CNN Student News Transcript: February 12, 2008

(CNN Student News) -- February 12, 2008

Quick Guide

9/11 Conspiracy Charges - Hear why the U.S. is filing charges against several Guantanamo Bay detainees.

Politics & DNA - Learn about research into possible ties between political views and genetics.

Baseball Pioneers - Tour an exhibit of some of the Negro Baseball League's most memorable players.

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: It's Tuesday, and you've found your way to CNN Student News. We're on Headline News, online, on iTunes, and we're in your classroom. Thanks so much for joining us. I'm Monica Lloyd.

First Up: 9/11 Conspiracy Charges

LLOYD: First up, the U.S. government charges six men in connection with the 9/11 terrorist attacks. These individuals didn't actually carry out the events of that day, but they're all being accused of helping plan them. Conspiracy, hijacking, terrorism and murder are some of the charges being filed against the group. And when they go to trial, prosecutors are planning to ask for the harshest possible penalty. Nicole Collins explains the details.

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NICOLE COLLINS, CNN REPORTER: Six-and-a-half years after nearly 3,000 people were killed in the September 11th attacks, the government intends to try six Guantanamo detainees on charges relating to that, and wants the death penalty.

BRIG. GEN. THOMAS HARTMANN, LEGAL ADVISER, DOD: The charge sheet details 169 overt acts allegedly committed by the defendants and their uncharged co-conspirators in furtherance of the 9/11 events.

COLLINS: One of the suspects is the man the U.S. says was the mastermind behind the attacks: Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Just last week, the head of the CIA said Mohammed was subjected to waterboarding, the controversial interrogation technique some say is torture.

PETER BERGEN, TERROR ANALYST: Any adequate defense attorney is going to raise some serious objections. Not simply to the waterboarding that we know that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was subjected to, but also enhanced interrogation techniques.

HARTMANN: The question of what evidence will be admitted, whether waterboarding or otherwise, will be decided in the courts.

COLLINS: The military's legal advisor wants the men tried together and promised no secret trials. The White House says the military will follow the law passed by Congress, designed to ensure fair judicial proceedings for the terror suspects.

DANA PERINO, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Obviously, 9/11 was a defining moment in our history, and a defining moment in the global War on Terror. And this judicial process is the next step.

COLLINS: Legal analysts say it could be five years before the trials are complete. In Washington, Nicole Collins for CNN Student News.

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Shoutout

CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS: Time for the Shoutout! Which of these words best describes your total genetic makeup? If you think you know it, shout it out! Is it: A) Genome, B) Mitochondrion, C) Albedo or D) Endoplasmic reticulum? You've got three seconds -- GO! You'll find a complete set of your chromosomes, with all of your traits, in your genome. That's your answer and that's your Shoutout!

Politics & DNA

LLOYD: A lot of the information in our genes is hereditary; it's passed on from our parents. It's the reason why family members tend to share physical traits like height or hair color. But what about opinions? Well, some scientists are studying whether our political views might actually be sewn into our genetic fabric. Elizabeth Cohen fills us in on the research.

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ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL REPORTER: They look alike, they talk alike, they even vote alike.

ROBINSON TWIN #1: I'd say I'm probably pretty liberal.

ROBINSON TWIN #2: You could probably paint us with the same brush.

COHEN: Identical twins John and Charles Robinson say they have pretty much voted for the same candidates in every election since 1984. Are their political views similar because they grew up together in the same household and went to the same schools? For years, that's what political scientists assumed: that our political views are shaped entirely by the world around us. But now they're finding our political views might be rooted in something much deeper: our DNA.

JAMES FOWLER, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO: Nature, in some cases, is just as important as nurture when it comes to political behavior.

COHEN: So, what's the scientific evidence? First, studies on nearly 20,000 twins found that identical twins, who share all their genes, tend to share political views much more so than fraternal twins, who share only half their genes. Another study done at New York University and UCLA shows liberals and conservatives processed information differently when playing a computer game. And how our brains work is, to some extent, governed by our genes.

FOWLER: We are finding surprisingly strong results.

COHEN: And James Fowler at the University of California, San Diego, has found genes may play a role in whether or not you vote. He's just completed research suggesting people who vote tend to have a specific variation of two genes, a different variation than folks who don't vote. As for political views, scientists say they'll never find a Republican gene or a Democrat gene. They say there are probably hundreds of genes and lots of other factors that influence our political point of view. Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, Atlanta.

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Black History Month

MATT CHERRY, CNN STUDENT NEWS: Robert Johnson launched Black Entertainment Television in 1980, the first cable television network targeting African-Americans. BET reaches more than 80 million homes in the U.S. In 1991, BET became the first black-controlled company listed on the New York Stock Exchange. And after Johnson and his partners took the company private again, they sold BET to Viacom in 2001 for $3 billion. His latest endeavor: running the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats. He bought the team in 2003. Johnson has been named a distinguished alumnus of Princeton University, and Cablevision named him one of the 20 most influential people in the cable industry. Broadcasting the successes of Robert Johnson this Black History Month.

Baseball Pioneers

LLOYD: Black History Month pays tribute to pioneering African-Americans, like Robert Johnson in the television industry or Jackie Robinson in baseball. In 1947, Robinson became the first black man to play in the Major Leagues. But before he was a Dodger, he was a Kansas City Monarch. The team was part of the Negro Leagues, which gave African-Americans the opportunity to play pro ball before the sport was integrated. Larry Smith takes us on a tour of some of the prominent players and memorable moments in the history of the Negro Leagues.

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LARRY SMITH, CNN REPORTER: Tell me about Josh Gibson. How special was he?

BOB KENDRICK, NEGRO BASEBALL LEAGUES MUSEUM: He was incredible. He was often times referred to as having been the "Black Babe Ruth." But there were others who saw Gibson play who called Ruth the "White Josh Gibson." Gibson was incredible. In 1936, he is credited with having hit 84 home runs in a single season, and is still believed to be the only man to hit a ball completely out of Yankee Stadium.

SMITH: Satchel Paige, people thought he was older than what he was.

KENDRICK: He was much older then he was. (laughter) Major League Baseball has him recorded at age 42 as a rookie with the Cleveland Indians in 1948. Cleveland would win the World Series that year. Paige was named Rookie of the Year. Satchel Paige was probably closer to 52 than 42. Satchel never told his real age. He was so fond of saying that age of course was simply mind over matter. If you don't mind, it don't matter.

The great Hilton Smith, Hall of Famer. Hilton Smith did something I don't think we'll ever see done as a pitcher again. Hilton Smith won 20 games or more 12 consecutive years. Pittsburgh had two of the greatest Negro League franchises of all-time in the Pittsburgh Crawfords and the Homestead Grays, but the Homestead Grays would indeed play a lot of their home games at old Griffith Stadium in Washington, D.C. So, you know, Clark Griffith, who owned the old Washington Senators -- the Senators played there, and the Homestead Grays outdrew the Senators. And it is believed that Clark Griffith had long wanted to hire Gibson and Buck Leonard, because he saw them playing in his ballpark well before Robinson was signed. But he was afraid to do it because he knew he would be ostracized by his peers. The timing just simply wasn't right.

SMITH: It's interesting too that Kenesaw Mountain Landis, the commissioner who said there will never be a black baseball player as long as I am commissioner, in 1921, prohibited the off-season interracial games so that they wouldn't lose to the "inferior" teams.

KENDRICK: He felt it was an embarrassment for those Major League teams to lose to those black teams. But the players didn't want to stop because they were making more money playing in these exhibition all-star games than they were with their respective teams. So, they started playing these nonsanctioned all-star games after the season was over with.

One of the greatest athletes in American sports history was Jackie Robinson, four-sport star at UCLA. Much better football, basketball and track man than he was a baseball player. We make the bold assertion that Jackie's breaking of the color barrier actually signaled the beginning of what we now know to be the modern day Civil Rights Movement. Because, again, think about this: This is 1947. This is before Brown vs. the Board of Education. This is before the late Rosa Parks refused to move to the back of the bus. So really, for all intensive purposes, this is what started the ball of social progress rolling in our country: baseball.

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Promo

LLOYD: We'll continue this story tomorrow, when you'll find out why it's important for young people like you to hear these stories. In the meantime, you can log on to CNNStudentNews.com and check out our Black History Month curriculum materials. They'll help students learn about the origin of the event and research the history and culture of African-Americans.

Goodbye

LLOYD: And that's where we wrap things up for today. But we'll be right back here tomorrow with more CNN Student News. Have a great day, everyone. I'm Monica Lloyd. E-mail to a friend