CNN Student News 多国联军发起对利比亚“奥德赛黎明行动”

 

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

CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: Military action is underway in the skies over Libya, and the U.S. is one of several countries involved. It's our first story in the week's first edition of CNN Student News.

 

First Up: Libya Civil War

AZUZ: It's called "Operation Odyssey Dawn," and the goal is to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya. The United Nations Security Council voted for that no-fly zone late last week. The coalition responsible for enforcing it is made up of forces from the U.S., Great Britain and France, among others.

 

After the Security Council's vote, Libya's government declared a cease-fire in its fighting with rebel forces. And it invited representatives from other nations to come to Libya to make sure the cease-fire was real. Coalition forces were convinced that Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi was not following the rules of the cease-fire. On Saturday, the coalition attacked. You can hear the sounds of gunfire in the capital city of Tripoli. A U.S. commander said missiles landed near the capital and around other cities as part of these attacks.

 

The fighting between Colonel Gadhafi's forces and rebels raged on in other cities, like Benghazi. Here, you can see a fighter jet that was shot down over Benghazi on Saturday. Admiral Michael Mullen, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Sunday that coalition forces had taken out most of Libya's air defense systems. But Admiral Mullen also said the U.S. role in "Operation Odyssey Dawn" would be limited, saying "we're not going to put any boots on the ground."

 

Colonel Gadhafi? He's harshly criticized the other countries getting involved with the civil war in Libya. He called the coalition forces "terrorists" and promised a "long-drawn war." But Sunday, a spokesman for the Libyan military called for another cease-fire.

 

Soundcheck

U.S. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Today, we are both also delivering assistance and support to the Japanese people at their greatest hour of need. The ties that bind our nations to Japan are strong. In the United States, we forged an alliance of more than sixty years. The people of Japan are some of our closest friends, and we will pray with them, and stand with them, and rebuild with them until this crisis has passed.

 

Disaster in Japan

AZUZ: We're starting to see some new effects of the nuclear crisis in Japan that resulted from a tsunami triggered by a 9.0-magnitude earthquake. Yesterday, the government health ministry banned the sale of spinach from the area near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Officials made that decision based on radiation levels that were over the government limit. There were already bans on the sale of raw milk and restrictions on produce from the area surrounding the nuclear plant.

 

Workers inside that power plant were starting to see some signs of progress over the weekend in their efforts to cool down these nuclear reactors. But officials say "even in the best scenario, there will be a lot of bumps ahead." One they came across Sunday was the possibility that they might need to release radioactive gas into the air. They would do that in order to release some of the pressure that's building up inside one of the reactors.

 

The tsunami knocked out the plant's cooling systems, and getting those back online is crucial. Allan Chernoff has a household comparison that helps explain why.

 

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT, NEW YORK: To get a sense of the challenge confronting the Japanese at the Daiichi nuclear plant, consider this situation in a kitchen: a pot with no water on top of a high flame. Obviously, this dangerous situation could cause a fire in here. Well, stay with me.

 

Those spent nuclear rods can generate tremendous heat, up to 2,100 degrees. Enough to melt them, burn them and send radioactive material into the atmosphere. They have to be kept under water, just like spaghetti when we're cooking. Now, those rods are normally kept under 30 feet of water, but according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, in at least one of the pools in Japan, the rods are exposed; there's virtually no water or no water at all.

 

So, how do we resolve this situation? Well, if we don't take the pot off the flame, we add water. And that is exactly what the Japanese are trying to do right now; any way they can, even dumping it from helicopters. They are trying desperately to get water into that pool to avoid a nuclear disaster. Allan Chernoff, CNN, New York.

 

AZUZ: There was some good news on Sunday when rescue workers found an 80-year-old woman and her 16-year-old grandson. They'd been trapped in their home for nine days. The news gave hope to other people whose loved ones are still missing. But as Gary Tuchman explains, the search efforts are not easy.

 

(BEGIN VIDEO)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kesennuma, Japan. The scene behind me here is one of chaos, confusion; it is surreal. If you see the video we took, you won't believe it. At least, we didn't when we saw it in person. So much debris, so much rubble. It's impenetrable. It is like a canyon. When we went down there, it's like climbing a mountain. Cars, boats, houses: pushed out of different neighborhoods, pushed out of different areas and blocking fire officials, military officials.

 

They're looking for survivors, the possibility of survivors, or trying to find bodies. We met a woman today who told us her father was at the second floor of his house, made the decision to stay in the second floor when the tsunami siren sounded. Well, anyway, at this point, they can't get to the house. It appears the house is still there, but there's so much rubble surrounding the house, there's no way to check if this man survived.

 

It's just an absolutely incredible scene. It's hard to imagine what the people here in northeastern Japan are going through. The death toll is rising rapidly. We know it will continue to rise. We ourselves, just myself and my crew, found a body in the back of a car. This is how they're finding bodies, the officials. There's so much rubble down there they can't get to. It's very likely that it will be weeks or months before they come anywhere close to knowing what this death toll is.

 

And the aftershocks continue. Last night, while we were sleeping, we felt at least six or seven sizable aftershocks, and that only increases the anxiety that people feel here in northeastern Japan. This is Gary Tuchman, CNN, in Japan.

 

(END VIDEO)

Impact Your World

AZUZ: A lot of you have been asking on our Facebook page about how you can help the victims of this crisis. In the Spotlight section on our homepage, that's CNNStudentNews.com, click on "Impact Your World." You'll get a list of the organizations helping out with relief efforts and learn how you can be part of them. For more information about what's going on in Japan or about any of the stories we cover in our show, you can always check out the In-Depth section at CNNStudentNews.com.

 

Haiti Elections

AZUZ: Haiti: a nation still struggling to recover from a devastating earthquake that hit it more than a year ago. It's also trying to resolve a presidential election from last November. None of the candidates got enough votes for an outright victory. Yesterday, Haitians headed to the polls to vote in a runoff election. One candidate is a former law professor and first lady. The other is a Haitian entertainer. There were some problems early on at a couple polling locations: missing ballot boxes, and not enough ink to mark who had voted. But officials said those issues were resolved by later in the morning. The final results of the runoff are scheduled to be released in mid-April.

 

Shoutout

TOMEKA JONES, CNN STUDENT NEWS: A big Gilles-Sweet Shoutout today is dedicated to Mr. Schulenberg's class in Fairview Park, Ohio! Which word best describes the moon's orbit around the Earth? You know what to do! Is it: A) Circular, B) Helical, C) Elliptical or D) Square? You've got three seconds -- GO! The moon moves around the Earth in an elliptical orbit. That's your answer and that's your Shoutout!

Super Moon

AZUZ: Well, if you looked outside and thought the moon looked bigger and brighter than usual this weekend, it's because it was! Because of that elliptical orbit around the Earth, full moons look different. And this full moon this past Saturday was the closest one to Earth in 18 years. It's called a super perigee moon. Perigee being the point on the moon's orbit when it's closest to Earth. The opposite point -- when it's at its farthest point from Earth -- is called apogee. If you didn't get a chance to see the special event over the weekend, you're just gonna have to be patient. The next super perigee moon will show up in the year 2029.

 

Before We Go

AZUZ: We had to do some digging to find today's Before We Go segment. But it's nothing compared to what these folks are going through! It's the 33rd International Intercollegiate Mining Competition. Three days of hauling, pounding, drilling, all to show off a mastery of mining. 33 teams come from colleges all over the world for the annual event. How do you get through three days of intense, physical competition?

 

Goodbye

AZUZ: It's simply a case of mine over matter. We're gonna cart ourselves out of here. But CNN Student News returns tomorrow. You know the drill. We'll see you then. Bye bye!