CNN Student News Transcript: February 26, 2008

(CNN Student News) -- February 26, 2008

Quick Guide

Rare Glimpse - Take a look inside North Korea's main nuclear facility.

Doing Something Good - Meet a sixth-grader who's giving homeless kids a helping hand.

Before We Go - Find out which city was tapped as having the best tap water.

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: We're criss-crossing continents, and giving the news a musical twist today. Hello, everyone, I'm Monica Lloyd and this is CNN Student News.

First Up: Rare Glimpse

LLOYD: First up: News out of North Korea. A country that has had a testy relationship with the U.S. for more than 50 years. It opened its main nuclear reactor to news crews for the first time, to show it intends to keep its side of a bargain with five other countries, including the U.S. Under the deal, North Korea's supposed to completely disable their reactors, in order to get aid. They haven't really done that yet, because they say other countries, including the U.S., haven't met their end of the deal. But all this doesn't mean the U.S. and North Korea can't make beautiful music together. Betty Nguyen explains in our Fact Check.

Fact Check

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN REPORTER: The sounds of Western classical music. But will the New York Philharmonic have the same diplomatic impact of the U.S. ping-pong team during its unprecedented visit to China in the 1970s? That depends on one man: North Korea's strongman leader Kim Jong-Il. Western diplomats and analysts describe Kim as unpredictable, an cult leader, a brutal dictator. Bad blood between the North and the U.S. goes back to the late 1940s, when the Korean peninsula was divided between the communist North and the U.S.-backed South. In 1950, North Korean forces invaded the South. Three years later an armistice ended the Korean War, but left Korea still divided. And the U.S. and North Korea still have not signed a peace treaty. Over the years since though, relations have been more antagonistic than friendly. Just one recent example: The North exploded a nuclear device two years ago. After much wrangling and on again and off again talks, the North agreed last fall to disable its nuclear facility in return for energy aid and the lifting of diplomatic sanctions. Kim Jong-Il recently threw a monkey wrench into the deal, slowing work on disabling its reactor at Yongbyon. The Pyongyang government says it's protesting what it calls the failure of the U.S. and other countries to fulfill their commitments.

LLOYD: So, as you can see, the relationship between the U.S. and North Korea is a rocky one, but members of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra are trying to change that. They want to bring North Korea and the U.S. closer through music. But getting any closer would require North Korea get rid of its nuclear weapons. Christiane Amanpour was one of the journalists who got a rare look inside the country's main nuclear facility.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: North Korea has never seen anything like it. Not since the end of the Korean War, have so many Americans come here at one time. The New York Philharmonic Orchestra is here to give an unprecedented cultural opening to this country and to play some amazing songs for people who are not used to hearing American tunes or classical music from abroad. Also, a huge contingent of press people, and today we got a very rare look at the Yongbyon nuclear facility. That's North Korea's main nuclear facility and it's almost unprecedented for them to take press in. But CNN went in, and we saw what's been going on for the last half year or so since Yongbyon has been shut down under an agreement between North Korea, the United States and four other nations who were involved in nuclear negotiations. We saw the nuclear shut down. We saw the nuclear fuel rods being removed and neutralized in what was called a fuel rod pond under six meters of water. We saw the processing plant, the reprocessing plant that actually extracts the plutonium that is being used for weapons. And indeed, North Korea says it tested a weapon some 18 months ago; a nuclear weapon. We saw that reprocessing plant close down. We saw the distinctive cooling tower, the bell-shaped concrete tower that is distinctive at every nuclear plant, gutted; the inside of it taken out and just the concrete shell remains. We saw parts of the plant wrapped in plastic and put in storage. The bottom line is, that under this agreement with the United States, this facility has been shut down. But it was in return for a million dollars, or rather, a million tons of heavy fuel oil. They have serious electric and power problems here. They are also expecting more aid, and indeed to be taken off the sanctions list and the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism. That hasn't actually happened, because the U.S. says that North Korea owes a fuller accounting. But, we understand from both North Korean and American officials that this process continues, and they will continue with the disabling of this plant, and the removing of the nuclear fuel rods. I'm Christiane Amanpour in Pyongyang.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Black History Month

LLOYD: Now, we pay tribute to Johnnie Carr, a woman who's been remembered as a civil rights "spark plug." She died over the weekend at the age of 97. As part of Black History Month, we look back at her brave battle for equality, which spanned more than 50 years.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MONICA LLOYD, CNN REPORTER: Most everyone knows the name of Rosa Parks. Fewer know the name Johnnie Carr. Carr worked right alongside Parks, her childhood friend, to integrate the bus lines in Montgomery, Alabama in the 1950's. And Carr continued the fight to integrate the South, enrolling her son in the then all-white Lanier High School in Montgomery and leading the Montgomery Improvement Association for more than 40 years. The organization was born during the bus boycott, and seeks solutions for African Americans in Montgomery in areas like education and voter registration. She called on those younger than her to keep the effort going.

JOHNNIE CARR: Young people, get on board. We need you to carry on. To do what you need to do.

LLOYD: Remembering the contributions of Johnnie Carr, this Black History Month.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Doing Something Good

LLOYD: Imagine if your hand started to hurt every time you tried to write. I know what you're thinking: that'd be the perfect excuse to get out of doing homework! Not so fast. It really happened to a boy in Los Angeles, but he found a creative way to deal with it, and now he's giving other kids a helping hand. Here's Vince Gonzalez.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VINCE GONZALES, CNN REPORTER: For twelve-year-old Michael Guggenheim, school used to be more frustrating than fun.

TEACHER: So what would be a living cell?

GONZALES: He had a hard time writing with a pen or pencil; it actually caused him pain.

MICHAEL GUGGENHEIM: It was just like I wanted to cut my hand off sometimes because it just hurt so much. None of my teachers, cause I was at a different school, knew what it was and would just say, oh, I had bad hand writing or get mad at me. And I'm like it's not my fault, it's not my fault.

GONZALES: The cause of Michael's penmanship problems turned out to be "Dysgraphia," a form of dyslexia that only recently began to get attention. The solution? Switch whenever possible from a pencil to a mouse.

GUGGENHEIM: The laptop just made a world of difference for me because no longer did it make my hand hurt like heck.

GONZALES: His grades shot up and Michael decided he could make a difference too - and computers could help. So, he created his own charity: SPLAT or Showing People Learning and Technology.

GUGGENHEIM: Do you know how to type?

GONZALES: His idea? Get donated laptops and, once a week, provide educational games and computer training to homeless children in one Los Angeles family shelter.

GUGGENHEIM: These kids are just so smart and just don't get enough breaks, and knowing that I can help them feels really good to me.

GONZALES: Shelter administrators say he's already changing lives.

CECILIA RIBBACOFF: This is something they can look forward to once a week when everything else in their life is so tumultuous. It's really nice and I think that that security and that anchor helps them perform in school, academically and socially.

GONZALES: There's something else Michael's students can look forward to. When families, like little Jasmine's, move out of the shelter into their own homes, they get a special gift.

GUGGENHEIM: This is gonna be your laptop now. You can bring it home with you.

GONZALES: SPLAT has already won awards, including one from the White House. And Michael's parents say he gets inquiries from as far away as Vietnam and Iran.

PAUL GUGGENHEIM: He's been getting emails from people asking if Michael could send a representative from SPLAT. Of course he's the only representative from SPLAT.

LAURIE GUGGENHEIM: He's in school right now.

PAUL GUGGENHEIM: He's in school trying to get through the sixth grade so that's a little bit tough.

GONZALES: Michael says he wants to spread the word about Dysgraphia and expand SPLAT - getting the program into more shelters; all tasks he hopes to finish before he gets busy with high school. For CNN, Vince Gonzales in Los Angeles.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Promo

LLOYD: So Michael's a pretty amazing kid, but he's not the only one out there! You may be somebody or know somebody who helps others, and we want to hear about it on our blog. Doesn't have to be anything major; maybe you've just lent a hand to someone after school; But whatever it is, tell us your story at CNNStudentNews.com!

Before We Go

LLOYD: Before we go... The city with the tastiest tap water is, well, clear! A panel of journalists and food critics taste-tested tap water from 120 different places as part of an international competition. They smelled it, swirled it and gargled it; But, in the end, Los Angeles' tap water drowned the competition. One of the organizers actually said Los Angeles gives "special care and attention to their water." I'm not sure what that means, not sure I want to know, but I am getting a little thirsty.

Goodbye

LLOYD: Speaking of tap, we're feeling a bit tapped right now; But, as always, thanks for watching CNN Student News everyone. I'm Monica Lloyd. Have a great day. E-mail to a friend