CNN news 2011-11-17
CARL AZUZ, HOST, CNN STUDENT NEWS: Y`all say goodbye, I say hello, and welcome to CNN Student News. Thank you, ladies, for the introduction. Now let`s get you the headlines.
First up, the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether President Obama`s health care reform law is constitutional.
A lot of political analysts consider this law to be the biggest legislative accomplishment during the president`s first two years in office. Congress passed it in 2010. President Obama signed it in March of that year. But it`s the Supreme Court`s responsibility to rule on any legal questions.
AZUZ (voice-over): And there are some. Before it was passed there was a huge debate around this health care law. The president and other supporters said it would give health coverage to millions of Americans who didn`t already have it. And they argued it would be good for the economy.
AZUZ: Critics said the law would raise health care costs and give Americans fewer choices about what kind of insurance they could get. A lot of the debate focused on a key part of the law called the individual mandate. That would require most Americans to either buy health insurance by 2014 or face some kind of penalty.
The court cases against this law say people can`t be forced to buy something they may not want or may not need. Obama administration officials argue that since every American needs medical care at some point in life, no one really chooses to participate in the health care market. Three federal appeals courts say the mandate is constitutional; another one says it`s not.
AZUZ (voice-over): Now it`s going to be up to the U.S. Supreme Court to decide. The justices will actually look at two questions here: is the individual mandate constitutional; and if it`s not, does that mean the entire law has to be tossed out? The arguments will probably happen in February or March of next year. A ruling will probably come in June.
AZUZ: Back in September, it was called Occupy Wall Street. Now it`s being called the Occupy Movement because it spread from New York to cities in other parts of the United States. Protesters camping out in parks and other public areas are speaking out against a lot of different things. One of them is the U.S. financial industry. As Greg Black explains, some cities are now pushing back.
GREG BLACK, CNN REPORTER (voice-over): A police standoff with protesters went on for hours in Portland, Oregon. Police arrested more than a dozen people and cleared city parks of camps. Portland`s mayor tells CNN there have been no serious injuries during the four or five times police have taken action.
SAM ADAMS, MAYOR OF PORTLAND, OREGON (voice-over): We worked really hard, even in passionate moments like you`re seeing now, to make sure that, you know, the coolest heads prevailed.
BLACK (voice-over): But a protester says the mayor is doing the wrong thing.
KARI KOCH, OCCUPY PORTLAND (voice-over): But I feel like I am extremely disappointed that the mayor chose to crack down on these parks when the outpouring of support from the committee was so strong. It`s been clearly in favor of Occupy Portland.
BLACK (voice-over): In Denver, police in riot gear arrested 17 people as they cleared furniture, tents and personal belongings from a camp. And in Philadelphia, the mayor said he`s putting more police near the Occupy Philly camp.
PHILADELPHIA MAYOR MICHAEL NUTTER: Occupy Philly has changed. We`re seeing serious health and safety issues playing out on almost a daily basis. Occupy Philly is fractured, with internal disagreement and disputes.
BLACK (voice-over): I`m Greg Black reporting.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is this legit? Soyuz rockets and spacecraft are launched by China`s space agency. Not legit. It`s Russia that uses the Soyuz spacecraft, and has been using them since the 1960s.
AZUZ: We`re launching into our next couple stories from the CNN Control Room here. Now the Soyuz is the longest-running manned spacecraft design that`s still in use. And since NASA`s space shuttle program ended earlier this year, the Soyuz is the only way that people can get to the international space station. And that`s where this craft is heading right now.
AZUZ (voice-over): It took off from the nation of Kazakhstan on Monday, during what looks like it`s a snowstorm. Two Russians and one American are on board and heading to the ISS. They`re scheduled to arrive on Wednesday, and there`s one other traveler along for the ride.
Check it out. There`s an Angry Bird hanging out there in the capsule with them. Maybe they thought they needed some extra entertainment during the trip.
AZUZ: The folks who got stuck on some American Eagle flights might have wanted some extra entertainment. Instead, they got refunds and vouchers. American Eagle is an airline. It`s now the first airline to get fined for excessive tarmac delays. This rule went into effect last year, that says flights can`t stay on the tarmac for more than three hours.
AZUZ (voice-over): But U.S. Transportation Department says 15 American Eagle flights were delayed on the ground, four more than three hours, at Chicago`s O`Hare Airport.
More than 600 passengers were affected by these delays. American Eagle will have to pay $900,000 in fines. Airline officials apologized for the inconvenience to customers. They say they`re working on ways to prevent this in the future.