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Fires in Idaho Threaten Thousands of Homes; 1972 Miami Dolphins Team Visits White House; Smart Spiderwebs
Aired August 21, 2013 - 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: On the anniversary of Hawaii`s statehood, we say aloha, and welcome to CNN STUDENT NEWS. My name is Carl Azuz, and during the next 10 minutes, we`ve got dolphins, spiders and dogs. But first, we`re following up on a situation in Northern Africa. We`ve been talking about the violence in Egypt recently, fighting between security forces and protesters has led to hundreds of deaths. The protesters are supporters of former President Mohammed Morsy and his Muslim Brotherhood Party. The Egyptian government has been arresting members of the Muslim Brotherhood. Around 100 of them were taken into custody yesterday. That includes Mohammed Badie, the group`s spiritual leader.
There`s been some talk about how other countries might be able to influence what`s happening in Egypt, countries like the U.S. Egypt and the U.S. are allies. Part of that relationship involves military aid. The U.S. gives Egypt around $1.2 billion in aid, but it does not give the money directly to Egypt. The money goes into U.S. Federal Reserve, and the Fed turns around and gives it to U.S. companies that build weapons and parts for Egypt. There`s talk of U.S. stopping that aid to try to reduce the violence in Egypt. Some experts argue that a change like that wouldn`t really have much of an impact.
Heading over to the U.S. now, where emergency crews in Idaho have spent two weeks trying to get a fire under control. Idaho, not the only state dealing with this kind of severe weather right now. You can see the different spots on this map where wildfires are burning. Areas in pink are where the conditions could cause new fires to spread.
Idaho is dealing with some of the worst of this, and some people are trying creative ways to fight back, like snow making guns. They`d normally be used to make more powder for the slopes; now they are being drafted into the fight against fires. Dan Simon has more on the efforts to get these flames under control.
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DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fire continuing to ravage one of the country`s most scenic spots. A drive through the mountains, and you can understand why many celebrities like Tom Hanks, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Bruce Willis choose this area to build multi-million dollar vacation homes. And why some insurance companies call in their own firefighters to help prevent a calamity.
But as a Red Cross official told me-
NICOLE IRWIN, AMERICAN RED CROSS: Many people think this is an affluent area, and it is, but there are many people who are affected by this that are from different socioeconomic backgrounds, and that is who`s staying with us.
SIMON: Staying in a shelter like this high school, where we met Orlanda Cabrito.
ORLANDA CABRITO, EVACUEE: I think just not knowing, I think the outcome of whether we`re going to be able to go home or if we`re going to have a home. I think that is the most nerve-wracking.
SIMON: The Beaver Creek fire is a true beast, spreading across an area larger than the city of Denver.
Surrounded by bone-dry trees and brush, it`s clear this fire could keep burning for a very long time. The key is to keep the flames away from homes, but the wind has a way of pushing the fire in different directions.
BETH LUND, FIRE INCIDENT COMMANDER: We have plenty of resources right now, and it`s just a matter of having people in the right place at the right time, which I believe we do at this point in time. It`s just a lot of work to go ahead and get this thing contained.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: See if you can ID me. I am an Asian country that has one of the world`s largest populations. I am located between India and Afghanistan. My capital city is Islamabad.
I am Pakistan, and my current president took office in 2008.
AZUZ: The previous president, Pervez Musharraf, controlled Pakistan`s government for nearly nine years. Now he`s facing criminal charges over something that happened while he was in office. Pakistan`s government is a federal republic. That means voters elect their government representatives, but the military has a lot of power in Pakistan. Musharraf was the head of the Pakistani army in 1999. He led a coup, a military takeover of the country`s government. He was president until 2008, when he resigned. The charges he`s facing now are connected to a different Pakistani leader. Benazir Bhutto was Pakistan`s first female prime minister. She served two separate terms in that office. She left Pakistan after her second term, but in 2007, she came back to run for office again. In December of that year, Bhutto was assassinated, and Pervez Musharraf is being charged in connection with her death. Murder. Criminal conspiracy to murder, and facilitation of murder. Musharraf denies any involvement in Benazir Bhutto`s death, but he was indicted on those charges in court this week. This is the first time an ex-military leader has ever been indicted with a crime in Pakistan. Pervez Musharraf is currently under house arrest.
Roll call, who`s watching CNN STUDENT NEWS today? Let`s head to the map and check out the roll call. First up, Pueblo, Colorado, home of the Cornerstone Cougars at Cornerstone Learning Academy. Next up, the North Bullitt Eagles. They`re watching in Shepherdsville (ph), Kentucky, thank you. And we`re rolling right along to call out the Oroville High School Tigers in Oroville, California.
Teachers, if you want to get in the roll call running, the details are at cnnstudentnews.com.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s time for the shoutout. What is the only NFL team to achieve an undefeated season? If you think you know it, then shout it out. Is it the 49ers, Dolphins, Cowboys or Patriots? You`ve got 3 seconds, go.
The 1972 Miami Dolphins were the only team to finish the perfect season with a Super Bowl win. That`s your answer and that is your shoutout.
AZUZ: It`s now a sort of American tradition. The team that wins the Super Bowl gets to visit the White House. But it wasn`t a tradition back in 1972, when the Miami Dolphins became and remain the only NFL team to go undefeated. For the past 15 years, a former Dolphins tightend has been pushing to get his team presidential recognition. He saw other Super Bowl winners visiting with presidents; he thought why not his own team. Four decades later, most of the 1972 championship team made their White House visit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In 1972, these guys were a juggernaut. They had a grinding running game that wore opponents down. They became the first team ever with 2000-yard rushes. They had the league`s best offense, they had the league`s best defense.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: Next story today, smartphones. Smart boards, smart homes, smart spider webs? It`s not an upgrade. It`s something that some of the world`s infamous arachnids might have had all along. A researcher noticed that his daughter`s toy magic wand actually attracted spiderwebs, meaning the webs kind of reached out toward it. So he set out to find out what else could attract them.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AZUZ: There is a reason spiders get a bad rap. If the creepy-crawly factor doesn`t bug you, there`s the whole catch, bundle, poison and eat thing that just turns a lot folks off. Of course, there is the popular type that scurries around New York, catching criminals in a web of justice. But the real thing is far less likable, and some researchers think they found another weapon up a spider`s eight sleeves. It`s in the webs themselves. Yes, they`re sticky, they are intricate, they are hard for unsuspecting insects to see. But according to a recent study, their threads might take an active role in insects` capture. Not just hanging out, but actually arching out toward potential prey. A finding by two scientists at UC Berkeley described how this could work.
An unsuspecting bee is flying near a spiderweb. He`s got a small electrical charge caused by his wings beating in the air. The threads of the web may respond to this charge, moving in such a way that brings them a little closer to the bee, possibly increasing the chances the bee will be caught. Now, we`re not talking about a huge distance for the web. It may move just a millimeter or two. It`s not lashing out like a frog`s tongue at a passing fly. And it`s not known yet if this is true for all spiderwebs.
This study was done in the web of a common garden spider. But just the idea that spiderwebs may be an even stickier menace than previously thought has caught a lot of scientists in a web of excitement.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AZUZ: Teachers, you want resources, we`ve got resources. Now we have them all in one place. At cnnstudentnews.com, click on the teaching tools bin. That is where you`ll find our daily show transcript, maps related to stories in the show, and our daily curriculum featuring the media literacy question of the day. It`s all there, it`s all free. Cnnstudentnews.com, teachers, you`re going to love it.
Previous story took you to the White House. We`re going back there now for a look at the newest dog on the block. It`s Sonny, the latest addition to the first family. Bo walked onto the scene in 2009 after President Obama promised to give his daughters a new pet if he was elected. Now Bo has a canine companion. He`ll probably show her the ropes and leave Sonny with a chance to learn what it`s like to be the top dog. Might just make it his own pet project. So will the dogs get along? The outlook certainly seems sunny, but only time will tail. I just hope the first pets don`t ignore each other, because that would be an impoochable (ph) offense. We told you yesterday we`d fetch some more puns for today; doggone it, that is exactly what we did. I`m Carl Azuz. Have a great rest of the day.
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