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New developments in the growing international fight
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against the ISIS terrorist group. That leads off our show today.
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I`m Carl Azuz for CNN STUDENT NEWS.
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In addition to last week`s terrorist attacks in Paris, France,
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which killed at least 129 people,
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ISIS has claimed responsibility for bringing down a Russian passenger plane last month.
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That happened over Egypt`s Sinai Peninsula.
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Yesterday, the head of the Russian federal security service
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said the plane was bombed,
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that it had more than two pounds of explosives on it.
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And Russia is offering $50 million for information
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that leads to the arrest of those responsible.
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Russia also announced it had doubled its airstrikes against ISIS targets in Syria,
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and that it would work more closely with France to fight international terrorism.
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An international manhunt is stretching across Europe for Salah Abdeslam.
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He`s a 26-year-old suspect in the Paris terrorist attacks
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whose brotherIbrahim was one of the suicide bombers.
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Also, yesterday, a soccer game between Netherlands and Germany was cancelled.
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The stadium in Hannover, Germany, evacuated.
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Police said they had concrete intelligence that someone wanted to bomb it.
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel was planning to attend the game.
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As of last night, no arrests have been made.
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It`s not known if ISIS had anything to do with this,
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but the group, its affiliates and sympathizers are being closely watched worldwide.
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It`s the best funded terrorist organization in history.
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ISIS controls big territory in Syria and Iraq.
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And it runs its pillaging machine like a business,
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to fund its ultimate goal, one ginormous Islamic State.
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Let`s follow the money:
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At its heart, ISIS is a criminal enterprise.
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In 2014, the U.S. Treasury Department says
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it made at least half a billion dollars from seizing banks
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in northern and western Iraq.
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But banks aren`t the only target. ISIS fighters loot houses,
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they steal cars, chop them up for parts, they trade weapons, and people.
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It`s a revenue stream that thrives on territory.
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The more they control, the more they can steal.
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There`s a reason ISIS has become compared to the mafia.
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It extorts protection money from the people it lords over.
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You want to move your truck down the highway, pay a tax.
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You want to move money out of your own bank account, it will cost you.
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You`re a farmer with 100 sheep, ISIS takes five.
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The extortion game earns it several million dollars every month.
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ISIS has made millions selling oil from fields it controls in Syria and Iraq,
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as much as $100 million in 2014.
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It`s less now that the price of oil has fallen,
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and the U.S. and its allies started bombing refineries.
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But ISIS doesn`t need refineries to make money from oil.
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The unrefined crude it pumps out of the ground is worth plenty.
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ISIS fighters smuggle in barrels across the border or in containers
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small enough to fit under a truck.
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A middle man buys the crude oil or whatever ISIS
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has managed to refine and sells it on the black market.
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Kidnapping for ransom also big business.
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In 2014, ISIS made at least $20 million that way.
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The United States says it won`t negotiate with terrorists,
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but some European countries do and so do wealthy Arab families
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whose relatives are targeted.
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ISIS is taking sledgehammers to ancient artifacts.
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But it also makes money looting and selling stolen treasures.
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A giant sculpture of an Assyrian idol might be destroyed,
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while a gold Babylonian coin is sold,
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because the coin was never worshipped.
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And that`s how ISIS makes its millions.
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It`s become a swirling controversy in the U.S.
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The Obama administration`s plan to accept 10,000 additional Syrian refugees next year.
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Why?
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French officials say at least one of the suspects at last week`s terrorist attacks
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in Paris slipped into Europe, among the millions fleeing Syria`s civil war.
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And most of the suspected terrorists had spent time in Syria.
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The U.S. government isn`t changing its plans to accept more refugees,
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saying it can safely resettle them in America.
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But a Republican lawmaker on the House Intelligence Committee says
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there`s no real vetting, no detailed investigations in place of the refugees.
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At least seven U.S. governors who are all Democrats say
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they`ll allow the refugees in their states.
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But a majority of U.S. governors, at least 30 Republicans and one Democrat,
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say they won`t accept additional refugees from Syria.
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Experts say the final decision rests with the federal government,
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but the states that don`t agree can slow down the process.
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In the wake of Paris attacks,
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there`s now a big split between Democrats and Republicans
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over what to do with Syrian refugees who President Obama
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had planned to admit into the United States.
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SUBTITLE: The Partisan split over Syrian refugees.
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Republican governors everywhere are raising their hands and saying, whoa,
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we don`t want these refugees in our states.
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I am now requesting that the president and the federal government
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cease sending refugees from Syria to North Carolina.
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This sets up a big fight on Capitol Hill,
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where Paul Ryan, the new speaker,
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just weeks into his tenure,
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is under a lot of pressure from Republicans
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on the Hill and on the presidential campaign trail.
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Congress I think should defund all the programs
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that allow these people to be brought here immediately, today.
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This raises big questions ahead of the December government funding showdown.
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Funding for the government runs out on December 11th.
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And so, this sets up the question of whether Republicans
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if they do try to do this will run into a veto from President Obama
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and what President Obama would do next.
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It is our moral obligation as fellow human beings to help
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people who are in such vulnerable situations.
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Our producers pick each day`s "Roll Call" schools from one place,
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the transcript page at CNNStudentNews.com.
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We found Lake Stevens High School there.
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The Vikings are sailing in from Lake Stevens.
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Woodland Middle School is also online.
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The Wildcats of Euharlee, Georgia, are watching this Wednesday.
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And in the northern European nation of Denmark,
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thank you to Copenhagen International School for watching from the Danish capital.
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Auto-Tune, a computer software that corrects a singer`s pitch,
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doesn`t strike the right note with everyone.
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But ever since it helps Cher score a hit with a strong "Believe" in 1998,
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it`s become a widely used and widely controversial component of modern music.
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You might be surprised at who invented and the fact that his background
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doesn`t have much to do with pop.
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Dr. Andy Hildebrand isn`t your average engineer.
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He dreams in equations and algorithms.
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Twenty-five years ago while working for Exxon,
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he developed an approach that transformed oil exploration in the United States.
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What they would do in the oil industry, it was --
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they would detonate an explosion either on land or in the sea
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and then they have a long array of detectors
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that would listen to the reverberations from underground.
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GLASS: Hildebrand`s algorithm converted these complex signals
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into a simple computer readout,
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telling the oil companies where exactly to drill.
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When I retired from the oil industry, I started doing some computing for music.
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The breakthrough came in 1997 - this series of symbols,
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the secret to a perfect singing voice. Auto-Tune was born.
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Auto-Tune is now an integral part of an industry
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that was worth some $15 billion in 2014.
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The claim that it can make anyone sing in tune was one
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that needed to be tested. And who better than a tone deaf correspondent?
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The camp town ladies sing this song, doo-dah, doo- dah.
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With every warbled note, Auto-Tune set to work
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programmed with the right pitch, it pulled and pushed each note,
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modulating in real time, making me sound -- well -- in tune.
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Hildebrand`s hoping to use the same software to help
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doctors monitor our health, making sure our hearts don`t skip a bit.
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There are a lot of unusual vending machines.
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Some dispense cupcakes or rice. Some do pizza or hotdog sandwiches.
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This one does cars, as in you drive it home cars.
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It`s fully automated, it`s coin operated,
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and before you say that`s a lot of quarters,
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customers actually buy the car online first
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and then they head to this five-story glass tower, they got to walk, bike or get a ride.
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They put in a special coin, and voila, a car is dispensed.
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Of course, dealers would call this indi-vincible.
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There`s no way to kick the tires first to test drive first to test drive this kind of self service,
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or to verify the vehicle has not passed its sell-by date.
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It`s really for people who are driven by fresh new ideas
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and don`t mind having to vend (ph) for themselves.