CNN聽力合輯Sep.26布什聯(lián)合國大會演講/反恐監(jiān)測中心

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CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: Hi, everyone. I'm Carl Azuz. We're halfway through the week here at CNN Student News, and here is our top story for today.

First Up: United Nations Speech

AZUZ: Leaders from around the world are in New York this week for a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly. It's the annual conference where every member of the U.N., that's 192 countries, gets together to discuss international issues. President Bush spoke to the group yesterday. He talked about education, economic issues and the fight against AIDS. But a big part of his speech focused on human rights. Matt Cherry has more on the president's address.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATT CHERRY, CNN REPORTER: President Bush had strong words for several countries attending the United Nations assembly Tuesday, accusing among others Venezuela, Zimbabwe, North Korea, and Sudan of alleged human rights abuses. The president also announced a series of steps against the military regime of Myanmar which has been cracking down on demonstrations by thousands of Buddhist monks and their pro-democracy supporters.

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: The United States will tighten economic sanctions on the leaders of the regime and their financial backers. We will impose an expanded visa ban on those responsible for the most egregious violations of human rights.

CHERRY: Bush also had something to say about Fidel Castro.

BUSH: In Cuba, the long rule of a cruel dictator is nearing an end.

CHERRY: The Cuban delegation's response: A walk-out. Outside the U.N., Bush faced some other critics. Hundreds of demonstrators protested the war in Iraq. At least a dozen arrested. Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad got his share of opposition.

CHERRY: He told the assembly Iran will work with the International Atomic Energy Agency on its nuclear program, but the bottom line:

MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, IRANIAN PRESIDENT: I officially announce that in our opinion, the nuclear issue of Iran is now closed and has turned into an ordinary agency matter.

CHERRY: This is Ahmadinejad's third visit to the United States. For CNN Student News, I'm Matt Cherry.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Is this legit?

AZUZ: Is This Legit? Myanmar and Burma are neighboring countries. Nope, Myanmar is actually another name for Burma; it's the same country. Its military leaders promote the name Myanmar.

Protests in Myanmar

AZUZ: Those leaders make up the military junta, or committee, that runs Myanmar's government. And they're facing some tough criticism. You heard President Bush talk about some of the actions he plans to take against the country. And the U.N.'s secretary general says the organization will be keeping an eye on events there. So where will those eyes be looking? Southeast Asia. That's where Myanmar is located. It's slightly smaller than the U.S. state of Texas., and it borders India, China and Thailand. Right now, the country's capital is filled with demonstrators. They've been protesting against that ruling junta for more than a week now, calling for freedom and democracy. You see, Myanmar held elections in 1990, but the military refused to hand over power. Emily Chang gives us some more background on the protests.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EMILY CHANG, CNN REPORTER: The streets of Yangon continue to swell with protesters. Reports from Myanmar, formerly Burma, say that more than 100,000, led by monks in rust-colored robes, demonstrated on Tuesday. But how did it all come to this?

PATRICK CRONIN, INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STRATEGIC STUDIES: We know it's one of the poorest countries in the world. Life is terrible in Burma. For the average Burmese there's very little freedom. There's no economic opportunity.

CHANG: The military has been in power in Myanmar for more than 40 years, pursuing a Burmese form of socialism that has pushed the country toward economic ruin. These protests started when the government raised fuel prices sharply, even as it spends lavishly on building a new capital in the north of the country. Amid scattered protests in August, monks joined in, but one of their demonstrations was reportedly broken up by government agents. Thousands more then took to the streets demanding an apology from the government.

CRONIN: The monks are revered by the average person in Burma because they represent a much more harmonious path, a true path, a way of life that is the ideal. And for them to get involved, means that there is a real problem inside the society.

CHANG: The government has historically responded to dissent with force. Security forces killed more than 3000 pro-democracy protestors in 1988. The leader of that movement, Aung San Suu Kyi, has been under house arrest for most of the last 18 years.

AMARJIT SINGH, ASIA DIVISION, EXCLUSIVE ANALYSIS: Ever since then effectively, there hasn't been any issue in terms of protest in Myanmar, because reaction from the army can be very, very extreme.

CHANG: Fear has kept dissent at bay, until now.

CRONIN: Civil resistance throughout history, but certainly in recent decades, has proven to be an extraordinarily powerful force. And so if you're in the military junta right now you're very worried that what grew from one thousand to ten thousand to fifty thousand to a hundred thousand, you know, may keep growing.

CHANG: The question now is whether the military will use force against a popular movement that has spread far beyond Yangon, and far beyond young Buddhist monks. Or whether it will seek dialogue to defuse the protests. Emily Chang, CNN, London.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Promo

AZUZ: Alright, you heard earlier that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke at the U.N. yesterday. He raised controversy earlier this week when he took part in an event at Columbia University. Some people even questioned whether he should have been invited. We asked for your opinion on the situation, and the comments came pouring in. So log on to CNNstudentnews.com to check out our blog to see what some of you had to say. And, feel free to leave a comment of your own!

Anti-Terror Nerve Center

AZUZ: Alright, shifting gears now, you've probably heard the phrase "the War on Terror." President Bush announced the campaign back in 2001, saying its goal is to defeat every global terrorist group. Don't let that word "global" mislead you, though. Part of the fight against terrorism is happening in America. Kelli Arena gives us an exclusive look inside one of the U.S. government's headquarters in the battle.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KELLI ARENA, CNN REPORTER: If the War on Terror has a brain, this is it: the FBI's Terrorist Screening Center. CNN is the first network to ever get a camera inside.

LEONARD BOYLE, TERROR CENTER DIRECTOR: The principal function going on here is taking calls from the field.

ARENA: Who's calling? Border patrol agents, cops, airport security officials... anyone who comes across an individual trying to get into the country or already here and raising suspicion.

TERROR WATCH CENTER ANALYST: And how did you encounter him?

ARENA: Names and other information are checked against a master list of terrorist connections, and this goes on 24-7.

BOYLE: We receive about 100 calls a day, and about 65% of those are in fact positive matches, that is people who are in fact on the watch lists.

ARENA: That doesn't mean they're apprehended. Some are, if they're believed to pose an immediate threat, others are not allowed in the country. But mostly, they're let go.

BOYLE: The fact that a person is on the watch list does not necessarily mean that he won't get into the country. What it means is that the border protection agent is aware of that, can drill down deeper and get more information about that person.

ARENA: Boyle disclosed for the first time that there are roughly 300,000 people on the list, about 15,000 of them U.S. citizens. But he admits it still isn't 100 percent accurate. And critics are losing patience.

SEN. RON WYDEN, (D) INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: You can have known or suspected terrorists and information about them falling between the cracks. And you can have instances where innocent people who shouldn't be in the system getting caught up in the maw of all of these bureaucratic rules and procedures.

ARENA: A Justice Department audit this month discovered that 20 known or suspected terrorists were not correctly listed. It also found 38 percent of the records examined contained errors or inconsistencies.

BOYLE: We have to find ways to make sure that the information is accurate and consistent and we are working ways to try to develop a better process to do that.

ARENA: He doesn't have much of a choice. As we've repeatedly heard, just one mistake can cost lives. What you just saw, most people in government have never seen. In fact, even the address for the terrorist screening center is classified. Kelli Arena, CNN, at Reagan National Airport.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Before We Go

AZUZ: Before we go, we are going to take a journey to the planet of the apes. This gaggle of gorillas hasn't taken over the Earth, just the streets of London, and only for a day. Now gawking at a gargantuan gathering of gorillas might make you guffaw. But they're not monkeying around. These apes are going wild, to raise money for apes that are in the wild. And at the finish line, each furry runner is rewarded with a banana.