Return to Transcripts main page

CNN 10

CNN Student News

Aired July 22, 2002 - 04:00   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: We top the week and our show with a look at the rock bottom market. Just how low will the Dow go?

SHELLEY WALCOTT, CO-HOST: Then, a massive ground beef recall puts consumers on alert and prompts a look at food safety.

MCMANUS: And one of Shakespeare's great plays takes center stage in South Africa.

WALCOTT: And finally, getting paid to have fun. Our Student Bureau showcases a cool summer job for some budding young artists.

Welcome to your Monday. I'm Shelley Walcott.

MCMANUS: And I'm Michael McManus.

Wall Street braces for another possible drop.

WALCOTT: The world's markets are also watching nervously as trading gets underway. This, after Friday's destructive close of 390 points. The Dow Jones industrial average is now at its lowest level in nearly four years. And according to many financial experts, still has not bottomed out.

President Bush, meanwhile, has been talking up the economy and attempting to find the small bits of good news among what seems to be a sea of bad.

Suzanne Malveaux takes a look at the White House game plan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Bush was greeted warmly upon his return from Camp David, but he continues to face tough questions from an increasingly nervous public. More than 50 percent of Americans are invested in the stock market and now everyone wants to know when it will bounce back.

After two weeks, the market is down more than 14 percent. The White House is nervous about what to expect when the markets open Monday. The administration's strategy, get Mr. Bush out there, focus on the positive economic indicators, low interest rates, low inflation, and new growth.

But financial analysts have seen little benefit from the presidential cheerleading, stocks plummeting after his rallies in Alabama and on Wall Street. Dick Grasso, Chairman of the New York Stock Exchange had hoped investors would, in his words, "react very confidently to Mr. Bush's message," but he has since toned down his expectations.

DICK GRASSO, CHAIRMAN & CEO, NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE: You can't expect one speech on one day, where in the course of three weeks the marketplace to turn. It's a long-term project. I think it's being successfully deployed.

MALVEAUX: What about Congress' pending legislation aimed at cracking down on corporate abuse and beefing up auditing regulations? Is it likely to bring back investors and make a difference? Financial Analyst Pablo Galarza says no.

PABLO GALARZA, MONEY MAGAZINE: There's nothing President Bush can do. There's nothing Congress can do to help this market. The only thing that could help this market is for investors to regain confidence in the stock market.

(on camera): But the question is how do investors regain confidence in the markets? Analysts agree it can be determined by so many different things: revelations of more corporate abuse, events in the Middle East, even a possible terrorist attack.

Suzanne Malveaux, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALCOTT: Still nervous? Well, you're not alone. Investors riding the market's downward slide have been catching their breath all weekend.

Kathleen Koch went out and talked with some of them to see if a change in financial plans is in order.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It hasn't been smooth sailing for anyone with money in the stock market. Still, some investors like Mike Paulik aren't ready to jump ship.

MIKE PAULIK, INVESTOR: Like everybody else I'm down, but if I had money to put to work, I'm going to put it to work early next week.

I think if I don't, I'll probably miss the upside.

KOCH: Scott Sheridan, who sells boat tours at the Potomac, is also staying the course.

SCOTT SHERIDAN: I don't think anybody is getting good news. I think on Thursday or Friday they said there was not one stock that had gone up, so I'm just letting it ride, and I'm diversified enough that I think it's going to be not too bad.

KOCH: Some financial experts agree.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At least if they're in their 30s, early 40s, certainly if they're in their 20s, this is actually great news. I know I this sounds bizarre, but it's great news for them, because what it means is that stocks are on sale.

KOCH: But those getting closer to retirement age are worried.

TONI SIMPKINS, INVESTOR: I just stopped looking at my statements when they come in, and expect to be working a lot longer.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We haven't taken a vacation, which really upsets my children. But -- because we go on a vacation every summer.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's frightening to think that you could be flat broke in a week's time.

KOCH: And others back the call from the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission for jail time for corporate executives who lie to investors, spurring the latest downturn.

PAMELA WALKER, INVESTOR: I agree with that, as I read the daily paper and look at the different companies, and the, you know, the fraud and dishonesty and those kinds of things that have been going on in companies. I would say, yes, hard time.

KOCH: But though half of all Americans are invested in the stock market, half, like Wayne Alexander, aren't -- a happier half after Friday's plunge.

WAYNE ALEXANDER: I don't even know what happened. God's truth. Don't know what happened and don't care.

KOCH: Kathleen Koch, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALCOTT: If you plan to have a hamburger for lunch today, you'd better double check where the meat came from. ConAgra Beef is recalling millions of pounds of ground beef distributed in at least 21 states. Agriculture officials are trying to help consumers figure out whether they may have bought some of that meat.

CNN's Rea Blakey has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REA BLAKEY, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The class one recall, the most serious, means there's a reasonable probability of serious adverse health consequences, or death.

ANN VENEMAN, SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE: This action is being taken as a cautionary measure to ensure the protection of public health.

BLAKEY: More than 18 million pounds of ground beef products are being added to a previous smaller voluntary recall. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, in conjunction with the Centers for Disease Control, confirms 16 cases of E. coli bacteria infection in Colorado. Six other cases are suspected in five other states.

USDA tells CNN a routine random sample taken May 9 turned up positive for E. coli. That triggered daily samples for 15 days. The 12th day, another positive. Once it was determined that sample was from ConAgra's Greeley, Colorado plant, inspectors took another sample from an unopened package June 24. Five days later, the sample was confirmed positive for E. coli. June 30, ConAgra voluntarily recalled some 354,000 pounds of possibly tainted beef.

VENEMAN: We have been testing everything since July 11 with no positive results.

BLAKEY: But it's possible that potentially tainted product could be anywhere in the country.

DR. ELSA MURANO, USDA: Some of the product probably was opened up at the stores and repackaged and so forth, so it may be difficult for some consumers just to base what they do on looking for lot numbers or code numbers.

BLAKEY: Rea Blakey, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALCOTT: The national recall has put many consumers on alert, but food safety isn't really a new concern. In fact, Mike, you've been following this story for a while now, haven't you?

MCMANUS: Yes, I have. And for a lot more information, many of which you can read right online, go to our Web site, CNNSTUDENTNEWS.com.

Now recently most of the focus on food safety has been concerns about bioterrorism. And in the light of 9/11, safeguards make sense. But there are some ever-present dangers that we will need to think of as well.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MCMANUS: According to food safety expert Dr. Michael Doyle, we should be less concerned with possible terrorism and more concerned with natural bacteria killers like E. coli and salmonella.

DR. MICHAEL DOYLE, CENTER FOR FOOD SAFETY: We really need to be concerned about bacteria that -- harmful bacteria that have been around for years. We've known about salmonella, we've known about E. coli 0157.

MCMANUS: According to the Centers for Disease Control, food- borne illness strikes 76 million people each year. Of those, 325,000 end up in the hospital and over 5,000 people die as a direct cause of the food they consumed.

DOYLE: If people were to properly cook food, properly handle food, we would greatly minimize cases of food-borne illness.

MCMANUS: Zero cases is the goal for food processing facilities. They have strict guidelines in place to help prevent contamination by Mother Nature as well as human hands.

ANN VENEMAN, U.S. SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE: There is a lot of control in this country by our food manufacturers to make sure that they maintain the integrity of our food supply.

MCMANUS: This includes the instillation of video cameras, security fences, checkpoints and at many facilities, the ability to kill pathogens by both pasteurization of liquids and this machine which irradiates food.

DOYLE: Irradiation of foods is a good process. It does not make foods toxic. It's been proven to be safe by many different studies.

MCMANUS (on camera): The Department of Agriculture is also getting more involved. An increase in $327 million from Congress should allow for more checks and balances in the fight for food safety.

VENEMAN: They're to enhance our inspection systems, our food safety systems, our physical structure systems here. We run a lot of laboratories, for example, in USDA. And so we're now using that money to do the enhancements that were deemed to be necessary in a post- September 11 world.

MCMANUS (voice-over): Consumers aren't only depending on the federal government for safe food, many are taking matters into their own hands. Organic and natural food markets have seen a huge surge in popularity.

SCOTT ALLSHOUSE, WHOLE FOODS: As the customers become more aware of healthier lifestyles and also the importance of food issues such as growth hormones and artificial pesticides and herbicides.

AVANA (ph) PERKINS, CONSUMER: You kind of feel like you're taking time for yourself and you are rewarding yourself by putting good things in your body.

MCMANUS: In fact, the issue of mass-produced vegetables versus organic is so popular, it was recently parodied on "The Simpsons" television show.

LISA SIMPSON, "THE SIMPSONS": Mom, my potato is eating a carrot.

MARGE SIMPSON, "THE SIMPSONS": That's it. From now on, I'm growing all our vegetables myself.

MCMANUS: Jokes aside, one of the reasons for going organic seems to be safety, but one of the main concerns is still cost. DARDUN (ph) BINDER, CONSUMER: The biggest difference in price is really in milk. I think you're talking milk, a quart of milk that is organic is up to $3.79 at times and if I bought regular milk, it would be I think a third of that.

ALLSHOUSE: The trend in the industry is that the cost is decreasing. Again, as popularity increases, it's more a supply and demand.

MCMANUS: After bringing your groceries home, there are things you can do to keep the chances of getting sick to a minimum. Doyle says to thoroughly wash all fruits and vegetables before cooking or consuming, and he thinks the handling of meat is even more important.

DOYLE: Especially raw foods of animal origin such as ground beef. Cooking to a temperature -- an internal temperature of 160 degrees will make that food safe.

MCMANUS: The bottom line says Doyle, everyone has to eat. And though all the prevention out there can't stop every food-related illness, it's simple steps and slight changes that should make your meals a lot safer.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALCOTT: More than 4,000 people gathered in New York City last week to look at plans to rebuild the World Trade Center site. So what did they think?

Brian Palmer takes a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN PALMER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Roughly 4,000 people gathered in New York City to practice democracy of a sort.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm particularly interested in there being a pair of tall buildings.

PALMER: Weighing in on the sixth World Trade Center reconstruction proposals, ordinary New Yorkers, among them witnesses to and survivors of the attack. The final result of the listening to the city electronic town meeting, thumbs down for four of the plant to rebuild at the World Trade Center site, ranking them poor or unsatisfactory. And a marginal thumbs up for the two winners, the Memorial Plaza and the Memorial Promenade. Distinguished more by their comparatively low negative ratings, than by high positive ones.

In fact, the consensus was all six plants focused too heavily on commercial development, and not enough on public facilities.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We thought that there was far too much weight given to commercial development. I mean, with the high vacancy rates in commercial space in downtown now, I mean, why build all this office space that's not needed?

Plus, we think that it detracts from the idea of having the space be a public space, that's meant to beautify and uplift downtown.

PALMER: Others were less critical.

MILDRED CENTER, FORUM PARTICIPANT: I think the response has been great. I think the proposals they've done a good job of trying to address the needs, but the fact that they've opened it up to the people here to address. And a lot of the consensus is -- has been pretty general.

PALMER: Plan designers were instructed by the site's owner, the Port Authority, to include enough office and retail store area to replace the amount of space destroyed on September 11, and then some. 11 million square feet of office building space, 600,000 for stores, and a sizable chunk of real estate for a hotel.

ROBERT DAVIDSON, THE PORT AUTHORITY: We clearly take the message away. And I think that with a little bit more time, we could establish or develop the variety that the public is looking for.

PALMER (on camera): The rebuilders of the World Trade Center area are under no obligation to incorporate any other recommendations that come out of this event, into their final plans. They have promised to listen.

Brian Palmer, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALCOTT: To see initial plans for the World Trade Center site, head to our Web site, CNNSTUDENTNEWS.com. So far, most of you seem to favor the Memorial Garden proposal. Click on "Quick Vote" to have your opinion heard.

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

MCMANUS: We've got a great lineup for you this week in "Perspectives" and it's all about Africa, a continent rich in culture but lacking resources in many areas.

One of the more pressing challenges facing African countries is improving the quality of life. Organizations like Habitat for Humanity, a nonprofit Christian organization, have been trying to do just that. The effort in South Africa is the culmination of its largest project ever, to build 1,000 homes in 18 African countries this year alone.

CNN's Charlayne Hunter-Gault has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These hills are alive with the sound of building. One hundred houses in a week, thanks to more than 4,000 volunteers from all over the world, including Indiana.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're a friend to Africa.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah, great.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And it's wonderful -- wonderful.

HUNTER-GAULT: Doing her part, the widow of American baseball hero Jackie Robinson.

RACHEL ROBINSON, HABITAT VOLUNTEER: He would think I was insane, but he would be proud.

HUNTER-GAULT: Near by, first, one former president, Kenneth Kaunda, of neighboring Zambia, and then another. For 19 years, the Carter family has spent one week out of every year building houses somewhere in the world. This one is for Maumbo Emkiza (ph) and his family of four.

JIMMY CARTER, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The worst problem that the world faces, in my opinion, in this new millennium, is a growing chasm between rich people and poor people. It's not only very severe and very deep and very wide, but it's getting worse every year. We need to share what we have with others.

HUNTER-GAULT: The Durban mayor welcomed the sentiment and the project.

MAYOR OBED MLABA, DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA: The whole concept brings back our old African tradition, and that is that of working together when you're building a house, when you're harvesting in the fields as one community.

HUNTER-GAULT: The mayor says this program provides a model for speeding up housing delivery. The black-led government has built more than a million houses since coming to power in 1994. Still, more than seven million people live in shacks; one of them, Patience Lisa (ph), a 36-year-old domestic worker who earns less than the equivalent of about $100 per month. She lives here with her 13-year-old son, who has to study by candlelight because there's no electricity.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's very, very tough. Tough, tough, tough, tough.

HUNTER-GAULT: But patience has paid off for Patience, thanks to a loan from Habitat and her hard work, this is most of her new house. By Saturday it will be her home.

(on camera): Among other things, this exercise brings to a close still another chapter in the ugly history of apartheid. Blacks were forcibly from areas like this near the city to make room for whites. Now, blacks and whites are joining hands to bring them home again.

Charlayne Hunter-Gault, CNN, Durban, South Africa.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCMANUS: Well that's appropriate today seeing as the writings of William Shakespeare are read and performed more now than when his plays were shown to sold out audiences more than 400 years ago. Well, you can add another country to the list of those enraptured with the bard, South Africa.

Now earlier we heard about building efforts in that nation. Now, a look at cultural rebirth, an usual production of one of Shakespeare's classics.

Here again is Charlayne Hunter-Gault.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Recognize this character? Of course you don't. But here's another clue. OK, no more clues. Try Shakespeare's Julius Caesar -- only transported to Africa, he becomes Sezar, like no other Caesar, and being praised in death by Marc Antony like no other.

YAEL FARBER, DIRECTOR, "SEZAR": It was an exceptionally rich process. The iambic pentameter and Elizabethan verse is so deep and rich in its poetry when it's actually released by an actor and company who understand what they're saying.

HUNTER-GAULT: Not that they always did.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: I did Shakespeare at school. That's 100-old years ago. And...

HUNTER-GAULT: I can see that.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: And I didn't understand anything that I was reading. Constantly you have to go to the dictionary, you lose concentration. Now, I do it in my own language sometimes, and it's so beautiful, the poetry in the language, the flow of the language. Now I know that Shakespeare write in 10 syllables.

You have, ungentle Brutus, stole from my bed. (speaks in African language)

HUNTER-GAULT: And why did they change the name to Sezar?

FARBER: Because most importantly, we changed the title so that we could earn it. And that's really what it's about, it's about, say, yes, this is a European or Western story, but we're going to tell it our way. And with an African sensibility.

Not just managing Shakespeare, but actually grabbing it by the throat, and wringing every drop out of it and carrying it with such conviction.

HUNTER-GAULT (on camera): All the actors who are on this stage are big-time television stars with big-time followings, and they're hoping that they will be able to lure some of them back to inner-city theaters like this one that were closed at the end of apartheid and open doors to young people who may be struggling as they once did to understand Shakespeare. Charlayne Hunter-Gault at the Market Theater, Johannesberg, South Africa.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCMANUS: And our cultural trip to Africa continues tomorrow, this time in "Chronicle" as we take a look at a theater company making international strides. Join us as we follow the steps of "African Footprints."

Summer is a great time to earn some money before returning to school in the fall. In a creative alternative to typical summer employment, an Atlanta arts program is offering students the opportunity to study art under the guidance of professionals. And this is a bonus, receive a salary for their hard work.

CNN's Student Bureau's Julia Levy takes a look at a visual arts program and its success.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JULIA LEVY, CNN STUDENT BUREAU (voice-over): Modern day teen apprentices have been commissioned by the city of Atlanta. Selected for ARTScool, a summer school for budding young artists, these teens are learning for their future.

TIFFANI BRYANT, ARTSCOOL DIRECTOR: It's pretty intensive. Very competitive because they basically have to go in and sell themselves why they want this job.

LEVY: From 195 applicants, 30 were selected to train with professionals. Their reward: getting paid to have fun.

INA WILLIAMS, AGE 17: When I would be doing my art form, which is always good, but then I would be getting paid to do my art form which is 10 times better.

ANNA HAMER, ARTSCOOL OIL PAINTING MENTOR: Everyone's very nervous at first because you don't know what to expect, you know. You're just like a big sponge and you're like, OK, I'm going to soak all this stuff up but what exactly am I going to learn, you know. And everyone's a little bit shy and a little bit nervous, but it really is like a progression. It's almost like a painting taking shape, you know, you start out with a blank canvas. So by the end of the program, even the work, you can see the work is more confident, the kids are more confident, the work is great, you know, and they're feeling good about it.

LEVY: Six weeks later the canvas is complete, the students are confident and the accomplishments are hanging in a gallery.

The central theme of the exhibition: "Growing into the Extraordinary."

BRYANT: With only five to six kids per studio, they receive a lot of individual attention and that lends to more learning, more growth.

KOJO GRIFFIN, FORMER ARTSCOOL MENTOR: And they're doing something that allows them to possibly move on to the next level as artists or even, you know, think about pursuing a career as an artist.

LEVY (on camera): These student artists are getting professional experience and exposure today to become the artists of tomorrow. And they're learning to give back. The money from this year's gallery exhibition pays for next year's apprentices.

(voice-over): Artistic and personal growth has sprouted from the seed that was planted by the mentors.

HAMER: You know to have someone who knows the business a little bit and knows about art to take an interest in you and give you a little guidance, it's worth a million bucks.

NISSA DANIELS, AGE 14: It's really cool to know that you're improving somebody's abilities by teaching them, because you know, they're a better artist because of you and that must be the best feeling in the world.

WILLIAMS: It's about teaching. And whatever I was blessed enough to be exposed to, it's my responsibility to teach that to the people who follow.

LEVY: It is through the support of the community which the program thrives.

LINDA HINCH, ARTSCOOL SUPPORTER: Last year was good. This year's going to be outstanding. And so I came back to see what they had and I was not disappointed because I got this piece of work and it reminded me of my daughter and her three friends.

LEVY: That initial investment is beyond monetary value.

BRYANT: If I look at you and I see you can do it and if I think you can do it and if you realize that you can do it, then we've accomplished more than we ever dreamed of accomplishing. That's the best part of the program.

LEVY: Julia Levy, CNN Student Bureau, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALCOTT: You know this September the South African version of "Sesame Street" will introduce an HIV positive character to its colorful Muppet cast.

MCMANUS: Creators say the new Muppet will help educate children about AIDS and work through its negative stigma. Now for the full story, log on to CNNSTUDENTNEWS.com and click on "News For You."

WALCOTT: Time to get out of here and give you plenty of time to surf our site. We'll see you tomorrow.

MCMANUS: Bye-bye. Have a good one.

WALCOTT: Bye.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com