Skip to main content
Part of complete coverage on

CNN Student News Transcript: January 20, 2011

Click to play
CNN Student News - 1/20/11
RELATED TOPICS

(CNN Student News) -- January 20, 2011

Download PDF maps related to today's show:

Gahanna, Ohio
Florida
Colorado

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: Hi, I'm Carl Azuz. In today's edition of CNN Student News, we're breaking down a debate over part of the Bill of Rights. First, though, a White House welcome.

First Up: Presidential Visit

AZUZ: That's first lady Michelle Obama and President Barack Obama officially welcoming Chinese President Hu Jintao to the White House. This ceremony happened yesterday morning. President Hu was met by several top U.S. officials as well as a military honor guard. Kicked off a day of meetings between the two leaders. During a news conference later in the day, the Chinese president said his country and the U.S. "share broad common interests and important common responsibilities."

One of those common interests: the global economy. We want you to have a look at this online interactive from CNN Money. This is a list of the largest economies in 2010. When you rank them by size, like they are here, you can see that the U.S. is number one, more than twice the size of China, which is number two. But when you rank these world economies by how much they grew in 2010, watch what happens. China moves to number one; it grew more than 10 percent last year. And the U.S. isn't even on that list.

With China's economy getting bigger, some people think it's important for other countries -- like the U.S. -- to learn more about Chinese culture. There are some school programs doing exactly that. But as Chris Welch explains, there's some concern about who's paying for these programs.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

CHRIS WELCH, CNN ALL-PLATFORM JOURNALIST: In this class, it's easy to forget you're in suburban Ohio. Teachers are prepping kids for an increasingly global economy, one that will inevitably involve China, the world's second largest economy.

ANDREW ALDIS, CHINESE LANGUAGE STUDENT: I think it's very valuable to learn a language that a lot of people in the U.S. will speak in the future and certainly is huge in business.

WELCH: The school hosts visiting teachers from China, and they're planning a student trip to the nation this summer. It's funded in part by the Chinese government. This school will get $30,000. By and large, the school's endeavor is being received with open arms. But that said, not everyone's ready to embrace a warm and fuzzy relationship with China.

The Hacienda Le Puente School District outside Los Angeles was poised to receive similar funds from the Chinese government, but community members weren't comfortable with what they call "communist propaganda" in the hands of elementary students. Back in Ohio, administrators say the Chinese government has no say in what the school teaches. But students and faculty say anti-Chinese sentiment still shows up.

As a teacher, do you ever hear people say, "I don't want my kids learning Chinese because that's a communist country"?

CHIWEI LIN, CHINESE TEACHER: Yes. I do.

WELCH: Ohio State Professor Oded Shenkar specializes in China.

ODED SHENKAR, OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY: I don't think they're going to go on record, or going to go through the school and, you know, let's teach you how to form a communist cell. You know, that's not going to happen. But there are subtle things.

WELCH: Subtle things, he says, like a visiting teacher from China potentially overstepping bounds. This school says, bottom line, opening a dialogue between the two nations is a good place to start. Chris Welch, CNN, Gahanna, Ohio.

(END VIDEO)

Shoutout

TOMEKA JONES, CNN STUDENT NEWS: Time for the Shoutout! What U.S. constitutional amendment addresses the right to bear arms? If you think you know it, then shout it out! Is it the: A) 2nd Amendment, B) 5th Amendment, C) 16th Amendment or D) 23rd Amendment? You've got three seconds -- GO! That right is covered in the Second Amendment, and it's led to a lot of debate. That's your answer and that's your Shoutout!

The Second Amendment

AZUZ: Okay, as promised, we're turning our attention to the Bill of Rights and specifically the Second Amendment. This is an amendment that has been debated for decades, and that debate gets a lot of attention after an event like the shooting in Tucson, Arizona.

But to understand what the disagreement is over, you've gotta first understand exactly what the amendment says: "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed." So, does this mean that a militia or the people should have guns? Ah, there's the rub.

Many supporters of gun control look to the first part of the amendment for their argument. Their view: this amendment protects the right of a militia, like the National Guard, to have guns, but not necessarily everyone else. So, this is an interpretation that effectively limits who can carry a firearm. People who support gun rights generally look to the second part of the Second Amendment, the part that says "the right of the people to keep and bear arms." Their view: This amendment protects individuals' rights to have guns. So, this interpretation suggests non-military citizens should be free to have firearms.

Now, here's where the legislative and judicial systems come in. Congress has passed laws that limit who can get or transport guns. But the Supreme Court has mostly left the issue of gun control for states to decide. I say "mostly" because it did make a decision last year that basically said this: The Second Amendment guarantees that individuals may have guns, and that guarantee must factor in to state laws.

Is This Legit?

JOHN LISK, CNN STUDENT NEWS: Is this legit? Bats are the only animals that use echolocation, a process of using sound to locate objects. Not legit! Some birds, whales and dolphins use this process, as well.

Dolphin Echolocation

AZUZ: I always remember studying echolocation in association with dolphins. You might be familiar with echolocation by another name, though: sonar. It's pretty much the same thing. You send out these sound waves, and when they bounce off of objects, the reflection of the waves tells you -- or in this case, the animal -- where the objects are. We're gonna take it to John Zarrella, now, who takes us to the Florida Keys, where researchers are putting some dolphins' echolocation skills to the test.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN MIAMI BUREAU CHIEF AND CORRESPONDENT: Say hello to Tanner.

EMILY GUARINO, TANNER'S TRAINER: Hi, buddy. Look who's here. Good morning. Hi, handsome.

ZARRELLA: The 8-year-old bottlenose dolphin is not only a good-looking dude, he's also really smart.

GUARINO: All right, Tanner. Let's show them what echolocation looks like.

ZARRELLA: Trainer Emily Guarino throws a ring out in the water with cups over his eyes so he can't see. Tanner, using his echolocation, his underwater sonar, finds and retrieves the ring. That's pretty cool, right? Well, at the Dolphin Research Center in the Florida Keys, scientists have found dolphins' smarts...

GUARINO: Really blew us away.

ZARRELLA: ...Go way beyond ring retrieval.

GUARINO: Monkey see, monkey do; that's a myth. It turns out that the animal best able to imitate other than humans is the dolphin.

ZARRELLA: For their study, Tanner was paired with another dolphin. Here, it's Kibby. The trainer gives Tanner the hand gesture that means imitate and then covers both Tanner's eyes. Kibby is signaled to do a specific behavior. Kibby waves his tail, Tanner imitates him perfectly.

GUARINO: Wow! You got it! That was it. Give me 10. All right.

ZARRELLA: The behaviors are all pre-taught, like splashing the water or running the lagoon.

GUARINO: Beautiful.

ZARRELLA: But with his blindfold, Tanner has no idea which behavior Kibby is doing. How does Tanner do it? Maybe his sonar, or he's picking the characteristic sound made by the behavior. Researchers and trainers specifically chose behaviors that were safe for Tanner. For instance, they didn't want him jumping out of the water while he was wearing the eye cups. Researchers say the dolphins' cognitive ability to understand what it means to imitate and then carry it out is amazing.

KELLY JAAKKOLA, DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH, DOLPHIN RESEARCH CENTER: That shows a kind of problem-solving flexibility that we haven't seen anywhere else.

ZARRELLA: During the actual research project, Tanner imitated the behaviors successfully more than 58 percent of the time, ruling out luck or chance.

GUARINO: Kibby brought a rock. Oh, so did Tanner!

ZARRELLA: John Zarrella, CNN, Grassy Key in the Florida Keys.

(END VIDEO)

Before We Go

AZUZ: It's always amazing to consider how intelligent dolphins are. Now usually, our Before We Go is about animals in some way. Now, that last story was about animals, so today, we are going from the Florida heat to the Colorado cold to show you what some people are doing: extreme mountain biking. Or really lazy skiing, depending on how you look at this. It does kinda look like fun. The idea seems to be trading in tires for skis, swapping out poles for handlebars, and then just ripping your way or, as might be in my case, crashing your way down the mountain. It might seem a bit daunting, but if you can make it out of the starting gates...

Goodbye

AZUZ: ...chances are, it's all downhill from there. You might've seen that one coming. We'll try again! You know some thrill seeker probably came up with this ski-eme just for fun. But I'm guessing halfway down the slope, he realized it was snow laughing matter. All right! For CNN Student News, I'm Carl Azuz. That wraps up our show today, but we are coming back tomorrow, where Fridays are always awesome on our show. Look forward to seeing you then. Have a great afternoon!