CNN Student News:美國(guó)青年高興加入和平團(tuán)

 

CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: I'm Carl Azuz, and today on CNN Student News, we're gonna be talking about something that won't happen until November 6th... of 2012! But we start things off down in Louisiana.

First Up: Severe Flooding

AZUZ: Officials facing the threat of massive flooding there have opened several gates on the Morganza Spillway. A spillway is something that goes over or around a dam. It's a safety feature. When too much water builds up around the dam, the spillway's gates can be opened to let some of that water through.

This is what the Morganza Spillway looks like normally: gates closed, nothing coming through. But with floodwaters from the Mississippi River rushing in, engineers opened up some of the spillway's gates for the first time in nearly 40 years. That's what you see here: water barreling through the gate. The Morganza Spillway has 125 total gates. Officials plan to open up to one-fourth of those.

Opening the gates should divert floodwaters away from major cities, like Baton Rouge and New Orleans, Louisiana. But it will send water toward homes and farmland in other parts of the state. People who live there -- many of whom have had to evacuate their homes -- are preparing for devastation.

KELLI TRIMM, BUTTE LAROSE, LOUISIANA RESIDENT: It's worse than we thought. It's really worse than we thought. We thought maybe we might have water in our yard. Instead, this is going to come into our home. It's going to take everything we have got.

Presidential Politics

AZUZ: The next U.S. presidential election is more than 500 days away. Might sound like the distant future, but there's a lot that happens between now and then. And since that process is already underway, we're going to break some of it down for you today.

Ultimately, one candidate from each party will face off in the general election. That's on November 6th, 2012. Before that, candidates have to win their party's nomination. That's what the primary elections help decide. There are lots of political parties out there. The Green Party, the Libertarian Party. We're going to look at the two biggest parties: the Democrats and Republicans.

On the Democratic side, President Obama is an incumbent candidate. He's running for re-election to the office he already holds. He announced his campaign last month.

The Republican side has a field of candidates. Some of them, like former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, U.S. Representative Ron Paul, and former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson, have announced their plans to run for president. Others have formed what are called exploratory committees. They haven't officially announced their candidacy, but they're looking pretty seriously at the possibilities. Lot of steps to go through between now and election day. We'll take you through it as campaign season rolls along.

Shoutout

STAN CASE, CNN STUDENT NEWS: Today's first Shoutout goes out to Mr. Essex's geography students at Washington Middle School in Miles City, Montana! Whose slogan is "the toughest job you'll ever love"? Here we go! Is it the: A) Boy Scouts, B) Air Force, C) Peace Corps or D) Supreme Court? You've got three seconds -- GO! A promotional campaign described the Peace Corps as "the toughest job you'll ever love." That's your answer and that's your Shoutout!

Peace Corps at 50

AZUZ: The organization promotes peace and friendship by having Americans live and work in developing countries. A simple idea, but one that's lasted. The Peace Corps celebrated its 50th anniversary this year. Brooke Baldwin caught up with a new member of the corps as she began her journey.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

JOHN F. KENNEDY, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: I have today signed an executive order providing for the establishment of a Peace Corps.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: That was March 1961. In the 50 years since President John F. Kennedy launched the Peace Corps initiative, more than 200,000 volunteers have served in some 139 countries. Twenty-two-year-old Katie Pollak is now one of them.

KATIE POLLAK, PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEER: It's an exciting thing to be a part of. So many amazing people have been Peace Corps volunteers, and just the network of people who have done it. They use the word "family" a lot. It's exciting to sort of be going into that.

BALDWIN: Katie recently earned her college degree in human biology and African studies. She plans to put it to good use for the next 27 months in Senegal, where she'll work in the Peace Corps malaria program.

POLLAK: Professionally, this is going to be sort of the best thing that I can do, in terms of on-the-ground experience and whether I want to work broadly in life or doing policy work. And personally, I think it's going to be the biggest challenge of my life, being in an entirely new culture.

BALDWIN: Peace Corps volunteers serve in several areas: education, HIV/AIDS awareness, agriculture, and business development, just to name a few. They are provided with health insurance, a housing allowance, and they receive about $7,500 at the end of their 27-month assignment. And the desire to serve is still very strong.

KRISTINA EDMUNSON, DEP. COMMUNICATIONS DIR., PEACE CORPS: Today, we have more Peace Corps volunteers in the field than at any time in the last 40 years. And, you know, I think it's representative that Americans are ready to serve. They're standing up. They're answering President Obama's call to service.

BALDWIN: Forty-seven people in this latest group of Peace Corps volunteers are heeding that call.

COSTA KOKKINOS, PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEER: I just hope to do stuff, to complete projects that people will appreciate. Maybe something that's sustainable, so when I leave they will have it.

SARAH KUECH, PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEERS: Two years seems a lot like now, but in the grand scheme of things, it's really not that big. So, if I can donate a little of my time to try to do some good, I think it's worth a shot.

BALDWIN: And for Katie Pollak, she says she is ready for the learning experience of a lifetime.

POLLAK: One of the goals of the Peace Corps is to bring a better understanding of Americans to other people around the world. And I hope I can, like, be an ambassador for America. And show sort of the good side.

BALDWIN: Brooke Baldwin, CNN.

(END VIDEO)

Shoutout Extra Credit

BARBARA HALL, CNN STUDENT NEWS: Time for a Shoutout Extra Credit! When did Jackie Robinson become the first African-American to play in baseball's major league? You know what to do! Was it the: A) 1930s, B) 1940s, C) 1950s or D) 1960s? Another three seconds on the clock -- GO! Jackie Robinson made his major league debut in 1947. That's your answer and that's your Shoutout Extra Credit!

Celebrating Civil Rights

AZUZ: Starting with Jackie Robinson, black and white major leaguers played together on the field. But for many years, they couldn't go to the same restaurants and hotels off the field. That changed with the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. Saturday, young people got to play and talk with former all-stars as Major League Baseball honored those who fought for social justice in the game and in the country. The celebration continued yesterday when the Atlanta Braves hosted the Civil Rights Game. The teams wore uniforms from 1974. That's the year that Hank Aaron hit home run number 715 to break Babe Ruth's career record. T.J. Holmes talked to "Hammerin' Hank" about the influence of the civil rights era.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Some of them were out there before you. But when you kind of got into the mix, is that something you wanted? Did you ever consider yourself kind of a leader being out front, a leader in the civil rights era? Or did you just want to play baseball?

HANK AARON, BASEBALL HALL OF FAMER: I wanted to play baseball and I never felt like I was a leader. But I felt like Jackie Robinson had paved the way for, and I wanted to be a baseball player. Let me put it that way.

And Jackie Robinson had paved the way for all of us. When I say all of them, myself, Willie and some of the other black who's came before him and was a little bit younger than he was, had paved the way. And I felt like it was my responsibility, not only as a baseball player, but to carry myself in such a way that other blacks would be able to look at me and say, "oh, I not only want to be the same kind of ballplayer that Hank Aaron was, but I want to carry myself off the field the way that he did."

HOLMES: Do you ever look back and think, "You know what? I could have done without it, without the record"?

AARON: No, I never did. No. I felt like it was my responsibility. God had given me the ability to play baseball. I had the world on my shoulders. I knew that I could do most anything I wanted to do out on the baseball field. And I always felt like I was, it may sound kind of silly, but I always felt like I was surrounded by angels on the baseball field. You know, I just felt like there was absolutely nothing that could happen to me.

(END VIDEO)

Before We Go

AZUZ: Before we go, we've got the scoop on a big story out of Canada. It's the world's largest ice cream cake! The massive dessert tipped the scales at more than 22,000 pounds. That's more than 10 tons of ice cream! Engineering students figured out how to build the thing without it melting. Talk about a brain freeze. Thousands of people showed up for the cake's debut. Thousands of lucky people; they each got to try some.

Goodbye

AZUZ: Must have been sweet to witness a slice of history. We're gonna chill out for a little bit, but we'll be back tomorrow with more CNN Student News. See you then.