April 29, 2005
JASON BELLINI, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: What did the president have to say to viewers and journalists, in a relatively rare news event? What would it have meant, to have the "wherewithal" to be buried like this in ancient Egypt? And just what's so unique about this bird? Here's a hint: Some believed it no longer existed.
First Up: The President & the Press
JASON BELLINI, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to the week's, and month's, last broadcast of CNN Student News! Glad to have you on board -- I'm Jason Bellini in Atlanta. First up-- Taking to the airwaves. It was only the fourth time that President Bush took part in a prime-time news conference, since he first took office. And the topics were a bit different than previous subjects of terrorism and the War in Iraq. This time around, the president focused on issues you could say, were more pertinent to the pocketbook. We'll turn it over to Sumi Das now, for a wrap on what those issues were.
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Bush holds his fourth prime time news conference since taking office in 2001.
SUMI DAS, CNN REPORTER: President Bush's ten minute opening statement touched briefly on energy, but focused primarily on social security. This coincided with the wrap-up of a sixty-day social security tour of the country and allowed the president to speak in greater depth about his proposal to create private investment accounts.
PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: I know some Americans have reservations about investing in the stock market. So I propose that one investment option consists entirely of treasury bonds.
DAS: But democrats say privatization is risky and will weaken social security.
SEN. TOM HARKIN, (D) IOWA: He's taking extraordinary means to try to justify his so called reform. But his reform is basically privatization.
DAS: With a variety of questions from the press, President Bush also clarified views on a number of other issues, including Iraq, Russian President Vladimir Putin and the current trouble facing U.N. Ambassador nominee John Bolton.
BUSH: John Bolton is a good guy. Sometimes people say I'm too blunt. John Bolton can get the job done at the united nations.
DAS: Mr. Bush's primary objective for the news conference was clear, a social security plan is needed. But his uncompromising position seems unlikely to garner much bipartisan support. In Washington, for CNN Student News, I'm Sumi Das.
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JASON BELLINI, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: A recent Gallup poll asked Americans the open-ended question, what would you discuss if you had 15 minutes to talk with the president?
There were dozens of answers, but here are a few of the more common ones: 22 percent of respondents said they'd advise President Bush to pull troops out of Iraq. Eight percent said they'd like to discuss energy or the cost of gas... And six percent would tell the president to leave social security untouched. Another six percent said they'd praise the president for doing a good job... And five percent would tell him to quit that job.
New Iraq Government
JASON BELLINI, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: Iraq's new Cabinet well reflects the religious and ethnic diversity that composes the country itself: Most of the new ministers are Shiite Muslims, followed by Kurds, Sunni Muslims, a Christian and a Turkman. All of this was announced yesterday by the country's transitional National Assembly, elected three months ago. It reflects progress for the fledgling democracy, though some of the available jobs still have to be filled... and the country's violent insurgents, still have to be stopped.
Shoutout
CARL AZUZ, CNN REPORTER: Friday's Shoutout goes out to Tamara's international studies classes at the International School in Bellevue, Washington!
How many votes are needed to bust a filibuster by cutting off debate on the Senate floor? If you think you know it, shout it out!
Is it: A) 20, B) 40, C) 60 or D) 80?
You've got three seconds -- GO!
Under current rules, at least 60 votes are needed to cut off floor debate. This is also known as cloture. That's your answer and that's your Shoutout!
Week in Review
JASON BELLINI, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: But will those rules hold up? That depends on the outcome of the debate outlined now by Carl Azuz, as he kicks off our Week in Review.
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CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS REPORTER: The fight over filibusters heated up this week, with many Republicans calling for a new rule that would ban filibusters of a president's judicial nominees. In a filibuster, senators hold up proceedings by continuing to talk on the Senate floor. And even though Democrats have a minority in the Senate, they've threatened to use this powerful tool to keep two of the president's current nominees from getting the jobs.
On Tuesday, an accident at a railway in Japan killed more than one-hundred people...And injured hundreds of others.
COMMUTER: The train was late and I thought that it was going faster than usual and I was a bit worried because the train had overrun the station. Then there was a big crashing sound.
AZUZ: Investigators are still trying to determine what caused the commuter train to derail near the western city of Osaka. They think that excessive speed was a factor. It was Japan's deadliest train accident in 40 years.
And they almost had him: U.S. officials reported on Tuesday that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi -- the most wanted terrorist in Iraq -- narrowly escaped capture earlier this year. The incident reportedly took place on February 20th, when military officials received a tip concerning Zarqawi. He wasn't found when U.S. troops surrounded the car he'd been traveling in, but a treasure trove of intelligence was.
Elsewhere in the Middle East, the last Syrian troops left Lebanon Wednesday, ending a military presence maintained for 29 years. The move came amid rising Lebanese and international pressure for Syria to take its troops out of the neighboring country. Lebanon's new government has scheduled elections to be held on May 29th.
And on the home front...President Bush spoke out on the topic of energy.
PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: The first essential step toward greater energy independence is to apply technology to increase domestic production from existing energy resources.
AZUZ: And that could include building more oil refineries on closed military bases, and expanding tax credits to benefit those who drive clean-diesel and hybrid automobiles. And that wraps up your Week in Review. I'm Carl Azuz.
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JASON BELLINI, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: You wanted it; we've set it up! A quiz that your students are sure to love is available at CNNstudentnews.com! You'll find it as Friday's featured Learning Activity.
Word to the Wise
CARL AZUZ, CNN REPORTER: A Word to the Wise...
wherewithal: (noun) the necessary means; money
Source: 
http://dictionary.reference.com/
Egypt's Newest Mummy
JASON BELLINI, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: The words "new kingdom" might sound like something pretty recent to you. But our next story is set in Egypt. And to archeologists, the phrase means a period spanning from the years 1550 to 1070, BC. It's a time associated with the country's 18th, 19th and 20th dynasties. Not to mention the mummy unearthed in this report by Ben Wedeman.
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BEN WEDEMAN: In most places putting your head in the sand won't get you anywhere... Egypt is an exception. Archaeologists have been digging at Saqqara, site of Egypt's famed Step Pyramid, for over a hundred years, and until now, have only just scratched the dusty surface. Egypt's top archaeologist, Zahi Hawas, shows off the latest find-an immaculate mummy dating from the new kingdom-about two thousand two hundred years ago.
ZAHI HAWAS, EGYPT'S TOP ARCHAEOLOGIST: This is the most beautiful mummy ever found in Egypt. We just found it a few days ago.
WEDEMAN: Not a pharaoh or a minister, but someone who clearly possessed the wherewithal to go out in style.
HAWAS: We believe that this is an important person, because this I haven't seen. I found 250 mummies in my excavations in my excavations in the Valley of the Golden Mummies, but I have never found a mummy like this.
WEDEMAN: The mummy is to be left intact-its secrets will be revealed by the use of a CT scan-a three dimensional x-ray.
HAWAS: We'll take it to the CT scan machine because I am sure a mummy like this, it's rich with color, it should be rich with amulets.
WEDEMAN: Archaeology is painstaking, time-consuming work...under conditions far from ideal. But despite the best efforts of grave robbers over the centuries, there are still many secrets waiting to be uncovered.
HAWAS: The possibility of more discoveries here is pretty high. Each one of these shafts-which number around forty five-and now are full of sand and rocks-could contain more mummies...and more surprises.
WEDEMAN: Ben Wedeman, CNN, Saqqara, Egypt
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Before We Go
JASON BELLINI, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: Before we go... The wooly mammoth, the ivory-billed woodpecker, the dodo bird: One of these things is not like the others. That's because, unlike the dodo and the mammoth, the elusive, ivory-billed woodpecker is apparently still around! Many scientists believed this bird to be extinct, in part because the last confirmed sighting was noted in 1944. But Cornell University researchers have reported eight such sightings recently; as a result, two-hundred-thousand acres in the area, will be conserved.
Goodbye
JASON BELLINI, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: And that puts today's show on the wing! For CNN Student News, I'm Jason Bellini. Headline News has more, straight ahead.
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