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CNN Student News Transcript: March 19, 2008

  • Story Highlights
  • Learn which constitutional amendment is being examined by the Supreme Court
  • Honor a famous female sculptor, and hear one Saudi woman's call for change
  • Find out what a famous line from Shakespeare has to do with Hannah Montana
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(CNN Student News) -- March 19, 2008

Quick Guide

The Right to Bear Arms - Learn which constitutional amendment is being examined by the Supreme Court.

Women's History Month - Honor a famous female sculptor, and hear one Saudi woman's call for change.

Written Word - Find out what a famous line from Shakespeare has to do with Hannah Montana.

Transcript

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

CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: On Headline News, online and on iTunes, this is CNN Student News, and we're glad you're spending part of your day with us. From the CNN Center, I'm Carl Azuz.

First Up: The Right to Bear Arms

AZUZ: First up, the U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments about Americans' right to bear arms. The issue is addressed right in the Constitution; we'll get to what part in a little bit. But the meaning behind the founding fathers' words has been a hot topic of debate, and one that the court hasn't ever fully answered. Yesterday, people lined up to get inside the Supreme Court building and hear both sides of what could become a monumental case. Kelli Arena talked to two women about their views on the issue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KELLI ARENA, CNN REPORTER: Drug dealers, gunshots at night, constant threats.

SHELLY PARKER, GUN RIGHTS PLAINTIFF: I had my front window broken. I had the back window of my car broken in. I had a camera stolen off of my house. I was routinely threatened as I was walking around the neighborhood with my dog.

ARENA: Shelley Parker wanted a gun for protection, to feel safe.

ARENA: When Parker became too afraid, she moved to a safer neighborhood. But she doesn't want to live in fear again, and she still wants that gun. Problem is, she lives in Washington, D.C., where handguns are banned. Elilta Habtu lives just outside of the city and comes in often. The last thing she wants is more guns.

ELILTA HABTU, VA. TECH SHOOTING VICTIM, GUN CONTROL ADVOCATE: It's enough, more than enough. I mean, how many more lives do we have to waste before we take action?

ARENA: Habtu is a survivor of the Virginia Tech massacre and still has a bullet lodged close to her brain. She says no one should ever have to live through what she did, and is now an advocate for tighter gun laws.

HABTU: I'm still suffering in pain and mental torment from that day. I will always live with this forever.

ARENA: Two women with a common goal: a safer city, and completely different ideas about how to get there. Believe it or not, this is the first time the High Court is being asked to address the basic constitutional question. A decision could come by late June, just in time to become a major campaign issue. Kelli Arena, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Shoutout

JOHN LORINC, CNN STUDENT NEWS: Time for the Shoutout! Which amendment to the Constitution addresses the issue of bearing arms? If you think you know it, shout it out! Is it: A) Second Amendment, B) Fourth Amendment, C) Fifth Amendment or D) 10th Amendment? You've got three seconds -- GO! When you're talking about bearing arms, you're talking about the Second Amendment to the Constitution. That's your answer and that's your Shoutout!

Stock Rally

AZUZ: Some good news for the U.S. economy, as the stock market has its best day in more than five years. The Dow Jones average, which indicates general trends in stock prices, jumped up 420 points yesterday. That's the Dow's fourth-largest gain ever in a single day! The increase followed news that the Federal Reserve cut two key interest rates on Tuesday that affect consumer loans and bank loans. The Fed lowered each by three-quarters of a percentage point.

Airline Safety

AZUZ: Inspectors from the Federal Aviation Administration are spending the next week and a half making sure airlines and their planes meet certain safety standards. This comes after a story we told you about last week, when an investigation discovered that Southwest flew more than 100 aircraft without going through the mandatory inspections. An FAA official says that flying is safer than it's ever been, but they're doing these extra checks just to be cautious.

Mummified Dinosaur

AZUZ: And researchers in North Dakota are picking apart an old rock to get at what's inside: a fossilized dinosaur! You've probably seen the bones of these beasts on display, but this one's been preserved in stone, skin and all! Experts say it's one of the few mummified dinosaurs in the entire world. The 65 million-year-old creature was unearthed in 2004, and its skin is iron hard. So scientists are carefully chiseling and brushing to get it ready for display.

Women's History Month

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ: You may not know her name, but millions know her work. Maya Lin won awards and made headlines for her design proposal for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. It was a startlingly simple plan, too simple for some critics: Lin designed the polished, V-shaped wall that displays the names of over 58,000 men and women killed or missing in the Vietnam War. A compromise was made to include a traditional statue near the memorial's entrance. But after it was dedicated in 1982, the wall that Lin designed became one of the most revered works on the National Mall. And that's not all she's done. In 1988, the Yale-educated sculptor accepted the job of designing the Civil Rights Memorial, which was dedicated a year later in Montgomery, Alabama. These accomplishments are the reason why "Taylor" on our blog suggested we profile Maya Lin. And we honor this superlative sculptor this Women's History Month.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

No Right to Drive

AZUZ: Women's History Month may be a U.S. event, but International Women's Day honors the achievements of women around the world, and it's celebrated every year on March 8th. This year, one woman in Saudi Arabia marked the occasion by going out for a drive. So what? Well, in the Middle Eastern nation, when a woman gets behind the wheel, it's a big deal, especially when she's doing it to make a statement. Octavia Nasr explains why.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OCTAVIA NASR, CNN REPORTER: Wajeha Al-Huwaider did what many women in Saudi Arabia can only dream of doing: She drove her car, an act banned in cities around the kingdom and only permitted in remote areas such as this, where Wajeha videotaped her message.

WAJEHA AL-HUWAIDER, SAUDI ACTIVIST: For women to drive is not a political issue. It is not a religious issue. It is a social issue, and we know that many women of our society are capable of driving cars. We also know that many families will allow their women to drive.

NASR: To mark International Women's Day, Wajeha and her sister-in-law took a drive in the countryside, taped this message and later posted it to YouTube for the whole world to see, but especially for Saudi officials to hear.

AL-HUWAIDER: On the occasion of this Women's Day, we appeal to our interior minister his Highness Prince Nayef bin Abdel Aziz to permit us to drive.

NASR: The last time women publicly demanded their right to drive in the ultra-conservative kingdom, back in 1990, they were arrested by religious police and insulted in public. The row was then followed by a fatwa, a religious edict, officially banning women from driving in Saudi cities. Wajeha says this ban on women driving paralyzes half the population. After repeated petitions to the king that went unanswered, Wajeha and 125 women, already holders of driver licenses from various countries, have signed a petition to the minister asking him to lift the ban on women driving, a move they're willing to repeat until their voices are heard. Egyptian columnist Mona Eltahawy believes the tactic will bear fruit.

MONA ELTAHAWY, SYNDICATED COLUMNIST AND ARAB WOMEN'S ISSUES WRITER: She's protected herself in a way that's very clever. And in using YouTube, she's also connected to something that's becoming incredibly powerful in the Arab world, and that's the Internet. Either through blogs or social networking sites like Facebook and YouTube, you are seeing this kind of rumbling in the underground, which I think is about to bring about tremendous change in the years to come.

NASR: When CNN explored this issue back in 1990, the Saudi women who spoke to us said they were not ready to drive, and the country was not ready to desegregate the sexes.

WOMAN ON THE STREET: It's not the time for us just to drive. We need to prepare the people first. And then after they accept how we look, or just to get mixed together, then we can think about driving.

NASR: Eighteen years later, on the road to change and reform, Wajeha thinks the time to drive is now. Octavia Nasr, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Promo

AZUZ: That's hard for us to imagine: entire cities with no female bus drivers, no way for mom to drive you to school or out to dinner! You know what it's like to have driving restrictions, like the minimum age to get your license. But head to our blog and tell us what you think of a country where, in some places, women can't drive!

Written Word

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet." -- From Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

Before We Go

AZUZ: Before we go, we've got some breaking news from the entertainment world. Miley Cyrus is changing her name to... Miley Cyrus. That's right, the teen megastar is turning away from her destiny and giving up hope. Seriously, that's her real name: Destiny Hope Cyrus. She picked up the nickname Miley as a baby, but now she wants to make her legal name the one that everyone calls her anyway. So, is old Billy Shakespeare right? Will Cyrus still be the same after the switch? We're guessing millions of Miley fans probably won't mind.

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Goodbye

AZUZ: No changes for us, though. We'll be back again tomorrow, same name, same time. We hope to see you then. Have a great day, everyone. I'm still Carl Azuz. E-mail to a friend E-mail to a friend

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