CNN Student News Transcript: May 14, 2008

(CNN Student News) -- May 14, 2008

Quick Guide

America Votes 2008 - Hear how West Virginia's primary could affect the Democratic nomination.

Powerful Quake in China - Learn how China's government is responding to a devastating earthquake.

Giving While Learning - See how an online vocabulary game is providing food to people in need.

Transcript

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

CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: It's Wednesday, and we've hit the halfway mark of the week. Hello everyone. Thanks for spending some time with CNN Student News. From the CNN Center, I'm Carl Azuz.

First Up: America Votes 2008

AZUZ: First up, a face-off in West Virginia between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. These Democratic candidates are locked in the closest primary race in recent history. Obama has won more contests, more pledged delegates and more superdelegates. But Clinton has come out ahead in Ohio and Pennsylvania. These are places that are expected to be very competitive between both parties in the general election. West Virginia is another of these so-called "battleground states." John Lorinc fills us in on yesterday's results there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN LORINC, CNN REPORTER: Senator Hillary Clinton wins the West Virginia Democratic primary by a wide margin, beating out Senator Barack Obama.

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know, like the song says, it's almost heaven. And I am so grateful for this overwhelming vote of confidence.

LORINC: But is it too little too late? Should she call it quits? Camp Clinton says no way.

TERRY MCAULIFFE, CLINTON CAMPAIGN CHAIRMAN: Hillary's on a roll.

LORINC: But a new USA Today/Gallup poll shows 35 percent of Democrats surveyed believe Clinton should get out of the race, an increase of 12 percentage points in a week.

MARK HALPERIN, POLITICAL ANALYST: Given the overwhelming press coverage suggesting Hillary Clinton should end the race, it's amazing to me that many Democrats think she should keep going, and not at all a surprise that more Democrats think she should end her bid.

LORINC: But Clinton says she's the one who can defeat Senator John McCain come November. Barack Obama spoke before the polls closed in West Virginia.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: John McCain has decided that he is running for George Bush's third term in office. We need a new direction in Washington, and that's what we've been offering throughout this campaign.

LORINC: Voters in Kentucky and Oregon go to the polls next week. For CNN Student News, I'm John Lorinc.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Is this Legit?

ANDY ROSE, CNN STUDENT NEWS: Is this Legit? West Virginia was originally part of Virginia. Totally true! The Mountain State broke away from Virginia in 1861 and became its own state two years later.

America Votes 2008

AZUZ: So, that covers the Democrats. On the other side, John McCain wrapped up the Republican Party's nomination a while ago. That's why we call him "The presumptive nominee". He's out on the campaign trail, working towards the general election in November. On Tuesday, McCain was talking in Washington about the environment, part of his week-long focus on the issue as he tours across the country.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I see environment, national security, our economy all coming together. Perhaps that's gonna spark in this nation an incredible impetus for us to sit down together, Republican and Democrat, environmentalists and business, and banker and retailer, all together and address this problem.

Powerful Quake in China

AZUZ: In China, hundreds of soldiers and rescue workers have made it to the area where Monday's deadly earthquake started. They're working to reach the victims, sometimes digging through the rubble with just their hands. Officials now report that more than 12,000 people have been killed by the 7.9-magnitude quake. Its epicenter was located in the Sichuan province, about 950 miles away from the capital of Beijing. But tremors were felt in cities across the Asian country and even in other countries. Roads were damaged, bridges collapsed, and according to soldiers in the town where the earthquake occurred, only 25 percent of the 12,000 residents survived the quake. One official in Sichuan province said about 3.5 million homes were destroyed there. But he added that many survivors are doing all they can to help each other.

They aren't the only ones. International organizations are already providing aid. And U.S. officials announced that the country has contributed $500,000 for relief efforts and is prepared to do more. Chinese authorities say they're planning to get the money and materials to the victims as soon as they possibly can. Paula Hancocks looks at how the Chinese government is responding to this natural disaster.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN REPORTER: China's Prime Minister Wen Jiabao stands on the rubble of a building and reassures those trapped below. He tells them, "You will be rescued." He spoke to survivors and rescuers in some of the badly hit areas. His visit to the city of Shifang Tuesday was played heavily on state television in an attempt to reassure the country the government was doing all it could. The prime minister shouts the transportation of food must be faster; children are short of food.

China is no stranger to natural disasters. The worst earthquake in a century was in China in 1976, killing more than a quarter of a million. But experts say Chinese authorities are learning to be more open after each disaster, a lesson learned after the outbreak of respiratory illness SARS in 2002.

GARETH LEATHER, ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT: The government was very, very secretive about it, which in turn allowed the disease to spread across China and Asia a lot quicker than it otherwise would have done. This time they have been very open about it, which I think is maybe showing signs that lessons have been learned.

HANCOCKS: The government is vocally open to offers of international help.

ZHEN YAO WANG, DEPUTY, CIVIL ADMIN. DEPARTMENT (TRANSLATED): We express our thanks for international assistance. We accept the timely way that money and materials are donated, and we will make efforts to ensure that these materials and money will reach the disaster-hit area as early as possible.

HANCOCKS: The ruling party, through the state media, updates casualty figures frequently, a transparency not often seen. And deploying thousands of troops to the worst hit areas, saying if they cannot get through by road, they will continue on foot. The hope being there have been so many smaller natural disasters in China, reaction by the response teams and the ruling party should by now be fairly well oiled. Paula Hancocks, CNN, London.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Impact Your World

AZUZ: If you want to be part of the relief efforts, go to CNN.com and Impact Your World! China is welcoming donations of money and materials, and every bit helps. That's at CNN.com/impact.

Giving While Learning

AZUZ: Lots of people impact their world by providing food to those who need it. Well, one online game lets you donate rice by showing off your skill with synonyms, words that have similar meanings. The idea is simple: Every time you make a match, you're giving some grains of rice. Josh Levs talks to a teacher who's letting his students have plenty of time to play.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSH LEVS, CNN REPORTER: It's not your usual Internet game and not your usual winning outcome. Free Rice is a vocabulary game that helps deliver rice to countries in need. It's caught on with Atlanta teacher David Millians and his students; he even allows it to be played in his classroom.

DAVID MILLIANS, PAIDEIA SCHOOL TEACHER: Feeding people has been an important issue that we've discussed all year. And when we found Free Rice, we had a wonderful vocabulary tool that also produces food for people who need it, and so it was both fun and educational and important.

LEVS: For each correct word chosen in the multiple choice game, sponsors donate twenty grains of rice to combat world hunger through the World Food Programme.

BETTINA LUESCHER, WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME: World hunger is a huge and important issue. We think this year we need $3.4 billion alone, as the World Food Programme, to feed some, you know, 73 million people or so. And as you mentioned, with the high wheat and rice prices, the price has gone up so much; an extra half a billion dollars, just because of the price rises.

LEVS: Students find the game fun and educational. They've even created a new word to describe it.

STUDENT: It's funducational!

STUDENT: Since I read a lot, I guess, learning new words so that I understand the reading better, and finding words and helping people.

STUDENT: It's fun.

STUDENT: Yea, and it's a good feeling to know that you're giving rice to people around the world.

LEVS: And with so many benefits, Millians feels good about encouraging students to play the game as time allows.

MILLIANS: We give them time to play before school, during breaks, if they have a free period. And some people play it every day more than once, and some students more intermittently. It's not just another vocabulary game. It delivers rice to people who need it, so it serves several purposes at once, and I think it feels more important to me, but also more important to my students.

LEVS: Josh Levs, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Shoutout

ROSE: Time for the Shoutout! Which of these words is a synonym for "synonym"? If you think you know it, shout it out! Is it: A) Antonym, B) Homonym, C) Pseudonym or D) Falsonym? You've got three seconds -- GO! Trick question! According to several dictionaries we looked at, there's no word with the same meaning as "synonym." That's your answer and that's your synonymous Shoutout!

Before We Go

AZUZ: And finally, what's a synonym for a strip of hook-and-loop tape? Velcro! The sticky substance with its signature sound has stuck around for 50 years! And it's not just for those of us too lazy to tie our shoes. The product's been used on everything from baby diapers to body armor. It's even traveled into space on astronaut equipment. With an item that useful, we can probably expect it to hang around for another 50 years.

Goodbye

AZUZ: That's where we rip ourselves away, I'm Carl Azuz.