CNN Student News Transcript: March 10, 2008

(CNN Student News) -- March 10, 2008

Quick Guide

Winter Wallop - See how severe winter weather affected parts of the U.S. over the weekend.

Affirmative Action - Check out a debate over whether affirmative action should be more limited.

Honoring a Hero - Learn how the U.S. government honored its last surviving World War I veteran.

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: You might have lost an hour over the weekend, but you're right on time for the start of a new week of CNN Student News. Hi, everyone. I'm Monica Lloyd.

First Up: Winter Wallop

LLOYD: First up, clean-up crews are working overtime in Ohio, after a winter storm slammed the state over the weekend. About a foot of snow fell on both Cleveland and Cincinnati, and more than 20 inches blanketed Columbus. But Ohio wasn't the only place that got hit. Before it moved east and turned into thunderstorms, the weather system dumped heavy snow across the Midwest. In one part of Indiana, the county actually banned anyone from driving except for emergency vehicles. Dangerous road conditions seemed to follow the storm's path.

PERSON ON THE STREET: It's real icy. It's kind of like sleet on 471.

PERSON ON THE STREET: The roads are terrible right now. We couldn't make it out of the driveway. The car kept slipping backwards.

PERSON ON THE STREET: The roads are treacherous. The elevated freeway ramps and roads are very bad; a lot of fishtailing.

LLOYD: Just how bad? Check out this highway in West Virginia, where icy conditions led to nine different accidents all on the same stretch of road. Eventually, the interstate was completely shut down. John Lorinc has more now on the severe weather.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN LORINC, CNN REPORTER: This is what high-winds and driving rains did to a home in the Philadelphia area. A neighbor says her family was awakened by a loud crash.

JOANNE COLGAN, LIVES NEXT TO DAMAGED HOME: My son was in the bedroom, and he hollered, "Mom, mom! Get up, get up!" We got up and ran outside and saw this huge tree that fell against the house and onto the roof.

LORINC: At one point, more than 100,000 people in the area had their power knocked out by the storm, which also brought more than a foot of snow to parts of Ohio and nearby states. Work continues to get roads back in shape. Crews in Ohio went non-stop all weekend and are pleading for patience from motorists.

PERSON ON THE STREET: If they give it a chance, be patient, the salt will start working once the temperatures start climbing.

LORINC: Emergency officials worry all the snow could cause sudden flooding if temperatures rise too fast. Cleveland's airport got pounded with snow Saturday and closed for a time, but re-opened early Sunday. For CNN Student News, I'm John Lorinc.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Is This Legit?

CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS: Is This Legit? Cleveland is the capital of Ohio. False! Cleveland may be home to the Browns and the Cavaliers, but Ohio's capital is Columbus!

Word to the Wise

AZUZ: A Word to the Wise...

affirmative action (noun) a controversial effort to improve job or educational opportunities for minority groups and women

source: www.dictionary.com

Affirmative Action

LLOYD: So, why is it controversial? Well, some critics argue affirmative action is actually "reverse discrimination," that it denies opportunities to qualified non-minorities. The issue's actually ended up in front of the Supreme Court quite a few times during the last 30 years. Kate Bolduan looks at a debate over whether affirmative action is even necessary anymore.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is our moment. This is our time.

HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I will stand and fight for your futures every single day.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN REPORTER: Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are two presidential candidates making history. Ward Connerly says they're also two perfect examples of what he's fighting for.

WARD CONNERLY, OPPOSES AFFIRMATIVE ACTION: They are eloquent examples of the fact that America is not institutionally racist or institutionally sexist.

BOLDUAN: Connerly is of black and Native-American descent, so you might be surprised to learn he is leading a nationwide effort to limit affirmative action. He wants government jobs and contracts, as well as public education admissions, to be color blind and awarded only on merit.

CONNERLY: It marginalizes people. We develop the notion that, if you are black or in some cases female, you could not have obtained that unless somebody gave it to you, unless somebody gave you affirmative action. I think that's wrong.

BOLDUAN: Connerly say he does not want a complete ban of affirmative action, because he supports fighting discrimination. Instead, his measure eliminates preferential treatment based on race or gender. It's called the Civil Rights Initiative, and it has already passed in California, Washington and Michigan. There are petitions circulating in five other states for a vote on this November's ballots. But critics say those states are targeted for their majority of white voters. Affirmative action supporters, like Shanta Driver, are outraged.

SHANTA DRIVER, SUPPORTS AFFIRMATIVE ACTION: We intend to do what Thurgood Marshall and the NAACP did 60 years ago, and sue in every single one of these states. And let Ward Connerly and his backers know that we will fight them tooth and nail.

BOLDUAN: Driver says this initiative will only serve to erase progress made in the decades since the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

DRIVER: It's obviously a huge step backwards. It's creating the new Jim Crow.

BOLDUAN: Now, this issue may have some support in the Supreme Court. Last June, justices threw out public school choice plans that relied on race. Now, this leaves many states uncertain about whether their affirmative action policies will stand up in court and against political scrutiny this election season. Kate Bolduan, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Shoutout

AZUZ: Time for the Shoutout! Fill in the blank here: World War I was also known as _____. If you think you know it, shout it out! Was it: A) The Great War, B) The War Between the States, C) The War of the World or D) The Forgotten War? You've got three seconds -- GO! World War I, also called "The Great War" and "The War to End All Wars," lasted from 1914 to 1918.

Honoring a Hero

LLOYD: You can probably tell from those nicknames, World War I was huge. Millions of soldiers from more than a dozen countries took part in it. But 90 years after it ended, hardly any of them are still alive. In fact, there's only one surviving veteran of the war who was born in America. Jamie McIntyre tells us how he was recently honored.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Ladies and gentlemen, the portrait of Frank Woodruff Buckles.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Frank Buckles sat in his wheelchair as thunderous applause filled a Pentagon auditorium. But in a way, the 107-year-old World War I veteran was also standing, in fact one of the last men standing for a generation many fear is fading from the history books.

ROBERT GATES, DEFENSE SECRETARY: The First World War is not well understood or remembered in the United States. There is no big memorial on the National Mall. Hollywood has not turned its gaze in this direction for decades.

MCINTYRE: Frank Buckles was a farmboy of 16 when he fibbed his way into the Army, although don't tell him he lied.

FRANK BUCKLES, WORLD WAR I VETERAN: I did not lie. No one calls me a liar. (laughter)

REPORTER: You were 15.

BUCKLES: I may have increased my age. (laughter)

GATES: Deploying from Fort Riley, he went over on the Carpathia, the steamship that had rescued survivors of the Titanic. He drove ambulances in the United Kingdom and France. By no means did Cpl. Buckles's adventures end there. As a private citizen, he happened to be in the Philippines when Pearl Harbor was attacked. Held as a prisoner of war in Manila, he ate his meals out of a single tin cup for 39 months. He still has the cup.

MCINTYRE: There will be nine formal portraits on permanent exhibition at the Pentagon, all donated by David DeJonge, who spent a decade finding and photographing the "Last of the Last," including Frank Woodruff Buckles.

GATES: But he's a modest man. I am told he did not want to have the limelight fall on him alone today, but to make sure that it took in all nine of the people depicted in the exhibit: John Babcock, Lloyd Brown, Frank Buckles, James Russell Coffey, Harry Landis, Anthony Pierro, Howard Ramsey, Charlotte Winters and William Seegers.

MCINTYRE: Of the group, one other known survivor in that group: John Babcock of Spokane, Washington, who served for Canada in World War I, and then in the 40s joined the U.S. Army and became an American citizen. As for Buckles, he doesn't get out much these days, but he can now add to his amazing life a meeting with the President and a standing ovation at the Pentagon.

BUCKLES: I feel honored.

MCINTYRE: Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Promo

LLOYD: All right, you might be yawning a bit more today after losing that hour over the weekend. But do you know the reason why we give up those precious 60 minutes of sleep every year? Or when this whole daylight-saving thing got started? You can find the answers in our One-Sheet! It's waiting for you at CNNStudentNews.com!

Before We Go

LLOYD: Before we go, brace yourselves for a look at one of the most ferocious animals ever to walk the Earth! OK, so it hasn't done any walking in about 70 million years. But a true triceratops? Terrifying! And it can be yours for the right price. These beastly bones are going up for auction next month, and they're expected to fetch about three-quarters of a million dollars! But just like in prehistoric days, the T-rex still rules all. It sold for more than 8 million back in 1997.

Goodbye

LLOYD: We might have exaggerated that "ferocious" description a little. After all, triceratops only ate plants, and how scary can a four-ton vegetarian dinosaur really be? That's gonna wrap things up for today. Thanks for watching. I'm Monica Lloyd. E-mail to a friend