Quick Guide & Transcript: New Hampshire hosts GOP debate, Security beefed up for G8 summit

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(CNN Student News) -- June 6, 2007

Quick Guide

Republicans Debate - Learn about last night's presidential debate between Republican candidates.

G8 Summit - Check out some of the security measures being taken for this week's G8 summit.

Diploma Denied - Find out why an Illinois high school has withheld a graduate's diploma.

Transcript

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

MONICA LLOYD, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: Thanks for tuning in for a brand new edition of CNN Student News. I'm Monica Lloyd. GOP gathering: Republican candidates face off for the cameras, as New Hampshire hosts its second televised presidential debate of the week. Summit security: German police are taking steps to avoid protests like this one during a meeting of world leaders this week. And denied diploma: A high school in Illinois says a loud cheering section at graduation is the reason one student won't be getting her diploma.

First Up: Republicans Debate

LLOYD: First up today, a second group of White House hopefuls squared off in Manchester, New Hampshire. If you were with us earlier this week, you know the eight Democratic presidential candidates took part in a debate there on Sunday. Well, last night it was the Republicans' turn to take center stage in the Granite State and argue their positions on the issues. Mary Snow has more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARY SNOW, CNN REPORTER: For the ten Republican presidential candidates, the jousting over immigration reform was not as heated as expected. Senator John McCain was on the defense for supporting the immigration reform bill that would legalize millions of illegal immigrants.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And it is a serious national security problem. We need to act, my friends. And if someone has a better idea, I'd love to have them to give it to us.

SNOW: Mitt Romney, who's been taking direct aim at McCain over immigration, passed on hitting back hard at him, instead calling McCain his friend and talked about what he proposes to do.

MITT ROMNEY, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well one is to enforce the law as it exists. The law passed in 1986.

SNOW: Republican Rudy Giuliani targeted Democrats over national security, taking aim at John Edwards' claim that the war on terror is bumper sticker politics.

RUDY GIULIANI, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We saw it just last week in New York, an attempt by Islamic terrorists to attack JFK Airport. Three weeks ago, an attempt to attack Ft. Dix. This is a real problem. This is not a bumper sticker. This war is a real war.

SNOW: And there was a jab at President Bush. Asked how candidates would use the president in their administration, Congressman Tom Tancredo recalled how he was told by political advisor Karl Rove that he wasn't welcome at the White House for criticizing the president.

REP. TOM TANCREDO, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm afraid that as president, I would have to tell George Bush exactly the same thing Karl Rove told me.

SNOW: There was actually a light moment at the debate when Giuliani was asked about criticism coming from a Catholic bishop over his support of abortion rights, and at that moment they were having some technical difficulties. There was a lighting strike. That brought some levity to the debate. For CNN Student News, I'm Mary Snow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Word to the Wise

GEORGE RAMSAY, CNN STUDENT NEWS: A Word to the Wise...

GOP (abbreviation) Grand Old Party, a nickname for the Republican Party

Source: www.m-w.com

Video Yearbook

CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS: Chapter three of our Video Yearbook remembers President Gerald Ford, the only person ever to serve as U.S. president and vice president without being elected to either post. Ford dies the day after Christmas at age 93. Teacher Paul Miller of Philomath, Oregon, wrote in, saying the death of the nation's 38th president was one of his students' top choices for important stories of the school year. And with good reason: Ford lived a life of superlatives. In the late 1930s and early '40s, he turned down two offers to play pro football so he could finish law school at Yale University. His political career took off with an election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1948, and the Republican from Grand Rapids, Michigan, was named vice president in 1973 when Spiro T. Agnew resigned as a result of a corruption scandal. A year later, when President Richard Nixon resigned because of Watergate, Gerald Ford took over the nation's top job. The man who would become the nation's longest-living former president was credited with helping heal a nation scarred by scandal. I'm Carl Azuz reporting for the CNN Student News Video Yearbook.

Is this legit?

RAMSAY: Is this legit? China is a member of the G8 or Group of Eight. Tough one, but not legit. China is not a member of the Group of Eight, an international forum of the leading industrial nations.

G8 Summit

LLOYD: His country might not officially be part of the club, but China's president is planning to be at the annual G8 summit as an observer. The summit is taking place right now and Germany is hosting the gathering, which got going today and lasts through the end of the week. President Bush and other world leaders are there now, but before they arrived, protestors clashed with police. German officials want to make sure that doesn't happen during the conference. Frederik Pleitgen looks at the security surrounding the event.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN COORESPONDENT: It was a nightmare for the German police: Rioting at the first anti-G8 demo this Saturday left nearly a thousand people injured. Officials fear violent protesters will also try to disrupt the G8 summit this week. And the German police union says law enforcement officials can't afford to make the same mistake that led to these riots when the summit begins.

KONRAD FREIBERG, GERMAN POLICE UNION (TRANSLATED): We will have to re-evaluate our strategy, so that events like this don't happen again. And I say, the police will have to use a tougher approach towards violent protesters, Konrad Freiberg says.

PLEITGEN: And here's what that means: Security forces have sealed off the Baltic Sea Resort Heiligendamm, the venue for the G8 Summit. This fence around the G8 venue cost over $15 million to set up. It runs almost eight miles long, is re-enforced by concrete blocks and cameras monitor anyone who comes close.

But the fence is only part of the security concept. During the summit, more than 16,000 police officers will be on duty, including hundreds on boats patrolling the coastline. In the run up to G8, security forces raided several houses of alleged left wing militants, people the German interior ministry says may have been plotting fire-bomb attacks near the summit venue.

AUGUST HANNING, GERMAN STATE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR (TRANSLATED): We have an increasing problem of left wing radicalism in this country, German State Secretary August Hanning tells CNN. That's where we see the biggest potential for violence.

PLEITGEN: But experts say when world leaders, including President Bush, meet in Germany, Islamist terrorism remains the single largest threat.

GUIDO STEINBERG, SECURITY EXPERT: We have had the example of the Gleneagles Summit in 2005, when the London bombers attacked. So what we have to prepare for, I think, is not an attack on the summit itself, but an attack on targets, perhaps here in Germany, perhaps at other places here in Europe.

PLEITGEN: German officials say they have no specific information about planned terror attacks on or around the G8 summit. They say they believe keeping protesters away from the G8 summit will be the biggest challenge. Frederik Pleitgen, CNN, Heiligendamm, Germany.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Diploma Denied

LLOYD: You've probably been looking forward to graduation for a long time. And after four years of hard work, it can feel great to hear people cheering when you walk across the stage. But Jessica Wheeler of WHOI tells us about one student in Illinois who isn't getting her diploma. And the school says her cheering section at graduation is the reason.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JESSICA WHEELER, REPORTER: For most high schoolers, graduation day is a culmination of four years of hard work and dedication.

CAISHA GAYLES, DENIED DIPLOMA: It was exciting walking across the stage.

WHEELER: But for honors student Caisha Gayles, what began as a happy occasion became anything but.

GAYLES: There was a little cheering, they said my name, there was some cheering for like five seconds, but that was it. I hadn't even gone over to shake Mr. Chiles' hand or get my diploma at all before it was done.

WHEELER: But school officials say those five seconds of cheering were enough to withhold her diploma.

JOEL ESTES, ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT: It was disrespectful, I think, to our community.

WHEELER: After a very rowdy graduation two years ago, Assistant Superintendent Joel Estes explains, the school district adopted a zero tolerance approach to the graduation ceremony, making graduates and their families sign a behavior contract.

ESTES: That said they would refrain from these kinds of outbursts and celebrations, that we were going to be in order and it was going to be honorable and dignified so that everybody could hear their name.

WHEELER: But for Caisha and her mother, that explanation is not enough.

CAROLYN GAYLES, MOTHER: That's why I don't understand why it's a big issue, you know. It wasn't even disrupting the ceremony.

GAYLES: I'm not angry at my family at all. I'm glad they cheered for me because it's my day, I graduated, they're proud of me and I'm glad they showed they were proud of me.

WHEELER: Now all that's left of what Caisha says should have been the happiest day of her high school career are these withering balloons. A sad reminder of what she's missing.

GAYLES: All I want is that little piece of paper. I want to frame it and put it on my wall.

WHEELER: In Galesburg, Jessica Wheeler, HOI 19 News.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Promo

LLOYD: If you know any World War II veterans or run into any today, make sure to thank them in honor of the anniversary of D-Day. 63 years ago today, Allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy, France, in the biggest sea invasion in history.

Before We Go

LLOYD: Before we go, check out this sci-fi ceremony. "Star Wars" fans know when you see this bounty hunter coming your way, it means bad news. But not when his target is a blushing bride! This wedding could have taken place in a galaxy far, far away. But it's actually just Tennessee. The costumed couple tied the knot at an adventure film festival there. Even the minister played along, dressing up as an imperial officer.

Goodbye

LLOYD: Something tells me the Force will be strong in that marriage. And that wraps up today's show. We'll see you tomorrow for more CNN Student News. I'm Monica Lloyd.

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