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CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! Especially to our Facebook fans at Apple Valley Middle School in Hendersonville, North Carolina. We love your "likes" at Facebook.com/CNNStudentNews! I'm Carl Azuz.
AZUZ: First up, scenes of a revolution in Egypt, a country that, for the first time in almost 30 years, will be getting a new leader. For more than two weeks, protesters called for President Hosni Mubarak to resign his office. Thursday night, Mubarak said he would stay through an election in the fall. On Friday, Mubarak stepped down.
For now, Egypt's military is in charge. The government is reporting to a council of military leaders, just like it had been reporting to Mubarak. That council dissolved Egypt's parliament and suspended the country's constitution. It says it will run things for six months or until elections are held. So the big queswtion on a lot of people's minds is what happens now? What's next for a country that's going through this kind of revolution? Shelby Lin has some of the answers.
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SHELBY LIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Revolution isn't always glamorous, and the trash pickup that got underway in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Saturday proved just that. Volunteers, though, were happy to clear out the debris and garbage that accumulated during the 18-day Egyptian uprising.
UNIDENTIFIED EGYPTIAN FEMALE: We are cleaning the new Egypt, our new Egypt.
LIN: A day later, Egyptians continued to celebrate the end of three decades of Hosni Mubarak rule.
UNIDENTIFIED EGYPTIAN FEMALE: I am proud to be an Egyptian. I made a revolution; we had changed the world.
LIN: Egypt's military has assumed control of the country. It says it is committed to the democratic process and will honor its international treaties, including its landmark 1978 peace treaty with neighboring Israel. Former CIA Chief Michael Hayden is optimistic the extensive ties between the American and Egyptian militaries could produce a positive effect on Egypt's move towards democracy.
MICHAEL HAYDEN, FORMER DIRECTOR, CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY: They've seen a very professional military -- that's ours -- very responsive to civilian control in a pluralistic democracy.
LIN: The head of Egypt's military council is Defense Minister Mohammed Hussein Tantawi, shown here with U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. The Pentagon says Gates and Tantawi have spoken since the fall of the Mubarak government. I'm Shelby Lin, reporting from Atlanta.
(END VIDEO)
Protests in Yemen
AZUZ: People who are unhappy with their government in another Middle Eastern nation seem to be getting inspiration from what happened in Egypt. Hundreds of protesters marched through the streets of Yemen this weekend, chanting "first Mubarak, now Ali." They were talking about Yemen's president, Ali Abdullah Saleh. The protesters marched toward the presidential palace yesterday, but they were blocked by security forces before they could get there. There were reports of fighting between the protesters and police. Groups of people who support Yemen's president were out in the streets, too. Police tried to keep the pro-government and anti-government groups away from each other.
CPAC Straw Poll
AZUZ: Sticking with politics, but bringing it back to the U.S. now, we have the results of the straw poll at this weekend's CPAC, or Conservative Political Action Conference. This poll is the chance for the thousands of conservatives, those who attend the conference, to name their preference for president in 2012. Just because someone wins the CPAC poll though, doesn't necessarily mean he or she will get the Republican Party's presidential nomination. But a lot of people do pay attention to the results. And this year's winner was Texas Congressman Ron Paul. He came away with 30 percent of the vote. Second place was former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, who had 23 percent. None of the other
candidates got more than 6 percent.
Shoutout
TOMEKA JONES, CNN STUDENT NEWS: Today's Shoutout goes out to Mr. Peter's classes at E.A. Johnson High School in Mt. Morris, Michigan! In Roman mythology, whose son is Cupid? If you think you know it, shout it out! Is it: A) Apollo, B) Venus, C) Minerva or D) Saturn? You've got three seconds -- GO! Cupid is the son of Venus, the goddess of love. That's your answer and that's your Shoutout!
AZUZ: So, he's not too terrible of a mascot for Valentine's Day. But February 14th, for a lot of people, is a really big deal. And that's true for anyone who's been struck by Cupid's arrow. It's also a time when people break open their wallets. They're buying cards, flowers and gifts: Valentine's Day is big business. So, just how much of their heart-earned cash do Americans spend? Stephanie Elam would love to tell you.
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STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS NEWS CORRESPONDENT, NEW YORK: Love is in the air, America. After pinching pennies hard for a couple of years, consumers are once again ready to shower their loved ones with gifts. In fact, according to Ibis World Research, Americans will spend $18.6 billion this year on Valentine's Day purchases. That's nearly 6 percent more than last year and breaks down to about 125 bucks a person. So, what are folks buying?
No doubt, greeting cards, flowers, clothing and jewelry are all popular gifts, but Americans will spend the most of their dough on romantic getaways, candy and the most popular expense of all, dining out. All those meals will cost us $8.8 billion this year. When it comes to gender, it looks like men just don't trust the old adage, "it's the thought that counts." The National Retail Federation says the average man will drop more than 158 bucks for Valentine's Day, while the average woman will only spend about $75.
And Valentine's Day is not just for humans. The National Retail Federation says the average person will spend just over $5 on the family pet, up nearly $2 from last year. But let's face it, not everyone has a valentine to lavish. That doesn't mean, however, that these folks aren't spending. In fact, the NRF says consumers will spend an average of $6.30 on friends, about $5 on classmates and teachers, and just over $3 on co-workers.
(END VIDEO)
What's the Word?
STAN CASE, CNN STUDENT NEWS: What's the Word?
It's a noun that means the act of goodwill toward other people, or doing things for humanitarian reasons
PHILANTHROPY
That's the word!
AZUZ: America is celebrating the achievements of African-Americans this month, and I had the chance to interview former NFL star Warrick Dunn recently. Not only about what he's done on the field, but about his philanthropy in communities around the Southeast. During this first part of our interview, I asked him about his role models and what got him started doing his philanthropic work. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO)
AZUZ: I want to start off by taking you back to your grade school days. Whom did you look up to when you were in high school?
WARRICK DUNN, FORMER NFL RUNNING BACK, PHILANTHROPIST: Well, for me I was looking up to Tony Dorsett. When you're 5'9", 5'10", 5'11", and you're sleek and you're fluid and you're fast and you're durable, you want to try and emulate a guy that is similar to your style. So, I wasn't the biggest guy, but I wanted to be like him.
AZUZ: It seemed to have worked out pretty well for you. Now, I want to talk about your mom briefly. We know you lost her when you were 18. How did that loss later become a source of inspiration for you?
DUNN: Well it was tough, honestly. I knew life is changing. But for me, it changed because it forced me to grow up so early. Really, I had to become an adult at 18 years old. And now, since I'm the oldest of six, I have to look after everyone else.
AZUZ: Not everybody is able to take something like that, something tragic, and turn it into something positive. Can you talk to us about how that loss gave rise to The Warrick Dunn Foundation?
DUNN: I met a guy, Tony Dungy, who drafted me in Tampa, and I was challenged my rookie year. So being challenged, he was like, "If you're going to live in a community, you want to go and give back and be a part of the community." All I could really think about was my mom. What was my mom's dreams, what were the things that she wanted? And for her, she wanted to get a house for her kids. So, she wanted to get her own home. And I took my mom's dream and I tried it out the first year, 1997, because of the challenge that Coach Dungy gave out to the rookies. And from that, a program has just been born, "Homes for the Holidays."
AZUZ: Let's say a few years down the line you had to pick between being remembered as a great NFL player or a great humanitarian. What do you pick?
DUNN: Scoring touchdowns is great. I'm helping 53 guys and a city and a community, this is your team. But when you can help change someone's life for the better, for the future, this is a life-changing effect, moment, and helping people take their lives to the next step, first and foremost. So philanthropy.
(END VIDEO)
Before We Go
AZUZ: He was a great interview. And the second part of that includes Mr. Dunn's advice for you, so you definitely want to stay tuned for that. Before we go, a chilling tale from the Pacific northwest. Temperature of the Columbia River this past Saturday: 39 degrees. Why in the world are all of these people so eager to jump in? They look like they're enjoying it too. They're raising money for the Special Olympics. And proving their polar plunge prowess at the same time. Around 1,500 frosty fanatics conquered the cold and helped raise $250,000 for the Special Olympics.
Goodbye
AZUZ: So at least they're freezin' for a reason. As we wonder if they hold similar events in the heat, because that would be the polar opposite of this one. We'll dive into more commercial-free headlines tomorrow. For CNN Student News, I'm Carl Azuz.