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Egypt`s Interim Government Cracks Down on Morsy Supporters; Unpaid Internships
Aired August 16, 2013 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BEN TINKER, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, everyone. It`s Friday, and you are watching CNN STUDENT NEWS. I`m Ben Tinker, in today for Carl Azuz. We are wrapping up our first week of the school year with a medical story, a salary question, and a new heir to the throne. But first, we`re going to Egypt. Yesterday, we reported on the latest violence happening in the North African country. More than 500 people were killed there on Wednesday. More than 3,700 others were injured.
This all happened during fighting between security forces and protesters. CNN`s Reza Sayah has more from Cairo.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REZA SAYAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For weeks, Egypt`s military backed interim government had promised to crush a six-week-long sit-in demonstration in support of the ousted president, Mohammed Morsy. On Wednesday, they delivered, with a ferocious crackdown. Authorities claim initially they used tear gas and water cannons to scatter protesters, but that was followed by gunfire. They say Morsy supporters fired first, and they were forced to fire back. Whoever started it, the gunfire lasted for hours. Security forces steadily pushed in, and behind makeshift barriers, Morsy supporters desperately held on.
At a nearby hospital and makeshift clinic, there was little room for the mounting casualties. Three volunteer doctors claim security forces stormed the hospital and forced out the medics, effectively leaving scores of bloody bodies in government custody.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They put their guns in our faces and said you have to leave in five minutes. And we told them that there were many people, many (inaudible) people bleeding inside the hospital (ph). And they said it`s not your business and go out now.
SAYAH: By roughly 6:00 p.m., security forces had taken full control of the sit-in, bulldozing hundreds of tents and torching protesters` belongings. Thousands of angry Morsy supporters, many of them walking wounded, left in despair. For Egypt`s military backed interim government, it was mission accomplished at a steep cost, but the fury of Morsy backers and the Muslim Brotherhood signaled a movement determined to keep fighting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TINKER: Leaders around the world have spoken out against the violence in Egypt. That includes President Barack Obama. After all, the U.S. and Egypt are allies. That means they support each other and work together. Yesterday, the president talked about how the crisis in Egypt could affect that relationship.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, we want to sustain our relationship with Egypt. Our traditional cooperation cannot continue as usual when civilians are being killed in the streets and rights are being rolled back. As a result, this morning we notified the Egyptian government that we are canceling our biannual joint military exercise, which was scheduled for next month. Going forward, I`ve asked my national security team to assess the implications of the actions taken by the interim government, and further steps that we may take as necessary with respect to the U.S.-Egyptian relationship.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: See if you can ID me. I am an organism whose name comes from the Greek word for change. I only have one cell. In fact, I am so small that you can only see me with a microscope. I use pseudopodia, a kind of false foot, to move.
I`m an ameba, and some of my species can cause diseases in people.
TINKER: A 12-year-old in Florida is fighting for his life against a disease he contracted from a rare ameba. Earlier this month, Zachary Rainer (ph) was knee-boarding in a water-filled ditch near his house. His parents got worried when he slept the entire next day. Doctors say Zachary was attacked by naegleria fowleri, which is sometimes called a brain-eating ameba. This ameba is usually found in fresh water, lakes and rivers. People get infected when contaminated water goes up their nose. Then, the ameba travels to the person`s brain and starts attacking tissue there. Now, we should note, these infections are very rare. In fact, between 2001 and 2010, there were only 32 reported cases in the United States, but in those rare instances, the consequences were often fatal. In the past 50 years, only 3 people have survived after contracting this ameba. Zachary Rainer`s family is hoping he will be number four.
Next up, internships. Some of you may have had one over the summer, or maybe you`ve heard about an older friend in college getting this kind of real, on-the-job work experience. What you might not know is that not all interns get paid. One recently resorted to crowd sourcing, asking for help online to pay her bills. Erin McPike looks into whether interns should get an income.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Calling all benefactors. Would you spare a nickel to pay for this UNLV student`s living expenses while she interns for Harry Reid in Washington this fall? Jessica Patrone (ph) went online to beg for help in paying for food and shelter while she toils away with no pay. Otherwise, she says she will miss out on this once-in-a- lifetime chance to take advantage of this crucial career move without loans.
Ironic, because plenty of lawmakers here are constantly fighting to raise the federal minimum wage, but in their own offices, they are not even paying some of their hardest workers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Only Congress, among anybody in the federal government, only Congress is allowed to use unpaid interns, because they have explicitly written an exemption for themselves into the law.
MCPIKE: And it`s not just Washington looking for free labor. Lots of those glamorous Hollywood internships don`t pay either. Eric Flatt (ph) worked for free on the blockbuster hit "Black Swan," but he later sued, complaining it was unfair to pay him nothing. He warns that only rich kids can score prestigious internships. But the Employment Policies Institute`s Michael Saltsman warns mandating internships be paid could rob everyone of the experience.
MICHAEL SALTSMAN, EMPLOYMENT POLICIES INST.: I think it`s crucial that we maintain a situation where interns don`t have to be paid. I think if we do have a situation like that, you have employers who may decide it`s not worth the hassle.
MCPIKE: And these jobs are not all full of copies, coffee and mail rooms. One intern asked a question at the White House briefing, and several reached fame for sprinting right out of the Supreme Court with copies of crucial rulings. But even if it`s not that quite that glamorous, there is pressure just to get one.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All I hear from the career center at school is, internships are almost a necessary thing now. It`s not - your resume needs to have internships on it when you graduate, or you`re way, way behind.
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TINKER: Interns and income. That`s our first blog post of the new school year, at cnnstudentnews.com. Remember, you have to be at least 13 years old to comment on our blog. Tell us what you think about the issue, but only tell us your first name. Please, no last names, schools, or city names on the blog.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s time for the shoutout. In what country will you find Trafalgar Square, the cliffs of Dover and Stonehenge? If you think you know it, then shout it out. Are they in Greece, New Zealand, Canada, or the United Kingdom? You`ve got three seconds, go.
Those landmarks are in the United Kingdom. That`s your answer and that`s your shoutout.
TINKER: And the British royal family reigns over all of those landmarks and everything else in the United Kingdom. The UK is a constitutional monarchy, so the royal family doesn`t actually control the government, but it does get a lot of attention in the United Kingdom and all over the world. Our weeklong recap of summer news stories wraps up with the newest royal addition.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TINKER: On Monday, July 22nd, Catherine the duchess of Cambridge and her husband, Prince Williams, welcomed their first child. Prince George Alexander Louis was born at 4:24 p.m., weighing eight pounds, six ounces. The world waited in anticipation to catch a glimpse of the new prince. But they didn`t wait long. He made his first public appearance on his second day in the world.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There`s the baby, the new royal heir in the United Kingdom.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He`s got a good pair of lungs on him, that`s for sure. He`s a big boy, he`s quite heavy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s a special time. I think any parent having (inaudible) sort of know what this feeling (inaudible).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very special.
TINKER: Thanks to a new law, the royal couple`s baby, whether it was a boy or a girl, would be third in line for the British throne, but it might be a while before Prince George gets to rule. Right now, his great grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, still reigns. Next in line is his grandfather, Prince Charles, and then his dad, Prince William. The little prince is not in a hurry, though. He has some growing up to do first.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TINKER: Back in March, Josh Roggles (ph) won a three-point shooting contest by hitting 13 of 15 shots. For this YouTube video, he added a zero to the end of those numbers. Josh sank 135 three`s in just five minutes. He only missed 12 shots. The math on this, 147 total attempts in 300 seconds; one shot launched every 2 seconds; and Josh nailed nearly 92 percent of them. The high school junior`s 135 makes set a new unofficial record. Now, listen, I don`t know if he was trying to court attention, but that video sure helped him net some, don`t you think? And if there ever was a question about his shooting skills, well, I think he made his point, all 405 of them. Congratulations, Josh.
That`s where the clock runs out on us today. I`m Ben Tinker, in for Carl Azuz. Have a great weekend.
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