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CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: I'm Carl Azuz. You're just weeks away from summer. And speaking of summer, we wanna say hi to our friends at Summerour Middle School in Norcross, Georgia. We thank you -- and everyone -- for watching.
AZUZ: First up, the Dow Jones Industrial Average takes investors on a wild ride. It lost about 350 points yesterday. But at one point, it was down nearly a thousand! And that was the biggest in-day point decline in the history of the Dow! Couple things played a factor here. One: concerns about debt issues in Europe, like the one in Greece we told you about yesterday. Two: a possible technical glitch in one stock trade.
Oil Spill
AZUZ: Next story: landfall. It's one of the big concerns for people watching that oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Yesterday, it happened. The Coast Guard reported that a patch of oil showed up on Louisiana's Freemason Island. It is the first landfall that's been confirmed. BP is trying to stop the spill from getting worse. The company is going to lower this dome over the well that the oil is leaking out of. It'll collect the oil and then send it up to ships. The dome arrived at the site of the spill yesterday, but getting it into position could take a few days.
The Gulf Coast, and the people who live there, are already feeling the financial impact of all this. There are reports that tourism is dropping. And with the fishing industry taking a hit, some restaurants have to pay more for food. One owner says the cost of shrimp has gone up 20 to 25 percent. So eventually, you might be seeing that at your restaurant. David Mattingly is on a boat out in the Gulf. He takes us right up to the spill to see the thing up close.
(BEGIN VIDEO)
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Boat captains in port told us where to find it: an ugly, reddish-brown wave of oil. A bumpy two-hour ride later, it was impossible to miss.
Finally, here we are, 15 miles out. We've slowed down. The seas are still pretty rough, as you can see, but I don't know if you can see it or not, but just right here in front of us -- it looks almost like a red, muddy line through the water --that is the oil. National Wildlife Federation President Larry Schweiger believes the impact on wildlife is inevitable.
LARRY SCHWEIGER, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION: You can see it's been treated, so it's breaking up and it's dispersing into the water column.
MATTINGLY: It looks like tea-sized blobs in the water, millions of them, all the way down. OK. I'm going to grab a towel here. This stuff is rubbing up against the side of the boat. There it is. That's what's in the water. That's sticking to the side of the boat right there. If this is doing this to the boat, what is it going to do to anything that lives in this water?
SCHWEIGER: It's going to be very, very hard on the fish and shellfish.
MATTINGLY: And the oil seems to go on forever. Over here, as far as the eye can see, there is like a red line of that oil going right across the Gulf of Mexico. It is endless. And, as bad as it looked, it was about to get worse.
This is something we didn't expect to see. This is a sea turtle. It's right here in the water. It's right near the top. It's swimming right in the middle of all that oily mess out there. We're going to try and get as close as we can to...
SCHWEIGER: And he's, he's having trouble. That's why he's doing that.
MATTINGLY: He's...
SCHWEIGER: He should not be doing that.
MATTINGLY: He's clearly in distress. The turtle has to come up for air?
SCHWEIGER: The turtle's coming up for air and, when it does, it's gulping the surface, and it's picking up that oil that's floating on the surface.
MATTINGLY: So, it's taking it into its body?
SCHWEIGER: So, it's taking it into its body. And of course, if you're, if you're drinking oil, it's not, not good for the digestive system. So he's, he's in distress.
MATTINGLY: It seemed to be having breathing problems. After a few moments, it disappeared into the reddish, oily muck. OK, we're about to take off. Didn't want to leave without getting a souvenir. There it is, the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. That's just one leading band of it, and you see how it's floating to the top and how nasty it is.
(END VIDEO)
Hair for Oil
AZUZ: Nasty is right. People from all over the country are helping to clean up this oil spill by getting haircuts! It turns out, human hair is really good at soaking up oil. So, thousands of hair salons are collecting their clippings and sending them down to the Gulf. The hair is made into booms -- these floating barriers -- to help contain the oil. It's a simple way for people to make a difference.
SAMANTHA ROGERS, STYLIST: This is a way that you can come in for your normal trim and you're doing something good.
THERESA WELLS, CUSTOMER: I think that's pretty neat. People are taking an active interest in it and not just being passive, and saying, "There's things we can do and we're going to do them."
Nashville Cleanup
AZUZ: To find out how you can help out in the cleanup efforts, head to the Spotlight section at CNNStudentNews.com. You can click on the Impact Your World link. That same page has information about how to help flood victims in Tennessee. President Obama has declared 10 counties in the state disaster areas after this week's record flooding. The city of Nashville, which was hit especially hard, started opening up parts of downtown again yesterday. Businesses and schools started reopening. Nashville's mayor said the focus now is on getting the city back up and running. He estimates that the flood damage -- and this is just in Nashville alone -- will easily top a billion dollars.
Shoutout
MATT CHERRY, CNN STUDENT NEWS: Today's Shoutout goes out to the students and staff at Irving Middle School in Lincoln, Nebraska! Which U.S. president signed the National Day of Prayer into law in 1952? You know what to do! Was it: A) Franklin Roosevelt, B) Harry Truman, C) Dwight Eisenhower or D) Richard Nixon? You've got three seconds -- GO! President Harry Truman established the National Day of Prayer. That's your answer and that's your Shoutout!
AZUZ: This year's National Day of Prayer might be the last one. Last month, a federal judge ruled the observance is unconstitutional. The government is appealing that decision. The judge's ruling won't go into effect until the appeal process is over. And events -- like the one you see here -- celebrated the National Day of Prayer yesterday. One of the organizers blamed the controversy on a small group of people who are opposed to the event.
UK Elections
AZUZ: Yesterday was election day in the UK! Voters all across the United Kingdom cast their ballots for members of parliament. There are 650 seats up for grabs in the House of Commons. That is the group that writes and approves the country's laws. The party that gets the most seats in the House of Commons has to form a government, and the party's leader usually becomes prime minister. Right now, Britain's Labour Party, headed up by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, is in charge. But Conservative Party Leader David Cameron and Liberal Democrat Nick Clegg are running against him. Polls in the UK didn't close until after 10 o'clock last night, so there's no word yet on results. There wasn't, at least, when we recorded this program.
AZUZ: We are wrapping up Teacher Appreciation Week here on CNN Student News. All week long, as you know, we've been sharing some of your comments about how your teachers inspire you. Well, we caught up with a few teachers themselves; they came to CNN this week for the "Inside CNN Studio Tour." And we asked those teachers who inspires them. Plus, we found out what they learn from you. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO)
TAMMY LEE, CARVER MIDDLE SCHOOL, GA: My most great inspiration was my mom. She had a joy for life and a joy for education
DEION BROWN, KIPP POLARIS ACADEMY FOR BOYS, TX: My 11th grade chemistry teacher Mrs. Harris. She really showed me that I can do anything if I just worked hard at it.
FARRAH BEAUDRY, SOCASTEE HIGH SCHOOL, SC: My music teacher in high school was a huge influence over me and taught me so much more than just about music.
RAHSAAN MATTHEWS, CARVER MIDDLE SCHOOL, GA: I always loved to learn, but there was one teacher named Ms. Ellie P. She realized I had a lot of potential.
WILLIAM WHALEY, JOHN F. KENNEDY HIGH SCHOOL, OH: Dr. Little was an amazing teacher. I'm not going to say I got an A in his class, but I learned more in that class than I ever learned in anything.
SHARON GERRY, UNITY SCHOOL, FL: I love being able to make an impact on students, make an impact for our future and, I guess selfishly, make sure I'm taken care of in my future by being an inspiration to our kids and by having been inspired by people before me.
MARY HENSON, SMOKY MOUNTAIN HIGH SCHOOL, NC: I've learned more from my students then I ever have from my education.
SHAWN HARONETT, KIPP POLARIS ACADEMY FOR BOYS, TX: If you are a real teacher, then you are a real learner.
WHALEY: Every year, my kids' scores have gone up, but I haven't really changed the way I taught. I just learned about their lives.
SI SIMMONS, SMOKY MOUNTAIN HIGH SCHOOL, NC: Every day, they teach you something. They come to you with eagerness and love for what they are trying to do.
(END VIDEO)
Rescued Educational Materials
AZUZ: You know about the devastating earthquake that hit Haiti in January. "Rescued," a new CNN documentary, focuses on how the quake affected the lives of young people in Haiti. The documentary airs this Saturday at 8 p.m. Eastern on CNN. And teachers, we've put together some discussion questions and activities that you can use before and after you watch the program. You'll find these free; they're in the Spotlight section at CNNStudentNews.com.
Before We Go
AZUZ: Before we go, what sounds an incredible scene. We want you to picture this: A giant bird running through downtown streets. Cops trying to chase it down. The thing dodging tackles, jumping over fences. It sounds awesome! Unfortunately, the only video we have is after the thing was caught. The emu kept cops on the run for three hours through the streets of Rock Hill. That is in South Carolina. Eventually, the big bird was corralled and moved to a nearby farm.
Goodbye
AZUZ: But not before providing us with an emu-sing story, even if there wasn't any video of it. Well, we don't want you to be a bird-brain over the weekend. It is Mother's Day weekend; please be sure to wish your mom a happy Mother's Day on Sunday. I know my mom is watching this show, and so happy Mother's Day to you too, Mom. I love you. See you soon. For CNN Student News, I'm Carl Azuz.