CNN news 2011-10-06
CARL AZUZ, CNN ANCHOR: CNN Student News is getting started right now. And teachers, we want to remind you, it`s always a good idea for you to preview our show. One report in today`s program discusses teen suicide and sexuality. That story is coming up in a few minutes. I`m Carl Azuz. Let`s get started.
We start with a trio of stories out of Washington, D.C. First up, a possible compromise in Congress. It looks like we might not be headed for a government shutdown. The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote tomorrow on a proposal that would keep the government funded through early October.
Then next Tuesday, the House could vote on another proposal that would keep the funds running through mid-November.
AZUZ (voice-over): Both of those bills were passed by the Senate on Monday night. And remember that a bill has to pass through the House and the Senate before President Obama can sign it. Now these bills include more than $2 billion for FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
That group`s funding was nearly used up by its response to natural disasters in the U.S. There was a chance for a partial government shutdown if Congress hadn`t reached this compromise by the end of this week.
Moving to the judicial branch of government, the U.S. Supreme Court starts its new session next week. The justices have to decide which cases they`re going to review. One of the big ones that could end up in front of the high court is about whether or not parts of President Obama`s health care law are constitutional.
AZUZ: Other high profile cases that could get reviewed involve church and state. CNN`s Jeffrey Toobin is here to talk about how the justices decide which cases to hear.
Jeffrey, how many cases actually go to the Supreme Court?
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: They get about 8,000 cases a year, and they only take about 80 cases a year.
Basically, the first thing they look at is, have the lower courts split? Have there been inconsistent rulings in the lower courts on the same issue that, you know, we have a Supreme Court to resolve those sorts of disputes? That`s one category of cases.
The other category is a little more nebulous. That`s cases where the Supreme Court simply says we have to resolve this issue, it`s sufficiently important that we have to resolve it.
AZUZ: Our third Washington headline has to do with the Washington Monument. Back in August, an earthquake that shook most of the U.S. East Coast caused some cracks in the Washington Monument. Officials are trying to figure out if there`s any damage that might have been caused that they might have missed.
AZUZ (voice-over): This surveillance camera footage was taken during the quake. It shows a park ranger who realized what was happening, and calmly helped get a group of tourists down the stairs and out of danger. She later went back up the stairs to help lead more people out. The Washington Monument is just over 555 feet tall.
And look closely at the top there. That guy is setting up gear that will help let him rappel down. He`s part of a team of engineers that will look for any additional cracks that need to be fixed or that could cause problems down the road.