CNN Student News Transcript: May 2, 2008

(CNN Student News) -- May 2, 2008

Quick Guide

Immigration Nation - Consider the impact of illegal immigration on the U.S. economy.

Getting Creative - Check out one farmer's old-school plan to beat high gas prices.

Off the Beaten Path - Watch some people compete in a sprint race without getting out of bed.

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: Fridays are awesome, and we're glad you're spending part of yours with us here at CNN Student News. From the CNN Center, I'm Carl Azuz.

First Up: Immigration Nation

AZUZ: First up today, thousands of demonstrators take to the streets over the issue of immigration. May 1st is also known as May Day, and from Wisconsin to Washington, protesters gathered in cities across the country yesterday. Organizers call this Immigration Day, and this is the third year that these rallies and protests have taken place. These folks are calling for reforms to America's immigration policies, like opportunities for illegal immigrants to become citizens. The number of participants is down from past years, but the topic is still up front and center, especially during an election year. And there are heated opinions on both sides.

TYNEI SHABOWENS: And if we live in a country that's supposed to be based on equality, supposed to be based on basic human rights, how can we be a country that kicks people out of their homes, out of their schools, tears families apart?

TEX CHRISTOPHER, AGAINST ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION: It's unfair. I can't go to Mexico and buy real estate. I can't go to Mexico and get health care benefits. So, why should they be able to come over here and drain our system?

AZUZ: That's one of the big issues here: The impact that immigration, particularly illegal immigration, has on the U.S. economy. Experts are making arguments on both sides of the debate. Illegal immigrants put money into the economy working jobs and buying stuff. But they also take money out through government services like hospitals and schools. Ted Rowlands looks at the overall effect.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TED ROWLANDS, CNN REPORTER: Economists have different opinions on whether illegal immigrants overall help or hurt the U.S. economy.

STEPHEN LEVY, ECONOMIST: There is no question in my mind that they help the economy. The illegal immigrants are filling low-waged jobs that wouldn't be filled easily otherwise. I think they've replaced a whole generation of people who have moved up.

ROWLANDS: And many of them do pay taxes. According to the Congressional Budget Office, about 50 percent of illegal immigrants pay into the Social Security system and have taxes taken out of their weekly pay. But because they're illegal, they aren't eligible for benefits.

STEVE CAMAROTA, CENTER FOR IMMIGRATION STUDIES: We estimated that they not only paid about $7 billion in Social Security taxes, but they paid $9 billion in other taxes on top of that. The problem is the services they use outweighed that by quite a bit in our study.

ROWLANDS: The Congressional Budget Office estimates that over the past two decades, immigrants, legal and illegal, pay in more than they consume on the federal level. But it's a much different story on the state and local level, especially in cities like Los Angeles, which at ten percent, has the highest concentration of illegal immigrants in the country. L.A. shells out an estimated billion dollars a year providing education, health care and police services to illegal immigrants.

MIKE ANTONOVICH, L.A. COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS: As long as we provide welfare, as long as we provide free health, as long as we provide all of these other services, it's a magnet for those people coming from other countries.

ROWLANDS: While these six states, according to the federal government, are getting hit the hardest from an economic standpoint, a handful of other states, including Tennessee, Georgia and North Carolina, have seen marked increases in illegal immigrant populations, which effects local budgets.

LEVY: What people forget, I think, is that poor people never pay enough in taxes to cover the costs of their public services, whether they are poor Anglos, poor African-Americans, poor Asians or poor Latino immigrants.

ROLANDS: The number of illegal immigrants in the country is only an estimate, anywhere between 12 and 20 million. The effect they have on the economy depends on where you're talking about and who you're talking to. Ted Rowlands, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Shoutout

GEORGE RAMSAY, CNN STUDENT NEWS: Today's Shoutout goes out to Autrey Mill Middle School in Johns Creek, Georgia! On what national landmark would you find the phrase: "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free"? If you think you know it, shout it out! Is it: A) the Statue of Liberty, B) the Washington Monument, C) Mount Rushmore or D) the U.S. Supreme Court Building? You've got three seconds -- GO! Lady Liberty was a gift of friendship from France, and she's home to those famous words. That's your answer and that's your Shoutout!

Homerun for Sportsmanship

AZUZ: So there's this college softball game that's getting a lot of attention thanks to an incredible display of sportsmanship. Last weekend, Sara Tucholsky hit her first career home run. But her knee gave out while she was rounding the bases. The rules say she has to touch the bags for the homer to count, but her teammates aren't allowed to help her. So, players from the other team stepped up and carried Sara around the diamond.

SARA TUCHOLSKY, WESTERN OREGON SOFTBALL PLAYER: That game actually meant something. We are both trying to go to regionals, and she basically gave me another run; otherwise, my run wouldn't have counted. So, in a close game like that, they did an amazing thing, and I'm just glad to get this story out, 'cause it's an awesome thing that they did for me.

AZUZ: Sara's team won, thanks in part to her assisted homer. But no regrets from her opponent, who says it was just the right thing to do.

A Word to the Wise

RAMSAY: A Word to the Wise...

sportsmanship (noun) the way athletes conduct themselves, especially demonstrating courtesy, fair play, and being a good loser

source: www.dictionary.com

Getting Creative

AZUZ: It's really hard to be a good sport about this. You're not seeing things. That's four dollars per gallon for gas. It's on the high side, but the national average isn't far behind; the price of regular unleaded has increased for 17 straight days. All of us who drive are feeling it. This is part of the reason why a couple presidential candidates are calling for a gas tax holiday. Hillary Clinton and John McCain want to suspend the federal charge that comes with your fill-up over the summer. But Barack Obama is against this. He says the move won't really have much of an impact on people's wallets. In the meantime, some people are coming up with creative solutions to work around those increasing fuel costs. Dave Jordan of affiliate KWTV shows us how one farmer is going old school.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LONNIE SHOCKLEY, FARMER: Easy! Come here!

DAVE JORDAN, KWTV REPORTER: It looks like a scene out of the old west...

SHOCKLEY: Get up!

JORDAN: A farmer plowing his land with two mules.

SHOCKLEY: This sets the depth of it, how deep you're gonna plow. And this puts them both in gear in the ground.

JORDAN: But Lonnie Shockley is using this tried and true method to save some cash.

SHOCKLEY: The cultivation would take about 4 or 5 gallons probably with a tractor, but I can cultivate it in a day's time with my mules.

JORDAN: Four or five gallons of diesel fuel at a rate of 4 dollars a gallon: not a lot of money initially, but it tends to add up. Which is why he temporarily gave up the tractor to use Becky and Connie for this 6-acre spread. But some of his land isn't being farmed at all.

SHOCKLEY: I've turned a lot of my farmland into grass, so I don't have to farm it. And just run cattle on it. That way I don't have to plow it, grain to it, drill it, sow wheat to it or whatever I want to plant.

JORDAN: Shockley has planted about 60 acres of wheat, and while the price on that crop is up, there's little effect on his bottom line.

SHOCKLEY: By the time you figure out how much the gas and fuel and parts and everything, it don't offset it that much.

JORDAN: So for now, this retro yet radical way of cultivating will have to do.

SHOCKLEY: Nothing like plowing corn on a windy day!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Promo

AZUZ: Nearly 50 million Americans don't have health insurance, and some of them are taking extreme measures to get medical treatment. The CNN Classroom Edition "Health Care: Critical Condition" looks at the current system and examines some possible alternatives. The program airs this Monday on CNN, and you can check out our free curriculum guide for it at CNNStudentNews.com.

Off the Beaten Path

AZUZ: And finally, when you nix the normal and head Off the Beaten Path, you know you can expect certain kinds of craziness. Cars and racing, cops and robbers. Now those things seem to go together. We've got them today, just not necessarily in those combinations. So, let's shuffle 'em up and see what we get.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS: Ball players know all about stealing bases. This is how to steal a home run. Head over heels, over head, over fence; all for a catch that came with a severe fan swamping. As far as his teammates went, nothing said congrats like a collision! While we're going over and above the call of duty, the little dots near the middle of your screen are a mother duckling and her babies, beleaguered by the bird-brained decision to cross a heavily-trafficked highway. Now, check out what this compassionate cop does for the ducklings: He uses his car, and eventually his body, to serve and protect another species. When asked how he'd repay the policeman, the duck replied, "Just put it on my bill." Aack! Good thing he wasn't in the way of these guys: Now I lay me down to speed! In one of the weirder wonders preceding the Kentucky Derby, dozens of competitors climb into beds, dreaming of victory in the annual "Great Bed Races." Some vehicles are more aerodynamic than others. Some fans are more amused than others. And some folks look like they never got out of bed. But whether winning, losing or waiting around, everyone gets the chance to catch some z's.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Goodbye

AZUZ: Lots of nasty puns in that. Here's another one: That's gonna put today's show to bed. Have a great weekend, and we'll see you again on Monday. I'm Carl Azuz. E-mail to a friend