Quick Guide & Transcript: Real ID law stirs controversy, Some menu entrees go to extremes

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(CNN Student News) -- February 27, 2007

Quick Guide

Keepin' It Real - Find out why some states' legislatures do not identify with a new federal program to keep tabs on driver's license data.

Connected By History - See how slavery may be a historical connection between two former presidential candidates.

Extreme Eating - Think that chicken-and-broccoli dish at your favorite restaurant is low-calorie? You may be surprised.

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: Glad to have you along for CNN Student News! I'm Danielle Elias at the CNN Center. Some states say new rules on driver's licenses are only going to make the waiting game even longer. But the government says safety is the key. A genealogical web site says two former presidential candidates share one major piece of history: Slavery. Find out how the civil rights activist responded. And a consumer group says when you dine out, you may be chewing a lot of fat. And we don't mean in conversation.

First Up: Keepin' It Real

ELIAS: First up today, many of you can't wait until the day you get your driver's licenses. But the process could get tougher in the years ahead, thanks to new guidelines designed to help protect the country. This week, the Homeland Security Department is expected to detail just what those guidelines are. But Jeanne Meserve explains why almost half the nation's states say the law will only drive up their costs.

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JEANNE MESERVE, CNN REPORTER: But it does. The prankster goes into the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles and comes out with a valid driver's license...silly picture and all. From a security perspective, it is not a laughing matter. After 9/11, Congress mandated tough new federal standards for drivers licenses...called Real ID. States are supposed to implement them in little more than a year. Every one of the 245 million license holders in the United States will have to reapply in person, with documents that prove they are citizens or legal residents. The states predict it will swamp motor vehicle offices, creating long waits. Currently each state issues licenses following their own security standards and with their own features..

KAREN JOHNSON, ARIZONA STATE SENATOR: They have no business in our state's business...And that is what they are doing.

MESERVE: Arizona State Senator Karen Johnson is sponsoring legislation saying her state will not comply. She says Real ID would invade privacy by creating a large national database of driver information.

JOHNSON: I mean Homeland Security is going to be the one running this database. Give me a break.

MESERVE: Arizona is one of 24 states that has passed or proposed legislation opposing Real ID. A big complaint: the cost...an estimated 11 billion dollars over five years. The biggest expense is likely to be a requirement that states verify the authenticity of identity documents used to get a license.

DAVID QUAM, NATIONAL GOVERNORS ASSOCIATION: It's verification that not even the federal government can complete for its own employees.

MESERVE: Rody Marshall just got his license renewed in Phoenix in 20 minutes. If Real ID lengthens his wait..it is fine with him.

RODY MARSHALL, PHOENIX RESIDENT: I don't think everybody should just automatically get a driver's license. If it takes a day of your time...that's what it takes.

MESERVE: Homeland Security is taking an even harder line.

MICHAEL CHERTOFF, SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: If we don't get it done now someone is going to be sitting around in the next 3 or 4 years explaining to the next 9/11 commission why we didn't do it.

MESERVE: Because the next person who tries to get a driver's license may want to do harm to the nation...not just get a laugh.

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Black History Month: Birth of Jazz

KAREEN WYNTER, CNN REPORTER: With artists like Jelly Roll Morton on piano, Louis Armstrong on trumpet and Duke Ellington writing the music, jazz came alive. Often called the 'cradle of jazz,' African music flourished in New Orleans at the end of the 19th century. Street performers in Congo Square improvised rhythms, melding African influences with ragtime, blues, and Negro spirituals. In the 1920s, the music went mainstream in cities such as Chicago, New York and Kansas City. An ever changing style of music with improvisation at its core, jazz is among the few truly American art forms. Remembering the birth of jazz, this Black History Month.

Connected By History

ELIAS: Slavery is an indelible part of black history in the U.S. And who would've thought that two modern politicians-- The late Senator Strom Thurmond and the Reverend Al Sharpton, would have a historic connection through slavery? It may be why Sharpton says a recent revelation is the most shocking thing in his life. Bob Franken takes us back a few generations

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REV. AL SHARPTON: Everything from anger and outrage, to reflection and to some pride and glory.

FRANKEN: That's how a flabbergasted civil rights activist Al Sharpton described what it was like to learn not that his great great grandfather was a slave, but a slave owned by relatives of a symbol of racial segregation Senator Strom Thurmond. According to the genealogists, Coleman Sharpton, before he was freed, was owned by Julia Thurmond...blood ancestor of the Strom Thurmond who generations later became the champion of Jim Crow Laws...Before moderating his views in later years as a U.S. senator. He had walked out of the 1948 Democratic convention and run for president as a "Dixiecrat" This intertwined family history was discovered after Web site ancestry.com approached the New York Daily News and then Sharpton, who has run for president himself.

MEGAN SMOLENYAK, ANCESTRY.COM: I'll tell you this was a stunner even for me. I had no clue we'd find a story like this hiding in there.

FRANKEN: It was another chapter in the story of Senator Strom Thurmond. Before Thurmond died at age 100, it was made public That he was, in fact, the father of a mixed race daughter Essie Mae Washington. Family members are refusing comment on the slavery connection, although a niece of Thurmond's, Ellen Senter did tell the Daily News:

ELLEN SENTER: It is wonderful that Sharpton was able to become what he is in spite of what his forefather was.

SHARPTON: The shame is that I am heir to those who were property to the Thurmond family. But the glory is - that Strom Thurmond ran for president in 1948 on a segregationist ticket. I ran in '04 on a ticket for racial justice.

FRANKEN: What might be useful about this is that, as we still try and reconcile black and white America, it's important to realize that the starting point was slavery. Bob Franken, CNN Washington.

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Promo

ELIAS: Black History Month is drawing to a close... but that's no reason why your students can't keep the celebration going! We've set up a series of free learning activities on our Web site...And one of them challenges your class to devise a way to highlight African-American history, all year long. Find out how at CNN.com/Education!

Shoutout

CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS: Time for the Shoutout! Which of these activities burns the most calories per hour? If you think you know it, shout it out! Is it: A) Jumping rope, B) Running, C) Swimming or D) Aerobics? For a 150-pound person, jumping rope burns a whopping 750 calories per hour! Running burns 590, slowly swimming burns 510, and aerobics burns 480. That's your answer and that's your Shoutout!

Extreme Eating

ELIAS: Whatever kind of exercise you like, the government recommends you stay active for about 30 minutes a day. But now we'd like to shift our focus from the calories you burn, to the ones you take in. Cheeseburger and fries: Not the healthiest options when dining out. But as Tara Mergener tells us, even some meals that sound lean can pack some serious fat.

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TARA MERGENER, CNN REPORTER: Fresh chicken and broccoli pasta at Ruby Tuesday...Sound healthy?

SOT: This dish has over 2000 calories and 128 grams of fat.

MERGENER: The equivalent of two 12 ounce sirloin steaks, two buttered baked potatoes and two Caesar salads. says the center for science in the public interest. How about the pizza skins appetizer at Uno Chicago Grill.

SOT: This order of pizza skins has as much fat and calories as three Pizza Hut Pepperoni Personal Pan Pizzas, plus 3 pats of butter.

MERENGER: Surprised? You're not alone. Since restaurants aren't required to reveal nutritional content, most people don't know how fattening their meal is. While many fast food chains do publish information about calories and fat content, it's often inconvenient to get.

MARGO WOOTAN, CENTER FOR SCIENCE IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST: They can't stop at home, log on to the Internet and figure out what their kids are gonna eat before they go out to eat.

MERENGER: Some restaurants are already offering healthier options. In addition to some of their most popular menu items. Ruby Tuesday has a smart menu listing important information like fat, carbs and calories. All of the items on this menu -- under 550 calories. This is the kind of easy access the CSPI wants restaurants to provide for all foods.

WOOTAN: Menu labeling is a low-cost solution that could go a long way toward helping people to watch their weight.

MERENGER: Reporting for CNN Student News, I'm Tara Merenger, in Washington.

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Before We Go

ELIAS: And before we go, here's one guy who's breaking off more than he can chew - using his forehead. It takes one hard-headed competitor to set a smashing world record, by smashing up watermelons! He broke open 40 ill-fated fruits in less than a minute, setting a Guinness record and no doubt risking a horrific headache. The stunt was a part of an Australian Melon Festival, where what was celebrated, was also smashed. And yes, it burns calories, but you may not remember how you did it.

Goodbye

ELIAS: So use your head for learning, and remembering that we'll be back tomorrow. More headline news is heading your way!