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STUDENT NEWS

D-Day Anniversary; General Motors Firing Its Employees; Remembering Events of This School Year

Aired June 6, 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: Fridays are awesome. You made it. This is our last edition of CNN STUDENT NEWS for the 2013-2014 school year. I`m Carl

Azuz. Thank you for watching this D-Day.

It`s the 70 anniversary of the largest seaborne invasion in world history. On June 6, 1944, allied forces landed in Normandy, France. The foothold

they gained marked the beginning of the end for Nazi Germany. American, British and Canadian troops began to squeeze the Nazis from the West with

the Soviets pushing in from the East. Less than a year later, Germany surrendered, World War II in Europe was over.

Another story making headlines today. General Motors has fired 15 employees and released an internal investigation. The problem - 2.6

million GM vehicles had an ignition switch floor. It could shut off the car and disable airbags, power steering and any lock brakes. Wild driving.

GM failed to address the issue for 11 years. The investigation blamed incompetence and neglect throughout the company. Part of its penalty is a

$35 million fine.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Time for the "Shoutout." Janet Yellen was confirmed as the first woman to chair what U.S. government body? If you think you

know it, shout it out! Is it: the Federal Communications Commission, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Federal Trade Commission or Federal

Reserve? You`ve got three seconds, go!

On February 3rd, 2014, Janet Yellen became the first woman to lead the Fed, the Federal Reserve. That`s your answer and that`s your shoutout.

AZUZ: And that`s one of the questions and answers on our end of year news quiz. Teachers, if you loved our weekly news quizzes at

cnnstudentnews.com, our year ender is that much more awesome. It`s available right now, totally free at cnnstudentnews.com. Just click under

teaching tools.

This year we reported on a terrorist group called Boco Haram. Some of its members recently raided villages in North East Nigeria and killed hundreds

of people. The Islamic militants want to overthrow Nigeria`s government and form an Islamic state. It`s kidnapping more than 200 school girls. It

was one of the major stories we covered this year. Here`s a look back at some others.

Shutdown. At 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday, the possibility became a reality. And the sides in this U.S. government face-off were blaming each other.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: One faction of one party in one House of Congress in one branch of government shut down

major parts of the government. All because they didn`t` like one law.

REP. DARRYL ISSA, (R) CALIFORNIA: The president refused to compromise, Senator Reid hasn`t even - he`s already said he`s not going to go to

conference, he`s not going to go to the constitutional event where we are supposed to come together and compromise.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s safe to say the rollout of Obamacare and Healthcare.gov was less than perfect.

KATHLEEN SEBELIUS, HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: And I`ll be the first to tell you that the website launch was rockier that we would have

liked.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ: Experts say typhoon Haiyan might be one of the strongest ever. Left the path of destruction as it moved across the Philippine Islands. On this

map, you`ll see Tacloban. It was one of the spots that was hit the hardest. No electricity, no food, no water, houses and buildings

demolished. Tacloban`s mayor said everyone he talked to had lost someone.

Mineralogists are saying at least another month of cold snow and ice will follow. Interesting news, some cities are approaching records. For

Chicago, this is the fifth snowiest winter ever recorded with almost 67 inches of snow so far.

For Philadelphia, the third snowiest, over 58 inches of snow there. And for Indianapolis this winter is the snowiest ever. Almost 52 inches of

snow and we are only in February.

Political activist, political prisoner, political leader. Nelson Mandela towering figure in South Africa and in global politics, has died. He spent

a good part of his life fighting for equality. For decades, Mandela`s home nation of South Africa practiced apartheid. Mandela`s efforts led to the

end of apartheid and earned him the Nobel Peace Prize.

Ceremonies from Sochi, Russia as the 22 Olympic Winter games officially wrapped up last night. Spectacular fireworks and large-scaled choreography

ringed the occasion. As far as the final, Olympic medal count goes, Russia got the most gold medals and the most medals overall. The first time the

host country has done that since 1952.

It was a tumultuous weekend in Ukraine. We`ve told you about protests in the capital Kiev that led to the ouster of Ukraine`s president last month.

Most of those protesters want their country to have closer ties with Europe.

But many Ukrainians like their ousted president, want closer ties with Russia. And one region where a support for Russia is strong is Crimea.

Malaysia`s government made a tragic announcement yesterday. All lives are lost. It ended many people`s hopes that there could have been any

survivors aboard Malaysia`s Airline Flight 370, which vanished more than two weeks ago.

Grieving families expressed everything from anguish to doubt to anger. One woman left the news briefing asking "Where is the proof?" Malaysia says

information from a British satellite company and accident investigators indicates that plane crashed somewhere in the southern Indian Ocean.

With the school year wrapping up, let`s see who`s watching on the CNN STUDENT NEWS "Roll Call." Pyramid Lake high school is in Nevada, it`s the

home of the Lakers, hello to everyone watching in Nixon.

AZUZ: Elim Christian School is next, the Eagles are on today`s roll. Great to see you in Palos Heights, Illinois. And in Bohemia, New York we

are happy to see the thunderbirds today. They are online at Connetquot High School.

We got tens of thousands of Roll Call request this year. And we were only able to mention a few hundred on the show. So thanks to all of you for

your patience. We look forward to announcing more schools this fall. And while we are on the subject of what`s coming up on CNN STUDENT NEWS, when

we return in August, millions around the world will have had their eyes on Brazil. It`s the site of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, the planet`s most viewed

sporting event. It runs from June 12 through July 13. And we`ll be - what happened there when we return.

Jumping back to the United States, there is an election this fall. Every seat in the U.S. House of Representatives and about a third of the U.S.

Senate will be up for a vote, as politicians compete for positions and Americans go to the polls. It will tie-in the government, history, civics,

social studies. And you can count on CNN STUDENT NEWS for your mid-term election coverage.

You know, we are not going to leave you without a mention of news from the lighter side. And without a doubt, my favorite before we go segment of the

year featured a cat. A cat named Waffles. One day over the winter, careful there, Waffles, he wanted to make the leap from an icy car roof to

the garage roof. Waffles is slipping, yo. Aside from his bruised vanity and the kind of YouTube fame even a cat wouldn`t want. After a slip up,

Waffles was feline just fine. When that video came out, we called it the cataclysmic catastrophe, but there is snow deny he`s one cool cat. That`s

almost all we have for meow, I`m Carl Azuz. It`s been a pleasure, a privilege and a blessing hosting this show for the best audience we know.

We`ll leave you with a reflection on World News from last August through now.

(VIDEOTAPE)

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