CNN Student news 2016-08-26

(CNN Student News) -- August 26, 2016

2016 U.S. Presidential Election Coverage; Venturing into Space; Treasured National Park in Florida

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: Hello to our viewers around the world and welcome to Fridays are awesome. This is CNN STUDENT NEWS. This is our tenth show of the academic year.

And now, it`s time to talk politics. There`s this little thing that`s been going on, you might have heard something about it. It`s called the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

With no incumbent running, President Obama has reached his two-term limit, American voters will choose a new leader on Tuesday, November 8th. That`s 74 days from now.

But they don`t directly elect their president. The group that chooses American leaders is the Electoral College and we`ll be explaining that in-depth next week.

So, who are the candidates for president? For the Democrats, former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton received the party`s nomination over the summer. For the Republicans, businessman and television personality, Donald Trump, received the party`s nomination.

The latest CNN/ORC poll which was conducted in late July indicated that Mrs. Clinton had an eight-point lead over Mr. Trump, 45 percent to 37 percent. Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson had 9 percent, Green Party candidate Jill Stein had 5 percent.

Polls can change as we get closer to Election Day, and they can be affected by presidential debates which start on September 26th.

Now, we`re taking a look back at how the conventions of the two major parties played out last month.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I humbly --

HILLARY CLINTOIN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: It is with humility --

TRUMP: -- and gratefully --

CLINTON: -- and boundless confidence --

TRUMP: -- accept --

CLINTON: -- your nomination --

TRUMP: -- for the presidency --

CLINTON: -- of the United States.

SUBTITLE: Two weeks of convention moments in 150 seconds.

There was dancing and chanting.

AUDIENCE: Not a clue! Not a clue! Not a clue!

Lock her up! Lock her up! Lock her up!

SUBTITLE: Both nominees made grand entrances, but the rooms were far from unified.

AUDIENCE: Bernie! Bernie! Bernie!

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), TEXAS: God bless the United States of America.

SUBTITLE: We heard from the spouses --

MELANIA TRUMP, WIFE OF DONALD TRUMP: If you want someone to fight for you and your country, I can assure you, he`s the guy.

WILLIAM J. CLINTON, HUSBAND OF HILLARY CLINTON: And she is still the best darn change-maker I have ever known.

SUBTITLE: Trump enlisted "America`s mayor".

RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER NYC MAYOR: Vote for Donald Trump for safer America and for an America headed in a different direction. Greatness!

SUBTITLE: While Clinton had the president.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There has never been a man or a woman, not me, not Bill, nobody, more qualified than Hillary Clinton to serve as president of the United States of America.

SUBTITLE: The running mates brought the folksiness.

GOV. MIKE PENCE (R-IN), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: He`s a man known for a large personality, a colorful style and lots of charisma. And so, I guess he was just looking for some balance on the ticket.

SUBTITLE: With Kaine going after Trump.

SEN. TIM KAINE (D-VA), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: We`re going to destroy ISIS so fast, believe me. There`s nothing suspicious in my tax returns, believe me.

SUBTITLE: And the daughters made the final introductions.

IVANKA TRUMP, DAUGHTER OF DONALD TRUMP: And this is the moment and Donald Trump is the person to make America great again.

CHELSEA CLINTON, DAUGHTER OF HILLARY CLINTON: I know with all my heart that my mother will make us proud as our next president.

SUBTITLE: When the candidates finally appeared, they went head-to-head.

DONALD TRUMP: I am your voice!

HILLARY CLINTON: Don`t let anyone tell you that our country is weak. We`re not.

DONALD TRUMP: I will restore law and order to our country.

HILLARY CLINTON: Really? I alone can fix it?

DONALD TRUMP: My message is that things have to change and they have to change right now!

HILLARY CLINTON: Americans don`t say, "I alone can fix it". We say, "We`ll fix it together."

SUBTITLE: And, of course, balloons!

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: Researchers think they might have identified a rocky planet like ours that`s relatively close by in the universe. It`s called Proxima B. It apparently orbits the nearest star to our sun. That would make it a little over four light years away from our solar system. And scientists say it`s in what`s called the habitable zone where they believe water could exist.

Proxima B is thought to be a third bigger than Earth. It orbits its star much faster, in 11 days instead of a year.

There`s a lot that`s unknown though. Scientists aren`t sure if it has an atmosphere. That can make a huge difference in its temperature range and the radiation it gets from its star. It`s also unknown if it has a magnetic field to protect it. Researchers are hoping to send a robot there in the next couple centuries.

All this month, we`ve been covering stories related to the U.S. National Park Service on the 100th anniversary of its founding. From the tallest peak in North America, Alaska`s Denali, which used to be named Mt. McKinley, to the lowest point in North America, California`s Death Valley, which is 282 feet below sea level, national parks represent at range of superlatives.

The one we`re taking you today stretches over Southern Florida. It`s America`s largest subtropical wilderness, but there are environment concerns about its future.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REPORTER: We traveled down to the Florida Everglades with U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell to see an ecosystem that`s under attack.

SALLY JEWELL, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR: If you live in South Florida, your life will be impacted by what`s happening here in the Everglades. You may not have clean drinking water. You may be drinking bottled water, not expecting to do it.

REPORTER: In the 1920s, Floridians built a road that cut through the Everglades. They had no idea they were creating an environmental disaster.

They thought they were just building a road, but they were also constructing a dam.

JEWELL: We stopped the flow of the river of grass from the Florida headwaters, the Everglades headwaters down to Florida Bay. So, that`s had a lot of consequences we really are understanding now. It`s kind of embarrassing frankly when we allow something like this to happen.

This is algae that`s on top of the root?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Growing on top of the root.

JEWELL: OK. So, this is what we get when we don`t take care of Florida Bay.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The organic soil is just gone and that`s the consequence of draining the system, having agriculture there.

REPORTER: Now, the government is working to raise the road over the wetlands to let the fresh water flow before it`s too late.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The salinity in this basin was twice as salty as ocean water.

JEWELL: Really?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Really.

JEWELL: Wow.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And there aren`t any sea grasses in this coastal system that can handle salinities that are double down ocean water. So, the sea grass community just dies.

JEWELL: Just been looking at some maps of what happens if we don`t restore the Everglades at a time of climate change to salt water intrusion in South Florida and it`s pretty extreme.

REPORTER: We`re seeing the effects firsthand on this trip of this lack of water flow. We saw the green grass, the first stop and now, this is just brown and dead.

JEWELL: Right.

REPORTER: But why should people care about this grass.

JEWELL: First, it`s an indication of a health of an ecosystem out of balance. We should care about that. Second, people come to Florida because it`s an incredible place to recreate.

The National Park Service is a science organization. It`s a place where we want to invite people to enjoy this spectacular place, but it`s also a place of research where we understand what`s happening. So, we now understand how important that river of grass was.

Sea grass die off like this, people really should care about, because it`s about our natural heritage, it`s about our national heritage.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: The high school coach who recently organized a cross country run with shelter dogs said afterward he wasn`t sure who was more excited, the students or the dogs. The practice run was a mile and a half and most of the animals had no trouble with it.

After this YouTube video went viral, some of the dogs got adopted and other cross country teams started asking how they could do this with their local shelter dogs.

Turn to mundane run into some mutt-dane fun. Of course, with four legs, the animals couldn`t paw-ticipate in a meet. They`d be dog-squalified.

They`d have to scratch. But at least the practice didn`t leave them dog- tired.

Man, whenever we go to the dogs, are puns are awful! We hope your weekend isn`t and that we`ll see you Monday on CNN STUDENT NEWS.

END