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CNN Student News

Aired April 18, 2002 - 04:30   ET

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

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANNOUNCER: You're watching CNN STUDENT NEWS seen in schools around the world because learning never stops and neither does the news.

SUSAN FREIDMAN, CO-HOST: Your CNN STUDENT NEWS lineup for Thursday begins with a wrap of Secretary Powell's quest for peace in the Middle East. Later, we "Chronicle" a career of the new era.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMIL EL-SHAIR, FIREFIGHTER: Firefighters understand that this is a job that you don't do for the money, you do it because you love serving and helping people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREIDMAN: From work to working out, try this exercise on for size. Then, Student Bureau takes a leap into virtual reality.

Welcome to CNN STUDENT NEWS. I'm Susan Freidman.

We were preempted last night because of developing news in the Middle East. We'll get to that right now.

Secretary of State Colin Powell has wrapped up his nine-day mission to the Middle East. He left the region yesterday without a cease-fire and without complete withdrawal of Israeli troops, but it wasn't for lack of trying. Powell met three times with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. He met twice with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. After his final meeting with Arafat yesterday, Powell declared the goal he set out to achieve, a cease-fire, isn't relevant right now.

But as CNN's Andrea Koppel reports, in the language and logic of diplomacy that's not an admission of defeat.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The body language said it all. Two hours after his meeting with Yasser Arafat began, Secretary Powell emerged grim-faced and solemn from Arafat's Ramallah headquarters, refusing to answer reporters' questions. But only a few feet away, inside the building where he's been under siege for 20 days, a visibly outraged Yasser Arafat had plenty to say. YASSER ARAFAT, PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT: I have to ask the whole international world. I have to ask this of President Bush. I have to ask the United Nations. Is this acceptable, that I can't go outside from this door?

KOPPEL: Ten days after Powell's high-stakes Mid East peace mission got under way, he's heading home without a cease-fire, or an end to the current crisis. But in this final press conference, Powell said without a full Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank, that's not a realistic expectation.

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: We could have a cease-fire declared today, but what would it mean? While one side is still pursuing an operation that they are bringing to a close, but not they have not yet brought to close. And the other side is not yet in a position to respond because the incursion has not yet ended. It is in the process of ending, I hope. And so cease-fire is not a relevant term at the moment.

KOPPEL: At the same time, Powell also said his diplomatic shuttling had achieved some measure of progress. He said he'd rallied the international community, including the E.U., Russia, and the U.N. to support U.S. efforts to find a way out of the crisis, brought the endorsement of the Saudi peace initiative and a timeline for an Israeli withdrawal with the exception of Bethlehem and Ramallah.

And Powell said his mission also demonstrated the new commitment of the Bush Administration to remain actively involved.

POWELL: I have shown to both the people of Israel, Palestinians, our Arab friends in the region and the world that President Bush is going to be playing a leadership role in this.

KOPPEL: But Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erakat wondered aloud if there isn't an Israeli withdrawal quickly, will it be too late?

SAEB ERAKAT, PALESTINIAN NEGOTIATOR: The situation is very grim, very deteriorating. I believe Sharon's end game is being implemented now. I don't know if we have a Palestinian Authority any more.

KOPPEL (on camera): In the end, as one U.S. official put it, it's not nothing but it's not much either. Secretary Powell's next diplomatic mission to the region begins next month.

Andrea Koppel, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

FREIDMAN: The Middle East crisis is causing unrest among many Arab leaders. President Bush sat down yesterday with Lebanon's Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri to discuss some of those concerns.

Kimberly Abbott gives us a primer on Mr. Hariri's views.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) KIMBERLY ABBOTT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: People are already saying that Secretary Powell's trip was unsuccessful. Tell me what you think of his mission.

RAFIQ HARIRI, PRIME MINISTER OF LEBANON: I don't think that we can say it is unsuccessful. He did his best. Their problem is very complicated. The Israelis should withdrawal immediately, as President Bush has said, but they did not. But he mentioned now that they might withdrawal within a few days and they are not going to continue their aggression against the Palestinians. And also he's talking about a cease-fire and a conference -- an international conference.

So there is so many things we don't know and details what they are. But so far, if he succeeded to put back the peace process on the track again, we can say that he did something excellent.

ABBOTT: And do you think that's the case? Do you think that we're on the right track now?

HARIRI: It depends how the Israeli government will react and how it will -- is it going to be to withdrawal or not. This is something very important.

ABBOTT: You've said that the Palestinians can't be held accountable for what is going on until they have their own state.

HARIRI: This is true.

ABBOTT: Are you saying that Arafat is not at all responsible for the actions of the cease-fire?

HARIRI: No, I'm not -- I'm not saying that. I'm saying that you know we have to be reasonable and we have to have everybody accountable according to what he is doing and what to -- what authority we give him. Arafat or not Arafat, we should see an independent Palestinian state on the land occupied in 1967.

Everyone is talking against Arafat now because they said he did not fulfill his engagement. Maybe he didn't, but let's talk to the other side. Is the settlements stops? Is occupation finished? No. These are two important elements.

The occupation is the root of all the problems. And all over the world where there is an occupation, there is always violence and instability. So we forget the occupation and we talk about the reaction under occupation, and this is -- I don't think this will lead to anywhere. It will lead to more violence and more instability. If we want really a result, we have to go to the roots. The root of the problem is occupation.

ABBOTT: What do you think the role of the other Arab countries is in helping to solve this crisis?

HARIRI: It is very -- it is very important role. You know they gathered together in Beirut in the last summit and they present a peace plan, which has been agreed by all the world except Israel. According to this peace plan, the Arabs shown directly and straightforward that they are ready to make a peace with Israel provided that Israel withdrawal from all the Arab territory occupied in 1967 and create a Palestinian state and find just solutions for their Palestinian refugees.

So if we want to really to see the peace, we have to do something for it. We cannot -- Israel cannot keep occupying the Palestinian territory, the Syrian territory, the Lebanese territory and talk about the stability and the peace, it's -- they cannot go together.

ABBOTT: What is Lebanon's role in particular?

HARIRI: You know we are part of the region and we are ready to participate in the peace and we will be part of it. But here let me tell you something, what happened in the recent weeks in West Bank, hurted not only the Palestinian physically and their infrastructure and there is so many Palestinian killed in Jenin camp -- civilian Palestinian, but also we can say that the idea of peace has been damaged.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FREIDMAN: Our look at food safety continues now with a longtime favorite, meat. America's love affair with beef and chicken is well known. Meat may be delicious, but there are a few things you should know about the source of some of your meat.

Thelma Gutierrez now on a controversy raging in the food industry. We warn you, some of the pictures you will see are quite graphic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The hills of Southern California, where you'll find some of the largest dairy farms in the country. What you may not know is when these milk cows get old or injured, they aren't put to pasture, they're sent to slaughter for beef.

(on camera): These animals were separated from the herds because they're sick, anything from hoof ailments to digestive problems, and if for any reason they weren't able to walk or stand because of disease or injury, they'd be considered "downed animals."

(voice-over): The slaughter of downed animals for human food is where the controversy begins.

GENE BAUSTON, DIRECTOR, FARM SANCTUARY: Animals with frightening diseases are being approved for human food and the USDA knows this.

BOB FEENSTRA, CALIFORNIA MILK PRODUCER: The USDA nor anyone else is going to let an animal that has unhealthy meat get into the food process. It's just not going to happen.

GUTIERREZ: But a non-profit group called Farm Sanctuary says it is happening. It claims this videotape of sheep, pigs and cows was shot undercover at slaughter houses over the last decade, and shows sick and injured animals being dragged to slaughter.

BAUSTON: I think consumers would be appalled to learn that animals that are too sick to walk are routinely entering the food supply.

GUTIERREZ: Farm Sanctuary wants all downed animals banned for human food, so the group filed a lawsuit against the United States Department of Agriculture, alleging tens of thousands of downed livestock slaughtered every year may be diseased and pose a serious threat to our health.

FEENSTRA: Sickly animals do not make the cut.

GUTIERREZ: Bob Feenstra's the spokesman for the dairy industry. He says meat from injured animals is wholesome and healthy compared to those that are sick.

FEENSTRA: We don't process cows that have been ill or have been drugged.

GUTIERREZ: He claims Farm Sanctuary is really fighting for animal rights, and is against the handling and transport of injured animals. Farm Sanctuary doesn't deny it.

SHELDON EISENBERG, FARM SANCTUARY'S ATTORNEY: Farm Sanctuary's central concern here is the fact that the process of slaughtering downed animals truly involves acts of terrible cruelty.

FEENSTRA: We have to handle it as an industry and as a business, and we do it as humane as we can. We don't run petting farms.

GUTIERREZ: Meet Syp Vander Dussen. He has 3,000 cows.

SYP VANDER DUSSEN, DAIRYMAN: I've been a dairyman for 34 years. It's my entire life.

GUTIERREZ: It's been a good life. Syp Vander Dussen's cows produce a $500,000 a month in milk alone. When his cows stop producing, he sends them to slaughter.

VANDER DUSSEN: An average cow that is walking and can go to slaughter, she'll bring up $500, the average cow. Any downed cow, in other words one that can not walk, will bring up $300.

GUTIERREZ: Syp says his downed cows go to slaughter because they're injured, that their meat is completely wholesome. He says he'd never send a sick animal.

(on camera): Would you ever eat meat from a diseased downed animal?

VANDER DUSSEN: No, nor would I expect anyone else to.

GUTIERREZ (voice-over): But according to USDA inspection records obtained by Farm Sanctuary through the Freedom of Information Act, downed animals from other dairy farms have passed inspection with disease like malignant lymphoma, pneumonia, and hepatitis.

BAUSTON: We do not believe that it's acceptable for animals with gangrene, with cancer, with yellow gelatinous edema to be used for human food, and we don't think it's acceptable for just that part of that animal to be removed.

GUTIERREZ: USDA officials declined an on-camera interview, but in a written response told CNN Federal regulations allow for slaughter any animal that does not pose a health risk to humans, that animals with central nervous system conditions and generalized infection are automatically condemned, and that by law diseased meat is prohibited for human consumption.

But a USDA document, obtained by CNN, states Federal inspection regulations "clearly provide for the slaughter and processing of diseased animals for human food, and the diseased part can be removed to make a wholesome product."

DR. LAURENE MASCOLA, LA COUNTY PUBLIC HEALTH EXPERT: If you saw that cow standing in front of you, you would not pick that cow and say "I want to eat that one" you know from the lot.

GUTIERREZ: Public health expert, Dr. Laurene Mascola says the idea may be disgusting, but it's not likely to hurt you.

MASCOLA: They're not at risk to give disease that we know of, that we know of.

GUTIERREZ: There is not way to know if you're eating meat from downed animals. Syp says USDA inspected meat is healthy and we shouldn't worry. As for his animals, he says he respects them, after all his livelihood rests on their backs.

Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FREIDMAN: Be sure to check out our food safety special online at CNNstudentnews.com. You'll find all of the stories we featured this week plus news you can use about organic foods and the 411 on the most common food-borne diseases.

When the World Trade Center collapsed in September, firefighters were dubbed America's new heroes. Hundreds of them gave their lives that day as they worked to save others, an example of the risks faced daily by firefighters around the world.

In an interview with CNN's Deanna Morowski, an Atlanta city firefighter shared his burning passion for this public service.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EL-SHAIR: Hi, I'm Jamil El-Shair. I'm a fire captain with the city of Atlanta. I'm in charge of Fire Station 14 and it's four square mile territory on the south side of Atlanta. I decided I wanted to be a firefighter when I was a little kid. And I'm one of those fortunate people, I got actually to live out my dream. Watching as a child growing up, watching the fire trucks and seeing the guys go out and actually save people, actually save people, go out and hear people's needs and meet those needs, that just fascinated me. And I was fortunate enough to be able to do that.

As a captain on an engine, we're usually one of the first people to arrive at an incident, whether it's an emergency medical incident or whether it's a fire. No matter what the incident is, the first thing you always have to do is you ride up, you listen. You actually start responding from the second that you're toned out. You hear that address and you know things go through your mind, what's at that address, is it a house, is it a business, are there hazardous materials there? And you're thinking all this through as you're riding down the streets, sirens blazing and sounding this horn.

And then when you actually get there, if it's a fire call, you have to look and see just what kind of fire it is. Fire is like a living, breathing animal and you have to figure out how far advanced is this, what do we need to do, what can we do? And the process of doing that, you have to establish command. Somebody has to be in charge of this incident. And as the -- in my case being on an engine, we're usually one of the first pieces of equipment there so we're usually the ones who have to set up command. And it's very important that what we do initially to determine who gets deployed where is done correctly because it makes the difference between life and death.

Fire is a living animal. It wants to live, it wants to grow and it gets very angry if you try to prevent it from doing that. And because of that, one of the things about our training is that you have to know how it behaves and how it will respond. It'll hide from you, it will sneak up on you, anything to try and survive, and that's why you have to be fully turned out in battle gear when you -- when you are responding to an incident.

Battle gear for us is we call it bunker gear. You have these -- you have bunker pants that are made out of a special material, Gore- Tex and various other -- various other materials that are designed specifically to resist penetration by heat and also designed to keep your body fluids and body temperature down to a level that doesn't cause you problems. Think about it, we've got on turnout gear that weighs 80 pounds. It's designed to keep heat out and yet allow you to breathe so that you don't sweat and become overcome by the internal heat.

You've got a helmet on that weighs a great deal. You've got a face piece on that could limit your vision, but you've got to be trained so that you learn how to see. And that face piece is attached to a tank of air that you breathe because fire is hot. We're talking 1,200 degrees. You don't want to -- you don't want to take in that kind of air so we have a tank of air that allows us to breathe.

And of course we have to protect our feet. We wear steel-toed boots that have steel in the -- in the soles. The (ph) fire is a building under demolition. Things are falling down around you, even the floor.

We have a chaplaincy group that comes by and sits down and talks with us and helps us get by because when you think about it, we deal with wrecks and we have to untangle people from vehicles. We deal with people who are just getting old and die but you've got their family standing around you screaming at you, telling you do something, but you know they're gone and you feel for them. And you also have to think this could be my mother, this might even be my mother. So we help each other out, that's part of that -- that's part of the brotherhood and sisterhood is that we sit around and we talk to one another, talk each other through it.

Making the choice to be a firefighter requires a certain special kind of insanity. Think about it, as a firefighter you are going into a building that the flames are meeting you at the door. Everybody else has run out of the building and you're going in because you want to help. You want to save this building. And it doesn't matter whether it's a mansion in Buckhead on the north side of town or whether it's the smallest two-room house that belongs to a person, you have to remember this may -- this is what belongs to someone and you have to try your best, give your life to save whatever you can because it means something to somebody. That's what it is to be a firefighter.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: Exploring our world, here now is CNN STUDENT NEWS "Perspectives."

FREIDMAN: You've heard of biceps and triceps, but do you know where to find your core muscles? Well they're located at the center of your body in the back and the abdomen. And now those in the know say they have just the workout for your core.

Liz Weiss weighs in with this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LIZ WEISS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If you're looking for a hard core, yet high energy workout...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Open one more time - one more time.

WEISS: ... try exercising on the core board.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have to stabilize yourself on this board. There's no way to cheat.

WEISS: The board, about the same size as the step, tilts, twists and rebounds to your body movement. It's designed to strengthen the muscles in the back and abdomen, our so-called center or core muscles.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It improves balance, coordination, flexibility, strength. It brings it all together in one neat little package.

WEISS: The core board workout takes inspiration from aerobics, yoga and Pilates.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hold it and lift.

WEISS: The difference, however, is the added challenge of balancing and reacting while doing the various drills.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When you're on the board, you have to come back, and that's what really builds those deep muscles.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I lift weights and run three or four times a week, and that (UNINTELLIGIBLE) a little bit.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Move that shoulder...

WEISS: Fitness experts say powerful core muscles can ward off injuries.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How many times have you heard somebody say, "I reached and my back gave out." I mean, that's because you don't have a strong core.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm a nurse and I need to keep my back muscles strong. And I found that this has worked out well for my back.

WEISS: The board can be adjusted from stable to maximum movement; something beginners can appreciate.

For "Feeling Fit," I'm Liz Weiss.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FREIDMAN: A one million-year-old skull discovered in Africa is changing ideas on the way humans evolved.

CNN science correspondent Ann Kellan has more on the finding and what it means for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HENRY GILBERT: You're excited when you make a discovery like that.

ANN KELLAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In 110-degree December heat in Ethiopia four years ago, American and Ethiopian scientists uncovered a one-million-year-old skull, called Daca (ph). This discovery could significantly change our understanding of the human family tree, and bolster the theory that a pre-human called homo erectus is a direct ancestor.

GILBERT: I think it's extremely important to present a clear picture of what our evolution was like, and in that respect, this provides information in a place where there really wasn't information.

KELLAN: It's taken years to piece together and study the skull found crushed in pieces. The lower face and teeth are missing. Based on what could be tooth marks on the bones researchers think the individual may have been eaten by a lion or a hyena. Its shallow forehead and elongated brain cavity are characteristic of homo erectus.

GILBERT: They have a cranial capacity that is more or less halfway between a chimp's and a human's, and it's anybody's guess what these guys are acting like. I mean it's like a newly opened question.

KELLAN: Scientists were surprised to find a homo erectus skull dating back a million years. They thought it had died off in Africa by then, and humans evolved from another species. Based on comparison, scientists say Daca is similar to other homo erectus skulls found throughout the world.

GILBERT: Now that we have something from Africa at the same time, we can compare it to these guys and see that sure enough they're all very similar.

KELLAN: Gilbert and colleagues now theorize that homo erectus was alive and thriving in Europe, Africa and Asia a million years ago. He suggests an ice age 50,000 years later would have isolated the continent.

Scientists now think homo erectus evolved into Neanderthal man in Europe, went extinct in Asia, and in Africa it eventually evolved into homo sapiens, modern man.

Gilbert says this skull gives scientists a more complete sequence of human evolution in Africa, from our earliest ancestors to modern humans.

Ann Kellan, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FREIDMAN: More science news as we enter a whole new dimension, the world of virtual reality. Researchers at the University of North Carolina say they have found practical uses for the technology which have nothing to do with fun and games.

Our Student Bureau dives in with this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTY FAIR, CNN STUDENT BUREAU (voice-over): UNC leads the nation and world in virtual reality research. It's likely that what comes from work being done on this campus will be important now and into the future. Recent projects blend the virtual world with the real thing, using sight and touch to make the experience real.

ANNA ROBB (ph), STUDENT: I'm still scared.

FAIR (on camera): In the virtual world, it looks as though I'm about to take a leap of faith. But in reality, my leap is less than two inches.

(voice-over): Anna Robb had a similar experience.

ROBB: I was thinking this isn't real, this is just a floor, but my eyes were saying I don't know about that.

FAIR: It can be scary if you believe it, and that's what researchers are hoping to find out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're just measuring all these different parameters of the system so that we know where we get the most sort of value or bang for your buck.

FAIR: You wear a helmet and a computer tracks your position from points on the ceiling, drawing the room to your perspective. Most research has applied to video games, but it's not all games here. Researchers are developing practical uses such as military training exercises and architectural planning so Chapel Hill could become a high tech hotbed of virtual reality research.

Kristy Fair, CNN Student Bureau, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

"Where in the World" once conquered by Julius Caesar, one of the world's leading car manufacturers, the commune is the basic unit of local government? Can you name this country? France.

FREIDMAN: Our sojourn to France continues tomorrow as we preview the pertinent issues in that nation's upcoming election.

Meanwhile, surf on over to CNNstudentnews.com to check out news for you on nicotine lollypops and waterbeds for cows. Yes, I said waterbeds for cows. If you want the full story, you've got to go online.

And I've got to go, but I'll see you back here tomorrow.

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