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China Changes One-Child Policy; Aid Reaches Some Victims of Super Typhoon; Meningitis Outbreak on Princeton University Campus
Aired November 18, 2013 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CARL AZUZ, CNN ANCHOR: A change to its population policy for the world`s most populated country, that is where we start this new week on CNN STUDENT NEWS. China introduced its so-called one-child policy in the late 1970s. It`s been credited with helping to control China`s population growth. It`s also been criticized for forcing parents to make difficult personal choices, or in some cases face huge fines. The policy said that in urban areas, parents could only have one child, although there were some exceptions. The new rule says that if either parent is an only child, then they are eligible to have two children of their own. One reason for the change, economics. In China, many people care for their elderly relatives, so a single child could end up being financially responsible for parents and grandparents. This new policy could help with that.
Another reason, China says it wants to improve human rights. That`s also why it says it`s getting rid of its labor camps. Since 1957, Chinese authorities could hold people in these camps without a trial. Now, China`s government is expected to shut the camps down.
In the Philippines, some people haven`t had shelter or electricity for more than a week since Typhoon Haiyan slammed into the island nation. Watch this. You`re going to see a wall of water come rushing in. That was the storm surge from Haiyan. The seawater that comes rushing on the shore.
Officials say with storms like this, typhoons and hurricanes, the storm surge is usually the biggest threat to lives and property. Many Filipinos are in desperate need of food and supplies. The United States, the United Kingdom and other countries are part of the relief efforts. Now, some of that aid is finally reaching the victims.
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KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Amid all the chaos of the last week or so, there are signs now that the relief operation could be getting under way in earnest. For about three hours now, a line has been forming. It`s now several hundred meters long, of people who have come from the surrounding area. Some of them walking for up to an hour. They say that they have to walk, because bus fares, transport fares have increased five- fold in some cases, and they are coming now for the first time to receive some food aid.
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AZUZ: A developing story when we produced this show yesterday. Severe weather ripping through parts of the Midwestern United States. One meteorologist said 26 states and more than 100 million people could have been affected. In Northern Indiana, the National Weather Service sent out this message. "The worst decision you could make today is to ignore a severe or tornado warning." These storms will be nasty. You can see why in some of these videos. Wind gusts up to 86 miles per hour in some spots. Nearly 50, 5-0, 50 tornadoes were reported by Sunday afternoon. At least one person was killed as a result of the severe weather, and the storms left behind extensive damage.
A storm chaser told CNN that the storms were moving so fast, it was hard for him and his crew to keep up.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s time for the shoutout. What is meant by the suffix -itis? If you think you know it, then shout it out. Is it contagious, feverish, infected or inflamed? You got 3 seconds, go.
Itis refers to an inflammation like bronchitis or tonsillitis. That`s your answer and that`s your shoutout.
AZUZ: Meningitis is when the membranes around your brain and spinal cord are inflamed. It can be caused by a viral infection or a bacterial infection. Depending on what type of meningitis it is, it can get better on its own, or it can be life-threatening. An outbreak on a university campus has school officials considering whether to offer emergency shots. That decision could come today, but some students are debating whether they`d want to take the vaccine.
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ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Princeton University tries to stem the spread of meningitis "B," a potentially deadly disease.
ANGELICA CHEN, STUDENT: We just try to be careful, but we`re not freaking out about it.
FIELD: Doctors have linked seven cases of the bacterial meningitis to the Ivy League campus. Now board members are considering whether to offer students a vaccine that`s only used overseas.
DR. WILLIAM SCHAFFNER, VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY: If I were a parent, I would be very interested in getting the information and generally accepting. And if I were around that table with the board of trustees, I would be gently encouraging them to do this.
FIELD: There`s no approved hepatitis (sic) B vaccine in the United States, but given the outbreak of the rare strain on an American campus, the CDC has FDA approval to import Bexsero. It`s the only vaccine for meningitis B, and it`s approved for use in Europe and Australia.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m not sure, because I`m not sure of the drawbacks.
FIELD: Princeton`s first case of meningitis "B" was diagnosed back in March when a student returned from spring break. The seventh case was diagnosed last week. The possibility of a vaccine is what some students have been hoping for.
LYNN MEHNE, STUDENT: It will take off a lot of the stress that we`re going through right now.
FIELD: If board members and university administrators agree to offer the vaccine, it would be available to some 8,000 students on a voluntary basis.
TYLER TAMASI, STUDENT: I trust the vaccine, as long as it`s approved in Europe and Australia, it gives me confidence in like the fact that it works, I guess. I probably wouldn`t get it at the moment. Like I said, I`m not too worried about the whole meningitis outbreak yet. So if Princeton starts vaccinating students, I don`t know if I would be first in line for it.
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AZUZ: A quick heads-up about a couple of significant anniversaries coming up this week and that we`ll be covering on CNN STUDENT NEWS. The first one is tomorrow. 150 years ago, President Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg address, one of the most famous speeches in American history. The other is on Friday. It will be 50 years since President Kennedy was assassinated. Two major moments in American history, both coming up this week on CNN STUDENT NEWS.
Next story today is one you might have heard about on social media. It involves the Make a Wish foundation, which grants wishes to kids with life- threatening medical conditions. Five-year-old Miles Scott had leukemia. It`s in remission, which is great news. His wish and the way a city rallied around Miles to make it happen was epic.
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DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He has the cape, the mask, and that famous car. And though he may not be old enough to drive this custom-made Batmobile, today this five-year-old is teaching an entire city what it means to be a superhero.
His name is Miles Scott, and while he`s never fought crime, it turns out he knows a thing or two about putting up a good fight. He was diagnosed with leukemia at just 18 months. He`s been battling it ever since. Well, today, he`s in remission, and that seemed like a pretty good reason to celebrate.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yea, Miles!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your wish was to be Batman?
MILES SCOTT, BAT KID: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why do you like Batman so much?
SCOTT: Because he`s my favorite superhero.
SIMON: What started out as a request to the Make-A-Wish turned into something far closer to a dream.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There have been plenty of superheroes wishes that Make-A-Wish has had over the years. Nothing like this has happened.
SIMON: The organization`s request for volunteers snowballed on social media. Twitter caught fire. More than 10,000 people signed up. Even more showed up to transform San Francisco into Gotham City. And over several hours, this adorable little guy lived out his enormous dream. He rescued this damsel in distress from the city`s famed cable car tracks. He was summoned by the police chief.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bring the bat kid!
SIMON: There was even a bat signal. And with the citizens of Gotham cheering him on, little Miles set off to save the San Francisco Giants mascot Lucille, from the evil clutches of the felonious fiend, the Penguin.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The key to Gotham City by the bay.
SIMON: 5-year-old Miles even got a key to the city at a special ceremony. But the people here got something more. They didn`t leave their hearts in San Francisco. They gave them to a little boy who proved what it really means to be a superhero.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good job, bat kid.
SIMON: Dan Simon, CNN, San Francisco.
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AZUZ: Well, it`s time to add three more schools to our roll call map. Today we`re hitting Michigan, Oregon, and Texas. So let`s do it. Right out of the gate, we got the Panthers from Comstock Park High in Michigan. In Troutdale (ph), Oregon, Reynolds High School is home of the Raiders, and they are watching. And we`re rounding things out with Marshall High School, the Rams from San Antonio, Texas.
Free throws, one point. Other shots are two or three. So what do you get when you make this? A world record. That shot came from 109 feet and nine inches away. That means Harlem Globetrotter Corey "Thunder" Law had to shoot from a few rows into the stands. He and a couple of his teammates took turns for more than an hour before Law finally nailed the shot. Don`t know if anyone can beat the new record, but someone will probably give it a shot. And if it goes in, the new record holder will net a lot of attention. I`m Carl Azuz. Have a great day.
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