Quick Guide & Transcript: Week in Review, Stingray stabbing, Giant catfish caught

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(CNN Student News) -- October 20, 2006

Quick Guide

Week in Review - Follow stories ranging from Hawaii's earthquake to an NFL bomb hoax as we review the week's headlines.

Stingray Stabbing - Learn about a stingray attack that bears similarities to the incident that killed "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin.

A Fish Story? - Listen as some Arizona teenagers tell a giant-sized fish story after they reeled in a 4-foot-long catfish.

Transcript

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

DANIELLE ELIAS, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: Happy Friday, and welcome to another edition of CNN Student News. I'm Danielle Elias. Blue chips, babies, bluster and bomb scares. For the week that was, stay tuned for our "Week in Review." Six weeks after Steve Irwin's death, another stingray strikes. How surgeons saved a Florida man after the latest rare stabbing. And, if you reel in a fish this big, it's catch and press release! How two teenagers reeled in this giant fifty-pounder.

First Up: Week in Review

ELIAS: First up today, let's see how our world's changed during a busy news week. One recent story: A dirty bomb threat against seven NFL stadiums. Turns out that scare's been officially sacked. Homeland Security officials are now calling the whole incident an Internet hoax. Also this week, Hawaii rocked and rolled. The Dow rolled even higher, and America rolled by another population milestone. To wrap everything up, Carl Azuz breaks it all down in our "Week in Review."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS: Hawaiians are busy cleaning up after Sunday's 6.7-magnitude earthquake, which despite the destruction it caused, did not result in serious injuries or death.

THERESA WRIGHT, HOMEOWNER: I came out here, and I couldn't believe this, and there was smoke everywhere, I guess from the concrete and everything was filled with it. And the rooms are totally dusty with all this stuff.

AZUZ: The president declared the state a disaster area, which means that government money's on the way to help Hawaii recover. Damage estimates on the islands are in the tens of millions.

AZUZ: North Korea will pay the price for defying the United Nations. The 15-member Security Council voted unanimously Saturday to sanction, or penalize, the Asian country for its recent nuclear test. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is in Asia to encourage other countries to put those sanctions in place.

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We will work together and with other states for the swift implementation and the effective implementation of all of the measures that are contemplated under Resolution 1718.

AZUZ: The U.S. population officially passed the 300 million mark this week. To put this in perspective, it took almost 200 years for the population to reach 200 million, but less than 40 to reach 300 million! The next milestone -- 400 million -- is an estimated 34 years away.

AZUZ: FBI officials say a threat found on a web site to attack certain NFL stadiums was a hoax. They think a 20-year-old Milwaukee-area resident with no apparent ties to terrorism was competing with another person to come up with the scariest threat. The Homeland Security Department said it never put much stock in the threat to begin with.

STEVE POMERANTZ , FMR. FBI COUNTERTERRORISM OFFICIAL: Sometimes, they pass on information even though they know it's not the most credible information out there.

AZUZ: In other words, better safe than sorry.

AZUZ: On Wall Street, there's something to rave about: The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which keeps track of 30 top stocks, continues to set records. Thursday, the Dow closed above 12,000 for the first time in history. Some analysts say this is generally a good sign for the U.S. economy. With your CNN Student News Week in Review, I'm Carl Azuz.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Shoutout

ANDY FLICK, CNN: Time for the Shoutout! Today's Shoutout goes out to Ms. Lee's 8th grade social studies class at Bedford Middle School in Westport, Connecticut! Which continent is Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visiting this week? If you think you know it, SHOUT IT OUT! Is it... South America....Europe...Africa...or Asia? You've got three seconds, GO! The answer is D -- Asia. Secretary Rice is visiting Japan, South Korea and China.

Web Promo

ELIAS: Ok, now you've got one of the answers to today's Newsquiz. We've put together a tough test on the week's current events, including that question on Secretary Rice's trip to Asia. Test yourself, or teachers, test your class with our weekly Newsquiz available at our Web site, CNN.com/Education.

Stingray Stabbing

ELIAS: Not again! In September, "the Crocodile Hunter," Steve Irwin was killed by a stingray. Now another ray has nearly killed a Florida man. 82 year-old James Bertakis got "up close and personal" with a spotted-eagle ray Wednesday. The creature jumped aboard his boat and plunged its barb into the boater's chest. Biologists keep saying 'rays are docile creatures. But Fredricka Whitfield tells us about another one that forgot that script.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM BERTAKIS, VICTIM'S RELATIVE: It still doesn't seem real so we're here, hoping and praying for the best and that's all we can right now.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN: This is the man they're praying for -- 82 year old James Bertakis of South Florida. He was boating with family on the Intercoastal Waterway yesterday -- when the unthinkable happened.

BERTAKIS: The girls on the boat said that they were looking at homes on the Intercoastal and then she heard him scream and when she looked over it was in his lap. It had jumped in the boat and he was trying to get it off his lap and that's when he got lacerated and it stuck.

WHITFIELD: This is the stingray that attacked Bertakis, leaving its foot-long barb stuck in his chest. Doctors say initially it broke off near his heart -- but his movement and breathing eventually pushed the barb into the muscle itself. In an extremely delicate operation, surgeons pulled the barb through the heart -- closing the wound left behind.

WHITFIELD: It was just six weeks ago that Australia's Crocodile Hunter, wildlife expert Steve Irwin, was killed in a similar attack while diving on the Great Barrier Reef. But Irwin's heart was directly hit by the barb. Videotape of his last moments reportedly shows him pulling it from his chest. Despite this latest attack, experts say such incidents are extraordinarily rare -- a fact not lost on relatives of James Bertakis.

CHRIS BERTAKIS, VICTIM'S SON: Stunned...disbelief...honestly, I just didn't think that could happen and I've never heard of that happening ever until last month and to hear it happened again to our father was shocking.

WHITFIELD: Doctors say Bertakis is in stable condition and that barring any complications, they expect him to survive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ID Me

ANDY FLICK: See if you can ID Me! I'm a cold-blooded, bottom feeder. Some species of my type have spines that sting. Some folks say I have a feline appearance. If that last clue confused you, it's because the answer is "catfish," not stingray! Believe it or not, some kinds of catfish can also sting.

A Fish Story?

ELIAS: In Arizona, two teenagers have a pretty big fish to fry....like 40 to 50 pounds worth! The pair of anglers reeled in a 4-foot-long catfish from a canal near Phoenix. It took them more than an hour to pull in the monster. Rebecca Taylor from affiliate KTVK has this fish story to last a lifetime.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ISAIAH SULLIVAN: I couldn't believe it...like his head is this big, and his eyes look like human eyes, like us.

REBECCA TAYLOR, KTVK REPORTER: Yeah right... Are we supposed to fall for this hook, line and sinker?

SULLIVAN: It's so big, won't fit in the net. We had to grab it, don't even want to touch it.

TAYLOR: I don't know... Better prove it!!

SULLIVAN: He's about 40-50 pounds, that's easy.

TAYLOR: That's gigantic! Turns out 15 year old Isaiah Sullivan, his cousin and neighbor Billy Wickware netted more than they bargained for -- a 4-foot flathead catfish -- of all places, in this Scottsdale canal along Hayden near Indian Bend.

TAYLOR: So what do you have as bait here?

SULLIVAN: Chicken liver.

BILLY: They were talking, "God please let us get it." (laughs)

TAYLOR: Billy, who's wheelchair bound takes the boys fishing twice a week... a reward of sorts.

BILLY: Long as you stay out of trouble, I'll take your fishing, don't have to buy no gas, bait, just as long as you're good and stay in school.

SULLIVAN: What makes it crazy. the test line is 12 pounds, catching a 50 pound fish.

TAYLOR: Check it out: Curious passerby's turned into angler paparazzi, snapping pictures on cell phones in disbelief. Loving the limelight, they pose like celebrities. After working more than an hour to reel this puppy in, I guess they deserve it.

TAYLOR: So what's for dinner tonight?

SULLIVAN: We might not cook him, just stuff him and put him on the wall.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Before We Go

ELIAS: Before we go, we'll stay in the Grand Canyon State, and go to downtown Phoenix, where archeologists are unearthing Arizona's past. Archeologists like Indiana Jones study ancient artifacts,and for 30 days this summer, Dr. Jones' real-life counterparts were digging at a site that's slated to become the city's new convention center. They've found stone discs, turquoise jewelry.. even some human remains. Some items could date back to 1000 B.C. The two-block area was home to the city's early settlers. And before that, home to Native Americans. Make no bones about it, archeologists say all this "trowling around" really matters.

MARK HACKBARTH, ARCHAEOLOGIST: Originally their ancestors were hunters and gatherers.. but these people were becoming more sedentary and farmers...It gives you a better understanding of what was here in the past and basically enriches our lives because you know something about the past instead of just saying I'm a new transplant here I have no idea what was here before us.

Goodbye

ELIAS: That wraps up our show. Have a great weekend, guys, and join us next week for more Student News. I'm Danielle Elias.

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