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CNN Newsroom
NEWSROOM for August 10, 2001
Aired August 10, 2001 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANNOUNCER: Seen in classrooms the world over, this is CNN NEWSROOM.
MICHAEL MCMANUS, CO-HOST: Your Friday NEWSROOM is under way. I'm Michael McManus. Let's get things rolling with a look at the rundown.
U.S. President Bush makes a decision on federal funding of stem cell research. Tune in to "Top Story" to find out which side he came down on. We're fitting to get cronk (ph). Need a translation? Pete (ph) today's "Editor's Desk." From slang back to science, "Worldview" examines the issue of stem cell research in the United Kingdom. Then, "she loves me, she loves me not" -- we end the week "Chronicling" the search for true love.
It's one of the toughest questions U.S. President Bush has faced, should federal funds be put toward embryonic stem cell research? Mr. Bush announced his decision on the matter Thursday night in Crawford, Texas, where he's on a month-long working vacation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I've decided we must proceed with great care. As a result of private research, more than 60 genetically diverse stem cell lines already exist. They were created from embryos that have already been destroyed, and they have the ability to regenerate themselves indefinitely, creating ongoing opportunities for research.
I have concluded that we should allow federal funds to be used for research on these existing stem cell lines, where the life-and- death decision has already been made.
Leading scientists tell me research on these 60 lines has great promise that could lead to breakthrough therapies and cures. This allows us to explore the promise and potential of stem cell research without crossing a fundamental moral line by providing taxpayer funding that would sanction or encourage further destruction of human embryos that have at least the potential for life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCMANUS: As a presidential candidate last year, Mr. Bush expressed opposition to stem cell research. Since that time, the controversy has grown. Supporters have been rallying on Capitol Hill, telling lawmakers that stem cell research could give doctors a better understanding of various diseases, but many abortion opponents and Catholics, including Pope John Paul II, have strongly denounced the practice.
Elizabeth Cohen brings us a closer look at the stem cells behind the controversy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just like human beings, stem cells start out as a sperm and an egg. The egg is fertilized in the laboratory. By the day after fertilization, it splits into a two-celled embryo. The next day it's four cells, then eight cells.
By day six, the embryo is a multicell ball called the blastocyst. At this point in the embryo's life it's tiny, the size of the dot on an eye. It can either be implanted into a woman's womb to start a pregnancy, or frozen to start a pregnancy at a later time.
If the embryo is to be used for stem cell research, however, several hundred stem cells from inside the blastocyst are removed, which destroys the embryo. The stem cells can then multiply indefinitely in the lab.
Stem cells are essentially blank cells with no identity. In the lab, scientists treat the cells to make them specialized, to convert them, for example, into cardiac cells, liver cells, bone marrow cells, or pretty much any type of human tissue.
So how can that help someone who's sick? Let's say someone's spinal cord has been damaged. Doctors could take stem cells, convert them into nerve cells, and give an injection of healthy cells to repair the damage. The same principle applies to the heart: After a heart attack, some of the cardiac muscle dies; stem cells could be made into cardiac cells and then injected, healing the heart tissue.
This explains just one way to make stem cells, which is to take a leftover embryo from a fertility clinic. There are other sources of stem cells -- for example, aborted fetuses or umbilical cords. Doctors say each appears to have its own benefits, but that the fertility cells are especially interesting, because at just six days old, they may more easily convert to other types of body tissue, the name of the game when it comes to stem cell research.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MCMANUS: Fertility labs across the country where embryos sit frozen are ground zero in the debate over stem cell research. It is the leftover embryos developed during fertility treatments that are at the center of the debate -- embryos that would otherwise be discarded.
Once again, here's medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen who talked to two women who went through the process of in vitro fertilization and made different choices about what to do with their leftover embryos.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COHEN (voice-over): These four children, Savannah and Marshall, Tyler and Spencer, all began life in a petri dish, egg and sperm joined in the lab, the resulting embryos implanted into their mother's wombs. Tyler and Spencer are Pamela Madsen's only children.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE:: Left over from Spencer's cycle was four fertilized eggs, and they've been stored in a cryogenic tank at an IVF program for almost nine years now.
COHEN: Twins Savannah and Marshall are Suzanne Gray's (ph) second and third children, younger sibling to Madeline, who was conceived without in vitro fertilization.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And suddenly, in the same instant that I realized I was pregnant with our fourth child, in the same exact instant, the thought went through my mind of, oh my goodness, what are we going to do with 23 embryos.
COHEN (on camera): Both mothers have the same dilemma: what to do with embryos left over from in vitro fertilization. And that's goes to the heart of the national debate over stem cells. The Grays and Madsens made very different choices, and it's the passion behind those choices that helps explain why this debate has become so contentious.
(voice-over): The Grays donated them to an infertile family who couldn't make their own embryos.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE:: I didn't want to be in heaven and have the spirit or the face of this child come up to me and said, "Mommy, why wasn't I important enough?"
COHEN: But the Madsens didn't want to give their embryos up for adoption. Instead they've donated them to stem cell research researchers.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE:: Those embryos could help somebody else's baby walk. Those embryos could help some poor child suffering with diabetes.
COHEN: The embryos are a rich source for stem cells. So far, the testing is only in animals. But doctors predict in the years to come, stem cells will revolutionize medicine. The cells can be turned into different types of body tissue to create, they hope, treatment for diseases. But for the Grays, the embyros aren't material for research, they're unborn babies.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE:: That is a very real picture for us, knowing that these embryos are the joining of a man and a woman.
COHEN: But Pamela Madsen, while she supports embryo adoption, couldn't stand the thought of her own biological children being raised from someone else far away from her. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I wasn't the kind of mother that could let go in that way, wondering about a baby out there in the world, maybe needing me in some way.
COHEN: Two women, two different choices. Now the decision about whether to spend federal dollars on embryonic stem cell research is up to President Bush, up to him to decide which woman is right, the one who says frozen embryos should only be used to make new babies, or the one who says they should only be used to help people who have already been born.
Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These four children, Savannah and Marshall, Tyler and Spencer, all began life in a petri dish, egg and sperm joined in the lab, the resulting embryos implanted into their mother's wombs. Tyler and Spencer are Pamela Madsen's only children.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE:: Left over from Spencer's cycle was four fertilized eggs, and they've been stored in a cryogenic tank at an IBF program for almost nine years now.
COHEN: Twins Savannah and Marshall are Suzanne Gray's (ph) second and third children, younger sibling to Madeline, who was conceived without in vitro fertilization.
And suddenly, in the same instant that I realized I was pregnant with our fourth child, in the same exact instant, the thought went through my mind of, oh my goodness, what are we going to do with 23 embryos.
(on camera): Both mothers have the same dilemma, what to do with embryos left over from in vitro fertilization. And that's goes to the heart of the national debate over stem cells. The Grays and Madsens made very different choices, and it's the passion behind those choices that helps explain why this debate has become so contentious.
(voice-over): The Grays donated them to an infertile family who couldn't make their own embryos.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE:: I didn't want to be in heaven and have this spirit of the face of this child come up to me and said, mommy, why wasn't I important enough?
COHEN: But the Madsens didn't want to give their embryos up for adoption. Instead they've donated them to stem cell research researchers. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE:: Those embryos could help somebody else's baby walk. Those embryos could help some poor child suffering with diabetes.
COHEN: The embryos are a rich source for stem cells. So far, the testing is only in animals. But doctors predict in the years to come, stem cells will revolutionize medicine. The cells can be turned into different types of body tissue to create, they hope, treatment for diseases. But for the Grays, the embyros aren't materials for research; they're unborn babies.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE:: That is a very real picture for us, knowing that these embryos are the joining of a man and a woman.
COHEN: But Pamela Madsen, while she supports embryo adoption, could not stand the thought of her own biological children being raised from someone else far away from her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE:: I wasn't the kind of mother that could let go in that way, wondering about a baby out there in the world, maybe needing me in some way.
COHEN: Two women, two different choices. Now the decision about whether to spend federal dollars on embryonic stem cell research is up to President Bush, up to him to decide which woman is right, the one who says frozen embryos should only be used to make new babies, or the one who says they should only be used to help people who have already been born.
Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MCMANUS: So are you cronk yet? If you're excited and having a good time, then the answer is yes because that's what cronk means. Since you are watching NEWSROOM, I know you're having fun and you don't need a dictionary to explain that, but we have one if you need it, and it's full of slang words.
According to the dictionary, slang is highly informal speech that is outside standard usage and consists of both coined words, phrases and of new meanings given to established terms. You can probably think of plenty of slang words you and your friends use all the time. Sometimes slang words disappear, sometimes they become part of standard language.
Here is Rusty Dornin with the latest 411 on words.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When teens talk, it might be tough for the uninitiated to catch the drift.
RICK AYERS, TEACHER: Bubblatin'...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What does that mean?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That means hanging out, just chilling with your (UNINTELLIGIBLE) you know, what you doing, we bubblatin', we're chilling.
DORNIN: Bubblatin' may be a funky word, but it's not in your Funk and Wagnall's. It's one of 200 words in the Berkeley High School's new slang dictionary.
AYERS: Is it teenage language or...
DORNIN: It's what teacher Rick Ayers heard students saying in the hallways: inventive language. Ayers wanted them to bring it into the classroom.
AYERS: Recognize what they're good at and then recognize that it's not that difficult to translate, also, to standard English.
DANIEL SILBERBAKER, STUDENT: And there's some words that all the teenagers know, like, around school.
DORNIN (on camera): Like "hooride (ph)"?
SILBERBAKER: Right, exactly.
DORNIN: Hooride, what's that?
CHINAKA HODGE, STUDENT: Hooride: etymology, African-American. From "hoodlum riding." It means to clown someone, or to be really loud...
SILBERBAKER: Like making fun of people.
HODGE: Making fun of people.
DORNIN (voice-over): Words like "cool," around since the '40's, didn't make it, but "fly" did. That's street slang for "cool" from the 19th century. Charles Dickens even used it.
How about "heazy"? That's a new one, meaning something that's very good. Good enough that slang expert Tom Dalzell will pick 40 or 50 Berkeley words for the latest edition of "The English Slang Dictionary."
TOM DALZELL, SLANG EXPERT: So only time will tell which of these last. But there are words that are recorded for the first time here in the "Berkeley High Slang Dictionary."
DORNIN: Known for its diversity, some students here could use the dictionary themselves.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Heazy? I don't know. DORNIN (on camera): How about bubblatin'?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bubblatin'?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hanging with your friends.
DORNIN: What's that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Going to somebody's house and hanging with your friends.
DORNIN: Posheezy (ph)?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's like, for real, you know, of course.
DORNIN: Hey, you guys are pretty good. How about "cat's meow"?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, wait, that's like an old thing.
(CROSSTALK)
DORNIN (voice-over): Aw, give it 20 years. "Heazy" may be a "hoot" for the next generation.
Rusty Dornin, CNN, Berkeley, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MCMANUS: In "Worldview" today: movie stars, mammals and motorbikes. Meet Josh Hartnett, a rising young actor who is hitting it big in Hollywood. And to Uganda for an unusual taxi ride. If you're thinking yellow cab, forget it. Time to put the pedal to the metal on a boda-boda. Plus, a tiny tiger tale, but medicine leads the way as we return to the topic of stem cell research. For this, we travel to the United Kingdom where some U.S. doctors have gone in search of what they view as more scientific freedom.
Sheila MacVicar explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHEILA MACVICAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When Roger Petersen (ph) talks, he speaks the language of cutting edge science, of human embryos and stem cells, cell, that could, he says, one day, provide cures for a whole range of diseases, like Parkinson's or Alzheimer's.
But it is politics, not science, that is, in large measure, driving Dr. Petersen out of California to a research institute in Cambridge, England. On Capitol Hill, lawmakers argued whether the Bush administration should agree to fund such research. The controversy: should researchers be able to use cells from human embryos?
SEN. SAM BROWNBACK (R), KANSAS: The central question remains: Is it a life? Or is it a mere piece of property to be disposed of as its master chooses? That's the central, legal and ethical question that we have in front of us.
MACVICAR: That difficult question has already been answered in Britain.
(on camera): More than 10 years ago, as in vitro fertilization was becoming more widely available, the British Parliament debated the question of when life begins. The parliamentarians decided then that research could be carried out on human embryos up to 14 days after the embryo was first formed.
DR. ROBIN LOVELL-BADGE, NATIONAL INST. FOR MEDICAL RESEARCH: That is prior to the formation of even the beginnings of a nervous system, so it is before the embryo begins to take on any possible human characteristics.
MACVICAR (voice-over): Last January, the British Parliament voted by an overwhelming majority to legalize research on human embryonic stem cells. Many other European nations have either passed, or will pass similar legislation.
MICHAEL LEPAGE, "NEW SCIENTIST" MAGAZINE: We've had the debate, it's legal, the situation is settled, and so scientists know they can come here, they can do the work and they don't have to worry about changes in the law in the future that might stop them doing what they want to do.
MACVICAR: Dr. Robin Lovell-Badge works only on cells from mice right now, but his lab, his work, and that of his colleagues, including those who work with human embryos, are publicly funded and regulated by a government body. In America, he says, some of the worlds best scientists are losing out because they cannot now get federal funding.
LOVELL-BADGE: A few people working in companies can't have all the bright ideas, they just can't. You need it done in an open situation where everyone can contribute.
MACVICAR: Sheila MacVicar, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TOM HAYNES, CO-HOST: Feline fanatics, get ready for a ton of tiger trivia. The largest of the cat family, tigers, are very adaptable creatures. They can live in almost any climate, but wild tigers are found only in Asia. Usually a tigress first bears cubs between the ages of 3 1/2 to 4 years old. She may have anywhere from one to six cubs. But for some females, the maternal instinct is not that strong. So what's a cub to do without its mom?
Here's Jeanne Moos with just such a tiger tale.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You'd feel like hitting the bottle too if your mom shunned you.
KAREN YUCHINSKI, SIX FLAGS WILD SAFARI: Here we go. You got it.
MOOS: Three-month-old Rocky lives at the Six Flags Wild Safari in New Jersey, one of those drive-through animal parks where your car can end up festooned with baboons perched on your mirror chewing gum. But Rocky had a problem that must have left him feeling like Babe.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "BABE")
BABE: I want my mom.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MOOS: In this case, Rocky's mom gave birth, then left her cub on the concrete floor.
YUCHINSKI: She just went through that door and she didn't look behind her.
MOOS: Meet Rocky's new mom.
YUCHINSKI: He thinks I'm mom. But what's a cat's concept of mom -- you know, milk, right?
MOOS: Actually, a combination of milk and liquefied meat.
The park's education coordinator, Karen Yuchinski, bottle-fed Rocky every four hours. At least she didn't have to worry about diapers.
YUCHINSKI: And at home, he's paper-trained.
MOOS: During the day, Karen brings him back to the park. Where else would Rocky get to socialize with a llama?
In the movies, it's usually the animals who end up raising orphaned humans, from "Tarzan" to "The Jungle Book." Humans likewise make goo-goo eyes at Rocky.
(on camera): Do you cuddle?
YUCHINSKI: Yes. Yes, we do.
MOOS (voice-over): Rocky acts like a kid.
YUCHINSKI: I know. I know. I know.
MOOS: He gets into mischief.
(on camera): He's untying your shoes.
YUCHINSKI: That's fine.
MOOS (voice-over): We learned that tiger baby teeth are sharp.
YUCHINSKI: And I love her to death. She is like the best.
MOOS (on camera): Ah! All that action. Whoa!
(voice-over): But just as in "The Jungle Book"...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE JUNGLE BOOK")
BAGHEERA: Someday he would have to go back to his own kind.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MOOS: ... Rocky will be gradually introduced to his older siblings. Lefty and Righty are 3 years old. Rocky is not expected to get back with his mom, though both mom and dad...
YUCHINSKI: Good boy, good boy.
MOOS: ... are still here.
YUCHINSKI: Ah, oh, look out. Tiger kill -- this is his favorite toy. This is a striped orange animal. He had a recognition with this immediately.
MOOS (on camera): Doesn't Rocky realize you don't have stripes?
YUCHINSKI: Rocky realizes that I'm the one with the food.
MOOS (voice-over): Here kitty, kitty, kitty!
Jeanne Moos, CNN, Jackson Township, New Jersey.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RUDI BAKHTIAR, CO-HOST: Now to East Africa and to the country of Uganda. Uganda was governed by Britain for almost 70 years before it gained its independence in 1962. Uganda's magnificent scenery, towering mountains, Great Rift Valley and thick tropical forests provide the backdrop for one of the largest lakes in the world, Lake Victoria, which partly is located there. Most Ugandans are Black African and belong to several different ethnic groups. Although English is Uganda's official language, not everyone speaks it. In fact, Uganda has no language that is spoken by all its citizens. While communication may be a problem in Uganda, transportation is not.
Here's Catherine Bond with a nifty solution Ugandans have come up with to help them get around.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CATHERINE BOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Boda-bodas, taxis on two wheels, popular in Uganda because they're nifty and not too expensive, passengers ride. In the villages, they're pedal bikes, in the cities motorbikes. But whereas a few years ago, the boda-boda was seen as evidence of Uganda's economic groove...
STEPHEN ZINGA, BODA-BODA DRIVER: Now these days, we are still having many customers that, according to (UNINTELLIGIBLE). BOND: It's said by some that boda-bodas got their name taking passengers from border to border across the no man's land between customs posts at Uganda's frontiers. Now they've spread, one of the few easy ways young men can find to scrape a living.
AHMED KYJRABIBA, BODA-BODA DRIVER: ... because we are so many.
BOND: Though cheap, boda-boda drivers say they're losing out to cheaper city buses, packed full, carrying more passengers at lower costs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) but boda-boda will take us about 2,000 shilling.
BOND: That's 17 cents against $1.17 to go from Kampala City center to its suburbs.
In Uganda's presidential election, boda-boda drivers symbolized the political constituency of the small entrepreneur. As a result, presidential candidates vied for their support, President Yoweri Museveni even riding one to his nomination, pledging micro-financing for drivers wanting to buy motorbikes of their own rather than driving a bike on someone else's behalf for a salary or commission.
Despite these competitive times, boda-bodas retain some advantages. Not safety, perhaps, but...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This one is very faster than the taxi.
BOND: ... speed and maneuverability.
Catherine Bond, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SHELLEY WALCOTT, CO-HOST: Some of you may have seen the movie "Pearl Harbor" by now. Even if you haven't, you likely will see a lot more of one of the movie's actors, Josh Hartnett. The 22-year-old has been in several movies from teen flicks like "Halloween H2O" to Indie films like "The Virgin Suicides."
But working along side Ben Affleck and Cuba Gooding Jr. in "Pearl Harbor" has launched Hartnett into fame. It hasn't taken the young actor long to reach the top. He left Minnesota for Hollywood only about three years ago. This summer, "People" magazine named Hartnett one of the nation's 50 sexiest singles.
Paul Vercammen has more on this up and coming Hollywood heartthrob.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSH HARTNETT, ACTOR: Guess what? it's not training over there, it's war. (END VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Josh Hartnett just got his wings in Hollywood for performing in "Pearl Harbor," and hearing the inevitable labels, "rising star" and now, "heartthrob."
HARTNETT: You can't get caught up in that nonsense, so I don't know -- I don't think about it.
VERCAMMEN: Hartnett concentrates on acting, playing Danny Walker in "Pearl Harbor," hotshot pilot from Tennessee, friend of Ben Affleck's character since boyhood.
HARTNETT: I wanted to make Danny a little bit like an infant, you know, like a newborn. Kind of vulnerable and sweet and idealistic.
VERCAMMEN: Hartnett is 22 years old, from Minnesota, once worked in a video store. In 1998's "Halloween H20"...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARTNETT: Michael Myers is dead.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VERCAMMEN: Hartnett played Jamie Lee Curtis' son.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARTNETT: The guy -- the flower guy said that white would go with anything.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VERCAMMEN: Hartnett sported longer hair opposite Kirsten Dunst in "The Virgin Suicides."
HARTNETT: I was doing pretty good movies in smaller form, and I could still walk, you know, down the block and get a cup of coffee and nobody bothered me. And I was kind of -- I was pretty psyched about my life at that point, and I wasn't sure if I wanted it to change too much.
VERCAMMEN: Then came the call to star in "Pearl Harbor" with Affleck, who knows all about rising from obscurity to star status.
HARTNETT: The first time I met Ben, the one thing he says to me is, you know, "This is going to change your life," which is exactly what I didn't want to hear. That guy never says the right thing.
VERCAMMEN: And Hartnett jokes, Affleck didn't exactly take him under his wing.
HARTNETT: He just let me just hang out there, dangle in the wind. But we became pretty good friends from the whole thing. It was good.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARTNETT: We need to get a sense of urgency about everything we do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VERCAMMEN: They endured five days of army ranger boot camp together and left exhausted.
HARTNETT: I think Michael Bay did it on purpose because he wanted us to be whipped into shape by the end of it, you know. We weren't saying no to anything. We were just like, "Yes, sir. Anything. sergeant. Yes, leave us alone, please. We don't want to -- we don't want to run anymore."
VERCAMMEN: But Hartnett may find himself on the run a lot.
HARTNETT: It's kind of a weird, wild, crazy thing, I don't know.
VERCAMMEN: As all the media attention comes with fame.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARTNETT: We've got (UNINTELLIGIBLE) right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Paul Vercammen, CNN Entertainment News, Hollywood.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MCMANUS: OK, when you're looking for a boyfriend, girlfriend or significant other, what comes to mind? Brains, personality -- how about looks? How about soul? According to a new poll, more people are looking for something a little deeper when it comes to relationships.
CNN's student bureau reporter Arianne Price looks into what that something is.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You may kiss your beautiful brides.
ARIANNE PRICE, CNN STUDENT BUREAU (voice-over): Looks, personality and intelligence are all characteristics people notice when looking for a potential marriage partner. But if you're between the ages of 18 and 29, you may be looking for something a little deeper. You may be searching for a soul mate.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My definition of a soul mate would be a person that could mate to my soul, the person that my creator created me for.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My definition of a soul mate is someone who I don't find boring, I think.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're on the same page as far as morals and values go, and you can think ahead to the future and you're going to have the same big picture.
PRICE: Although many are optimistic of finding their soul mates, there is still skepticism on lasting marriages.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People a lot of times don't go into it thinking forever, they think for right now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People get together and they hit a problem and they -- and they divorce each other instead of work through it or stick together.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People don't realize that when you're married you have to really, like, work at it, it's not just going to happen naturally.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am in the process of a divorce because I was not married to my soul mate. And when you're not married to your soul mate, then those problems can occur where your marriage can't stick together.
PRICE: Why can't some marriages stick together. Some argue that the expectations of 20-somethings are too high.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think our expectations are too high, I think that nowadays women are more independent now and they expect, you know what I'm saying, certain things from guys.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When you look at the MTV generation that's coming up and they're showing what people wear, how much money they make and so that's what people are looking for instead of looking at the values that people have to offer.
PRICE: So what are some of those values 20-somethings are looking for?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, do we have an hour?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Physically I like tall and skinny, like a basketball player.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What I'm looking for is my mother.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I prayed for blonde hair, I prayed for -- I prayed for an athlete. I prayed for really specific stuff.
PRICE: If high expectations aren't the problem, what is the hardest part about finding your mate?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The games that men play.
PRICE (on camera): So what happens if your love affair doesn't last, should you throw in the towel or will you get another shot at true love? If one soul mate fails you, will you get a second chance with another?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, there's billions of people on the planet, there's more than one soul mate.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I believe that there can be more than one.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I think there's just one...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just one.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... soul mate, but there's probably a lot of just good enough. Most people meet just good enough. Only the fortunate get to meet their soul mates.
PRICE (voice-over): So whether you believe there is a special someone for everyone or you're skeptical about the accuracy of cupid's arrow, one thing is certain: everyone loves someone sometime.
Arianne Price, CNN Student Bureau, Atlanta, Georgia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MCMANUS: Finally, we turn to space. Well, almost anyway. NASA canceled Thursday's scheduled launch of space shuttle Discovery because of thunder and lightning. The mission will eventually bring fresh supplies and a new crew to international space station Alpha. Mission Control will try again today.
And may you at least get to where you want to go this weekend. I'm Michael McManus, have a good one.
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