CNN Student News


May 27, 2005

This is a rush transcript. This copy may not be in its final form and may be dated.

Transcript

PHYLLIS JACKSON, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: Looking ahead, a new pledge from one president to another. Looking back at the week's top stories. We've got your week in review. And look at this! What famous pirate ship could be plundered itself?




First Up: A First Visit


PHYLLIS JACKSON, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: Welcome to Friday's broadcast of CNN Student News! I'm Phyllis Jackson. First up-- A Palestinian leader's trip to Washington. In January, two months after the death of long-time leader Yasser Arafat, a man named Mahmoud Abbas was elected to head up the Palestinian Authority. Some say this was a turning point in the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis because some recent progress on the U.S. -proposed "road map to peace," has been made. For example, Abbas declared a cease-fire in February, and he's worked to ensure that Palestinian militant groups stick to it, despite some violations. Dana Bash considers what could be the next steps.

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Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and President Bush shake hands in the Rose Garden on Thursday.
DANA BASH, CNN REPORTER: After more than four years in office, President Bush for the first time greeted a Palestinian President at the White House, and offered 50 million dollars in direct aid to his government.

BUSH: These funds will be used to improve the quality of life of the Palestinians living in Gaza, where poverty and unemployment are very high.

BASH: Direct aid to the Palestinian Authority, not channeled through third parties, is signal of trust Mr Bush did not have for Yasser Arafat, whom he called corrupt and supportive of terrorism.


President Bush meets with President Mahmoud Abbas in the Oval Office on Thursday.
BASH: Mr. Bush deliberately played down, in public anyway, concerns Abbas is not doing enough to disarm Hamas and other known Palestinian terrorists.

BUSH: All who engage in terror are the enemies of a Palestinian state, and must be held to account.

BASH: Bush aides say the leaders spent most of their time discussing Israel's planned august withdrawal from the Gaza strip. Abbas promised to work for a peaceful transition, but wants Mr. Bush's help making clear Israel should yield more territory, especially in the West Bank. Until then, the Palestinian leader says a key ingredient is missing.

ABBAS: Democracy is like a coin. It has two sides. On one side is democracy; on the other side of the coin is freedom.

BASH: The president reiterated his warning Israel should stop building west bank settlements, and not use a security wall to redraw political lines, but some experts say Mr. Bush still has yet to prove Mideast peace is really a top priority.

MILLER: The administration will have to choose whether or not they want to invest in the next year and half in not only managing this conflict but actively trying to resolve it

BASH: The President did announce Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice would travel to Jerusalem and Ramallah before the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, and officials say must be completed successfully, before they can sit down and talk about thorny final status issues, like Jerusalem. Dana Bash, CNN, the White House.

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I.D. Me


CARL AZUZ, CNN REPORTER: See if you can ID Me!

My maiden name is Welch, but that's not what you know me by!

I used to teach and work as a librarian at public schools in Texas.

I've been married since 19-77 to a man whose middle name is Walker.

First lady Laura Bush was inspired to study education by her second grade teacher.




Week in Review


PHYLLIS JACKSON, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: The job she's had for the last five years enables her to get out of the office pretty often. In our Week in Review, Deanna Morawski details where Laura Bush's latest travels took her.

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First lady Laura Bush addresses the Word Economic Forum on Saturday.
DEANNA MORAWSKI, CNN STUDENT NEWS REPORTER: First lady Laura Bush toured the Middle East, with stops in Jordan, Israel and Egypt. Visiting several world leaders and holy sites, Mrs. Bush promoted women's rights, and highlighted the region's advance toward democracy.

LAURA BUSH, U.S. FIRST LADY: Freedom, especially freedom for women, is more than the absence of oppression, it's the right to speak and vote and worship freely.

MORAWSKI: In Jerusalem, the first lady encountered some protesters. Mrs. Bush downplayed the incident, saying she did not feel she was at risk.


Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, right, and Minority Leader Harry Reid shake hands after the deal was announced Monday night.
On Capitol Hill, a showdown over President Bush's judicial nominees. Intense partisan fighting led to Democratic threats to filibuster, and Republican threats to invoke the so-called "nuclear option", which would change Senate rules to ban filibusters. Tuesday, a breakthrough announcement...

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN/(R) ARIZONA: We are here, 14 republicans and democrats, 7 on each side... to announce that we have reached an agreement to avert a crisis.

MORAWSKI: Their solution allows votes on all but two nominees. Wednesday, the Senate approved one of the most contested - Priscilla Owen - to be a Circuit Court judge. The others are awaiting a vote.


House Majority Leader Tom DeLay supports a proposal focused on umbilical cord cell research.
On Tuesday, the House passed a controversial bill that would increase federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, overriding limits President Bush imposed in 2001. The president says he'll veto the bill if it passes the Senate, citing moral opposition to destroying embryos.

In Iraq, U.S. and Iraqi forces launched an offensive against insurgents in Haditha. Operation New Market is aimed at countering the recent upsurge in violence. It's the second such operation conducted in western Iraq this month. Officials believe Haditha is where insurgents fled after Operation Matador drove them from the Iraqi/Syrian border. That's your week in review. For CNN Student News, I'm Deanna Morawski.

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Shoutout


CARL AZUZ, CNN REPORTER: Friday's Shoutout goes out to Mr. Wiers' social studies and history classes at Redlands Christian School in Redlands, California!

By what other name was Memorial Day once known?

If you think you know it, shout it out! Was it:

A) May Day

B) Decoration Day

C) Remembrance Day

D) Veterans Day

You've got three seconds -- GO!

Memorial Day was once called Decoration Day for when the graves of fallen soldiers were decorated with flowers.

That's your answer and that's your Shoutout!




Hurry Up and Wait


PHYLLIS JACKSON, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: The name was changed at the turn of the last century. And even though the first flight got off the ground at about the same time, the Wright Brothers probably never imagined that the skies would once be crowded like the roads! But on this three-day weekend when millions of Americans have time to get away, Kathleen Koch describes what could be their delay.

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KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN REPORTER: It's no surprise to veteran air travelers:

AIR TRAVELER: It's frustrating, makes the trip a lot longer...makes for a long day when you're traveling.

AIR TRAVELER: A lot of time when your flight is delayed or cancelled, the airlines don't tell you what to do or give you any opportunities on where to go. So basically, you're fending for yourself.

AIR TRAVELER: It makes you feel like they don't care about you that much because everybody's flying for a reason and everybody's got somewhere to go. In my case,I missed several business meetings.

KOCH: Flight delays nationwide are at record levels. In some cities, even worse than the summer of 2000, when nationwide delays shattered all previous records.

MARION BLAKEY, FAA ADMINISTRATOR: We're gonna have a greater likelihood that delays will get worse before they get better.

KOCH: The Transportation Department reports that delays in the first quarter of 2005 were up 17 percent over last year, affecting more than a quarter of all flights. The length of delays is up as well, to more than 52 minutes. Driving the delays, soaring demand because of declining airfares. And more crowded skies, because of the expansion of low-cost carriers and a tripling in the use of regional jets.

KEN MEAD, INSPECTOR GENERAL, DEPT. OF TRANSPORTATION: Regional jets, of course, hold fewer people. Back in 2000, 10 percent of your flights were regional-jet based. Now, they're 32 percent.

KOCH: Mead predicts a summer jam-packed with delays. Saying the most vulnerable airports are Philadelphia, Laguardia, Newark, Washington-Dulles, Atlanta and Fort Lauderdale. Experts say there's little passengers can do.

DAVID STEMPLER, PRES., AIR TRAVELLERS ASSOC.: Passengers can try to book on a non stop flight where you don't risk changing planes someplace. Or at least, book a flight that even thought it makes a stop, you stay on the same plane. Other than that, there's not much else you can do.

KOCH: The FAA insists it's doing what it can. Improving technology to better use the nation's airspace, and spending 4.75 billion dollars over the next three years building new runways. But two things the FAA can't control: airline policy and the weather. So combine a summer forecast for rough weather with an airline vow not to cancel flights, and you get a summer of headaches and delays for the flying public. Kathleen Koch, CNN, Reagan National Airport.

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CNNstudentnews.com


PHYLLIS JACKSON, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: Time is running out for you, teachers, we know! But be sure to take a moment to fill out the CNN Student News Survey, which hit your inbox last week. It's your chance to tell us what you want to see on CNN Student News . And if you didn't get the survey, just drop us a line at CNN Student News dot com!




Before We Go


PHYLLIS JACKSON, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: Before we go... His real name, "Edward Teach," probably doesn't ring any bells with you, but we bet "Blackbeard" does. The pirate haunted the Carolina Coast in the early 1700's, and some researchers believe this was one of the cannons on his infamous ship, the Queen Anne's Revenge. It was a 40-gun, merchantman-turned-warship that was sunk in 1718 by the Royal Navy. Blackbeard survived that skirmish, but some say this was part of the vessel that didn't!




Goodbye

PHYLLIS JACKSON, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: And that plunders our ship-shape show! We'll see you next week.