CNN Student News 耶路撒冷發(fā)生爆炸 50人受傷

 

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

CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: One person can make a difference, and you can do it in just 140 characters. It's one of the stories we're talking about in today's edition of CNN Student News. Let's go!

First Up: Jerusalem Explosion

AZUZ: First up, a bombing in the Middle East that officials are calling a terrorist attack. It happened on a busy street in Jerusalem yesterday right as the evening rush hour was getting started. A bomb went off near the city's central bus station. At least one person was killed. More than 50 others were injured. Authorities described this as the first serious bombing in Jerusalem in four years. Everyone who was hurt was in between the bus station and this bus.

World leaders quickly spoke out against the bombing. President Obama said, "There is never any possible justification for terrorism." No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. But Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad condemned the bombing. He said it can only hurt efforts to establish peace between Palestinians and Israelis.

Co$t of No Fly Zone

AZUZ: That U.S. fighter jet that crashed in Libya earlier this week was bombed yesterday -- by U.S. forces. The American military wanted to make sure the plane was fully destroyed to keep enemy fighters from gathering intelligence from the wreckage. The coalition is running airstrikes against Libyan forces. You can see some of the damage caused by those airstrikes here. Commanders say the strikes have pretty much taken out Libya's air defense system. Now, the U.S.-led coalition is focusing on Libya's ground forces. All of this -- the air strikes, the missiles, enforcing the no-fly zone -- it all costs money. And in this report from Dana Bash, she explains why some people are asking whether it's worth the price.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Just this one Tomahawk missile fired at Libyan air defenses costs $1.4 million. And so far, some 160 Tomahawk missiles were launched, mostly by the U.S., adding up to $225 million. And that's just a slice of the Libyan no-fly zone's expense to the American taxpayer.

TINA JONAS, FORMER UNDERSECRETARY OF DEFENSE: It gets down to how many naval ships have we got in the region? How many aircraft are flying off those ships? What additional military may be deployed to that theater?

BASH: A leading estimate puts the start-up cost of military action between $400 million and $800 million, and the price of maintaining the no-fly zone, $30 million to $100 million per week. Fuel alone for each plane is $10,000 an hour. At a time when the Republican-controlled House is fighting to slash government spending, some say a no-fly zone in Libya is not worth the price.

REP. JASON CHAFFETZ, (R) UTAH: Cost is definitely going to be an issue. We're trying to find every penny that we can squeeze out of the budget, and then the president is going to go inject us into a civil war that is undoubtedly going to cost billions of dollars.

BASH: For perspective, take a look at some comparisons. House Republicans voted to cut $2.8 million for nuclear waste disposal. That equals the cost of just two Tomahawk missiles. Republicans also approved cutting $100 million from FEMA for emergency food and shelter. One hundred million dollars is precisely what the high-end estimate is to maintain the no-fly zone in Libya each week. And what makes the cost of the operation in Libya so murky is uncertainty over how long it will last. The combined no-fly zones over Iraq cost an average of $1.3 billion a year and lasted over a decade. Now in Libya, the no-fly zone is expected to cover twice the land mass.

CHAFFETZ: There are going to be those of us who are fiscal hawks who are going to say, OK, Mr. President, you want to be a war hawk, I'm going to be a fiscal hawk. You are going to have to find out where to find those dollars somewhere else in the budget. We don't have any more money to give you.

BASH: The Obama administration says it's not asking Congress for any more money. Yet. A spokesman for the president's budget director says that for now, they can fund military action in Libya using existing resources. How long they can do that depends on an unanswered question. How long will the operation there last? Dana Bash, CNN, the Capitol.

(END VIDEO)

Disaster in Japan

AZUZ: Japan's government says the recent earthquake and tsunami could cost the nation up to $300 billion! That would make it the most costly disaster in Japan since the end of World War II. Some new concerns surrounding that disaster. Testing in the capital city of Tokyo showed radioactive material in tap water at a level that's considered unsafe for infants. Officials did urge residents not to stock up on bottled water. But as you can see from this iReport, that's exactly what some people were doing. A cart filled with bottled water there. American officials have issued what's called an "import alert" to keep radiation-contaminated food from entering the United States. The government banned the import of milk, milk products, vegetables and fruit from the areas closest to the damaged Japanese nuclear power plant. Officials say all other food products from that region will be sent for testing.

This Day in History

AZUZ: It's March 24th, and on this day in history in 1603, England's Queen Elizabeth I died after ruling the British empire for 44 years.

In 1989, the Exxon Valdez, an oil tanker, ran aground in Alaska. The accident caused a massive oil spill that killed thousands of animals.

In 1999, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO, began launching airstrikes in the former nation of Yugoslavia. The strikes targeted Serbian forces in Kosovo.

And at the Academy Awards ceremony in 2002, Halle Berry made history as the first African-American to win the Oscar for best lead actress.

Is This Legit?

TOMEKA JONES, CNN STUDENT NEWS: Is this legit? A state's population determines how many representatives it has in the U.S. Congress. This is true! It also determines how federal money is distributed among the states.

Detroit Population

AZUZ: And that's why some results of last year's census might not be good news for Michigan, or for the city of Detroit, in particular. According to census results that came out on Tuesday, between 2000 and 2010, Detroit lost 25 percent of its residents! The current population is the lowest it's been in 100 years. People moving to the suburbs, the decline of the U.S. auto industry, which is headquartered in Detroit: just a couple possible explanations. And officials in Detroit say the census numbers aren't accurate. As for representation in Congress, at its peak, Michigan had 19 representatives in the U.S. House. Now, it's down to 14.

Tweeting for the Needy

AZUZ: Our next story today is about Twitter, the social networking site that lets you send messages -- tweets -- that are 140 characters or less. And that might not sound like much. But Fredricka Whitfield shows us how a little tweet can make a big difference.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

LG COMMERCIAL: Go to Facebook.com.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR, CNN NEWSROOM: Contributing to your community can be as easy as this LG phone commercial suggests. Just ask 26-year-old Blake Canterbury, founder of Beremedy, an organization that streamlines donations like clothing, food and furniture through Twitter, Facebook and blogging.

BLAKE CANTERBURY, FOUNDER, BEREMEDY: I think we're just scratching the surface of what you're able to do seeing location-based social media platforms come up. I think there's a huge potential to combine localization and real-time stories to help people in need.

WHITFIELD: A pile of blankets on the cold floor. This is where Kecia Cruz's 20-year-old son has been sleeping since moving into her Griffin, Georgia home, until a neighbor reached out to Beremedy. One Twitter follower, hairstylist Ragan Holt, was so moved by this: "only one bed in a single mother's home." Within 15 minutes, Holt's extra mattress found a new place to reside.

RAGAN HOLT, BEREMEDY DONOR: Things that we might think that we don't need and the things that we might consider trash is someone's treasure. And I love that they can put your things in the hands of those people.

WHITFIELD: Beremedy is just one example of many organizations that use new media tools to connect people philanthropically.

TOBY DANIELS, FOUNDER, SOCIAL MEDIA WEEK.ORG: We need to be able to organize communities more effectively, and I think that the technology is helping us to do this. But I think we're also learning and developing the methodologies that will ultimately help us get to this sort of next stage.

WHITFIELD: Social Media Week founder Toby Daniels insists these platforms are transformational if organizations put them to correct use.

KECIA CRUZ, BEREMEDY RECIPIENT: It's more than I can put into words really, it really is.

WHITFIELD: While Kecia may not be able to put it into words, Twitter followers all over the globe are doing just that, 140 characters at a time. Fredricka Whitfield, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEO)

Before We Go

AZUZ: It's a great story, and you can follow us on Twitter. It's "@CNNStudentNews." Now before we take off, Fred Mack is going to. On Sunday, the New Jersey native spent his 100th birthday falling from 13,000 feet! Mr. Mack promised to pull off the centenarian skydive back on his 95th birthday. He used to fly planes. He also spent time designing them. We guess jumping out was the next logical step. Will he try more jumps? Wouldn't put it past him.

Goodbye

AZUZ: When it comes to Mr. Mack, the sky's the limit. Well, we've run out of time -- chute! But we'll dive into more commercial-free headlines tomorrow. For CNN Student News, I'm Carl Azuz.