CNN Student News Transcript: February 22, 2008

(CNN Student News) -- February 22, 2008

Quick Guide

Kosovo Independence - See how protests turned violent following Kosovo's newly declared independence.

Direct Hit - Find out whether the U.S. was successful in shooting down a spy satellite.

Underwater Hockey - Take a seat at a unique kind of game that crosses hockey with water polo.

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: We're spanning the globe-- looking far and wide for news just for you this Friday. Hi everyone, welcome to CNN Student News. My name is Carl Azuz.

First Up: Kosovo Independence

AZUZ: First up, we use a lot of maps in our show for two reasons: One, we cover stories from all over. Two, the maps themselves are always changing. Case in point: What's going on right now in southeastern Europe -- specifically Kosovo. Kosovo used to be a part of Serbia; But, last Sunday, it broke away from that country and declared itself an independent one. When that happened, people in Serbia said they would protest peacefully; and, in the beginning, they did. Yesterday, hundreds of thousands of people packed streets as part of a rally. But, as night fell, some protesters attacked the U.S. Embassy, setting fire to it. Later, a charred body found inside. It's believed to be one of the protesters. The embassy says all of its people are accounted for.

To learn how things started to get out of hand, we have to go back five days, to Kosovo's independence day. Remember, up until last weekend, Kosovo was part of the country of Serbia. It declared its independence, but a lot of people in Serbia still think Kosovo should belong to them. Alessio Vinci was in Kosovo on Sunday, the day it officially broke away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALESSIO VINCI CNN REPORTER: It was a day Kosovo's Albanians long waited for and fought for. Their prime minister, who helped lead the fight, made the announcement.

HASHIM THACI, KOSOVO PRIME MINISTER (TRANSLATED): The day has come, and from this day onwards Kosovo is proud, independent and free. My family as your family and all families in Kosovo never hesitated and never lost trust in us, trust in God, justice and power.

VINCI: The streets of the capital Pristina quickly turned into a giant party.

PERSON ON THE STREET (TRANSLATED): I am waiting for the whole world to recognize us, she says.

VINCI: Many waved American flags, recognizing U.S. and European support for Kosovo's independence. This man came all the way from Australia to celebrate.

PERSON ON THE STREET (TRANSLATED): We are very happy to be on this day here, we have traveled all the way from Australia to be on this big day in Kosovo.

VINCI: Leaders here asked people to "celebrate with dignity," mindful that not everyone is happy with the move. For the 100,000 Serbs living in Kosovo, this was a day of tragedy. Kosovo is Serbia's historical and cultural homeland, and Serbs say Kosovo will always be a part of their nation. Serbia says it will not oppose independence with violence, but in Belgrade protestors clashed with police outside the U.S. embassy.

VOJSLAV KOSTUNICA, SERBIAN PRIME MINISTER: We will do the most to bring the providence of Kosovo to where it rightfully belongs. Politics have now triumphed creating a very false country and nobody will prevent the Serbian people from realizing their freedom.

VINCI: Despite the saber rattling in Belgrade, celebrations in Kosovo continued all night long. But people here will wake up to their old every day problems which independence will not magically make disappear.

VINCI: Half the people celebrating here tonight don't have a job to go back to. Unemployment stands at 50%, there is rampant corruption and no real functioning economy. It has been tough to get here; it will be even harder to turn this province into a prosperous nation. Alessio Vinci CNN in Pristina, Kosovo.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Kosovo's Independence

AZUZ: The conflict is happening a world away, but the tension there has been building for years. Albanians are welcoming the change and celebrating Kosovo's freedom, but Serbs are angry and don't want to let Kosovo go. Fredricka Whitfield explains why emotions are so high in the small country of Serbia.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN REPORTER: It's about the size of Kentucky. Relatively small when you look at the U.S. map, but certainly very significant in the Balkan states here. For years, there has certainly been tension between the Albanians and the Serbs there. Belgrade, Serbia really making up about 90% Albanians. It has been the contention from Albanians that they have living an oppressed life for a very long time. There has been this chipping away of the structure of this country for the past few years and now, the Serbs are saying we don't want to see the partitioning of this country and we certainly don't want to see an independent Kosovo state. And that's what has resulted this weekend. And so now we've seen the bubbling up of tension of these groups that we've seen historically for a very long time and now this is sort of a new wave that we're witnessing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Bush in Africa

AZUZ: President Bush is back in Washington after finishing his week-long tour of five African countries. His last stop was Liberia. While there, he met with the country's president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. He praised her, and promised to keep helping her as she tries to get the country out of poverty. Liberia's been struggling to get back on its feet ever since a 14-year civil war ended in 2003.

Fast Facts

CARL AZUZ: 276 years ago today, a Mister George Washington arrived on the scene. This famous Federalist is known for everything from being worth a dollar to being the first U.S. commander-in-chief. But here's some stuff you might not've known: That business about chopping down the cherry tree? Bunk. Not that he couldn't have do it: Washington was six-feet-two and one tough farmer. But the tree story was made up just to show he was a good guy. Also made up, the statement that he had wooden teeth. Not that you would've wanted to kiss him: Washington started losing his grill in his 20s. But one set of his dentures, which was recently examined, was found to be made of hippo ivory, gold, lead, human and animal teeth. Don't ask what they tasted like, but it might explain why ol' George is always so closed-mouth on the dollar bill and the quarter! Oh, and here are some rules he liked to live by: Don't laugh at your own jokes. Don't spit into the fire. Don't sleep while others are speaking -- that goes for you in the back of class. And don't kill vermin while anyone's watching!

Black History Month

AZUZ: As we continue to mark Black History Month, today we're reaching for the stars. Monica Lloyd introduces us to Dr. Mae Jemison, the first African-American woman to travel to the final frontier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MONICA LLOYD, CNN STUDENT NEWS: Doctor Mae Jemison's love of science took her into orbit. In 1992, Doctor Jemison became the first African American woman in space. Jemison was born in Alabama and raised in Chicago. She went to Stanford University and Cornell Medical School, and later joined the Peace Corps.

In 1987, she joined NASA, and five years later took her first and only space flight on the shuttle Endeavor. After leaving NASA, she added another title to her resume, "actor;" appearing in an episode of Star Trek, the Next Generation. We honor Mae Jemison who went where no African American woman had gone before. This Black History Month.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Direct Hit

AZUZ: In other space-related news, remember that faulty spy satellite we've been telling you about? Well, it looks like it's been blown to bits. The Pentagon says it's pretty confident a military missle scored a direct hit on the first try, but military officials say it'll take another day or so to make sure the satellite's toxic fuel tank was hit and destroyed. Jamie McIntyre brings us the story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: It took just three minutes for the SM-3 missile to lift off the USS Lake Erie and launch its sophisticated kill vehicle directly into the path of the dud satellite, 150 miles above the Pacific Ocean. From the ground it looked like a bull's eye, a direct hit on the fuel tank. The sizable explosion along with spectro-analysis of the resulting vapor cloud, indicates the thousand pounds of potentially dangerous hydrazine was dispersed harmlessly in space.

GEN. JAMES CARTWRIGHT, JOINT CHIEFS VICE CHAIRMAN: The high-definition imagery that we have indicates that we hit the spacecraft right in the area of the tank.

MCINTYRE: The Pentagon is still analyzing the data on the fuel tank, but there's little question the satellite itself was pulverized. No fragments have been tracked that are any bigger than a football. And so far, most of the debris seems to be burning up in the atmosphere, posing no hazard to people on Earth. The Pentagon argues the unprecedented shoot-down was not intended as a warning to potential adversaries, and that the U.S. has no plans to field satellite-killing weapons.

CARTWRIGHT: Will I be able to convince everybody that that's the case? No. But at the end of the day, it would have been, in our judgment, irresponsible to try not -- to not try to remove some of this risk.

MCINTYRE: Count among the unconvinced: Russia and China. Moscow called the shoot-down "an attempt to move the arms race into space. And China, despite conducting its own anti-satellite test last year, warned about "possible harm" and called for more answers from the U.S. On a stopover at the U.S. Pacific command in Hawaii, Defense Secretary Robert Gates responded that the U.S. already provided a lot of information before the shoot-down, and is prepared to do more in the spirit of "complete transparency."

ROBERT M. GATES, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: We certainly are prepared to share with whatever appropriately we can.

MCINTYRE: The Pentagon argued destroying the satellite was not just target practice for U.S. missile defenses, but flush with the success, Defense Secretary Gates said he does believe that questions about whether the technology works have been answered. Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Underwater Hockey

AZUZ: Before we go today, some students in Ohio are taking the plunge and we ain't talking marriage! They're playing hockey, underwater! It's looks a lot like water polo, only, instead of passing a ball on water, they're passing a lead puck on the floor of a pool. Get this-- there's only one other high school team in the country, which basically means they'll either end up in first or last place. But, to get better, they practice with college players and play in college tournaments.

Goodbye

AZUZ: Well, it's time for us to come up for air here. That sport looks really tough though. As always, thanks for watching CNN Student News, guys. Have an awesome weekend. I'm Carl Azuz. E-mail to a friend