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Obama Talks About Possibility of Deployment U.S. Troops to Middle East; Investigating Who Shot Malaysian Airplane Over Ukraine; NFL under Investigation for Illegal Use of Painkillers; Corporations Influencing Elections; Apprenticeship Program Help Students Avoid College Costs

Aired November 18, 2014 - 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: Hi. I`m Carl Azuz. This Tuesday on commercial free CNN STUDENT NEWS we are starting in the Middle Eastern nation of

Syria.

The ISIS terrorist group controls about a third of Iraq and Syria. It released a message over the weekend, that it had murdered another American.

Peter Kassig was a 26-year old U.S. medical worker and former Army ranger. He was helping victims of Syria`s civil war when ISIS captured him in Syria

more than a year ago.

President Obama called Kassig`s murder pure evil.

He`s repeatedly said the U.S. wouldn`t send combat ground troops to fight ISIS, but some U.S. military advisors have said that might be necessary and

in the worst case scenario the president may change his stance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: There are always circumstances in which the United States might need to deploy U.S. ground

troops. If we discovered that ISIL had gone possession of a nuclear weapon and we had to run an operation to get it out of their hands then yes, you

can anticipate that not only would Chairman Dempsey recommend me sending U.S. ground troops to get that weapon out of their hands, but I would

order.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ: Four months after a plane carrying 298 people crashed in Ukraine, wreckage is being removed from the crash site, and in international

investigation has started.

Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was traveling from Amsterdam, Netherlands to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It was over Eastern Ukraine when it was shot down

on July 17. Everyone on board was killed. The U.S. and other Western nations blamed rebels who favor Russia and they are fighting Ukraine for

independence. The rebels themselves and the nation of Russia say Ukrainian forces shut down the plane. Investigators hope to find out who is right.

It kind of makes sense that you`d find cowboys and cowgirls in the American west. So, that`s where we are starting today in Prineville, Oregon. It`s

great to have you watching at Crook Towny High School. Now, north. It`s a first time we`ve called in a school in Michigan`s Upper Peninsula at

Hancock Central High School. The bulldogs are in Hancock. And we`ll wrap things up today in Bonaire, Georgia. We`ve got the Jaguars on the roll at

Bonaire Middle School.

After their games on Sunday, several NFL teams were visited by agents of the U.S. drug enforcement administration. It`s mission is to enforce the

nation`s drug laws. And it`s investigating the NFL because hundreds of former players say they were given pills without prescriptions.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN MCFAYDEN, HLN SPORTS CORRESPONDENTS: The DEA agents targeted teen medical staffs looking for a legal prescription: drugs. The 49ers and

Buccaneers were inspected, and the Super Bowl champion Seahawks were also reportedly visited by DEA agents.

This is all part of an ongoing investigation into potential violations of the controlled substances act. The searches were done without warrants,

and no one is expected to be arrested. The reasoning for the inspection`s team from a lawsuit filed in May by more than 1,000 retired NFL players who

claim they were illegally given painkillers to keep them on the field.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: In the 20 century, a number of federal election campaign laws were passed to the U.S. The intent, to limit the ability of wealthy people or

organizations to use money to influence an election.

But four years ago, the Supreme Court ruled that political spending is a form of political speech, that it`s protected by the First Amendment and

that the government cannot regulate it. There are still some rules. For instance, corporations cannot directly work with the campaigns themselves.

In April, Democrats were accused of using Twitter to break that rule. They are not the only political party under the microscope.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS MOODY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, in 2010, the Supreme Court ruled that (INAUDIBLE) corporations or unions could spend as much as they want on

political speech to influence election, as long as they didn`t coordinate directly with the campaigns or the campaign committees. Smart liars have

been trying to find ways to send signals between campaigns and these outside groups that are all spending money for the same goal, and that is

to get someone elected.

Outside groups, including American Crossroads and the American Action Network collaborated with the National Republican Congressional Committee

in order to share pulling data.

So, because campaigns cannot coordinate officially with outside groups, what these groups did, they set up public Twitter accounts that no one

knows about in order to post polling data and polling numbers in a secret code that you can only read if you had the formula. And they would post

this polling data on these Twitter accounts. One of these accounts was named after Bruno Gianelli (ph), which is the name of a fictional character

on the show West Wing. He argued in favor of using soft money to pedal issue campaigns.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is - I tried to influence the outcome of the election. So you can`t use soft money, period.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Zip doodah (ph) Sam.

MOODY: Here`s an example tweet. It says, cana 48/36-50/17-30/30-NA-10, slash 28, slash 14, dash 21. What does that mean? Right? We guess

possibly that California is the state and the number at the end, 21 is the district and then the polling in the middle is the top line numbers.

After I`ve got win to this, I emailed a spokesperson for NRCC and the other groups and literally minutes after I sent the email, all of the accounts

were deleted.

We`ve exposed a couple of these Twitter accounts, but there`s nothing stopping other campaigns or outside groups from doing this in the future.

So, as long as these groups continue to hide their information in plain sight.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Time for "The Shoutout." Including room and board, what`s the average sticker price to attend an in-state public college? If

you think you know it, shout it out!

Is it $7,000 a year? $9,000 a year, $12,000 or $19,000. You`ve got three seconds, go.

According to the College Board, tuition and room and board combined were just under $19,000 per year. That`s your answer and that`s your

"Shoutout."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: Significantly more expensive if you attended out of state or private school, but what`s key here is sticker price. The College Board says most

students won`t pay that. They`ll get grants, financial aid and scholarships to help with the cost.

Still, college is tens of thousands of dollars, and all this week, we are looking at ways that students can keep those costs down.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: 19-year old Alex Bowles is paid to attend college. And he is paid to be here, too.

ALEX BOWLES, THIRD-YEAR APPRENTICE: My bigger thing in high school, I was really kind of worried about, even if I go to a four-year college, I`m not

going to be able to pay for it. I don`t want to be in debt my entire life, you know, and then I kind of heard about the program and I was like, free

college.

ROMANS: Alex is one of 51 participants in apprenticeship 2000. A program funded by North Carolina manufacturing companies that provides a technical

education and a job to qualified students.

Ameritech is one of the corporate partners looking to fill high-skilled manufacturing jobs.

(on camera): I hear so much from executives: they can`t find skilled labor. They look at a place like this, they can`t get the people to fill

those jobs. You found a solution in apprenticeships.

STEVEN ROTMAN, PRESIDENT, AMERITECH: We have. And we`ve been very successful at it.

ROMANS: That`s a real investment for you.

ROTMAN: Huge investment for a small company.

ROMANS (voice over): Supported by paying for their tuition at Central Piedmont Community College and providing them with a weekly paycheck.

(on camera): The typical age of a manufacturing worker in this country is like 56 years old. I mean if you are complaining about a lack of skilled

labor, you have to be investing on the front end.

CHRIS PAYNTER, CENTRAL PIEDMONT COMMUNITY COLLEGE: These are very rigorous programs. They require a high level of math, the high level of physics,

but in addition to those theoretical topics, a lot of hands-on experience to working with the machinery, working in the labs, working with their

instructors to master the craft of these high tech fields.

ROMANS: They`ve got a job on the other end.

PAYNTER: Right. They have a job waiting for them when they finish the associate`s degree in mechatronics after four years. They study part time,

and they work part time as well.

ROMANS: A 24-year old coming through this program now had a couple of years on the floor. How much money are they making?

PAYNTER: They are in the 50 or 60,000 a year range. They have full paid health insurance, they have a 401(k) program.

ROMANS: And no student debt?

PAYNTER: They have vacation paid.

ROMANS: And no student debt.

(voice over): Managing a job and an education leaves little room for the social aspect of a typical four-year on campus experience. But the

financial benefits give the apprentices an advantage over their peers.

(on camera): Most kids are going through school thinking how am I going to borrow more money? You can buy a car.

PAYNTER: Oh, yeah.

(LAUGHTER)

PAYNTER: Actually, what I`m doing is, I`m trying to actually save up for a house, so - I can move out and be on my own, which not a lot of 21-year

olds can say, oh yeah, I got this house. The more you look into it, you`re like oh man, this is so much more than just a ticket through college. This

is like the life. This is a career you can build off of.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: Lot of church services last about an hour with the sermon included. Not this one. A pastor in Florida was going for the Guinness world record

for longest speech ever. And after 53 hours and 18 minutes and around 45 combined sermons, he got it. 31-year old Zack Zender (ph) was only allowed

a five minute break every hour. And he didn`t just take home a record, he raised money for a group that helps people overcome drug addictions.

One thing no one needed to shout when they got the record: speech: he was never at a loss for words, gave everyone something to talk about and left

lesser speakers speechless even as he went sleepless. I`m Carl Azuz and I`ll talk back at you tomorrow.

END