CNN Student News Transcript: February 8, 2008

(CNN Student News) -- February 8, 2008

Quick Guide

Top Stories - Catch up on some of the top stories making headlines today.

Romney Drops Out - Learn which White House hopeful suspended his campaign Thursday.

Talking Democracy - Hear some students' thoughts on the importance of voting.

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 Friday, and we're closing out the week here on CNN Student News, your commercial-free source for news for the classroom. Thanks so much for joining us. I'm Carl Azuz.

First Up: Top Stories

AZUZ: First up, we're gonna take a look at some of the stories making headlines right now. Atlantis is off the ground and on its way. The space shuttle blasted off yesterday on a trip to the international space station. It was scheduled to make this flight back in December, but malfunctioning fuel sensors caused a couple months of delay. One of the main reasons for the mission is the delivery of a European space lab to the ISS. And Atlantis' launch got us thinking about some extraterrestrial trivia.

Shoutout

GEORGE RAMSAY, CNN STUDENT NEWS: Today's Shoutout goes out to Ms. Cooley and the students and teachers of Pikeville High School in Pikeville, Kentucky! About how far do you have to travel from Earth to be in outer space? You know what to do! Is it: A) 6 miles, B) 60 miles, C) 600 miles or D) 6,000 miles? You've got three seconds -- GO! Experts say that when you cross the 60-mile marker, you're officially in outer space! That's your answer and that's your Shoutout!

Top Stories Cont.

AZUZ: Back on the ground, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff is promising federal assistance to the victims of this week's deadly tornadoes. The twisters ripped across five states, killing more than 50 people and leaving a path of destruction in their wake. On Thursday, Mr. Chertoff toured some of the areas that were hit hardest, and he pledged that the federal government will work with state and local officials in the rebuilding process.

And this might sound like something out of the Sopranos, but this story won't end with an order of onion rings. A huge law enforcement sweep picked up dozens of people who have ties to organized crime. The anti-Mafia raids took place in New York, New Jersey and even Italy! The suspects are facing charges from illegal gambling to murder, and according to a U.S. attorney, some of these crimes occurred over the course of three decades.

Romney Drops Out

AZUZ: And finally, the crowd of candidates in the race for the White House is a little bit smaller today. That's because former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has suspended his campaign. The move comes following Super Tuesday's 21 Republican contests. Romney came out on top in seven of those states, but he ended up well behind John McCain in the delegate count. Sen. McCain is now in the driver's seat for the GOP nomination. During his announcement yesterday, Romney said the stakes are too high to let the Democrats win the White House, and he's ending his presidential run to help the Republican party.

MITT ROMNEY, (R) FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Because I love America, in this time of war, I feel that I now have to stand aside for our party and for our country.

AZUZ: One of the questions now is what will happen to the delegates that Romney had already won. Well, each of the different state parties gets to make that decision. His exit from the campaign trail could also have a big impact on some of the remaining candidates. Not the Republicans. We mean the Democratic White House hopefuls. Bill Schneider makes sense of this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: What happens if the Democratic stalemate persists? Then two fights could break out at the Democratic Convention. One is a fight over the superdelegates who hold 20 percent of the convention votes. Those are office holders and party officials who automatically get convention votes, but are not pledged to support any particular candidate. The superdelegates dare not reverse the decision of the primary voters.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The argument we would be making to superdelegates is, if we come in to the convention with more pledged delegates, then I think that we can make a very strong argument that our constituencies have spoken.

SCHNEIDER: But if the voters can't make up their minds, the superdelegates could make it up for them. It's a political junkie's dream, and the Democratic Party's nightmare: backroom decisions, wheeling and dealing. The second fight is likely to be over seating delegates from Michigan and Florida. The Democratic Party has already voted not to seat their delegates because they held early primaries. Hillary Clinton won both contests. She wants those delegates seated.

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And I promise you, I will do everything I can to make sure not only are Florida's Democratic delegates seated, but Florida is in the winning column for the Democrats in 2008!

SCHNEIDER: The Democratic Party is urging Florida and Michigan to hold caucuses to pick delegates, but the Clinton campaign doesn't think much of that idea. Barack Obama has been winning most of the caucuses.

HOWARD DEAN, DNC CHAIRMAN: I dare say Michigan and Florida will ask for reinstatement. And the credentials committee, which will not be under my control, will make that decision at that time later on down the road. And the convention as a whole.

SCHNEIDER: A full-fledged credentials battle on the convention floor. Oh boy! Oh boy. The record shows the more divided the party, the more likely it is to lose in November. As Chairman Howard Dean observed, there have been three divided Democratic conventions in recent decades: 1968, 1972 and 1980. And the Democrats lost each time. Bill Schneider, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Right to Vote

AZUZ: Up next: suffrage. Doesn't sound like something you'd want! It's like you're combining the words "suffer" and "rage" for an unpleasant picnic. Well, the term actually comes from the Latin word "suffragium," which means to vote for or support. And that's where we get "the right to vote" out of the term "suffrage." Now for some more info on that right itself.

Fast Facts

RAMSAY: Time for some Fast Facts! The Constitution doesn't specifically guarantee Americans the right to vote. However, amendments made it so that citizens wouldn't be denied that right. Originally, voting was open to white citizens who owned land. In 1870, the 15th Amendment expanded that to men of all races, and 50 years later, the 19th Amendment gave that right to women. But some people, mainly African-Americans in the Southern U.S., were effectively prevented from voting by things like poll taxes, so the 24th Amendment did away with those. And Amendment 26 set the national voting age at 18.

Talking Democracy

AZUZ: So, we've got the right to vote. Why do it? Does it matter? Mr. MacFarlane and Mr. Warner's class at Templeton Middle School in California sent us an I-Report exploring just that question. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATT MACFARLANE, TEACHER, TEMPLETON MIDDLE SCHOOL: Voting matters, or at least it should. As adults, we should get out and vote. But why? We should ask some of the future generation. I wonder how they would answer when asked the question, "Why should I vote?"

BOY #1: Why should I vote? Because I want to live in a free country.

BOY #2: Because freedom requires responsibility.

BOY #3: Because people are counting on our country to lead the world.

GIRL #1: I don't want to live in fear.

GIRL #2: Being free has rights and responsibilities.

BOY #4: Because I want somebody to be able to go to college.

BOY #5: I want a job that gets a reasonable wage.

BOY #6: Someday I want to be able to buy a house.

BOY #7: Because I want to be proud of my country.

BOY #8: Because you can.

BOY #9: But I can't.

MACFARLANE: So, exercise your right to vote. Others are counting on you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ: That's what I'm talking about! Thank you, Misters MacFarlane and Warner. Your students did a great job on that I-Report! Now, for the rest of you slackers, get on it! You can send in your I-Reports at our Talking Democracy page on our Web site. There, you'll find all the background info you need to craft a fun and informative I-Report. This month's topic: the right to vote. Remember Schoolhouse Rock? Well, that's where we're going with this. But don't copy anybody, get creative! Put your thinking caps on and show us what you got!

Off the Beaten Path

AZUZ: Ok, we're gonna take a trip away from politics now, and check out what's happening in the lighter side of news. We've got a whole bunch of stories for you in this trip Off the Beaten Path.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ: World Champion Cowboy Monkey. I know you haven't heard that before. And you might not have seen this before: A monkey in chaps, vest and ten-gallon -- make that two-gallon -- hat. But he ain't "all hat and no cattle." Whiplash the Cowboy Monkey -- which is the weirdest thing I've ever said -- regales rodeo rubberneckers with his rowdy, rough-ridin' routine!

TOMMY LUCIA, ANIMAL TRAINER: He's like a rock star, I guess. A miniature rock star.

AZUZ: But while Whiplash is rockin' out...

LUCIA: The dog does most of the work.

AZUZ: And you know what he's thinking: "Somebody get this monkey off my back!" Here's another fish out of water, but not because she's in a purse. This courageous kitty goes somewhere her fickle feline friends fervently fear. You'll find her hangin' out and hangin' ten on the end of a surfboard! And she looks so happy about it too! Her owner says getting her over her fear of water was the hardest part, though as you can see, they've still got work to do. As for outright swimming? Not a happy kitty.

But as long as we're in the water, let's head over to Austria, for what looks like an Olympic hot-dogging event. But this dude gets no points! He wasn't the only one to drop in the drink, though. For about everyone at this, whatever this is, it was more about swimming than soaring. From Egyptians to insects, cartoon characters to kilt-clad combatants, everyone did his part to put the fun back in hypothermia!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Goodbye

AZUZ: And that's gonna put us on a path straight into the weekend. We hope you have a great one. I'm Carl Azuz. E-mail to a friend