CNN news 2011-09-26
CARL AZUZ, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, everyone, I`m Carl Azuz. Today on CNN Student News, we`re talking about an important group of people involved with the 2012 U.S. presidential election, not the candidates, though, a specific group of voters.
First up, though, American leaders do not agree of President Obama`s plan to reduce the country`s debt. This is not the president`s jobs plan we told you about recently. This is a separate proposal that aims to decrease how much money the U.S. government owes.
The president says his plan will save about $3 trillion. One of the ways that we do that is by raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans. That`s an idea that Republican leaders are strongly against. They say it`s unfair to target one group of Americans. They also argue that forcing that group to pay higher taxes could end up hurting the economy.
The president believes that Americans who might be able to afford more should have a bigger role in helping the U.S. economy.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We shouldn`t balance the budget on the backs of the poor and the middle class. And for us to solve this problem, everybody, including the wealthiest Americans and biggest corporations, have to pay their fair share.
AZUZ: World leaders are getting together in New York this week for the annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly. The U.N. has 193 members. The newest of one of those is South Sudan, and the general assembly is a time for them to come together and talk about major global issues.
The week started with a special meeting about non-communicable diseases. This means things like diabetes, cancer, heart disease, illnesses that aren`t passed from one person to another. U.N. officials say these diseases are now the world`s leading killer.
They`re trying to come up with strategies to reduce the risks. And this is just the second time a health issue has been debated during a special U.N. meeting. The first was a decade ago. It was about HIV/AIDS.
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PHIL BLACK, CNN REPORTER: (Inaudible) right here, a pot shot. There`s something in the distance. A lot of their fighters have opened up and there was some big return (ph) fire.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible).
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That footage, from CNN`s Phil Black and his team shows that parts of Libya are still very dangerous, especially areas where rebels are fighting against forces that are loyal to former leader Moammar Gadhafi. Some of the worst fighting is happening in the city of Sirte, Gadhafi`s hometown. More than 20 rebel fighters were killed in Sirte on Sunday. Dozens more were injured.
In this next report, Ben Wedeman looks at some of the towns that have been liberated by the rebels, the people there know that for the first time in more than 40 years, they`re not living under Moammar Gadhafi`s rule. What they don`t know is what happens next.
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BEN WEDEMAN, CNN REPORTER (voice-over): This sweep through the south is more of a show of force than the arrival of the new order in Libya. What happens after the men with guns move on is unclear.
Some of them have doubts about the sudden conversion to the revolution in a part of the country traditionally loyal to Gadhafi. University physics student Mohammed Athoma (ph) isn`t convinced.
MOHAMMED ATHOMA (PH), STUDENT: (Inaudible) right, before, it was a lot of people with Gadhafi. But right now, everybody`s disappeared, you know? (Inaudible).
WEDEMAN (voice-over): But (inaudible) resident Mohammed Abdullah (ph) insists the village is completely behind the uprising that ousted Gadhafi from power.
All the people are with the revolutionaries, he says. One hundred percent, I ask? One hundred percent, he responds.
The relative ease with which this area has been taken has left the young fighters in high spirits. At midday, they find shade in a mosque, singing the songs of the revolt.
It`s the experience of a lifetime for university student Mohammed Ramadan (ph), whose family comes from Sabat (ph), a Gadhafi stronghold.
MOHAMMED RAMADAN (PH), STUDENT: They are -- the most amazing feeling in my life, I feel it now. Now I`m on the moon now. Actually, I`m very happy.
WEDEMAN (voice-over): He may come back down to earth if the newly liberated towns change their tune -- Ben Wedeman, (Inaudible), southern Libya.