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CNN Student News

Aired March 15, 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.

MICHAEL MCMANUS, CO-HOST: "CNN STUDENT NEWS" has your Friday "Headline." First up, the latest on mediator Anthony Zinni's Mid East mission.

SUSAN FREIDMAN, CO-HOST: Then, we travel to the Peruvian amazon to examine the Digital Divide.

MCMANUS: Our stay in Peru continues in "Perspectives."

FREIDMAN: Finally, would you like a later start to your day? The debate is on in our "Student Bureau Report."

Welcome to "CNN STUDENT NEWS". I'm Susan Freidman.

MCMANUS: And I'm Michael McManus.

Diplomacy is at work in the Middle East.

FREIDMAN: President Bush's Middle East envoy Anthony Zinni is back in the region hoping to broker a cease-fire between Israeli's and Palestinians. Zinni arrived in Tel Aviv yesterday, and he has his work cut out for him. He arrives with high expectations from both Israelis and Palestinians.

CNN's Michael Holmes has more on those expectations and Zinni's mission to fulfill them. But first, we hear from Andrea Koppel in Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Taking note of Israel's decision to withdraw its military from the West Bank city of Ramallah, the Bush administration told its close ally, in effect, actions speak louder than words.

RICHARD BOUCHER, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: We do expect a complete withdrawal from Palestinian-controlled areas, including Ramallah, and the other areas that the Israeli Defense Force has recently entered. Such a complete withdrawal would greatly facilitate the work of General Zinni. KOPPEL: At the same time, the U.S. also called on Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to do more to stop terrorist attacks on Israelis. Retired General Anthony Zinni's mission, to convince Israel and the Palestinians to end 18 months of bloodshed and abide by a U.S.- brokered cease-fire negotiated last year by CIA Director George Tenet. A tall order, even before this week's major Israeli military incursion into Palestinian territories.

MARTIN INDYK, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO ISRAEL: He's got to work with the (UNINTELLIGIBLE), he's got to get Arafat to take actions, get Sharon to reciprocate those actions, implement the Tenet plan that they've already agreed to and then find a way to inject a political pathway that will give both sides hope that there is a negotiated solution to this horrible crisis.

KOPPEL: To help make a cease-fire stick this time, Zinni plans to discuss the possibility of sending in a small number of American monitors to verify compliance. But the idea isn't terribly new and wouldn't happen until the fighting stops.

U.S. officials say most of these monitors would likely be State Department officials, but there would also be an intelligence official or two and a U.S. military adviser who could serve as a weapons expert. The model is the now defunct Israel-Lebanon Monitoring Group whose members, out of concern for their safety, did not roam the streets but rather worked behind closed doors.

(on camera): For now the Bush administration says Zinni will remain in the region as long as he's making progress. His first hurdle, to get a full Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian territories, something which one State Department official said has greatly complicated Zinni's already difficult mission.

Andrea Koppel, CNN, at the State Department.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Let's start in Tel Aviv, the cosmopolitan heart of Israel. The beaches, night life, high tech industry. It's often called the Miami of the Middle East. For a long time it was felt that people here didn't feel the bombs and bullets the way people in other parts of Israel do, that it was somehow safer. Well, not anymore. There are attacks here as recently as last week. And people in this city are watching the Zinni visit very closely indeed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People are afraid. People are very afraid. My motto is your head will be always above the water. Don't sink.

HOLMES: You say you don't want to ride the bus for your own safety?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I mean even though the places that are blowing up now are coffee shops and what have you, but you know. Yes, it's not a way of life.

HOLMES: What are you as an Israeli hoping for from the Zinni visit?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I hope he can really do some changes around here. Because the situation is totally out of control.

HOLMES: Do you think a cease-fire would work here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nope.

HOLMES: Why not?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Never. Because they can't do it, you know, the Palestinians.

HOLMES: You don't think they could stick to a cease-fire?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

HOLES: What about Israelis? Do you think they could stick to a cease-fire?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I think so.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The leadership on both sides is very blood thirsty and very aggressive. You kill one of ours, we'll kill ten of yours. You kill ten of ours, we'll kill 100 of yours -- back and forth.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We only want to live here in peace. And I --

HOLMES: You guest used to the sound of helicopters, do you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. I enjoy the sound.

HOLMES: You feel protected when you hear that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have no choice. If they beat us once, we're kaput.

HOLMES: Do you feel that a cease-fire is possible. And would you like to see one?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are willing to cease-fire, and it doesn't look like they are. I mean, I wish.

HOLMES: To get the Palestinian perspective of the prospects of this visit, perhaps no better place to come than an Israeli check point leading from one of the Palestinian territories. We're at an entry and exit point from Bethlehem. The people here are very accustomed to the sound of tank shells and bullets. They're also very familiar with Anthony Zinni's visit, and they share the same hopes an fears as people in Tel Aviv.

HOLMES: You don't think he will achieve a cease-fire? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am scared. I am sorry.

HOLMES: Why are you scared? Are you scared?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of course. Of course. When you saw tanks around you and bullets from over my house to everywhere, of course, I'm scared.

HOLMES: Do you want them gone?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want them gone and we want them gone for good, not gone for one week, for two days after Zinni go back to America -- and they come back, return back.

HOLMES: What would you say to Mr. Zinni if you could speak with him?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Speak with him? To do everything he can to stop Arafat because we are tired very, very much.

HOLMES: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't feel good.

HOLMES: You don't feel good?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Because he come many times, he don't make anything.

HOLMES: So maybe this time you hope yes or --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We hope.

HOLMES: Are you confident?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But I don't believe he make something.

HOLMES: You don't believe he'll make anything?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: God first and Zinni second. God give us for life and God take us also. We should not fight each other.

HOLMES: Do you think it will work?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: En shahla (ph). It will be.

HOLMES: En shahla.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hope so...

HOLMES: God willing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... it will come.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: Alberto Vignieri from New York, New York asks: What is the difference between a prime minister and a president?

BRUCE MORTON, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The presidency, Mr. Vignieri, is an American invention. The men who wrote the Constitution wanted an executive in charge of the government, independent of the legislature, and the president would be elected, not by Congress, but by electors in each state. The Constitution set up three branches of government and lots of checks and balances. Only the Congress could pass a law but the president could veto what they passed but a two-thirds majority could override the veto and so on.

The system sometimes produced divided government. All through Ronald Reagan's two terms, the House of Representatives was Democratic, for instance. But over time, presidents have probably become more powerful than congresses. They dominate the news coverage, for one thing.

Prime ministers are in the legislature. Britain's Tony Blair ran in his district, not nationwide, but his Labor Party won nationwide and he, as its leader, became Prime Minister. He could lose if his party lost a new election or if the Labor MPs decided to replace him.

Conservative Margaret Thatcher's party didn't lose an election, instead, her fellow conservatives in Parliament decided to replace her and did.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCMANUS: Robert Mugabe wins the presidential election in Zimbabwe but comes under harsh criticism. The largest of the political groups observing last weekend's presidential election say conditions leading up to the vote did not allow for a free expression of will by the electors. International opinion is now divided over Mugabe's victory.

For more on the controversy, we have two reports beginning with Charlayne Hunter-Gault.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Led by former Nigerian Head of State General Abdulsalami Abubakar, the 42 members of the Commonwealth Observer Group fanned out throughout the country for the three days of voting. In their report, they cited a wide range of problems during the three days of voting but they said more importantly, in the campaign period leading up to the election. They included high levels of politically motivated violence and intimidation, mostly by members of the ruling party against members of the opposition, and failure of the police to act. A lack of transparency in the registration process, disenfranchising thousands. The observers also blamed the ruling party for using its incumbency to exploit state resources for the benefit of the campaign. Their conclusion was as unambiguous as their charges.

GENERAL ABDULSALAMI ABUBAKAR, COMMONWEALTH OBSERVER GROUP: All the foregoing brings us to the conclusion that the conditions in Zimbabwe did not adequately allow for a free expression of will by the electors.

HUNTER-GAULT: Later in the day, members of the powerful Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions accused the government of violating its constitutional rights of assembly by sending police agents to its first executive session following the elections.

LOVEMORE MATOMEO, PRESIDENT, ZIMBABWE CONGRESS OF TRADE UNIONS: This message is a message to the entire working people that labor movement is now under siege and that it is now up to the people of Zimbabwe, the working class of this country, to stand up and to fight for their freedoms and that they are right.

HUNTER-GAULT: The union leaders said they were not yet calling for a strike but were not ruling it out.

A police spokesman said the union was behaving like a political party and under a new law needed permission from the police for the meeting.

(on camera): Any expectation that the political temperature would be lower here after the election was over was clearly wishful thinking. And with Thursday's Commonwealth Observer Group report and British rejection of the election outcome, the international temperature is also on the rise.

Charlayne Hunter-Gault, CNN, Harare, Zimbabwe.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the British Parliament, dismay at Zimbabwe's tainted election result. Speaking to the House of Commons, the Foreign Secretary voiced government concerns over the outcome and at the fact some African countrie, notably South Africa, have initially welcomed Robert Mugabe's win.

JACK STRAW, BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY: Now there are those who have sought to suggest that this is a conflict between Africa and the West, black against white, South against North. I reject this totally.

CROWD: Here, here, here.

STRAW: At its heart, this is a matter of universal worldwide principle of the right of people wherever they live freely to determine their own future. It is that principle which has been flouted in Zimbabwe.

CHANCE: More international condemnation has come from the United States and from the European Union Observer Mission excluded from monitoring the election in Zimbabwe. EU heads of state are expected to discuss the ballot at a summit beginning Friday in the Spanish city of Barcelona. And the Commonwealth, an international body of former British colonies, of which Zimbabwe is a member, has also expressed concern. But with targeted sanctions already in place against Zimbabwe's leadership, it's unclear what further measures the international community may be willing to undertake.

DR. TODD MOSS, LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS: I think that the Western powers, the U.S. and U.K. in particular, will have to make a decision, really, about whether they're going to, in the end, accept Mugabe and try and goad him towards some kind of modest reforms, try and reverse the economic and political deterioration that we've seen in the country or whether they're going to go and really push him -- push his isolation even further with the intention that really that they need to topple him and that they've decided that Mugabe just can't be dealt with at this point. Obviously some of that will depend on what Mugabe does.

CHANCE: And as in Iraq, strengthening international sanctions in Zimbabwe may have the effect of increasing the hardships felt by ordinary people there, leaving their leaders in tact. That's a prospect the British government says it's at pains to avoid.

(on camera): Whatever the future political strategy, it's clear Zimbabwe will soon need much financial assistance from the outside world. In his bid for reelection, Robert Mugabe's virtual scorched earth economic policy has led to severe shortages at home, and observers say the pressures created by that may yet be enough to tame Zimbabwe's reelected president.

Matthew Chance, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

March 15, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) first voting machines authorized for use in New York State.

FREIDMAN: It's known as the Digital Divide, those who have and those who do not have access to technology. That dividing line is constantly being pushed further back as more people embrace computers and gain access to the Internet. One good example is an isolated Indian tribe in the Peruvian Amazon.

Harris Whitbeck went to visit.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Ashaninka Indians have inhabited the fringes of the Peruvian amazon for centuries. In 1999, however, their community, Moniketilaho (ph), plugged into modern times.

GERARDO ORTIZ, ASHANINKA TRIBAL LEADER (through translator): For us the Internet is a very important tool that allows our young people to find information and become professionals. WHITBECK: The Ashaninka learned their way of life could be marketable. They started to don traditional dress for rare visits from the outside world, and they created a Web site to tell others about themselves.

Fidel, who says he knows secrets of the jungle which could be used to cure illnesses like AIDS and cancer, thought he could use the Internet to attract patients from the outside. Many parents, meanwhile, began to see the Web as a means of ensuring the future of their children.

The Peruvian Ashaninka have gotten a taste of what life could be like if they were permanently connected to the rest of the world. But they've also realized that without access to basic services like electricity, living in the digital age will remain a distant dream.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: Exploring our world, here now is "CNN STUDENT NEWS" "Perspectives."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JANICE MCDONALD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sulma Morales and her friends Marlene and Alicia have grown up in the heart of what was once the capital of the Incan empire, Cuzco, Peru. They are Quechua, descendants of the Inca, a heritage they both are proud of and take for granted.

MARLENE QUISPE, AGE 18 (through translator): Why shouldn't we pass it on to our children? That's what they've always taught us. It started out with our ancestors and has been keep alive for centuries. It will continue to be that way forever.

MCDONALD: But if you listen closely, you will notice that some of the culture is already being lost. The girls are speaking in Spanish. The language of their parents is Quechua. Although Quechua and Spanish are both Peru's official languages, it's a language the girls and many of their friends speak only when they have to.

SULMA MORALES, AGE 18 (through translator): Most of us speak Quechua because our parents speak Quechua. They are the ones who encourage us to speak Quechua.

QUISPE (through translator): We don't study Quechua in school, never mind college, we learn it at home. From the day we are born, we hear our peasant parents' Quechua. We learn from them. At school they teach us our other language, Spanish.

MORALES (through translator): We only speak basic Quechua. We don't really speak it that well because at work they don't usually ask for Quechua speakers; they want other languages. The Quechua tradition is dying out.

MCDONALD: Peru's new president is among those who don't want to see that happen. Alejandro Toledo is also Quechua and proud of it. He's trying at least to slow the language loss.

ALEJANDRO TOLEDO, PRESIDENT OF PERU: I am going to reinstitute the Quechua as an option as a language in the school. We're not going to force anyone, but just as English or French, it's an option, with much more reason.

MCDONALD: He hopes the move will also spark interest in holding on to other traditions, traditions which seem old and passe when put up against the new things the young people are being exposed to via television and computers.

While home computers are rare in this poverty stricken country, cyber cafes such as this one are popping up all over. For three soles, or less than a dollar, you can spend an hour exploring the World Wide Web -- far more interesting to some than learning the ways of their ancestors.

ALICIA YUCRA, AGE 18 (through translator): We don't mean to say that our traditions are bad or good. We appreciate our culture and traditions, but believe that they should be as they are now.

QUISPE (through translator): Out of the traditions kept by our people, some are good and must be maintained by the younger generations as well. But there are other traditions, especially religious ones, which are bad. Those shouldn't exist anymore.

MCDONALD: The traditions of today are indeed evolving. Some things such as ancient building and farming methods are gone for good. Others, such as language and traditional dress, are hanging on. These teens want their lives to be a hybrid combining the past and the present.

YUCRA (through translator): I like my culture, and I wish to pass it on to my children. I want it to continue for generations to come, because I think it's interesting and that it should be promoted among other people, with changes, of course. That's an incentive for our culture and for more changes to be passed on from generation to generation.

MORALES (through translator): In other words, so that my children don't lose my tradition. Quite the contrary, that they have more and be more than what I am -- that my culture continue to prevail in them, but go beyond it.

MCDONALD: While their children will likely inherit less of their culture than they did, it's up to these girls and their generation to determine just what traditions will remain.

Janice McDonald, CNN NEWSROOM, Cuzco, Peru.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCMANUS: During the past six months, we brought you stories of survival and images of a nation drawn together by tragedy. September 11 changed our world. It altered our values and strengthened our will to help others. Our "Week in Review" is a tribute to those changes and to those who lost their lives in the horrifying event that started it all.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, MAYOR, NEW YORK CITY: Would you please now join me in a moment of silence?

It was exactly six months ago that this tragedy started.

(SINGING)

BLOOMBERG: This is just a temporary memorial, as will be the one that we'll dedicate this evening. The real memorial will be in our hearts. But in the end, we are human beings, and what we remember is the people that we lost and those they left behind, and their wish for a better America and a better world.

RUDOLPH GIULIANI, FORMER MAYOR, NEW YORK CITY: I realized that we had won the war against terrorism on that first day. We're now winning the battles, but we won the war, because of their bravery, their strength, their unwillingness to retreat in the face of the worst attack that we, as Americans, had ever seen.

(SINGING AND BELL TOLLING)

DONALD RUMSFELD, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: The attacks of September 11 were clearly a terrible tragedy, and our nation grieves for those who were lost and our hearts go out to their families, those in New York, in Pennsylvania, and yes, those of our friends and colleagues here at the Pentagon.

But from the ashes, hope springs. With the coming of spring, the Pentagon building is rising, and thanks to the truly outstanding effort of the workers, repairs are ahead of schedule.

Indeed, from the outside, the building looks like it's almost new.

(BELL RINGING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the 40 passengers and crew members of Flight 93, aware of the attacks at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, made the decision to fight back. And those actions, they transcended race, religion, nationality and responded together as defenders of freedom. Their valor ignited the human spirit and underscored the belief that in the course of human events individuals can make a difference.

(SINGING)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Six months separate us from September the 11th; yet, for the families of the lost, each day brings new pain, each day requires new courage. Your grace and strength have been an example to our nation. America will not forget the lives that were taken and the justice their death requires. History will know that day not only as a day of tragedy, but as a day of decision.

(SINGING)

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FREIDMAN: Are you having trouble staying awake in class? If you do, you're not alone. Surveys show there are a lot of sleepy students out there. A midday siesta break is pretty much out of the question for most schools, but there might be another solution to the problem.

CNN Student Bureau has this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIONA SEWLLY, CNN STUDENT BUREAU (voice-over): Dozing off in school has become such a big problem that many schools are considering new ways to allow students more sleep. Many schools have already switched to later start times, and school district surveys in Minnesota and Kentucky report that attendance among students has increased since the change.

CONSTANCIA WHITTEN, STUDNET: Well actually I think starting school an hour later works out well because it gives us the extra time in the mornings and most of us stay up pretty late as well as most teachers are here at school way past five anyway.

SEWLLY: According to a Gallup youth survey of teens ages 13 through 17, 7 out of every 10 students polled would rather start school later in order to get more sleep. Only 65 percent of students with above average grades would rather start later, while 75 percent of average or below average students think it's a good idea.

Jack Yates High School in Houston switched to a later start time in the year 2000 so students are now staying until 4:15 p.m.

DEADRICK JACKSON, STUDENT: I feel that we shouldn't get out of school later because a lot of people participate in after school activities and we don't get home until it's dark. It's a lot easier to practice and to communicate with our friends if we get out of school a lot earlier.

SEWLLY: Upper Saint Clair High School in Pittsburgh had a late start time up until 15 years ago.

MIKE (ph), TEACHER: I don't like later start time. I'm a morning person, the earlier the better. And I think everybody is more awake in the morning and able to do things at a better pace, at a higher quality, and I always like the earlier times and not the later.

SEWLLY: Some students say that the change would affect the latter part of their day negatively by not giving them enough time for after school activities and homework.

TRACY RANKIN, STUDENT: Getting out at 2:00 gives us like time for practice and to do homework and lots of time to get stuff done. So if school started later, there wouldn't be enough time in like the later part of the day.

CHRIS KELLY, STUDENT: I'm against a later start time because I think we should just rough it out in the morning, because that way we can get home nice and early and get our homework done and like have time to do something after school.

SEWLLY: So far, schools in Colorado, Oregon and Minnesota have already made the switch.

Miona Sewlly, CNN Student Bureau, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

"Where in the World?" 90 percent is Roman Catholic. Quechua is one of the official languages. Voting age is eighteen. Can you name this country? Peru.

MCMANUS: Peru was our answer to that "Where in the World" quiz. And now you know where that country is but find out more about it on the Web.

FREIDMAN: That's right. Take a field trip to Peru this weekend by logging on to CNNstudentnews.com and explore one of the greatest civilizations that ever lived, the Incan empire.

MCMANUS: Yes, great. And earlier in the program we saw how technology brings us all closer together. Well, we're doing the same thing here on the show, we want to hear your comments, questions and suggestions.

FREIDMAN: Send us an e-mail at CNNstudentnews@cnn.com. We want to hear from you so put something in our mailbag.

MCMANUS: And starting April 1, we will periodically feature some of your letters on the show. And though we can't respond to everyone, we will get to as many as possible.

And that is our show. Have a great weekend.

FREIDMAN: We'll see you here next week. Bye-bye.

MCMANUS: Bye-bye.

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