that without immediate action by Congress, America could slip into a financial panic and a distressing scenario would unfold.

Promo

AZUZ: You can bet that the economy's gonna be a big story for quite a while. So make sure you understand what everyone's talking about. Bankruptcy, mortgage, foreclosure: They're not words you get to use every day, but those terms and about a hundred others are covered in our Financial Glossary. Check it out at CNNStudentNews.com.

Voting Early

AZUZ: On November 4th, exactly 40 days from today, people will line up to cast their ballots for the next president. Voters in a lot of states can get a jump on things by heading to the polls early. Not that morning, we mean right now! In fact, I'm planning on voting this Friday. How's that possible? Bill Schneider has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN REPORTER: Vote early and often! That used to be a joke. Now it's half serious. Thirty-one states allow voters to cast their ballots in person before Election Day. They don't require a reason. Twenty-eight states allow early voting by mail. This year, as many as a third of voters around the country are expected to cast their ballots before election day, up from 20 percent in 2004.

JULIA OLIVIER, EARLY VOTER: Well, I'm a first-time voter, so I really wanted to make sure I was on top of everything. That's why I voted so early.

SCHNEIDER: Voting's already underway in Georgia and parts of Kentucky and Virginia. Iowa starts before the first debate. Six more states will allow people to vote next week, including the mother of all battleground states, Ohio. The idea is to make voting more convenient and increase turnout without overwhelming polling places on Election Day.

CATHY COX, GEORGIA SECRETARY OF STATE: I think early voting is here to stay. It's just a recognition of the busy lives we all lead.

SCHNEIDER: Many early voters are strong partisans who are committed to a candidate. People who can't make up their minds tend to put off a decision. They might actually pay attention to the campaign. But what happens to the campaigns?

LELAND BEATTY, DEMOCRATIC POLLSTER: That will take your breath away if you're a campaign, trying to make sure that you're reaching or covering all of the people who are voting.

SCHNEIDER: Early voting means the candidates have to jump directly to their closing arguments. You've probably heard about an "October surprise," some unexpected development that throws the campaign into an uproar? Well, suppose we have an October surprise this year after hundreds of thousands of people have already voted early. Can they change their minds and ask for their ballots back? Sorry, early voters, you're out of luck. Bill Schneider, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Is this Legit?

AZUZ: Is This Legit? The U.S. Constitution establishes the length of a school year as 180 days. False! The words "school" and "education" don't even appear in the Constitution!

Four-Day School Week

AZUZ: Surveys do show that most states actually have a school year that's around 180 days long. But there's this one district in Minnesota that's changing that, going with fewer days. Before you say that sounds really good though, the hours will be longer. Now, it might sound like a good deal, and school officials are hoping it's good for them too, because they are doing all this to save money. Poppy Harlow explains how.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICK MERSBERGEN: Hey bud, time to get up.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN REPORTER: Zack Mersbergen and his father Rick are heading out to work on their farm in rural Minnesota. A few miles away, 11-year-old Natalie Rosen is practicing before her piano lesson. And at the local school, not a student in sight.

MATT ROSEN, PARENT: It hasn't fully hit us that today's actually a Monday.

HARLOW: A Monday, like most Mondays this school year, where the kids won't be in school.

SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT GREG SCHMIDT: The decision was we either reduce our expenses somehow or we cut teachers.

HARLOW: Superintendent Greg Schmidt says that choice prompted many parents to lobby for a 4-day school week to cut expenses.

MERSBERGEN: It's important to me, because now my kids are still allowed to earn some of their college credits in the high school program.

HARLOW: It all comes to down to this: the price of fuel. It's not cheap to fill a 65-gallon bus.

SCHMIDT: Last year we spent $120,000 more than we had the year before on fuel oil and diesel for buses.

HARLOW: The district hopes to save $100,000 a year with the new plan.

SCHMIDT: And the price for busing kids on our routes for 172 days was this amount: $563,000. When we went to a modified schedule, 149 days, the amount was $497,000.

HARLOW: From the classrooms to the hallways, the lights are off on Mondays. The question remains of course, will the students be left in the dark when it comes to their education?

SCHMIDT: In other situations where schools have done this, they haven't seen any drop in academics.

HARLOW: There are dozens of schools around the country that have 4-day weeks. At Maccray, school days are now about an hour longer.

ZACHARY MERSBERGEN, 10TH GRADER: The teachers don't know how it's going to go, so they're trying to put 5 days in 4 days.

NATALIE ROSEN, 6TH GRADER: The first day was really long because you didn't know how long it would be.

HARLOW: Childcare is another concern. But on this first Monday off, Greg Schmidt says he hasn't heard of any problems, and the families we spoke to are embracing the change.

MATT ROSEN: Our jobs do allow us a little bit of flexibility, and our daughter's getting old enough now where she can keep track of her little brother on Mondays if something comes up where we can't be here.

HARLOW: And while it's an energy fix for MACCRAY, it will only get an "A" if students continue to make the grade.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Before We Go

AZUZ: We'll be talking about that on our blog, so check that out. Before we go, meet the new queen of the farmyard fashion show. Buffy here is showing off the newest design for winter: chicken sweaters, good for staying warm when you've lost all your feathers. The bald bird was discovered in a cramped cage looking completely plucked. One rescuer even described her as "oven-ready." But instead of baking Buffy, they brought her to a new home, and now the hen's back in good health, and some would say looking very stylish.

Goodbye

AZUZ: Man, that's what I would call some fowl fashion. You guys have a great day. We'll see you again tomorrow to close out the week.