Subtitles section Play video
-
CARL AZUZ, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to Tuesday`s edition of CNN STUDENT NEWS.
-
I`m Carl Azuz, reporting from the CNN Center in Atlanta.
-
First thing we`re talking about today is a wildfire in California that`s chewed up about 150,000 acres.
-
That`s about the size of Chicago.
-
The Rim fire has become the 13th largest in California`s history.
-
VICKIE WRIGHT, U.S. FOREST SERVICE: It was astounding to see the power of what I witnessed earlier.
-
So our main objectives right now - structure protection,
-
just making sure that we keep everyone safe and we protect that park at all costs.
-
AZUZ: Vickie Wright was talking about Yosemite National Park, which has lost at least 12,000 acres to the fire.
-
But this thing is so massive, it`s also threatening some power and water supplies in San Francisco, more than 100 miles west of the park.
-
Thousands of firefighters have been going after this.
-
They`d had it 7 percent contained on Sunday.
-
It was 15 percent contained by last night.
-
That`s like saying it was 15 percent fenced in.
-
It will have to be 100 percent contained before it can potentially be considered controlled.
-
Yesterday, we also talked about Syria`s government offering access to inspectors from the United Nations.
-
The Syrian government and rebel forces, the two sides in Syria`s civil war, have accused each other of using chemical weapons.
-
U.N. inspectors are there to figure out if chemical weapons were used,
-
but not to determine who might have used them.
-
During their work yesterday, one of the inspectors` vehicle was hit by sniper fire.
-
No reports of injuries, and the United Nations did not say who might have been responsible for the shooting.
-
Despite that, the inspection team described Monday as a very productive day, and said it planned to keep working in Syria today.
-
That includes interviews with witnesses, doctors, and survivors.
-
The U.N. team also collects samples.
-
Experts say chemical traces can be found in survivors and plants for months after an attack takes place.
-
U.N.`s work can have an impact on whether or not other nations take action against Syria.
-
United Nations officials say the use of chemical weapons must be punished,
-
and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry agreed with that statement yesterday, saying there must be accountability.
-
When Ty Carter was a teenager, he didn`t have a lot of friends.
-
He joined the Marines, but was demoted and then discharged after a fight with a roommate.
-
But yesterday, the man who once described himself as not exactly hero material,
-
was awarded the nation`s highest military decoration, the Medal of Honor.
-
Carter enlisted in the Army in 2008 and received the medal for his actions in Afghanistan.
-
He was stationed at Combat Outpost Keating in 2009 when it was attacked by Taliban fighters.
-
During the battle, Carter, who is now a staff sergeant,
-
volunteered to cross through enemy fire multiple times to get supplies to other soldiers.
-
Since returning home, Staff Sergeant Carter has struggled with PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder.
-
He`s spoken openly about it as part of what he calls the invisible wounds of war.
-
During yesterday`s ceremony, President Obama praised Staff Sergeant Carter`s heroism,
-
and his efforts to raise awareness about the disorder.
-
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: To any of our troops or veterans who are watching and struggling, look at this man.
-
Look at this soldier, look at this warrior.
-
He`s as tough as they come, and if he can find the courage and the strength
-
to not only seek help but also to speak out about it,
-
to take care of himself and to stay strong,
-
then so can you.
-
AZUZ: U.S. presidents keep a pretty full schedule.
-
For example, yesterday, in addition to the ceremony for Sergeant Carter,
-
President Obama had meetings with faith leaders and with the winners of a national debate tournament.
-
What if you could get on the president`s schedule?
-
If you had 5 minutes, what would you want to talk about?
-
That`s what we asked some high school juniors and seniors for this installment of the CNN STUDENT NEWS Viewfinder.
-
AMAYA CARR ,HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR: His childhood, and how life is for him.
-
Because he all know he runs the world, but I really want to know how he feels,
-
if he has a diary, and like how is everyday life for him, and what stresses him out.
-
GRACE RYBACK, HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR: I`d definitely talk to him about how he deals with the pressure of everything that goes around him.
-
There`s pressure from everyone around him.
-
ROMA PARIKH, HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR: You know, it would be nice to get to know him on a personal level on a platform that isn`t I`m here, down below, and he`s up there on the stage.
-
But also I guess I`d like to talk about the political things and just how he views things himself, but not so much as the president.
-
MYKEL SKINNER, HIGH SCHOOL JUNIOR: I would more talk to him about himself, what makes him different, you know?
-
We all hear about politics and everything, but we really don`t know who Mr. Obama is,
-
and I`d like to get more in depth and see what makes him special.
-
GARLAND JONES, HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR: I am going to ask him a lot of basketball questions,
-
since he seems to be such an avid basketball player,
-
and find out why he doesn`t ever pick Duke for the final four.
-
MARILYN PRIMOVIC, HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR: I would bring up the whole debt situation,
-
because that`s going to affect our generation the most.
-
All the bills that are being passed are affecting - are going to affect the debt that our generation is going to have to find a way to pay off,
-
and I am concerned about how we`re going to do that.
-
NICK MUSEY, HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR: You know, just give me a 5-minute spiel on how you think you would use our generation to connect back to the global community,
-
because before, you know, in the `80s, in the `70s, we were number one in everything,
-
but now in 2013, in the 21st century, we have become detached from the world.
-
So I think, I want to know how he would use our generation to become more connected to the world again.
-
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s time for the shoutout.
-
What famous composer wrote the musical work "Ode to Joy?"
-
If you think you know it, then shout it out.
-
Was it Bach, Mozart, Beethoven or Handel?
-
You`ve got 3 seconds, go.
-
This is "Ode to Joy," and it`s part of Beethoven`s 9th Symphony.
-
That is your answer and that`s your shoutout.
-
AZUZ: By the time Beethoven composed the 9th Symphony, he had become deaf.
-
Stories say he sawed the legs off his piano so he could feel the vibrations of the different notes through the floor.
-
Robbie Wilde does not play the piano.
-
He makes music in a similar way, using senses other than his hearing,
-
and as Sarah Hoye shows us, this DJ does not miss a beat.
-
SARAH HOYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It`s New York Fashion Week,
-
and DJ Robbie Wilde is busy working the exclusive Project Runway designer reunion party.
-
Wilde lives in the world of rhythm and bass.
-
He just can`t hear it.
-
Ear infections as a child left Wilde completely deaf in his right ear,
-
and with only 20 percent hearing in his left.
-
Did you ever feel sorry for yourself?
-
ROBBIE WILDE, DJ: Never, no. Sometimes I would even forget sometimes myself.
-
HOYE: Although hearing is the most important sense in a DJ`s life,
-
Wilde was determined to make it.
-
He got his first shot to perform at his father`s restaurant nearly a decade ago.
-
And hasn`t looked back since.
-
WILDE: I still consider it as a hobby. I really do love it. Like, I don`t see it as a job, you know?
-
And that`s the best part, if you love something, you don`t consider it as a job,
-
you know, you are happy to go to work.
-
HOYE: Wild went to DJ school to learn the art of turntablism.
-
And also relies on his computer to see the music and feels the vibration, relatively.
-
He`s dubbed "that deaf DJ" by club goers and promoters,
-
and it`s a moniker even he uses,
-
but Wilde says it`s more than just about his deafness.
-
WILDE: I don`t want you to see me as a deaf DJ or a deaf kid trying to DJ.
-
I want you to see me as a great DJ that happens to be deaf, you know?
-
Because I don`t want sympathy. I don`t want, oh, let`s give him a gig because, you know, he`s hearing impaired.
-
HOYE: His skills got noticed by HP and earned him a spot on the commercial,
-
thrusting him onto the world stage.
-
WILDE: It does not matter that I can`t hear the music.
-
DANIELLE JONES, HEWLETT PACKARD: That he`s doing it through touch, without being able to hear the music, is a wonderful story.
-
HOYE: Besides, some things are better left unheard, he says.
-
WILDE: There is a lot of sounds out in the world you don`t want to hear.
-
I like it muffled.
-
It`s, you know, I like who I am, I`m proud of who I am.
-
HOYE: When he`s not DJ`ing, Wilde is in the studio producing music.
-
What is your message for those who are trying to chase a dream just like you?
-
WILDE: Honestly, never give up.
-
HOYE: Sarah Hoye, CNN, New York.
-
AZUZ: Lions and Tigers and Bears, oh my.
-
It`s time for the CNN STUDENT NEWS roll call.
-
Where are we heading first?
-
Lafayette, Louisiana.
-
Home of the Lions from Lafayette High.
-
Home of the Lions from Lafayette High.
-
Hope you`re having a great day there.
-
Then it`s up to Konawa high school in Konawa, Oklahoma.
-
The Tigers are watching CNN STUDENT NEWS.
-
And our bears are Grizzlies, the Granger Grizzlies from Rutledge, Tennessee.
-
Louisiana, Oklahoma, Tennessee, roll call.
-
Colorado State University just wrapped up its welcome week for first-year students.
-
Definitely a warm welcome for this guy.
-
Three chances to make a half-court shot.
-
Only needed one.
-
So what did he win, besides a YouTube video and the apparent adulation of his fellow freshmen?
-
He got free tuition for a year.
-
So five seconds of work in exchange for an entire year`s college costs,
-
I`d say it was a pretty good net gain.
-
Only one student got a shot, so anyone else who was hoping for a chance at this year`s free ride was simply reduced tuition.
-
It`s going to wrap things up for today.
-
For CNN STUDENT NEWS, I`m Carl Azuz.
-
END