Cnn Student News 2010年10月4日

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

CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: It's the first full week of October, and we are ready to kick it off with 10 minutes of commercial-free headlines. My name is Carl Azuz. Hello and welcome! You've found your way to CNN Student News!

First Up: Europe Travel Alert

AZUZ: First up, a highly unusual travel alert from the U.S. government. It's telling Americans who are in Europe -- or who are going there -- to be on guard. The reason: intelligence that indicates the potential for a terrorist attack. This goes back to a story we told you about last week: concerns that al Qaeda or another terrorist group might be planning some kind of attack in Europe. The U.S. government says it's not telling people, "don't to go to Europe." But if they do go, they should be careful while they're there. For example, the travel alert recommends that Americans be cautious if they decide to ride public transportation or visit tourist sites like the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. The alert also suggests that if Americans see anything suspicious or hear loud noises, they should move away as fast as they possibly can.

Flooding in N.C.

AZUZ: In the United States, parts of the East Coast are suffering from some severe flooding that hit the area over the weekend. Some of the rain that caused the floods came from what was left over of Tropical Storm Nicole. Officials say at least 8 people were killed. North Carolina took some of the worst of the severe weather. Roads were wiped out, businesses and houses were underwater. Look at this! You can see how high the water got, how it totally covered a street. In some spots, the water was even as high as the stop signs. In one North Carolina town, officials were trying to make sure that all the animals in the zoo got to higher ground. They evacuated most of the animals, but there were three water buffalo that had to be set free. Those were found later on a hill nearby.

One Nation Rally

AZUZ: "One nation working together." That was the theme of a rally in Washington, D.C. on Saturday. You can see some of the crowd gathered around at the Lincoln Memorial. This rally was organized by the One Nation movement. It's a political movement with a lot of smaller groups all coming together for big events like this one. The One Nation group says it's pushing for things like better jobs and changes to America's immigration and education policies. It planned Saturday's rally to kind of show off its strength one month before this year's mid-term elections.

Shoutout

APRIL WILLIAMS, CNN STUDENT NEWS: It's time for the Shoutout! How many justices are there on the U.S. Supreme Court? If you think you know it, shout it out! Is it: A) 5, B) 7, C) 9 or D) 12? You've got three seconds -- GO! The Supreme Court has one chief justice and eight associate justices; a total of nine. That's your answer and that's your Shoutout!

New Session Begins

AZUZ: All nine of those justices are back on the bench today as the U.S. Supreme Court kicks off a new session. This is the first session for Elena Kagan; you might remember us covering her nomination several months ago. During a ceremony last Friday, Kagan was officially welcomed as the newest associate justice on the nation's High Court. The docket for this session, what the Supreme Court will hear and rule on, has been more or less in place since February, though it can be added to after that. It includes some interesting cases. For example, is it legal to ban the sale of violent video games to anyone under 18? The court will also look at the issue of immigration and consider whether federal laws should overrule state laws.

Space Week

AZUZ: Something else starts this week: it's World Space Week. It happens every year from October 4th to the 10th. The United Nations established World Space Week to help teach people about space exploration and to encourage support for space programs around the world. The United Nations picked October 4th because it's significant: It's the anniversary of Sputnik! On October 4th, 1957, Sputnik became the first man-made satellite to be launched into space. In 2004, on the same day -- October 4th -- SpaceShipOne was awarded the Ansari X-prize; it was the first private, or non-governmental, manned space flight.

What's the Word

TOMEKA JONES, CNN STUDENT NEWS: What's the Word?

no longer around; vanished or non-existent

EXTINCT

That's the word!

Back from the Brink

AZUZ: Well, you've probably spent some time in your science classes learning about different kinds of animals that have gone extinct. Dodo birds and dinosaurs are some of the more famous ones. But some scientists are warning people not to throw around that extinct label too quickly. The reason? Well, we'll let Max Foster tell you about that; he shows us some scientific examples of lost and found.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Back from the dead! A new study by the University of Queensland says that more than a third of mammal species, like this okapi, once considered extinct or missing in the wild have eventually been rediscovered. Though they thrive in zoos around the world, okapi are native to the Congo, where they were found in 2006 for the first time in fifty years.

That's a relatively short period though of "extinction," especially compared to this massive fish called a coelacanth. Experts thought it had died out with the dinosaurs before it was found swimming off the coast of South Africa in 1938. From all corners of the animal kingdom, and the plant kingdom too, these species have defied declarations of extinction: a small frog in Africa, a short-necked beetle in Britain, rare flowers and ancient trees. All of these were once labeled lost to history and later turned up, alive and well.

The study acknowledges a lot of effort is being wasted trying to find animals that are truly gone forever, like the Tasmanian tiger, that died out more than 70 years ago. But perhaps the searching will pay off someday for other creatures that appear to have vanished, but perhaps are just waiting to be found again. Max Foster, CNN, London.

(END VIDEO)

Blazing Trails

AZUZ: High school on Friday, college on Saturday, the pros on Sunday. If you have a friend or a relative who's been spending weekends in front of the television, might be because it's football season! In Arkansas, two players are making a name for themselves under the Friday night lights. That's partly because of their names: Mandi and Sarah. One school district, two schools, two different girls who are both playing varsity football. Lauren Trager of affiliate KARK tackles the story.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

MANDI NORTON, LITTLE ROCK MILLS HIGH JUNIOR, RUNNING BACK: It's not about boys and girls, it's just about the game and what we are out here doing.

LAUREN TRAGER, KARK 4 REPORTER: A love of the game; it's what Jacksonville High senior Sarah Moncrief and Mills High junior Mandi Norton have in common, first and foremost. But compared to their teammates, they're quite different. The only girls in a boys' game.

SARAH MONCRIEF, JACKSONVILLE HIGH SENIOR, DEFENSIVE AND OFFENSIVE TACKLE: I've always loved it, said I was gonna do it. Last chance.

TRAGER: For these ground-breakers, it took all kinds of guts just to get up the courage.

MONCRIEF: I didn't know how the guys would take it.

TRAGER: Then to make it through two-a-days.

NORTON: It's not as hard as people make it seem; it's really easy. You just have to try and put your best foot forward.

PATRICK RUSSELL, LITTLE ROCK MILLS HIGH COACH: I'm from the old-school, I guess you could say, and so having a female on the football team was not something I was looking forward to.

TRAGER: Both coaches had their reservations. Special accommodations in equipment and locker rooms were made, but these girls proved their muscle.

RICK RUSSELL, JACKSONVILLE HIGH COACH: She got in our off-season program, lifted weights, ran and got bigger and stronger. Excuse me, she got stronger. I better not say that for Sarah. She got stronger, more agile.

TRAGER: Now, they're just one of the guys.

SHALEEK DOE, JACKSONVILLE HIGH, SARAH'S TEAMMATE: You have some times where you forget that she's a girl and you just treat her like another football player.

TRAGER: At least on the field. Mandi's boyfriend is number 51.

NORTON: He's proud of me and he supports me probably more than anyone else in my life except for my dad.

TRAGER: Like other new players, they don't see a ton of game time. But they have a newfound notoriety, perhaps winning over a few of the skeptics.

COACH P. RUSSELL: She's fit in and I'm proud of her.

TRAGER: Maybe blazing the trail for others to come.

MONCRIEF: I think it's just a time for us to change and say that we can do what we want to do just as well as anybody else.

(END VIDEO)

Before We Go

AZUZ: All right! Before we go, we're showing you pictures of a New Mexico festival that's really full of hot air. In this case, that's a good thing. It's the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. Fellow flyers flock from around the globe to New Mexico for nine days every year. When this thing started back in 1972, 13 balloons -- that was it! -- 13 balloons took off from a mall parking lot. Now, there are so many balloons that they need a launch area that's the size of 54 football fields!

Goodbye

AZUZ: We guess you could say the fiesta has ballooned out of control. But getting to watch all those things take off could really inflate someone's spirits. Time for us to go. Man, we're sorry. We'll be popping back tomorrow to launch into another edition of CNN Student News. I'm Carl Azuz. We'll see you then.