Tom: Welcome back guys. Hope you had a great weekend. It’s Monday, October 27th. I
am Tom Hanson and Channel One News starts right now.
First up today, we are running down what's making headlines and we begin overseas in
the country of Afghanistan. That's where U.S. Marines and British troops handed off
control of their last bases to the Afghan military.
In a ceremony Sunday morning U.S. Marines and British combat troops officially
marked the end of their operations in Afghanistan, transferring their camps to Afghan
control. All U.S. combat marines and all British troops will head home. But the U.S. still
has other troops on the ground in the country. By the end of the year, most forces will
be home, but around ten thousand U.S. troops will stay as part of a new security deal
made between America and the new Afghan president. Their role will be training Afghan
troops and combatting terrorism.
The war in Afghanistan began in 2001 when the U.S led an invasion shortly after the
attacks of September 11th. Since then, more than 2,300 Americans have died in the
conflict.
Alright and next up, we are headed to the island of Hawaii. That is where flowing lava
from an erupting volcano has residents on alert for possible evacuation.
The molten rock oozed across a country road in Pahoa, the largest town in the mostly
rural region of Puna, on the big island of Hawaii. The lava edged closer to homes over
the weekend and was less than a mile from the town's main street. Authorities are now
preparing residents in about fifty homes for a possible evacuation that could take place
this week. The flow was about thirty-five yards wide and two thousand degrees in
Fahrenheit, causing small fires along its path.
And last up, it was a rare public appearance by three of the Supreme Court Justices
sitting side by side discussing issues they rarely talk about outside of court.
U.S. Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito, Sonia Sotomayor, and Clarence Thomas
shared the stage Saturday at Yale law school. The three are Yale Law School
graduates and were honored with awards.
The six other Supreme Court Justices attended Harvard Law School. Justice Thomas, a
conservative judge, and Justice Sotomayor, a liberal judge, often disagree on issues
before the court. But both found themselves on the same side of diversity on Saturday,
calling for more of it. They said the court could use more diversity, mentioning
geography, religion and education.
Justice Clarence Thomas: We have such a strong northeastern orientation when the
country is. There is a lot of country between here and the west coast.
Tom: That's a wrap of headlines. Coming up after the break, if you have been near a TV
this weekend no doubt you have heard all about Ebola. Well, we are going to take a
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different look at the disease. At the human impact.
Tom: Demetrius is here with me now and we are talking about Ebola. It has been front
and center in newspapers, on TV, on the Internet. We have covered it too, but it is
important to keep in mind that only a handful of people here in the United States have
been diagnosed. And really that number doesn't even compare to the number in West
Africa.
Demetrius: Right Tom. Some of those hardest hit in West Africa are actually the children
who have been orphaned by Ebola. And in all of that there has been one group of
caretakers who have really stepped up to the plate.
This abandoned building is the grim new home for these children orphaned by Ebola.
Not only have these kids lost their parents, but they are often rejected by friends and
family. They might not even have Ebola but people are still afraid of them and of
catching the contagious and often deadly disease. According to a new report by the
world health organization, in this outbreak there have been over 10,000 reported cases
of Ebola around the world. Most of them have been centered in the West African
countries of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.
Almost 5,000 people have already died from the disease. Nine- year-old Mercy
Kennedy’s mother died weeks ago. And none of her neighbors wanted anything to do
with her. Mercy ended up here at this makeshift orphanage. The center is run by Ebola
survivors because once recovered, they are immune from this strain of the disease and
can interact with the children without fears of getting Ebola.
Deacon David pulled through after a month long battle with the deadly virus. She says
caring for these rejected children has given her new purpose.
Deacon David: If I touch them they will know that I really love them and we are still want
together. They feel that we are one, when I touch them.
Demetrius: The spread of Ebola fights the most basic human need to care for someone
who is suffering or hurt because it can be spread through bodily fluids.
Deacon holds infant Sam Jefferson close to her. She tries to make him feel at ease.
Deacon David: I love you baby.
Demetrius: Baby Jefferson is among the two thousand Liberian children newly
orphaned, casualties of an epidemic that keeps growing. But there are so many stories
like these. Like four-year-old Pearlina who was left all alone after her mother died from
Ebola. Gideon Klekleh was part of the team that tried to save her mother, but he
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Gideon Klekleh: Really the child was vulnerable. And she had nobody to take care of.
This stigma. She was just alone crying in the street. Just…It was very pitiful. Nobody to
take of her. So I myself I felt sorry for her and I almost cry.
Demetrius: Klekleh decided to become Pearlina's foster parent. She now lives with him
and his family.
Gideon: I love her. I love her the best.
Demetrius: And if you want to learn how you can help the orphans head on over to
ChannelOne.com.
Tom: Thanks Demetrius. Alright, coming up you will meet a teen who wants to be the
first woman on Mars.
Most teens are consumed with sports, studying or maybe learning an instrument, but we
met up with one teen who is literally shooting for the intergalactic stars. Maggi Rulli
explains.
Maggie: If you can't tell by her flight suit, 13-year-old Alyssa Carson's dream is to
become an astronaut, a dream she has had since she was three.
Alyssa Carson: I’ve heard that humans have been to the moon but nobody had been to
Mars. I said that's what I want to do, no one's been there! That's something that has
never been done before! Bert Carson: Daddy I want to be an astronaut and you think, okay, yeah astronaut,
fireman, policeman, you know, whatever, baby. You can be anything you want to be.
Maggie: Alyssa’s dad says her dream didn't stop there. Bert: I walked in on her in her bedroom and she's sitting with a Mars map that I had
given her. And I walk in and say, baby what are you doing? And she said, well daddy
when we get to Mars I need to know where we are.
Maggie: So when she turned 7, her dad signed Alyssa up for space camp.
Alyssa: Everything about space history, everything NASA was doing then, everything
about Mars I wanted to know. Including all the other planets. And it was pretty much like
the best long weekend of my life.
Maggie: Alyssa has been to over 20 sessions of NASA space camp. She has attended
three space shuttle launches, and she hangs out with top NASA administrator Charles
Bolden.
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Dr. Deborah Barnhart: Alyssa is a focused and determined individual. She came here
with a goal. She’s been working on that goal, day after day, year after year. Maggie: Dr. Deborah Barnhart runs the U.S Space & Rocket center in Huntsville,
Alabama and she has been following Alyssa since her early days at space camp.
Dr. Barnhart: Her persistence is the difference I believe that separates her from others
who would like to be astronauts, and would like to go to Mars, and those who are
preparing to go.
Maggie: And Alyssa is preparing.
Alyssa: I am already looking at colleges and what I want to study, and so instead of
doing like geology or biology I’m planning on doing both. Maggie: NASA is planning to send astronauts into the red planet around 2030 when
Alyssa is 29. The trip would take around eight months and use the space launch
system, the most powerful rocket ever built. And the astronauts might even end up
sleeping the whole way.
NASA is studying new stasis technology with a company called Spaceworks so that
astronauts could take fewer supplies and just sleep on the way there and back.
Bert: I didn't push her into this. She's pulled me in. If you see the passion and the desire
that she has in her eyes and her heart, you have to be there for her. You can't not want
to support her.
Maggie: When Neil Armstrong first stepped on the moon he famously said, "That's one
small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."
Alyssa hasn't yet figured out what her first words will be when she steps on the red
planet.
Alyssa: I've been asked that a lot, but I just don't know what it is yet. That's something I
still have to think about.
Maggie: While Alyssa continues her small steps towards the red planet, she still has
plenty of time to write the perfect tagline for the next giant leap for humankind.
Maggie: Maggie Rulli, Channel One News.
Tom: Well you definitely don’t here about that everyday. Alright, guys. That's going to do
it for us. Go shoot for the moon today, or Mars. And we will see you right back here
tomorrow.
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