Azia: Hey guys, it is Tuesday, February 23. I am Azia Celestino, and Channel One
News starts right now.
Let's start off with headlines, and first up, those who lost loved ones during the deadly
2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School are now suing the makers of the gun
that was used. The case was heard yesterday by a judge and could make history,
changing the way guns are made and sold in America.
Ten families want to hold the gun manufacturer responsible for the shooting that day. It
lasted minutes and left 20 children and six educators dead. The gunman at Sandy Hook
unloaded 150 rounds in less than five minutes. The families argue that the gun — the
AR-15 — is a killing machine and should not be in the hands of the public.
Jillian Soto: Bushmaster created this rifle and sold it knowing the damage that it does.
Azia: The lawsuit complaint states that "time and time again, mentally unstable
individuals and criminals have acquired the AR-15 with ease, and they have unleashed
the rifle's lethal power into our streets, our malls, our places of worship and our
schools.”
Under a 2005 federal law, gun makers are protected from lawsuits in case their guns
are used as deadly weapons. Attorneys for the gun makers have filed to have the case
dismissed by a judge.
Next up, schools are closed in Fiji this week as residents pick up the pieces after a
monster storm. Cyclone Winston hit the island nation over the weekend, breaking
records and everything in its path. With gusts up to 224 miles per hour, Cyclone
Winston broke records, making it the most powerful storm ever in the Southern
Hemisphere.
A cyclone is the same as a hurricane but develops in the South Pacific and Indian
Oceans. The death toll has risen to 18 as authorities yesterday began to get a grasp on
the scale of the disaster and send aid to hard-hit outer islands. Fiji's government
declared a state of natural disaster for 30 days. The most immediate concern: ensuring
that the nation's 900,000 residents are safe.
And to better understand the science behind cyclones, head to our website. There, you
can take a tour of the world's biggest storms in history and explore the science behind
them. It is all part of our brand-new Extreme Weather Simulator on ChannelOne.com.
Up next, three candidates, lots of issues and OneVote!
Azia: This week we are breaking down the candidates of the primary presidential
election, with a little bit about them and where they stand on the issues. Today the
Republicans are up, and we are starting off with the top three who are leading in the
polls.
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First up, there is no doubt you know Donald Trump. He was born in Queens, New York.
He is a real-estate billionaire and reality star on "The Apprentice." He has the largest
following on Twitter of any Republicans running and has promoted himself as an
outsider with no political experience.
Trump is best known for his stand on immigration. He wants to build a wall along the
Mexican border, force 11 million immigrants living here illegally to leave the U.S. and
ban all Muslims from entering the United States, at least temporarily.
Donald Trump: We have no idea if they love us or they hate us. We have no idea if they
want to bomb us.
Azia: Trump also wants to renegotiate trade deals to bring jobs back to the U.S., and he
calls climate change caused by human activities a hoax. If Trump won the White House,
he would be the first reality star, first billionaire and oldest president ever elected.
Next up, he is the only candidate not born in the United States but in Alberta, Canada.
Ted Cruz is a sitting U.S. senator from the state of Texas, the son of a Cuban preacher
and a constitutional lawyer who has argued nine cases before the Supreme Court.
Ted Cruz’s defining issue is conservative Tea Party values like lower taxes and smaller
government. He often speaks of his Christian faith and defending religious liberty. Cruz
supports an amendment to the Constitution to ban same-sex marriage. He would get rid
of the Common Core state standards in public schools.
Cruz also wants to block any policies that allow illegal immigrants to stay in the U.S.
legally. He also said he would do more bombing of ISIS in Syria and Iraq.
Senator Ted Cruz: We will not weaken, we will not degrade — we will utterly and
completely destroy ISIS.
Azia: Cruz also rejects climate change evidence. If Ted Cruz won the White House, he
would be the first Hispanic-American president and first president who wasn't born in
the United States or the colonies.
And last up today, another Hispanic candidate, Marco Rubio. He hasn't won any states
yet in the primary election but is hoping to change all that in the coming weeks. He was
born in Miami, Florida, to Cuban immigrants, is a sitting senator from the state of Florida
and says his favorite artists are Eminem and Tupac.
But when he is not listening to hip-hop, where does he stand on the issues? Rubio
wants to work toward legal status for illegal immigrants and has even mentioned a
possible path to citizenship. He says he would cancel the nuclear deal with Iran, and he
opposes the opening up of relations with Communist Cuba.
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Senator Marco Rubio: And I will tell you the problem with this Cuban government. It is
not just a Communist dictatorship; it is an anti-American Communist dictatorship.
Azia: Florida is already feeling the effects of climate change; Rubio says the climate is
changing but doesn't think it is caused by humans. If Rubio was elected, he too would
become the first Hispanic-American president of the United States.
And we have two more candidates on tomorrow’s show.
After the break: It may have taken more than 80 years, but it is finally getting off the
ground and into history.
Azia: And Keith is here with me now to talk about a new museum that would be the first
of its kind at the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
Keith: That is right, Azia. The museum is dedicated to the history of AfricanAmericans. And Congress authorized the project back in 1929, but it is only now getting
off the ground. It is scheduled to open its doors in September, and, in honor of Black
History Month, we are giving you a sneak peek at what is in store.
One hundred fifty years of African-American history housed in a museum five stories
high.
Lonnie Bunch: All of us, regardless of race, are shaped in profound ways by the AfricanAmerican experience, so our goal is to make sure that we can tell a rich and
complicated history of America.
Keith: The museum has collected more than 30,000 pieces. There are gold medals from
Olympian Carl Lewis, the jacket of a Tuskegee Airman and even a plane the group used
for training ahead of World War II. Triumphs will be celebrated here, and a nation's dark
past will be remembered.
Curator: Looking at those photographs reminds us about that struggle and that a lot of
people were involved.
Keith: There are shackles predating the Civil War and a railcar used nearly a hundred
years later to segregate white and black passengers. Documentary filmmaker Stanley
Nelson produced a film for the museum.
Stanley Nelson: I think, you know, the message hopefully is inspiring, you know, that
African-American history is all of our history, but that it’s an inspiring history. You know,
it’s a history that has ups, and it’s a history that has downs, but, you know, when you
take it all together, you know, it tells an incredible story of an American people.
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Keith: But not every collection has a focus on the past, because history is happening
now. Museum curators were in Baltimore, Maryland, to document riots following the
death of Freddie Gray while being held by police. They were in Charleston, South
Carolina, too, after a beloved pastor and his bible study group — all African-Americans
— were murdered in their church.
Bunch: Part of the goal of the museum is to be as much about today and tomorrow as it
is about yesterday.
Keith: The film concludes with images of the Black Lives Matter movement, an effort by
the museum to become a current voice of the African-American experience before the
building officially opens to the public.
Bunch: Our goal is really to make sure that this museum is of value, not just by the
value of the traditional ways of collecting stuff and preserving, but also by being of value
to help people have the tools to live their lives today.
Keith: Keith Kocinski, Channel One News.
Azia: Thanks, Keith.
Now before we close out the show, here is one more thing for Black History Month that
will make you realize patience is a virtue, especially when you wait a century for it to
happen.
Virginia McLaurin waited her whole life to meet the first black president in the White
House.
President Barack Obama: You want to say hi to Michelle?
Virginia McLaurin: Yes.
Azia: One hundred and six years, to be exact.
President Obama: She is 106.
Michelle Obama: No, you are not!
Azia: Her meeting with the first family left her literally dancing with joy, and I would say
she left quite an impression.
Michelle Obama: I want to be like you when I grow up.
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