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Anti-Government Protests in Kiev, Ukraine Turned Violent; Record Breaking Snowfalls in United States; Cyber Fraud Challenges Non-Cash Retail; Pandora`s New Ability To Figure Out Political Affiliation of Users

Aired February 19, 2014 - 04:00   ET

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


CARL AZUZ, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you for watching CNN STUDENT NEWS. I`m Carl Azuz reporting from Atlanta, Georgia. We`re starting with news from Ukraine. Parts of Kiev, the capital, were lit up by fires last night. As we put this show together. Earlier in the day at least 14 people had been killed. Seven civilians, six police officers and one government employer as protests intensified in Kiev.

Ukraine got its independence in 1991 from the Soviet Union. More than two decades later, its people are people divided. Some want closer ties with the European Union, others, including the president, want closer ties with Russia. Protests over this have been going on for months, each side is blaming the other for Tuesday`s violence.

For Americans in the U.S. Northeast who are sick of snow, now is the winter of their discontent. The good news is, it`s going to get warmer for them as this week goes on. The bad news, meteorologists are saying at least another month of cold, snow and ice will follow.

Interesting news, some cities are approaching records. For Chicago, this is the fifth snowiest winter ever recorded with almost 67 inches of snow so far. For Philadelphia, the third snowiest, over 58 inches of snow there. And for Indianapolis, this winter is the snowiest ever. Almost 52 inches of snow and we are only in February.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Once again, the northeast is bracing for another snowy blast.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have to stop. I cannot see where I am.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This latest winter storm already causing crippling whiteout conditions in northern Illinois and slamming the Chicago area with up to six inches of snow.

In Milwaukee, icy roads causing a vehicle to spin off the highway hitting this squad car which was at the scene of another crash.

The massive amount of snowfalls and the relentless storms near record breaking totals.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s been a little bit too much snow for my taste.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Washington D.C. almost doubling its normal amount of snowfall for February so far, while New York City and Philadelphia triple their yearly accumulations. All the snow causing problems for many school systems. Officials now forced to make up snow days. In parts of Pennsylvania, class was in session on President`s Day.

CINDY KOONS, PENNSYLVANIA SCHOOL PRINCIPAL: We may lose Easter Monday. We may lose a professional development day that the teachers were going to have to have and a retreat day.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Schools in Delaware are considering extending days by 30 minutes, and some schools in New Jersey may hold classes on Saturdays.

UNIDENTIFIED BOY: It kind of stinks.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bucket ready for the big thaw: later this week, temperature will finally rise, melting this massive accumulations of snow from Washington, D.C. to Maine.

On the West Coast, it`s heavy amounts of rain and snow in Oregon that brought down trees. Demolishing homes and landing inches away from people inside.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can`t see how she got out of it alive.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And in Seattle, mud slides trapping this car in a highway and closing some transit tracks.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: Time for the "Shootout." Which part of the U.S. government tests the fuel economy of new cars? If you think you know it, shout it out! Is it the EPA, FDA, FAA or DHS? You`ve got three seconds, go! T The environmental protection agency, EPA gives the fuel economy info you see on new car labels. That`s your answer and that`s your shoutout.

The U.S. government sets minimum gas mileage requirements for new cars. Now, the Obama administration is ordering new requirements for medium and heavy-duty vehicles. Tractor-trailers, buses and vans.

Why? The government wants all new vehicles to get better gas mileage and give less pollution. It hopes the new rules will help make that happen. One complication is that the technology it takes to do this can cost more, raising the price of new vehicles. The government says this will be offset when money saved on fuel. The American trucking industry wants the president to proceed cautiously, saying its supports saving on fuel, but it hopes the new rules won`t conflict with safety, or force vehicles to use new technologies that aren`t fully tested. The president`s new guidelines were issued by executive order, which means they won`t go through Congress for approval.

Last November and December the personal information of as many as 110 million people were stolen. They`d used credit cards at Target. At around the same time, more than a million other had their info stolen. They`d used credit cards at Neiman Marcus.

Paying for something electronically is convenient. It allows you to buy whatever, without going wherever. But is it secure?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: First, there was cash. Then came checks. And credit cards, smartphones and even crypto currencies.

The size and scale of the non-cash economy is vast. One report estimates non-cash transactions top 333 billion in 2012. That`s 47 for each man, woman and child on the planet. And the more money slosh into the system, the greater the risk.

WILLIAM NOONAN, U.S. SECRET SERVICE. Over the past four years, the Secret Service has nearly arrested 5,000 cyber criminals. In total, these criminals were responsible for over a billion dollars in fraud losses.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The recent cases of U.S. retailers, Target and Neiman Marcus were a global wakeup call. Here in New York, the district attorney admits, it`s his greatest challenge.

CYRUS VANCE, NEW YORK COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY. I think it is a tsunami. I think that cybercrime identity theft is occurring at a pace and a level, which make it one of the most significant criminal developments that we`ve seen in our generation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Target and Neiman Marcus did not just expose the magnitude of the problem, they also revealed the sophistication of those behind it.

(on camera): Is it a case of skimming the numbers from the back of the card, cloning the card, looking at the card in the restaurant or the shop?

VANCE: We`re also looking at situations where because of people`s - criminals technical expertise, obviously they are doing things as alleged in the Target case: going through the software that control the air system in the company and through the backdoor, being able to move into data and identifying customer data, customer credit card numbers and the like.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice over): The real victims are the consumers. Both Target and Neiman Marcus are investigating.

MICHAEL KINGSTON, SENIOR V.P. AND CIO, NEIMAN MARCUS GROUP: We have learned that the malware, which penetrated our system was exceedingly sophisticated.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And have apologized.

JOHN MULLIGAN, EXECUTIVE V.P. AND CFO, TARGET BRANDS: I want to say how deeply sorry we are for the impact this incident has had on our guests.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Both are still facing major class action lawsuits.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ: We love Worldwide Wednesdays on the CNN STUDENT NEWS "Roll Call." It gives us another chance to go globetrotting to places like Nantou County, Taiwan. And that`s where we are online at National Chi Nan University.

Across the Pacific in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, hello to the students of Esquella Internacional Sampedrana.

And across the Atlantic, our final stuff is in Lakenheath, England. Thank you for watching it, Lakenheath American Middle and High Schools.

On cell phones and tablets, there are a lot of apps and services we can get for free. What are the providers like Apple, Google, Facebook or Pandora get out of it? For one thing, they`ll sell some ad space to businesses that make money off that. For another, they get information. They learn a lot about us. And Laurie Segall looks at how even our politics could factor in.

LAURIE SEGALL, CNN MONEYTECH CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Carl. Well, if you are one of the millions of people who use Pandora to listen to music, the company says it knows more about you than your favorite song. And they are hoping to cash in. Pandora`s planning to roll out a new ad service to help political candidates target voters. That means the next time you listen to Miley Cyrus or Jay-Z, you might get pegged as a Democrat or Republican. At the heart of this, your zip code. When you sign up for Pandora, you`re entering your zip code. That gives the company valuable geographical data. And they can tell a lot about you by where you live. Now, in the past, Pandora has used this location data to look at how other people in your area vote. Now, they are adding in to your listening preferences. Now, using your location and what you`re listening to, Pandora says they determine your political preference.

So, let`s take a look at what Pandora says your taste reveals about your politics. Listen to Daft Punk, Pandora may determine you`re likely to vote Democrat. If you like country music, Pandora infers you`re more likely to vote Republican. Love some Jay-Z? Well, according to Pandora it`s hard to determine your political affiliation.

Listen, Carl, one thing is for sure: those apps on your smartphone, they are looking to make money, many of them are, and to do that, they`ve got to get to know you better. That`s the advertising game and it looks like Pandora`s got a head start. Carl.

AZUZ: Before we go, when octopi attack. It doesn`t typically occur unless they feel threatened. So, when this happened, the two divers off the coast of California recently, they kept one camera rolling as an eight-foot giant Pacific octopus tried to take out the other. The diver who posted this on YouTube thinks the animal saw its reflection in the lens, mistook it for another octopus and went after it. When the camera flashes went off, the octopus went away.

Would you have stuck around? I can think of eight good reasons not to. It`s interesting that diver never thought he octopushed it away. It was eight armed and dangerous. I guess when that happen so fast, you don`t have time to ink about it. CNN STUDENT NEWS dives back in tomorrow.

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