CNN Student News Transcript: August 20, 2008

(CNN Student News) -- August 20, 2008

Quick Guide

Meet the Candidates: McCain - Learn about John McCain's experiences as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.

Meet the Candidates: Obama - Explore Barack Obama's early work as a community activist in Chicago.

Conventions 101 - Go behind the scenes of a political party's nominating convention.

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: It's Wednesday, I'm Carl, and this is CNN Student News! Thanks for stopping in as we hit the halfway point of the week.

Meet the Candidates: McCain

AZUZ: Today, we're going to focus on two men who will be on our show and a lot of others this fall: Senators John McCain and Barack Obama. You know these guys are their party's presumptive presidential nominees, and in November, one of them is likely to win the presidency. But before voters head to the polls, CNN is looking back at the candidates' lives in a special program called "McCain and Obama Revealed." We've got a preview of it for you today. First up, John King examines John McCain's time as a prisoner of war.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KING, CNN REPORTER: It's hard to imagine five days, let alone the five-and-a-half years John McCain spent in cells like this one here and in other North Vietnamese prisons. He suffered from heat prostration and bouts of dysentery. And then there was the torture. The North Vietnamese considered their American prisoners to be criminals, and the punishment included beatings, also hanging the inmates from the ceilings by their wrists and solitary confinement. McCain spent long stretches in solitary, during which he says his only way to communicate with the outside world was to use a code developed by the prisoners to tap on the wall.

ERNIE BRACE, FORMER POW: I tapped back, as best I could at that point.

KING: In the fall of 1968, POW Ernie Brace heard from his new neighbor in solitary confinement.

BRACE: He said, "My name is John McCain, Lt. Commander John McCain, U.S. Navy."

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE : I'll never forget the first time that I talked to him. He just kept saying, "My name is Ernie Brace. My name is Ernie Brace."

BRACE: It was pretty exciting. I was a little emotional probably. I can remember tears in my eyes thinking about it.

MCCAIN: It was incredible, what the experience that Ernie went though. A remarkable man. A great man.

KING: It was not long after the lowest moment of McCain's captivity. McCain recalls being beaten by as many as 10 guards at a time, tortured with ropes, and given little water. After four days, he broke, signing a statement confessing to "performing the deeds of an air pirate" and expressing gratitude for being "saved by the Vietnamese people."

KING: Did you let down yourself, your father, your family, your country, your cell mates?

MCCAIN: Everybody, but mostly me. Mostly me.

KING: How so?

MCCAIN: Because of the standards that I set for myself.

KING: At the time when you were writing those words, what were you thinking?

MCCAIN: I was obviously in very desperate physical shape.

KING: McCain says he was suicidal, but his comrades rallied his spirits.

MCCAIN: It was a policy in the prison camps that even if they may get something from you, you always go back into the fight. You always come back. And that was very encouraging.

BRACE: He was defiant. Very defiant. His whole attitude was defiance.

KING: That defiance or tenacity would help John McCain survive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Meet the Candidates: Obama

AZUZ: Now let's look at McCain's opponent in this year's election: Barack Obama. During the 1980s, he worked as a community activist in Chicago. Suzanne Malveaux explores this period in Obama's life.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN REPORTER: Barack Obama's job was to help Chicago's forgotten residents learn to help themselves. What Obama wanted was to organize Chicago's south side pastors to better help their own communities. Working together in what Obama called "God's army," entire congregations now turned out for ward meetings.

LORETTA HERRON, COMMUNITY ACTIVIST: Barack's job was to build the organization, and he did a good job bringing in churches.

MALVEAUX: Loretta Herron was active in the community. Along with several other women, they became key foot soldiers for Obama. They also tended to mother him, earning them the nickname "Obama's mamas."

HERRON: I felt so protective of him, you know. Are you eating right? Are you getting enough rest?

MALVEAUX: Did he listen to you?

HERRON: I doubt it. I doubt it.

MALVEAUX: Yvonne Lloyd was also one of Obama's mamas.

YVONNE LLOYD, COMMUNITY ACTIVIST: He always stayed in the background. He would always tell us, "This is your community. If I go out front, people are going to say, 'Who is he?'"

MALVEAUX: Obama made Loretta Herron his point person for a desperately needed job center for the community. Herron ran into trouble at a meeting with city officials.

HERRON: The director was really talking over me, and she had that high-handed attitude about, "'Well, you don't even know what I do," and whatever, you know. And I was trying to get a word in edgewise without being really disrespectful.

MALVEAUX: Herron says when Obama saw her struggle, he spoke up.

HERRON: He would start calling, "Let Loretta speak, let Loretta speak," you know, in that voice of his. So people kind of picked it up and she backed down.

MALVEAUX: The residents got their job center. Mayor Washington came to the opening and complimented Loretta's work. Obama beamed.

HERRON: He taught us to speak for ourselves. He gave us the strength that a lot of people never gain. To this day, I am an empowered person.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Promo

AZUZ: Now, hopefully that just whet your appetite. To check out more on the lives of the candidates, tune in to "Revealed." The full program airs tonight on CNN, with the segment on John McCain starting at 8 p.m. Eastern, followed by Barack Obama at 9:30.

Shoutout

MATT CHERRY, CNN STUDENT NEWS: Time for the Shoutout! What U.S. city hosted the first national presidential convention? If you think you know it, shout it out! Was it: A) Baltimore, B) New York, C) Philadelphia or D) Washington, D.C.? You've got three seconds -- GO! Baltimore played host to the Democratic Party's convention back in 1832, the first one ever. The Republican Party's first presidential convention took place in Philadelphia 24 years later in 1856. That's your answer and that's your Shoutout!

Conventions 101

AZUZ: And this year's conventions are almost here. The Democrats kick things off next week in Denver. Then the Republicans get together a week later in Minneapolis-St. Paul. Here's a look behind the scenes at what goes down during these enormous events.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ: Conventions are the mothers of all pep rallies: thousands of cheering fans, tons of team spirit, celebrities, and each party's nomination for president. The goal: to connect. Electrify the American public with some convention craziness, and maybe, just maybe, you'll ride the wave to the White House.

BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: That's not what the conventions used to do. They used to pick the candidates. But today, that's done by primary voters.

AZUZ: The conventions make it official: "We hereby officially proclaim so-and-so as our nominee for president, and so-and-so our nominee for vice president."

U.S. PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: I accept your nomination for president of the United States.

JOHN KERRY, FORMER DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I'm reporting for duty.

AZUZ: They're also used to proclaim party platforms, where the candidates stand on specific issues, and what they plan to do about it. And in the crush of the crowd, you'll notice delegates grouped by state, so they can answer a sort of roll call and show support for the nominees. Fine. But why does this take four days?

SCHNEIDER: Well, the parties have got to somehow make it interesting. So they put on a bit of a show. They have some speeches by important people.

AZUZ: Those important people help raise the all-important moolah. Meanwhile, connections are established, party members hobnob. Roaring applause, blasting music. And it all gets plenty of coverage, because...

SCHNEIDER: The news networks believe that they owe it to the parties and the candidates to provide them with some free time, essentially, to inform the voters and kick off their campaigns.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Talking Democracy

AZUZ: So, that's what happens during modern conventions. But if you want to learn some of the history of these political bashes, check out our One-Sheet. And then use our Learning Activity to hold your own convention! It challenges students to research how different states select delegates and what responsibilities those delegates have during a convention. It's all part of our "Talking Democracy" series covering different election-related topics. This month's? You guessed it: conventions. But it's not just about our info. We want you guys to tell us about conventions in an iReport. Your words, your video. Send it in and you could see yourself on our show! Only one place to find it all: CNNStudentNews.com!

Before We Go

AZUZ: Before we go, who needs a guard dog when you have a guard cow!?! This beast of a security system took on a black bear in a farm-yard face-off, and the cow won! The cub was climbing around an apple tree, one that's a personal favorite of this black angus bovine. Well, that sure got the heifer hot under the collar. It moseyed on over to investigate and went nose-to-nose, sniffing out the situation. When the cow decided it had enough, it chased the bear right off the property.

Goodbye

AZUZ: And that's just udderly embarrassing. We're gonna hoof it on out of here. Have a great day, everyone. I'm Carl Azuz.