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CNN Student News
Aired February 08, 2002 - 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: You're watching CNN STUDENT NEWS seen in schools around the world because learning never stops and neither does the news.
SHELLEY WALCOTT, CO-HOST: The week has come to a close, but "CNN STUDENT NEWS" has more to cover starting with the Enron hearings. From Capitol Hill to Salt Lake City, meet a man with a collection of Olympic proportions. Then we'll explore the environment at Antarctica. And finally, Student Bureau fills us in on an education initiative designed to get you in front of the classroom.
And welcome to "CNN STUDENT NEWS". I'm Shelley Walcott.
Lawmakers vow to get to the bottom of the Enron scandal, but some key executives who work or used to work for the bankrupt energy giant aren't making it easy. Yesterday, four people who were called to testify refused, invoking their Fifth Amendment rights. We'll tell you more about what that means coming up.
But first, CNN's Tim O'Brien tells us about who did take the hot seat and speak up.
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WALCOTT: The Bush administration responds to a long-running debate. White House officials say search (ph) and Afghan war detainees will be given rights under the Geneva Convention, but only those who are determined to be Taliban fighters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARI FLEISCHER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: President Bush today has decided that the Geneva Convention will apply to the Taliban detainees but not to the al Qaeda international terrorists. Afghanistan is a party to the Geneva Convention. Although the United States does not recognize the Taliban as a legitimate Afghani government, the president determined that the Taliban members are covered under the treaty because Afghanistan is a party to the convention.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALCOTT: Despite yesterday's decision, White House officials say Taliban detainees will not be given prisoner of war status. Coinciding with the announcement, a new group of detainees arrived at the newly expanded Camp X-Ray on Guantanamo Bay. The arrivals bring the number of detainees at Guantanamo Bay to 186.
CNN's Bob Franken takes us to Camp X-Ray for an update on the prisoners and some new procedures they're following.
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WALCOTT: In today's "News Focus," pleading the Fifth. There was a whole lot of that going on at the Enron hearing on Capitol Hill yesterday. A number of former company executives appearing before a House panel invoked their constitutional right to remain silent. Despite this, lawmakers are still vowing to get to the bottom of the energy giant's collapse. In a nutshell, the Fifth Amendment stipulates no person can be forced to testify against himself in a criminal case.
Bruce Morton looks back at others who have pled the Fifth, why they did it and what it really means.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I respectfully decline to answer the question based on the protection afforded me under the Constitution of the United States.
BRUCE MORTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Taking the Fifth, asserting your constitutional right not to have to testify against yourself, the right goes back to 15th century England, but in modern times, it flowered during televised Senate hearings on organized crime in the 1950s. Mobsters mumbled their rights, and hearing chairman Estes Kefauver of Tennessee got so famous he ran for president in 1956, lost though.
Senate hearings into racketeering and organized labor lasted three years in the late '50s, called 1,526 witnesses, 343 of whom took the Fifth. Committee council Robert Kennedy made one union president invoke it on TV more than a hundred times.
ANNOUNCER: J. Parnell Thomas of New Jersey opens...
MORTON: J. Parnell Thomas' House on American Activities committee. Joseph McCarthy in the Senate chased communists, rulonblahs (ph) and forced many to cite the privilege against self- incrimination, including 10 Hollywood writers and directors, all of whom lost their jobs.
More recently, Reagan National Security Council officials Oliver North and John Poindexter during various hearings on the Iran Contra Scandal.
JOHN POINDEXTER, FORMER U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: I will respectfully and regretfully have to decline on the advice of council because of my constitutional rights under the Fifth Amendment.
MORTON: Watergate figures G. Gordon Liddy and James Dean (ph). Los Angeles Police Detective Mark Fuhrman, a key witness in the O.J. Simpson trial.
MARK FUHRMAN, LOS ANGELES POLICE DETECTIVE: I wish to assert my Fifth Amendment privilege.
MORTON: In the various campaign finance hearings, which followed the 1996 election, 79 people claimed their Fifth Amendment right. And of course it is a right based on the theory that the government should have to prove its case without any help from the person it's accusing.
Bruce Morton, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WALCOTT: The 2002 Winter Olympic Games kick off in Salt Lake City today. Thousands of people from all over the world are pouring into Utah, athletes, journalists, spectators.
Carol Lin reports on how Salt Lake has prepared for the games and what the city hopes to gain in return.
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LIN: Mitt Romney and organizers have a staff of 1,000 people and they're counting on their 18,000 volunteers during this Winter Olympics. Everything gets underway Friday evening with the opening ceremonies.
Carol Lin, CNN, Salt Lake City, Utah.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WALCOTT: The Olympic torch is in the final stretch of its journey to tonight's opening ceremony. The torch was carried through 46 states on its way to Salt Lake.
Ralitsa Vassileva has the story of one man who has made a collection of nearly all the torches from the modern Olympics.
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RALITSA VASSILEVA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Some people collect stamps, others collect butterflies, but how about Olympic torches? Athanasios Kritsinelis has been at it for years. He nearly has a complete set, lacking only torches from the 1948 London Games and the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki.
He says there are three things that represent an Olympian, the emblem, the mascot and the torch. These three things remain throughout the centuries.
Of course Kritsinelis has somewhat of an inside track, for the past 26 years he's been the director of the ceremony at the beginning of the relay when the Olympic flame is lit from the sun's rays in Greece. It takes place in Olympia, the home of the ancient Olympic Games. The torch relay has been a feature of the modern games since 1936 when the idea started. That year, 3,000 runners took turns carrying the flame, then draped in a swastika flag from Athens to Berlin.
Kritsinelis' collection offers a history of the evolution of the torches. They are not all alike. Take the one used in Mexico in 1968. Kritsinelis says although a beautiful torch, it had three disadvantages, the body would heat up making it difficult to hold, sparks would fly out and burn the hands and it was heavy. Others were too long or hard to grasp. One sagged and gave off huge plumes of smoke.
But Kritsinelis gives high marks to the one being carried to Salt Lake City. He says it's a little heavy but very original, being partly made of glass, a distinctive torch and one more for his collection.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL MCMANUS, CO-HOST: "CNN STUDENT NEWS" is going to Salt Lake. Join me, Michael McManus, Monday, February 11, through Friday, February 15, as we experience the sights, sounds and magic of an Olympic Games. In school during the games, STUDENT NEWS will take you there with reports on the science of snowboarding, history behind Salt Lake City and the effect of altitude on the body. We'll also break down all the numbers behind the games and get the overall mood of those attending. STUDENT NEWS will bring the world to you.
ANNOUNCER: Exploring our world, here now is "CNN STUDENT NEWS" "Perspectives."
WALCOTT: We head far south now, our destination Antarctica where this week an iceberg twice the size of Manhattan broke free from a glacier. An increasing number of icebergs have done so in recent years. Some scientists see this trend as a sign of global warming. However, other researchers are finding evidence to the contrary.
CNN's Natalie Pawelski explains.
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(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: Phil Smith from Effingham, South Carolina asks: What percentage of the market is driven by 401(k) funds in today's market?
GEOFFREY COLVIN, EDITOR OF (ph) DIRECTOR, "FORTUNE": It's hard to say exactly what percentage of the market is driven by 401(k) funds. What we know for sure is that a larger percentage of the market than ever before is held by institutional investors. At this point, over half of all the stock in America are owned by institutions which are largely pension funds of various kinds, including 401(k)s as well as mutual funds. And so there is a huge affect, much larger than it's ever been before, and the inflows into and outflows out of 401(k)s do have a considerable effect on the market.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WALCOTT: As lawmakers seek to get to the bottom of the Enron collapse, they have yet to hear from the man who was captain of the ship when it officially sank into bankruptcy. Former Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Lay failed to appear as scheduled on Monday.
Our Joel Hochmuth looks back at what was this week's big story for what didn't happen. Here's our week in review.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOEL HOCHMUTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The week began with a no-show. Monday, Kenneth Lay, the former chief executive of Enron, was scheduled to testify before the Senate Commerce Committee. Lawmakers were hopeful he'd shed some light on the financial collapse of the now bankrupt energy giant. At the last minute he backed out, saying through his lawyer that the hearings had taken on a tone that was more like a prosecution than an inquiry. Lawmakers were angered and frustrated.
SEN. BYRON DORGAN (D), NORTH DAKOTA: He ought not blame his nonappearance on others. What he ought to understand, he and his attorneys, is he didn't want to show up because of the Powers report generated by his own company. It talks about substantial problems inside that company that deceived investors.
SEN. PETER FITZGERALD (R), ILLINOIS: Enron Corporation went way beyond all hat and no cattle. It was pure bull.
HOCHMUTH: But while Lay wasn't talking, others were. William Powers, the law school dean who was brought on to Enron's board to conduct a study of the firm's accounting practices, testified before a House subcommittee Tuesday, and Powers was tough on many of Enron's most senior executives.
WILLIAM POWERS, ENRON BOARD OF DIRECTORS CHAIRMAN SPECIAL INVESTIGATION COMMITTEE (ph): When we interviewed Mr. Lay, he certainly understood that as elaborate as these schemes were, ultimately they were using Enron stock to hedge against these investment losses. He understood that. I can tell you what his story was. He didn't understand or appreciate that there was anything wrong with that. I don't know whether that's credible, I'm saying that was his -- that was his story.
HOCHMUTH: Powers also gave details of how top Enron executives got rich from controversial business partnerships that kept billions of dollars in debt off Enron's books. One official, Michael Kopper, invested $125,000 in a partnership and got back $10 million. Two others, a lawyer and a treasurer, put in $5,800 each and got a million a piece. Former Chief Financial Officer Andrew Fastow collected $30 million. All of that says the report written by Powers was money they should not have received.
Enron had thousands of these deals which hid losses and inflated assets. When Enron disclosed those deals last fall, it took a billion dollar hit which started Enron down the road to financial collapse wiping out the retirement funds for thousands of lower-level employees.
One former employee told senators she'll have a hard time paying for her daughter's wedding in September.
DEBORAH PERROTTA, FORMER ENRON EMPLOYEE: As a mother, this is something I've always dreamt of doing for my daughter. Today that burden has fallen on her shoulders.
HOCHMUTH: With Lay failing to appear, charges he's responsible for the Enron fiasco, for now, go unanswered.
KATHERINE BENEDICT, FORMER ENRON EMPLOYEE: He was on the board of directors, he was the CEO of our corporation, he approved every one of those limited partnerships and those transactions. He has to take responsibility, and the truth needs to be told.
FITZGERALD: The documents give the impression that there were so many transactions taking place over so long a period of time that to believe that you would have to conclude that Mr. Lay was the most out- to-lunch CEO of any corporation in America.
HOCHMUTH: The Senate committee isn't about to let Lay off the hook.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I will support this subpoena with an understanding that there is no immunity that is going to be granted to this witness whatsoever from any of the testimony that he may give.
HOCHMUTH: Tuesday, lawmakers voted to subpoena Lay in an effort to force him to testify. He's slated to appear before the Senate Commerce Committee next Tuesday and a House committee Thursday. Those expecting riveting testimony may well be disappointed. Lawmakers predict Lay will invoke his Fifth Amendment right not to testify against himself.
Joel Hochmuth, "CNN STUDENT NEWS".
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WALCOTT: The Bush administration is trying to change the education system. It's no secret there's a shortage of teachers across the country and the federal government is trying to encourage professionals from other fields to give the classroom a try.
Our CNN Student Bureau has this report on the Teach for America program.
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ALLISON WALKER, CNN STUDENT BUREAU (voice-over): Rebecca Friedman teaches physics at Booker T. Washington High School.
REBECCA FRIEDMAN, TEACH FOR AMERICA TEACHER: You're not going to be using this formula right here.
WALKER: She's part of the Teach for America program, which recruits teachers without education degrees. Friedman postponed medical school to come into the classroom.
FRIEDMAN: I really wanted to get into a service program because I wanted to give something back to the community. And the more I looked at the different service programs, the more I really liked Teach for America because it was also an opportunity to work with kids.
WALKER: The Teach for America program is encouraged by the Bush administration to attract teachers to urban and rural public schools.
U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige advocates that teacher training and recruiting are key to reforming education.
ROD PAIGE, U.S. SECRETARY OF EDUCATION: They bring to the teaching profession exciting young people who might not have necessarily thought about getting into teaching but who commit to at least two years of their professional career in teaching. And many of them stay in teaching.
LESLIE LABODE, TEACH FOR AMERICA TEACHER: I'm still surviving, and I still love to come to school every day so I think I'll keep it up.
WALKER (on camera): There's a shortage of teachers across the country. President Bush and Secretary Paige want all teachers highly qualified.
(voice-over): President Bush is pushing his education initiative in high school visits like this one. He urges schools to ensure every child is given the same opportunity in the No Child Left Behind legislation. He says the Teach for America program is a step in that direction.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There are 8,000 Teach for America teachers and alumni around the country. I am proud to stand up and to talk about the best of America.
WALKER: Teach for America teachers learn teaching techniques and how to prepare lesson plans while teacher summer schools. They learn how to apply their degrees to education.
PAIGE: Many of the people who are in Teach for America didn't go to college to study teaching, they went to college to study other disciplines. But were willing to commit them -- to commit two years of their lives to teaching.
WALKER: Chris Emigholz is using his degree in history and political science to teach social studies.
CHRIS EMIGHOLZ, TEACH FOR AMERICA TEACHER: I love education, I love schools and schools need to be fixed. And schools in a lot of the cities through the country need to be fixed, and I think how can I get a classroom of my own.
WALKER: So far, veteran teachers and students alike have come to accept and appreciate the new teachers. TREMON GIVINS (ph), AGE 17: He does a good job. He always makes sure that he explains to us about what it's about and then how you can get involved (UNINTELLIGIBLE) if you wanted to become a teacher.
MICHELLE BYSSAINTHE, AGE 16: They are very good (UNINTELLIGIBLE). They make learning come alive. They make -- they make class fun. They do everything in their power to help you -- to get you to learn the material.
WALKER: The president's No Child Left Behind legislation establishes a system of new accountability measures for low performing schools.
FRIEDMAN: They come in every year very behind in their math skills. This is a senior class and many of the kids can't even do simple algebra. And once we get to this point in the year, which is really the halfway point, by the end of the year, they're solving problems, they're doing trigonometry.
BUSH: We're not going to stand for a system that simply shuffles children through. We know who gets harmed in a system that gives up on kids early, and we're not going to stand for it in America because every child can learn and no child should be left behind in this country.
WALKER: The legislation authorizes over $26 billion in federal spending on education. For the first time, most local school districts will have greater flexibility in deciding how to use the federal funds they receive.
Allison Walker, CNN Student Bureau, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ONSCREEN: "Where in the World?"
This area covers 5,400,000 square miles, 14,000,000 square kilometers, first sighted in 1820, home of the world's largest body of fresh water or ice.
Can you name this area?
Antarctica.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WALCOTT: Well that's it for this week, but don't forget about us over the weekend. While you're in an Olympic frame of mind, click on to CNNstudentnews.com to check out our extensive Olympic coverage.
Goodbye until Monday. Have a great weekend.
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