Quick Guide & Transcript: Today's headlines, World AIDS Day, Off the Beaten Path

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(CNN Student News) -- December 1, 2006

Quick Guide

World AIDS Day - Find out why red ribbons are pinned on shirts and sport coats worldwide today.

Week in Review - Read up on the stories behind the sights and sounds in today's show.

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: Welcome to this special edition of CNN Student News! I'm Danielle Elias. On today's show, along with millions around the world, we mark World AIDS Day. But first, here's a look at today's headlines.

Today's Headlines

ELIAS: President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki say they'll work together to get the job done in Iraq. At a news conference in Jordan yesterday, President Bush said one way to do this is to speed up training of Iraqi troops, so that al-Maliki's government can fight terrorists on its own. President Bush is against setting a date to pull out U.S. troops.

ELIAS: In Britain, the investigation widens into the fatal poisoning of a former Russian spy. One official says at least 12 sites have tested positive for radiation -- possibly the kind that killed Alexander Litvinenko. And more planes have been inspected for contamination. While on his deathbed, Litvinenko accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of involvement. Putin says he had nothing to do with it.

ELIAS: If you're hoping to become a U.S. citizen, you'd better know why the nation has three branches of government. Immigration officials are revising the test, in the hopes of encouraging a better understanding of America, not just facts about the country. The new exam will be tested before it's put in place; If too many people fail, it'll probably get another revision.

ELIAS: Folks near the Atlantic and Gulf coasts can breathe a little easier: Hurricane season officially ended yesterday. Officials say it wasn't as bad as they initially thought because of el Nino, a warming of Pacific Ocean temperatures that affects weather patterns around the world. Keep in mind that a hurricane is still possible, it's just a lot less likely in the winter months.

World AIDS Day

ELIAS: Red ribbons are appearing on shirts, jackets and lapels all around the world today. They're worn to alert people about HIV and AIDS, and as a sign of international unity in the fight against the disease.

ELIAS: Today, more than 39 million people are living with HIV or AIDS. It killed almost three million worldwide last year, including 380-thousand children. What is this disease? Well, AIDS is an acronym for "acquired immunodeficiency syndrome." It's caused by a virus called HIV, which stands for human immunodeficiency virus. HIV kills off some of the body's white blood cells, and this weakens immune systems, making a person more vulnerable to infections.

ELIAS: There are three main ways the disease can be spread: Sexual contact with an infected person, sharing needles with an infected person, or through transfusions of infected blood.

ELIAS: According to a report by UN AIDS, India has the largest number of people living with HIV, an estimated five-point-seven million infections. South Africa has some five-and-a-half million.

AIDS in the U.S.

ELIAS: The AIDS virus itself doesn't technically kill people, they die because their immune systems are no longer able to fight off infections. Modern medicines go a long way toward helping people with HIV stay alive. But Doctor Sanjay Gupta explains why not everyone is able to get them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: There are more than one million people living with HIV or AIDS in the United States and John Paul Womble is one of them. Womble was diagnosed 14 years ago, just 2 years after his own father, an ex-Southern Baptist Minister, died in the first wave of the American AIDS epidemic.

JOHN PAUL WOMBLE, THE ALLIANCE OF AIDS SERVICES NORTH CAROLINA: Lots of people have excuses, lots of people have legitimate stories of they didn't know better. I knew better. You can be stupid, like I was, young and feeling invincible.

GUPTA: As gay white men, John Paul and his father were once considered typical AIDS patients. But, now, that has changed.

GUPTA: Today, John Paul works with victims of HIV like Antoine and Peaches Davis. Poor, married and in their 20's. Antoine and Peaches must deal with their most basic of needs, day to day.

ANTOINE DAVIS, HIV POSITIVE: Sleeping on the street and trying to look for a job is a really hard task and we've done that for awhile and then also having the virus on top of that is extra hard

GUPTA: African-Americans are the hardest hit. While they represent only 12 percent of the population, they make up 50 percent of those diagnosed AIDS cases. And consider this: an African-American woman is 23 times more likely to get HIV than a Caucasian woman. 23 times! AIDS has moved beyond major metropolitan areas. The South had the greatest number of people living with and dying from AIDS in 2004.

PEACHES DAVIS, HIV POSITIVE: It's leaving L.A., and New York and Miami to come to places like this because there is not enough sufficient help in those places. In fact, almost half of people living with the disease in this country, do not get regular HIV care or treatment. If you're poor and living with AIDS in America, regular care usually means making a tough choice.

EVELYN FOUST, SOUTHERN AIDS COALITION: If you make 13,000 dollars a year, you can't afford your medication. So there are people that choose not to work, they want to work. But they can't or they'll lose their medication which is keeping them alive.

GUPTA: That amount can vary from state to state. In North Carolina, the limit is about $13,000. So Peaches and Antoine can't make a penny over the limit or the federal government won't pay for their AIDS medications. And without insurance or assistance, the cost of treatment is anywhere from 12 to 30 thousand dollars a year.

WOMBLE: I take them every day and have been for 14 years. The longer I have to hang on, I might be able to outlast HIV for a cure that should be found.

GUPTA: But that cure is years away, at best. In the meantime, 40,000 more Americans, many of them poor and black, are infected each year. But for Antoine, hope goes hand in hand with sharing his story.

ANTOINE DAVIS: If people just hide and closing doors, the more the infection is spreading around and people are dying without being helped.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN Atlanta.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Promo

ELIAS: We've set up a free extra! To help your students get a deeper understanding of HIV and how this virus spreads. The free guide is available at CNN.com/EDUCATION. Just scroll down the page until you see the "World Aids Day" subheading.

Week in Review

ELIAS: Now for a look back on the stories that shaped the world over the past few days. After you watch, click into today's transcript on our web site, where we've written up an online guide to each subject you'll see. With no further ado, here's our Week in Review!

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

Today's Week in Review brings your class the images of stories that made headlines this week. Included here is a brief description of each topic:

38.3 Million Travelers Hit Road Over Thanksgiving

The Thanksgiving holiday generated a busy weekend for travel, with an estimated 38.3 million Americans traveling 50 miles or more -- up 1 million from last year. That translated to crowded roads and long lines at airports at times. Heavy snow in Washington state made for especially slow traffic. A protest by union members at the Los Angeles International Airport didn't help either. The Sunday after Thanksgiving and the Wednesday before it are among the heaviest travel days each year.

Faith Leaders, Protests Greet Pope Benedict XVI In Turkey

Protests preceded and greeted Pope Benedict XVI's four-day visit to Turkey -- his first visit to a Muslim country since he was elected last year. It came just two months after Benedict gave a controversial speech. The speech quoted a 14th-century Byzantine emperor who called the teachings of Islam's prophet Mohammed "evil and inhuman" and "spread by the sword." During the visit, the pope met with Turkey's leading Muslim cleric. Benedict offered a message of peace between Christians and Muslims, and called on leaders of all faiths to denounce violence in the name in religion. He also met with Orthodox Christians on a mission of reconciliation and voiced support for Turkey's bid to join the European Union.

Wintry Weather Batters U.S. Northwest & Midwest

World leaders converged on the Latvian capital of Riga, where NATO held a two-day summit beginning Tuesday. Discussions focused on deteriorating conditions in Afghanistan, where NATO has more than 30,000 troops stationed. NATO is responsible for securing the central Asian country but has had trouble getting full support from its 26 member nations. President Bush called fighting the Taliban NATO's "most important military operation."

NATO Member Nations Gather In Latvia

Heavy snow and icy rain pummeled the Northwest early this week, making for dangerous conditions and a lot of headaches. In parts of Washington state, storms dumped as much as two feet of snow, left thousands without power, and caused cars to slide off the Interstate. The severe weather gradually moved east. Thursday, the National Weather Service issued winter storm warnings from Texas to Illinois, with Oklahoma bracing for a rare blizzard.

Parents Don't Pass On Video Game Report Card

A new video game report card from The National Institute on Media and the Family calls for parents to do a better job monitoring what their kids play. The report card gave high ratings to major retailers like Wal-Mart, Target and Best Buy for blocking underage kids from purchasing "M"-rated games. Manufacturers of new game consoles, including Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft, scored high marks for their parental controls. An unrelated study found that violent video games increase activity in the part of the brain involved in emotional arousal and decrease activity in the part responsible for self-control.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Off the Beaten Path

ELIAS: And before we take off for the day, why not take a walk off the beaten path? Here's Carl Azuz.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS: The Japanese are known for making millions of practical family cars. This ain't one of them. The driver's diminutive do-it-yourself deathtrap doubles as a speed bump for a Hummer.

NAOKO SUZUKI, MICRO CAR SHOWROOM MANAGER: It's every man's dream to assemble a car by themselves and drive it around.

AZUZ: Unless, of course, you just wanna buy one. But the big question for automobile aficionados -- is it fast? No: With a top speed of 31 miles per hour, a cop on horseback could pull you over. But he might be laughing too hard to write a ticket.

AZUZ: These folks were much faster. They took on a treat of a task, knocking back mince pies, which are kind-of like the British equivalent of holiday fruitcake, except good. The winner was actually an American woman, a professional competitive eater weighing 105 pounds, who scarfed 46 pies in 10 minutes. Two-thousand bucks was her official reward. But in true holiday meal style, everyone's a winner of indigestion and guilt! I'm Carl Azuz reporting from Off the Beaten Path.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Goodbye

ELIAS: That's all for today's show! Have a great weekend, and we'll see you next Monday, same time, same place.

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