CNN Student News Transcript: October 9, 2008

(CNN Student News) -- October 9, 2008

Quick Guide

Economic Unrest - Examine how the current financial crisis is impacting global markets.

Beneath the Waves - Dive into a controversy involving whales and U.S. Navy sonar testing.

Making an Impact - Discover how one American is delivering dental care to Afghanistan.

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: The weekend is just a day away, but this Thursday edition of CNN Student News starts right now! I'm Carl Azuz.

First Up: Economic Unrest

AZUZ: Financial uncertainty, plunging stock markets, government bailouts. Sound familiar? We've used those terms to describe the U.S. economy recently, but this time we're talking about other nations, as the current crisis spreads around the globe. London, Paris, Germany, Japan, Hong Kong. The numbers were down in every market yesterday, prompting some governments to step in. Iceland took over its second largest bank. And the UK plans to inject billions into its banking system, its own version of a federal bailout. Another attempt to calm things down came in the form of a rate cut. Several banks worldwide, including the Federal Reserve here in the U.S., agreed to lower key interest rates. They affect things like credit cards and loans for homes and businesses. But Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said yesterday that the funds just aren't available.

HENRY PAULSON, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: The capital markets are the pipes through which money flows to finance student loans, car loans, home loans and small business payrolls and inventory. And uncertainty and a lack of confidence have clogged our basic financial plumbing.

Word to the Wise

GEORGE RAMSAY, CNN STUDENT NEWS: A Word to the Wise...

sonar (noun) sound navigation ranging, a method of finding objects, especially underwater, using sound waves

source: www.m-w.com

Beneath the Waves

AZUZ: The U.S. Navy is at odds with environmentalists over the effects sonar testing may have on whales! The government says these tests are critical for naval operations, and President Bush issued a waiver allowing them to take place. But a court ruling blocked the sonar exercises earlier this year. Now, this fight has landed in front of the Supreme Court. Jamie McIntyre dives into the controversy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

U.S. NAVY: Combat bridge! Whales 500 meters out.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: The Navy is demonstrating for CNN's cameras how it turns down its sonar as soon as whales come within 1,000 meters.

LT. CMDR. MARC DELTETE, USS MOMSEN: Six decibels, which is essentially like 75 percent. It's like taking your flashlight and taking 75% of your flashlight out.

MCINTYRE: But whale advocates argue it's not enough.

JOEL REYNOLDS, NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL: It's dangerous. Scientists agree about that. The only question is what is the Navy willing to do to prevent the harm associated with that sonar.

MCINTYRE: A lower court ruled the national security "exemption" granted by President Bush was "constitutionally suspect." That sent the case to the Supreme Court. So what's happening to the whales? Despite millions of dollars of research, scientists aren't really sure. One theory is that these beak whales, the deepest diving sea creatures, are surfacing too fast after they're frightened or disoriented by the sonar, creating a version of what divers know as "the bends." The Navy says it learned a lot from its experience back in 2000, when too many sonar ships, combined with a narrow underwater channel, drove 16 whales to beach themselves in the Bahamas. Seven of them died.

DONALD WINTER, NAVY SECRETARY: We recognize the importance that protecting marine mammals and several of the endangered species.

MCINTYRE: Still the sailors insist they want to be good stewards of the sea.

DELTETE: I just had a son about 3 months ago. I want to make sure that when he's older, I want to make sure that there's whales out here that he can see.

MCINTYRE: The science is inconclusive in terms of how much of a hazard sonar poses to sea mammals, but the High Court doesn't have to resolve that. It only has to decide to what extent the president can put warfare ahead of the welfare of whales. Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Supreme Court.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Hispanic Heritage Month

NINETTE SOSA, CNN REPORTER: Jaime Escalante was born in La Paz, Bolivia in 1930. He followed in his parents' footsteps, becoming a teacher in his home country. When he moved to the U.S., Escalante had to teach himself English and earn another college degree before he could return to the classroom. Once he did, he became one of the most famous educators in America. Escalante taught in a predominantly low-income neighborhood in Los Angeles, inspiring students to work hard, and offering extra classes before and after school and on weekends. His career was immortalized in the movie "Stand and Deliver," and he was inducted into the National Teachers Hall of Fame in 1999. Celebrating the life and achievements of Jaime Escalante this Hispanic Heritage Month.

Making an Impact

AZUZ: From teaching to teeth. I don't know of anyone who just can't wait to see the dentist. But with nearly 180,000 in the U.S., it's not hard to find one. In Afghanistan, just the opposite. There's one dentist for every quarter million people there! That poses a serious health problem for the country. Thelma Gutierrez introduces us to one doctor who's working to make a difference.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. JAMES ROLFE, AFGHANISTAN DENTAL RELIEF PROJECT: I went there to treat the orphans. And I saw that they were in terrible condition, more terrible than I'd ever seen any people.

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN REPORTER: Their faces were unforgettable: Afghan orphans living without hope. Afghanistan has three million orphans. Dr. James Rolfe visited one orphanage six years ago. He says the experience forever changed him.

ROLFE: I can't not help these people. I mean, I was crying.

GUTIERREZ: He left one of the poorest countries in the world and returned home to one of the wealthiest.

ROLFE: I walk down the street in Santa Barbara, and I see the Mercedes and the Porsches.

GUTIERREZ: Rolfe says he knew he could come up with a way he could help. He decided what Afghanistan needed were dentists.

ROLFE: They only have 134 dentists for 32 million people. That's one dentist for 250,000 people! Have three laboratory technicians working at once.

GUTIERREZ: So, he got to work on a lofty plan to open up a clinic and a dental program.

ROLFE: Here are all these orphans with no future and all these people that need dental care. Why can't we start a program to train them in dental technologies?

GUTIERREZ: But first, he would need a clinic. Rolfe found a quick way to make it happen by converting this 40x8 shipping container into a full-scale dental office that he could send to Kabul.

GUTIERREZ: How much money does it take to retrofit these shipping containers to turn them into clinics?

ROLFE: It took me 4,000 hours and 18 months and about $70,000.

GUTIERREZ: The result: a mobile dental office complete with three chairs, a room to sterilize instruments and a lab. This is what Dr. Rolfe's vision looks like now. It's called the Afghanistan Dental Relief Project in Kabul, Afghanistan. The clinic is already up and running. Volunteer dentists from around the world keep the clinic staffed. They're provided with an apartment and a cook. Rolfe says his greatest accomplishment is the training program that is giving widows and orphans a brighter future.

GUTIERREZ: Do you think that you've made a difference in terms of the way Americans would view it?

ROLFE: That's part of our purpose, to show the Afghan people that the American people care about them.

GUTIERREZ: Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, Santa Barbara, California.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Life After Ike

AZUZ: Think about all the stuff you need for school. But when your town's been devastated by a hurricane, school supplies might be in short supply. Yesterday, we examined how a football team was helping its own community after Hurricane Ike. Today, Raquel Duncan of affiliate KBTV shows us how some students are helping other schools recover from this storm.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAQUEL DUNCAN, KBTV REPORTER: One after another, students carry donated school supplies up the stairs of the Sabine Pass School. Rachael Olson is one of many students who needed items like a calculator and paper. Hurricane Ike took what she and these students need most: tools for a good education.

RACHAEL OLSON, STUDENT: It's very nice that they come and bring us stuff, because we lost calculators, and those are like $200, and we don't have money to buy that right now.

DUNCAN: Tuesday, students with the Colmesneil and the Chester ISD delivered the supplies, including backpacks, notebooks and crayons.

DALTON WOODRONE, STUDENT: It feels pretty good. Makes us feel like we're actually helping people that need all this stuff.

ROSSIE GARDNER, STUDENT: It's very rewarding, because we know that we're helping them out. We are very honored and privileged to be here to do this.

DUNCAN: Andy Bates says the supplies will benefit his students.

ANDY BATES, TEACHER: We're really glad that the kids are gonna have that opportunity to get back to normal a little more by this donation of school supplies.

DUNCAN: Colmesneil and Chester ISD were able to donate items, such as rulers and glue, after receiving them from people in their community. As Rachael kindly accepts these items, she says it's a reminder of how southeast Texans are there for each other in times of need.

OLSON: We haven't been able to buy school supplies yet, and it just reminds us that we don't have houses, that we don't have some of the stuff that meant a lot to us.

DUNCAN: Raquel Duncan, KBTV 4, Sabine Pass.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Promo

AZUZ: Donating supplies to hurricane victims, organizing dental equipment for orphans in Afghanistan. When disaster strikes there are lots of ways you can help. Check out the Spotlight section at CNNStudentNews.com to discover how you can impact your world.

Before We Go

AZUZ: Before we go, an amazing amphibian that defnitely deserves a hand. But this guy already has more than enough! Look closely. That's an extra leg sprouting off the side there. Do the math, and you're looking at a twenty-five toed toad! There's something you don't count on seeing too often. Maybe you've imagined what you could do if you had an extra arm or leg, but this guy doesn't seem to do much of anything except look really creepy.

Goodbye

AZUZ: But he'll always have a leg up on the competition. It's time for us to hop on out of here. You guys have a great day.