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Black Friday`s Spending in U.S.; Violence, Looting and Rebuilding in Ferguson; Talks on Nuclear Iran Program Haven`t Brought Result; Cleaning Baltimore Harbor; How Dogs Drink

Aired December 01, 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: Welcome back to CNN STUDENT NEWS into the first day of December. I`m Carl Azuz kicking off ten minutes of commercial free

current events.

First up, Black Friday. It ain`t what it used to be. Traditionally, one of the busiest shopping days of the year in the U.S. It`s losing a little

ground to Thanksgiving Thursday.

This year, a company that tracks retail sales found that American spending had increased on Thanksgiving Day and slightly decreased on Black Friday.

As compared with last year.

There are also changes in where people shopped. Sales at brick and mortar stores, the ones you can actually visit, were reportedly less than they

were last year. Sales online were mixed. The National Retail Federation says all things considered, the average American shopper spent just over

$380 this holiday weekend. That`s down from $407 last year.

Economists watch retail spending to get an idea of how the U.S. economy is doing.

When we left you last week, violent protests had begun in Ferguson, Missouri. Many of the demonstrators had wanted a white police officer,

Darren Wilson, to be charged in the fatal shooting of a black 18-year old Michael Brown. But a grand jury decided not to charge Officer Wilson after

hearing evidence and accounts from witnesses and police.

Hundreds of protesters have been arrested, both in the town of Ferguson and in several other U.S. cities where people demonstrated against the grand

jury decision. Over the weekend, the policeman resigned from his job. Darren Wilson said it was for the safety of other officers and the

community, and that he hoped it would help Ferguson heal.

While the demonstrations in other cities have mostly been peaceful, those in Ferguson have not.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: On the streets of Ferguson the morning light revealed the devastation after two nights of destruction.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop throwing objects, it`s police and disperse immediately.

SIDNER: The announcement of the Grand Jury decision brought an explosion of anger and violence in Ferguson. Police surrounded this auto part store

early in the evening, but rioters torched it. The store lit up the night sky and continued burning well into the next day.

Ferguson Market and Liquor is a store where Michael Brown allegedly stole some cigarillos just minutes before he was fatally shot. It became an

especially symbolic target for looters. But some hose to stand up for their town. Andre Thomas didn`t even know the owner of this wig shop.

(on camera): Tell me what you are doing out here.

ANDRE THOMAS, PROTESTER: I saw some people looting, that`s not what I`m about. So, I just want to protect it.

SIDNER (voice over): Others tried to save Cathy`s Kitchen. A favorite local restaurant run by a local family.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Leave this alone! Leave this alone!

SIDNER: Still, even Cathy`s was vandalized and the days and weeks before Monday`s decision, business owners boarded up hoping for the best, but

their best efforts were no match for this week`s fury.

This is what`s left of Little Caesars, prime beauty supply, Flood Christian Church.

More than 2,000 National Guard troops were ordered to the streets Tuesday. The governor promising there would not be a repeat of Monday night`s

violence.

Still, another police car was set on fire and flipped over, more businesses were trashed as police tried to break up crowds with tear gas and smoke

bombs.

Natalie Dubose`s Bakery was heavily damaged.

NATALIE DUBOSE, OWNER, NATALIE`S CAKES AND MORE: It kind of feels like I`m in a twilight zone, that I`m watching this happen. But I`m actually happen

to live it and the destruction here is just absolutely - it`s unbelievable.

SIDNER: By daylight, there were small glimmers of hope, volunteers turned up to help with the cleanup. Natalie Dubose`s turned to crowd funding for

help. More than $100,000 has been pledged, and at Cathy`s Kitchen ..

JEROME JENKINS, OWNER, CATHY`S KITCHEN: I can rebuild, I will make it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: As requested on last Tuesday`s transcript page at cnnstudentnews.com, today`s "Roll Call" takes us to the capital of Russia.

The Anglo-American School of Moscow is watching. Hello to the penguins in Moscow. In Wisconsin, the village of Boyceville is barking with bulldogs`

Boyceville Middle High School is on the roll. And the Mount Rushmore stayed as home to the Warriors. They are at Bennett County High School in

Martin, South Dakota.

The Middle Eastern country of Iran has a controversial nuclear program. Western nations, including the U.S. are concern that Iran is building

nuclear weapons. Iran insists its program is only for peaceful purposes like nuclear power. Last week, in an international meeting in Vienna,

Austria, everyone involved in negotiations over Iran`s nuclear program said good progress had been made. But no agreement was reached by the deadline,

and some officials are asking if an agreement is possible.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, what happened here in Vienna? Why no agreement after so many months of talks? And remember Vienna was just the

most recent stop. There were previous rounds in Geneva, in New York at the U.N. General Assembly, other meetings in Oman, Paris, London, and still no

agreement.

At the end, the issues that divide the two sides now are the same ones that divided them at the very beginning. One, can Iran have a civilian nuclear

program that the West, the U.S. is confident is not a cover for military nuclear program. And can the West give Iran economic relief without losing

its leverage?

Now, both sides say they wouldn`t keep negotiating unless they`ve made progress on those issues, but they will leave Vienna without the biggest

question answer, and that is can the two sides come to that balance without a constant regime of sanctions against Iran, which may or may not work, or

in the worst case, military action against Iran by the U.S. or Israel, which may or may not work either.

Now, on the good side, the West, the U.S. and Iran, they are talking. More than a year ago, a simple phone call between the American president and the

Iranian president was huge headline news.

Now, U.S. and Iranian officials are in contact almost every day. But despite that engagement, they still have not been able to reach agreement,

and they will leave here in Vienna without a resolution.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: Time for the "Shoutout." Which of these U.S. cities is oldest? You know what to do. Is it Baltimore, Maryland, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,

Chicago, Illinois or Savannah, Georgia? You`ve got three seconds, go.

Founded in 1729, Baltimore is the oldest U.S. city on this list. Its harbor connects to the Chesapeake Bay. That`s your answer and that`s your

shoutout.

The Frigate Constellation, the first ship of the U.S. Navy launched in Baltimore Harbor. The Battle of Baltimore inspired Francis Scott Key to

write the lyrics to the "Star-Spangled Banner." Despite its reach history, Baltimore Harbor`s also been rich in pollution. At one point, it was

labeled un-swimmable and unfishable.

The new installation is helping to change that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KELLET, FOUNDER, CLEARWATER MILLS: The water will powered trash in receptor`s purpose is to collect all of the trash and debris that comes

down this river, and this river drains a big part of Baltimore City and Baltimore County.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And now that our children can`t swim in the harbor or the streams feeding the harbor because it`s polluted.

DANIEL CHASE, OPERATIONS MANAGER, CLEARWATER MILLS: It works from river current and solar power. The river current itself brings the trash to it,

lows on the conveyor. The conveyor is powered by the water wheel, it`s really like an engine.

So far it`s collected over 100 tons of trash in the four months that it`s been in here.

It`s almost all cigarette butts, plastic bottles. We get plastic bags, chip bags.

KELLET: There is needles, there is, you know, sewage.

We can pick up as much as 40,000 pounds a day.

LAURIE SCHWARTZ, PRESIDENT, WATERFRONT PARTNERSHIP OF BALTIMORE: As soon as that wheel went in, we saw an immediate impact in reduction of trash in

the harbor.

KELLET: It`s not a Baltimore unique problem, and you can see that because there is islands of plastic the size of Texas out in the Pacific.

SCHWARTZ: We`ve had inquiries from all over a 100 different cities, all interested in finding innovative ways to remove trash from their water.

KELLET: 50 years ago, this was an industrial wasteland, and people thought that this could never become a tourist attraction, and today millions of

tourists come each year.

SCHWARTZ: We need to have a clean harbor. We deserve to have clean water.

KELLET: There`s still plenty to do, but it`s a great start.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: How do dogs drink? It`s not as simple as we thought. Their tongues don`t simply scoop water into their mouth, according to a new study.

Researchers at Virginia Tech stuck a water-proof camera at the bottom of a bowl, and got slow motion video of thirsty dogs. They found that dogs;

tongues curl backward as they are plunged into the water. The water then sticks, so to speak, to the back of the tongue and makes a column that the

dog drinks.

So, if you wag your tongue at dogs, know their tongues do tongues of work to let - not leap or simply lick the drink they drink to cool their tongue.

Tongue-tied and dog-tied, I`m Carl Azuz. We`ve lapped up our time this Monday on CNN STUDENT NEWS.

END