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STUDENT NEWS

Stabbing Spree in Pennsylvania School; Obama Taking Part in Memorial Service in Fort Hood; Lyndon Johnson`s Role in Passing Civil Rights Act; Brampton Bikes Going Worldwide

Aired April 10, 2014 - 04:00:00   ET

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


CARL AZUZ, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to Thursday`s edition of CNN STUDENT NEWS. It`s good to see you. I`m Carl Azuz at the CNN Center. First up, at least 20 people were injured yesterday at a high school in Pennsylvania. Some of them very seriously, and one student is being held by police. They say it was a stabbing attack by a male student. A school principal and a resource officer were somehow able to stop and handcuff the attacker. As investigators work to figure out why this happened, stories of rescues are already coming out from Franklin Regional Senior High School. At one hospital, were victims were taken, a doctor said, because a female student acted quickly and applied pressure to the wounds of a male victim, she might have saved his life.

President Obama arrived at Fort Hood yesterday. Last week, the military base in Texas saw its second mass shooting in five years. And yesterday`s event was a memorial service for the victims of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Today, four American soldiers are gone. Four Army families are devastated. As commander-in-chief, I`m determined that we will continue to step up our efforts. To reach our troops and veterans who are hurting, to deliver to them the care that they need, to make sure we never stigmatize those who have the courage to seek help.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ: Our next story today, the world`s biggest automaker is making a big recall, five of them, actually. We are talking about Toyota. 27 models are affected by this, from the Camry, Corolla, Matrix and Highlander, to the Subaru Trezia and Pontiac Vibe, which were built by Toyota. This includes cars made between 2004 and 2013, a total of more than 6 million vehicles around the world, 2 million of them are in North America.

There are several parts, Toyota plans to inspect and possibly replace. Seat rails, engine starters, windshield wiper motors, airbag cables. The Toyota says it doesn`t know of any crashes or injuries caused by problems with these parts. This is Toyota`s second major worldwide recall this year.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Time for "The Shoutout." Which U.S. president signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law? Was it John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon or Gerald Ford? You`ve got three seconds, go.

President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law using at least 75 different pens that he handed out to civil rights leaders and supporters. That`s your answer and that`s your "Shoutout."

AZUZ: It`s the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act. It`s goal to end discrimination based on someone`s race, religion, what country they came from or what gender they were. And that extended from businesses in schools to voting boots and even bathrooms. The act was passed after one of the longest debates in Senate history. In the 1960s it was as controversial as it was historic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The nation was in turmoil. Young, predominantly black protesters against public discrimination on buses, in bathrooms and at lunch counters were beaten and hosed down in the South. America`s very democracy was at stake. And then President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Lyndon Baines President was sworn in and decided to stake his early presidency on passing the Civil Rights Act.

LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON: No memorial oration or eulogy could more eloquently honor President Kennedy`s memory .

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But the politics was nasty on Capitol Hill as the prejudices on the streets of the South. Southern Democrats who felt their way of life was being threatened, threw up hurdle after hurdle in the House. Across the capital, senators like Robert Byrd and Strom Thurmond filibustered, trying to talk the bill to death.

Richard Goodwin worked in the White House for Kennedy and then for President Johnson.

RICHARD GOODWIN, FORMER JOHNSON SPEECHWRITER AND ADVISOR: He was from the South and he had seen firsthand, of course, the poor blacks and the poor Mexican Americans and other who were not getting a fair break (ph) of the society.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: LBJ not only supported the bill, he also knew how to get it passed on Capitol Hill.

ANDREW YOUNG, CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER: Johnson had - he was the master of the Senate. And as majority leader, he knew where all the bodies were buried, he knew what all - everybody`s weaknesses were.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, the new president worked the phones calling all sides.

YOUNG: He would be on the phone with Dr. King. Then he would call Governor Wallace. Then he`d call Senator Dirksen. And then he`d be on the phone with Richard Russell. And he was pulling out every stop.

DORIS KEARNS GOODWIN, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: He`d call them in the morning, he`d call them at night. I mean there`s a story of calling a senator at two in the morning and he said I hope I didn`t wake you up.

(LAUGHTER)

GOODWIN: And the senator said no, I was just lying here on the bed hoping my president would call.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Johnson`s armtwisting worked. The bill fought its way through a congress. The filibuster was broken by Republicans and Democrats.

With his signature, LBJ made the Civil Rights Act of 1964 the law of the land following a groundswell of public support after violence and hate had tested the nation.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: Financial literacy month. OK, it might not sound like the most exciting month-long event to some of you. But this April we are working to make it relevant. The terms we`re giving you in our coverage will matter to many of you who are college-bound. Consider, if you will, APR, annual percentage rate. It applies to car loans and home mortgages, but it also factors in the college loans. If you get one of those, you don`t just pay back the money you borrowed. You pay it back with interest. And the annual percentage rate includes that interest in any other fees as a percentage. That`s the cost of the loan that`s tacked on to the money you owe.

Schools from three states, all connected, share today`s roll call. We`ll start at Union Kentucky with the Jaguars. This cats are watching from Randall K. Cooper High School. One state east in West Virginia, we`ve got the generals making the roll. They are online in Winfield. And more state over in Morganza, Maryland, it`s all about the Braves. They are checking us out from Chopticon High School.

The Greek philosopher Plato is credited with the phrase necessity is the mother of invention. And that`s not always done from scratch. Sometimes it`s born out of looking at something in everyone`s garage, like a bicycle and asking how can we reinvent this to make it easier to take to work. That kind of inventive thinking helps keep a British company rolling.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ISA SOARES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: From bike-higher schemes to cycle super highways, London offers plenty of incentives for pedal-powered commute. The number of those cycling to work here has more than doubled in the past decade. And that hasn`t gone unnoticed by the U.K.`s top bike maker. Brompton bicycle has spent 25 years cornering a unique market. For those wanting the wheels without the baggage.

WILL BUTLER ADAMS, MANAGING DIRECTOR, BROMPTON BICYCLE: Handle up pops up like that, saddle comes up, a bit of flick, and off you go.

SOARES (on camera): Less than ten seconds?

BUTLER ADAMS: Less than ten seconds. Easy-peasy.

SOARES (voice over): The managing director Will Butler Adams is leading a massive company expansion. He`s taking this once more family-run firm to 44 countries, and they can`t get enough of this foldable bike. The business has been growing 20 percent year on year, generating sales of $44 million. Most of that demand is from overseas markets, and it seems they don`t mind the hefty starting price.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (on camera): How important is innovation to your brand?

BUTLER ADAMS: If you with your experience and with the advantage that you had from being the first do not leverage that advantage. Do not use that knowledge to keep moving faster you will be consumed by the competition. The only way you can beat that is by using your brains, using your knowledge and your experience and your understanding to out innovate. And if we don`t do that, we will not be here in ten years` time.

SOARES: Isa Soares, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: I had a Chihuahua growing up. It was a doggone great pet. Unfortunately, a home buddy. You can`t really say that about Speedy. Oh he looks small and slow here, but he once ran away from his owner`s house and it took two years for Speedy to come back. After being spotted near college campus, some students took him to a shelter where his microchip revealed where he should have been. Another woman believes she might have cared for him in the interim. So his story is really a tail of two Speedys. He`s as cute as his owner says he is, so it`s clear why she huahuanted him back. I`m not going to top that one today, even if the pawssiblities were endless. We`ll yup to you again on Friday`s show.

END