GROUP: Hey, Carl. Welcome to Avery County, home of the Vikings and the Christmas tree capital of the universe. Better spruce up for CNN Student News. Take it away, Carl.
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CARL AZUZ, HOST, CNN STUDENT NEWS: You bet I will. Thanks to Ms. Griffiths` (ph) class for that "in-tree-duction." And thanks to all of our viewers for joining us today. Let`s go ahead and get to the headlines.
First up, the U.S. presidential election. After Tuesday`s contest, we know the nominee -- the Democratic nominee. President Obama has gotten enough delegates to officially clinch his party`s nomination. Not a real surprise there. The big question is which Republican candidate will the president be facing off against? Still don`t know the answer to that.
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AZUZ (voice-over): But we do know that former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is more than halfway there. He won all three Republican primaries on Tuesday, in Wisconsin, Maryland and Washington, D.C. Now Romney has more than half of the 1,144 delegates it takes to win the Republican Party`s nomination.
He has more than double the delegates of his closest competitor. That`s Rick Santorum. But the former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania says he`s planning to stay in the race.
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AZUZ: Parts of Texas are beginning to clean up after being hammered by severe weather on Tuesday. Reports say it started with a massive hailstorm in the Dallas area.
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AZUZ (voice-over): That was followed by scenes like this. The National Weather Service says between six and 13 tornadoes might have touched down in north Texas. At least 150 homes were destroyed. More than 100 planes were damaged at the Dallas airport. But incredibly, as of yesterday afternoon, there were no reports of any deaths.
The Dallas mayor called it a miracle. And here`s how two of the people who lived through this severe weather described their experience.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You ducked into the corner of the room over there.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, by the window.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You couldn`t make it out --
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: By the window, yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- out the windows. Covered yourself in blankets?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Blankets and pillows and the ottoman. And the wind was pulling that cover back. And I was pulling it, trying to hold on to it. And I just saw debris, debris, debris, glass flying, glass breaking.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Debris was flying, and we were trying to decide where to go. And about that time, she said, "Look behind us," and a third tornado formed behind us, but it hadn`t touched down.
And about three minutes after that, the siren started sounding, and a guy came over our siren there in south Ft. Worth -- Burleson area -- and he said, "Tornado warning. Take cover all of Tarrant and Johnson County." And we were looking dead in the eyes two funnel clouds that had touched down only about 1/8 mile from us.
AZUZ (voice-over): Relief groups already working to help out the people affected by these tornados in Texas. The Red Cross, the Salvation Army, Team Rubicon, the organization in our CNN Heroes report earlier this week. If you want to find out how you can help, go to the "Spotlight" section on our home page and click on the "Impact Your World" link.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just the facts: Syria is a Middle Eastern country that was once part of the Ottoman Empire. It became an independent nation in 1946. It`s been run by the same family for more than four decades. Hafez al-Assad was president from 1970-2000, then his Bashar al- Assad took over. Since 1979, the U.S. government has considered Syria a sponsor of terrorism.
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AZUZ: The crisis going on in Syria right now started in part because the al-Assad family has ruled the country for so long. More than a year ago, people started protesting against the government and calling for change there. Bashar al-Assad responded to those protests with force, and the United Nations says at least 9,000 people have died in the violence since then.
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AZUZ (voice-over): That includes at least 54 people who were reportedly killed across Syria yesterday. You can see smoke from the artillery fire in this YouTube video. The Syrian government has consistently blamed the violence on armed terrorists. While the initial protests were mostly peaceful, some opposition members have taken up arms against the government.
President al-Assad has agreed to a peace plan that would end the violence. One of the first steps in the plan would be for Syrian military forces to leave populated cities. Representatives from the United Nations are heading to Syria to monitor the ceasefire. They`re expected to arrive sometime today.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Today`s Shoutout goes out to Ms. Cox`s journalism students at El Dorado High School in El Dorado, Arkansas. The Masters Golf Tournament is played on what course every year? You know what to do. Is it Pebble Beach, Augusta National, St. Andrews or Bethpage Black? You`ve got three seconds, go.
Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia, hosts the Masters every year. That`s your answer, and that`s your Shoutout.
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AZUZ: The Masters tees off today, but it`s not the only reason Augusta National is in the news this week. When the private club opened in 1932, the founders decided that membership would only be open to men.
Now some people are pushing the club to open its doors to women. The club says it won`t discuss membership matters, but Patrick Snell is talking about the dilemma.
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PATRICK SNELL, CNN REPORTER (voice-over): The Augusta clubhouse is one of the famous sites in golf. The private, male-only club is believed to have around 300 members at any one time, and membership is by invitation only. The last four CEOs of IBM, one of the main tournament sponsors, were all invited to join. The question is, will that still be the case for the company`s current and first-ever female CEO, Virginia Rometty?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is it discrimination? Possibly. But I think at this point that they deserve the right to be able to determine what they want to do in their own club.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, I think definitely females should be given the opportunity. This is 2012 and women are allowed to do everything else. So --
SNELL (voice-over): In 2003, women`s rights campaigner Martha Burk led a protest outside the grounds of Augusta National, with Burk adamant that hosting the Masters at a male-only club was tantamount to endorsing sexism. But her effort to pressure the club to change its mindset proved unsuccessful.
MICHAEL BAMBERGER, "SPORTS ILLUSTRATED" WRITER: If the club chooses to be all male, I think they should be honest about it and say that, because they actually are an all-men`s club, but they never say they`re an all-men`s club. They just say memberships are private and we happen not to have women. And that just sort of rubbed me the wrong way.
SNELL: In 2006, when Billy Payne became chairman here, he announced that there was no specific timetable to address the whole issue of female memberships. Now it`s possible that Ms. Rometty has been invited to join, but it really is difficult to know for sure, because the club simply doesn`t comment on its membership policies -- Patrick Snell, CNN, Augusta, Georgia.
AZUZ (voice-over): So it`s a private club, which means it can choose not to let women join. Should it? While Augusta`s leadership wrestles with the decision of whether to invite IBM`s female CEO, we`d like you to consider your thoughts about this and share them with us at cnnstudentnews.com. One big rule we have: we only publish first names, so please, no classes, no last initials.
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AZUZ: Here`s your chance to do the talking to me. Our friends at iReport have set up an interview with yours truly, and you are asking the questions. Here`s what you do.
AZUZ (voice-over): Record yourself on a video camera, just like we did. Make your question 15 seconds or less, and then head to cnnstudentnews.com, "In the Spotlight" section. You`ll find a link that says "iReport: Carl Azuz wants to hear from you" -- because I do. Upload your video, wait for our response. The deadline is less than two weeks away.
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AZUZ (voice-over): Every week, these California sixth graders do community service, helping clean up a lake downtown. You usually find tennis balls or trash, but last week the lake turned into Treasure Island.
Look at this: watches, gold and silver chains, antique jewelry. The students figured it was stolen and turned it in. If the rightful owners don`t claim the treasure in 90 days, the students -- or really their school -- get it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you hope that the owners are found, or do you hope that you get to keep the stuff that you found?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it would be great if the owners were found, because it -- I know what it`s like to like something, probably not that valuable.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But and it`s great when it`s returned to you. So it would be really nice if the owners were found. But if they`re aren`t found, then it would -- if it went to the school, that would be also cool.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: More library books.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
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AZUZ: Well, before we go, if you need a place for your pet to stay while the family goes on vacation --
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AZUZ (voice-over): -- we`re guessing Max (ph) and Whiskers (ph) wouldn`t mind spending the week here. It`s a pet resort in Dubai. Art on the walls and private suites, plasma TVs in every room, personal butler service is optional. There`s a water oasis to splash in, a fully-equipped gym. Forget the dogs and cats. This is where we want to go. Maybe you don`t want to be separated from your pet. But if you have to --
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AZUZ: -- that place certainly wouldn`t be your last resort. Just one little pun today. We`re saving up for something special tomorrow. We`ll see you then. I`m Carl Azuz for CNN Student News.
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