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CNN 10

Immigration Reform; U.S. Has More Tornadoes Than Any Other Country

Aired January 30, 2013 - 04:00   ET

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


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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, I`m Calen Windorf (ph). And this is CNN STUDENT NEWS.

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CARL AZUZ, CNN ANCHOR: That Calen, he`s a real card.

All right, first up today -- an issue that`s getting a lot of attention in Washington -- immigration reform. President Obama talked about it yesterday. He says it`s a top priority for this second term, and he thinks the time is right to overhaul the current immigration system. Undocumented immigrants, like these next two students would probably want to see that.

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ROLANDO ZENTENO, ARMSTRONG UNIVERSITY FRESHMAN: I identify myself with the American culture, but sometimes the American society is like no, you are not part of us.

JESUS ARROYO, ARMSTRONG UNIVERSITY SENIOR: It`s amazing to see that, you know, they are willing to help us now, because all my life, you know, I`ve been here, not knowing what`s going to be my future, not knowing where I`m going to go.

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AZUZ: You may remember that a group of U.S. Senators announced an immigration reform plan earlier this week. It would include a path for undocumented immigrants, people who were in the country illegally, to become citizens. President Obama agrees with that idea, but some folks think it`s a bad one.

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REP. MARSHA BLACKBURN, (R ), TENNESSEE: Why don`t we talk about a pathway to legality? Why don`t we talk about a pathway to green card? Why don`t we talk about some other things rather then going straight to pathway to citizenship. You know, is this fair to those that have been in the queue for a long, long time, going through the legal process, trying to get into this country?

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AZUZ: So, a lot of talk about immigration reform. What are your thoughts on this issue? Head to our blog at cnnstudentnews.com, or, if you are on Facebook, you can talk to us there at Facebook.com/ cnnstudentnews.

Interesting weather fact -- the U.S. has more tornadoes than any other country on the planet, about a 1000 of them are reported every year. Most of those show up during spring and early summer, but some states were dealing with tornado watches this week. We talked with chief CNN meteorologist Chad Myers, and the first question we asked is, why don`t we see more tornadoes in the winter?

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CHAD MYERS, CHIEF METEOROLOGIST: We do see tornadoes in the winter. It`s a little bit odd, but we don`t think about them, we get them in the overnight, late night hours, in the southern part of the United States, follow the jet stream. In the winter, the jet is over Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia and Florida. That`s where the severe weather is. Then it moves north, in March, April and May, that`s tornado alley -- Oklahoma, Texas, all the way up to Illinois, Indiana, Ohio. And then by the summer, it`s all the way to Edmonton. It`s in the Canada, because that`s where the jet stream is, the jet stream is the energy, that`s where the severe weather always is.

First thing you need to know is that when these storms that happen in the dark, those are the most dangerous. You`re sleeping, you`re probably not watching TV, you don`t have radio on, all of the sudden those are the storms that can really hurt you. They are not going to be big, maybe, you know, F1s or 2, small tornadoes. But if it hits your house, it`s a big deal, isn`t it? That thing where you can do to protect yourself is that there`s an iPhone, iPad iTouch app, you keep that, it will go off, it will alarm you when a tornado was happening, or just going to know where the radio. That`s the old standby.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Today`s first "Shoutout" goes out to Mrs. Hill`s English and language arts students at Elkton Middle School in Elkton, Maryland.

Which of these countries share the border with Syria? Here we go, is it Iran, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia or Afghanistan? You`ve got three seconds, go!

Lebanon is the only one of these countries that border Syria. That`s your answer and that`s your "Shoutout."

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AZUZ: In the nearly two years since Syria`s civil war started, more than 150,000 people have crossed that border, going to Lebanon to escape the fighting that has killed more than 60,000 people.

When you`re seeing news about Syria, you hear about the government forces, about the rebels. What about people your age? Teens who went from living their lives to living in the middle of a war? Kayana (ph) is 14. She lives in Lebanon now. She wrote something for a school project about how the war has changed her life. This is her story and her words.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My name is Kayana (ph), and I`m 14 years old, and I`m from Aleppo, Syria. I used to think everything was perfect, like the fairy tales, and now like I don`t know any more. I don`t know how anything is, I don`t know how anything is going to turn out to be.

I miss the most how we would be like so care free, you know. We would love all the time, and like we were also happy, every one like the old and the young, everyone was like really happy. Like my school, my friends -- everything. I always dream that we are in school right now, and for me, that`s actually nightmare, because I want it so bad, but not like I know it might not happen again.

The bombing that happened close to my house was in the morning, and my sister was at basketball practice at school, and they could see like a lot of smoke and like bits of bodies were flying everywhere. And so when I woke up, my mom was really scared because my sister was there. But then she told me that everything was OK. And when I tried looking at the TV, she switched the channels. But I was able to see like everything -- like the dead bodies and everyone.

Where I`ve been through changed me a lot, because it changed me in two ways. For example, when I used to complain about really silly things, I realize that there is like a much bigger world down there where people die and like people are killed. It also changed me in another way, because I always -- like I`m always angry right now at everyone, and like I`m not like happy the way I used to be.

What makes me angry is how people are so selfish, and they are killing each other, like without considering how people are dying, and like -- the -- like the situation they`re putting their parents into (and their family. Now, everyone is crying everyday, and there is no electricity, there is no food. How people are like struggling just to survive now.

I don`t blame anyone specific, but I blame everyone that`s just holding a gun right now. Like for whatever reason they think they are doing it.

The day my family decided to come to Lebanon, it was really hard for me. In the beginning, it was all a blur -

I always try to hope and I look at other people how they have no food, no home, and I thank God for what I have.

My mom goes back and forth to help the refugees and she like donates a lot of food and our old toys, and our old clothes. And like the reason I want to go back, basically, is because I want to make a difference. I want to help these people and go with my mom and like -- try to like at least make someone happy in there.

Yeah, I`m scared for like, for more to happen, for more people to die. And I`m scared that the hope I have right now to go back, like at the end will all be erased, and then like I won`t really have anything left to look forward to.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s time for a "Shoutout Extra Credit." Who was the winning coach in the first Super Bowl? You know what to do. Was it John Madden, Knute Rockne, Mike Ditka or Vince Lombardi? Put another three seconds on the clock and go!

Lombardi`s Green Bay Packers won the first two Super Bowls, and the Super Bowl trophy was later renamed the Lombardi trophy. That`s your answer and that`s your "Shoutout Extra Credit."

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AZUZ: Anthony is rooting for the Baltimore Ravens in the upcoming Super Bowl, because he wants Ray Lewis, a linebacker on the team, to have a Super Bowl win in his last season. Riggy is pulling for the San Francisco 49ers, saying with Kaepernick and Gore running against them, the Ravens will have too much to handle. But like Nick said, no matter what, "Harbaugh is going to win." Jim and John Harbaugh are the coaches of the two teams. They are brothers, and they`ll be battling each other in Super Bowl XLVII, which are Roman numerals for 47. A lot of folks know about that, not a lot of folks know this: their parents will be at the game. Who they root for? They don`t know. They are just worried it`s going to be heart-wrenching for whoever loses.

Retiring Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis has played for 17 years. His first sack, against Indianapolis Colts quarterback Jim Harbaugh, who is now coaching the 49ers. In previous games between these two teams, the Ravens have won three, the 49ers, one. Both teams have perfect Super Bowl records. The 49ers have won five of five, the Ravens one of one. So it`s somebody`s perfect Super Bowl record is going to be broken, unless Jackie Harbaugh, the two coaches` mother, gets her wish, that it will end in a tie.

Well, Andrew Gray had a problem. Whenever he left his parrot alone, the bird would go nuts. The solution -- the bird buggy. Since Pepper piped up anytime Andrew left the room, he figured he needed to give the parrot a way to follow him around. So he built this, posted it on Youtube, and now Pepper can use his beak to drive himself around instead of driving Andrew crazy. Best of all, Andrew can walk out of a room now, and he doesn`t have to worry about ruffling any feathers. It`s a good thing he thought of that solution, otherwise the noisy bird might have been given his squawking papers. And since the story has gone viral, you can probably expect some parrot-ies. Really, there is no talon what people might come up with, assuming they have the drive. It`s time for us to fly, CNN STUDENT NEWS, we`ll be beak tomorrow, we`ll see you then.

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