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STUDENT NEWS

Continuing Crisis in Ukraine; Divers Continue Search for Passengers of South Korean Ferry; Winners of Boston Marathon, People Celebrating Earth Day All Around the World; Binge Watching and Netflix and Streaming Devices; Bruno Serato Has Expanded His Feeding Hungry Kids Services

Aired April 22, 2014 - 04:00:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CARL AZUZ, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to CNN STUDENT NEWS. I`m Carl Azuz. Today is Earth Day and we`ll tell you what that means in a few minutes. But we are starting in Ukraine.

There`s a crisis in the country, and it`s not calming down. Yesterday, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Kiev, the Ukrainian capital. He promised more U.S. assistance, money mostly for the struggling Ukrainian government. One challenge it faces is a lack of funds, another the fact that many people in eastern Ukraine don`t support their new government. In about a dozen Ukrainian cities and towns, protesters have taken over buildings demanding closer ties with Russia. That country has been accused of stirring up these protests and planning to take over more parts of Ukraine.

Russia denies this saying it has no sway over the protests in Ukraine.

Next up, mourning in South Korea. More than 80 people lost their lives when a ferry sank off the country`s coast on Wednesday. But more than 200 others are still missing. And hopes are fading for rescuing any other survivors. South Korea`s president says the action of the captain and some crew members were like murder. The captain has been charged with a number of crimes, from the poor sailing that caused the ship to sink to failing to help passengers escape. The captain says the cold water temperatures and fast currents made him hesitant to tell people to abandon ship. 174 people were rescued after the accident. No survivors have been found since April 16. Still, divers continue to search the submerged ferry in the hopes that some passengers might have found an air pocket.

At the 2014 Boston Marathon yesterday, a year after a terrorist attack at the same event, the race announcer told 36,000 runners take back that finish line. And for the first time since 1983, an American won it. 38- year old Meb Keflezighi of the U.S. was the first man to cross having run the 26.2 miles in two hours eight minutes and 37 seconds.

For the women, 33-year old Rita Jeptoo from Kenya crossed first. Her time was two hours 18 minutes and 57 seconds. That`s a course record for a woman.

At least two had more competition to beat. There were 9,000 more runners than in 2013. An another example of Boston Strong, the event`s largest crowd ever was expected to cheer them on.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Time for "The Shoutout." What`s the only planet not named for a god in Greek or Roman mythology? If you think you know it, shout it out! Is it Earth, Mercury, Neptune or Saturn? You`ve got three seconds, go!

While all other planets are named for gods or goddesses, Earth`s name comes from the old English and Germanic languages. That`s your answer and that`s your shoutout.

AZUZ: I don`t know if there`s a Mercury day or a Neptune day, but if there is, it sure doesn`t have a billion people participating in it.

According to the group that organizes Earth Day, every April 22, there are more than a billion people worldwide who are taking action. EarthDay.org says this is marked in 190 countries. People are planting trees, cleaning up their neighborhoods, generally taking action to improve the environment.

The Earth Day movement started in 1970, and some things that`s working on today include the canopy project. That aims to have a billion trees planted worldwide. Green cities, the goal is to get folks in growing urban areas to minimize the impact on the environment. And protecting the Asian elephant, which the Indian government calls an endangered species.

Binge watching, when you put on a favorite show and just watch it for hours and hours. It`s taking a toll on some people`s sleep patterns. Experts say that to get better sleep, we should shut off all our screens an hour before bed. So that includes TV, phone and computer. But those who binge watch are often staying up late to do it. And the Internet is making this easier than ever.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAMUEL BURKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Something dramatic is taking place on screens, both large and small. Many call it a new golden age of entertainment.

MARC BERMAN, TV MEDIA INSIGHTS: The quality of the programming has dramatically improved over the years. There are so many good shows out there.

BURKE: And like all good things, some of us can`t get enough.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I binge watching "Gandalf." (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`ve binge watched "CSI Miami."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m binge watching right now on "Shameless." It is a total addiction for me.

BURKE: Oh, sure you could have binge watched TV shows in the good old days on DVDs or something called VHS tapes. But technology is taking marathon viewing to new levels and Netflix is leading the way.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Netflix is almost synonymous now with binge watching, even there`s other ways to do it, Netflix is in some ways the easiest way to do it.

Netflix is like walking to a library having every book in a series all lined up on the shelf ready for you to read. It does that for television.

BURKE: It`s not just Netflix helping us gorge on our favorite shows, Hulu, Amazon and other services also feature unlimited hours of programming for viewing on TVs, tablets, laptops and smartphones.

Streaming gadgets like Google`s ChromeCast, Apple TV, the Rokustick and now Amazon`s Fire TV, all stream net content effortlessly to your set. And more Silicon Valley heavyweights are getting in on the content business. Yahoo! is reportedly planning four new series. This powerful combination of original series and streaming devices means that once we get going, we don`t have to stop. Netflix has added more than 2.5 million subscribers so far this year, thanks in part to binging.

STELTER: When people pay for Netflix every month, they are paying for access to this giant library of shows. They may only binge on one of those shows a month or one of those shows a quarter, but they like having access to all of it.

BURKE: But for many, there is a downside.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel like I`ve wasted a lot of time. When I get through that eight hours, I just feel like drained and I`m like I cannot waste another hour of my life doing this.

BURKE: That could become a bigger problem: 14 percent of all American households own streaming devices and sales are expected to double by 2017. The line between Silicon Valley and Hollywood is blurring, and both are reaping the benefits.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: Yesterday`s "Roll Call" took us up the East Coast. Today, we are taking a train west, starting with the rail splitters. They are in the Midwestern city of Des Moines, the capital of Iowa. Next, we are moving over to Overton, it`s in Nevada, and it`s where the pirates are watching at Moapa Valley High School. And in the capital of the gem state, the buzz is all about the Hornets. East Junior High School is on our roll in Boise, Idaho.

Unless you leave in Southern California, you probably haven`t heard of a chef named Bruno Serato. He hasn`t won top chef or chopped (ph). But he was a top ten CNN Hero a few years ago. And the man who was once told by his mother to feed some hungry kids in his area has only seen his service grow. In the CNN Heroes follow up, watch what difference a few years have made.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please join me in honoring CNN Hero Bruno Serato.

(APPLAUSE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When Bruno Serato was honored as the CNN Hero in 2011, he was serving pasta to nearly 200 low income children a day in Anaheim California.

BRUNO SERATO, CNN HERO: The pasta is ready!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Since being awarded, Bruno`s program has grown significantly.

SERATO: OK. Who loves my pasta?

UNIDENTIFIED CHILDREN: Me!

SERATO: Now, we (INAUDIBLE) 1,000 kids a day.

Every single day, Monday through Friday.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Reaching kids in three more cities in Orange County.

SERATO: Each time I prepare a meal, each time I serve a kid, I know I give a security to a little kid and he has a full stomach before he goes to bed.

(on camera): (INAUDIBLE) my pasta?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But Bruno does more than just filling their stomachs.

SERATO: I request one (INAUDIBLE) to share the table together. That means emotionally as a family of kids together, eating a plate of pasta together.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILDREN: Delicious.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILDREN AND SERATO: Bravissimo!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bruno`s group has also gone beyond food. He`s helped move 55 homeless families out of motels and into their own apartments.

UNIDENTIFIED GIRL: I love it.

SERATO: You set the life completely. Change their life completely.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With no plans to slow down, Bruno`s meal program will be in its fifth city this summer.

SERATO: My goal is to be all over the nation. How can I stop when children are starving? The day when children are no starving, I was done.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILDREN AND SERATO: Pasta!

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: One Easter tradition that`s been going on for 136 years now, is officially known as the White House Easter egg roll. And the actual rolling of Easter eggs is certainly a part of it. Kids dressed in their Sunday best using spoons to usher eggs across the South Lawn. But 30,000 people in all were expected, including sport stars, pop stars, celebrities and a presidential round of basketball hoop things up as well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(CHEERS)

(CROSSTALK)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Two!

(CROSSTALK)

OBAMA: This is the only .

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the one right here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here we go!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here we go!

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ: The pressure was on for that third shot, making it an eggselent effort. People were no doubt egging him on. He really had to hop to it, probably thinking no bunny was going to ruin that one.

Don`t blame me for those puns. I didn`t cook up any of them. They were all tweeted to me on Easter. So, thanks to those who send them and we`ll have some new in for your tomorrow.

END