Tom: Hey everyone. Happy Constitution Day! I am outside the nation's highest court in Washington DC to celebrate that pretty important document that outlines the law of the land for the entire country. And we will have more on that coming up. It is Thursday, September 17. I am Tom Hanson, and Channel One News starts right now.
Arielle: Thanks Tom. We will hear more from you in just a bit. But first, the top Republican candidates in the race for the White House faced off last night. The debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California was hosted by CNN, and it was the second Republican debate so far in a very crowded race.
Eleven Republican candidates tried to make their case for why they should be the next president. But before they got into the issues, they took aim at each other.
Rand Paul: I think his visceral response to attack people on their appearance--short, tall, fat, ugly--my goodness, that happened in junior high. Are we not way above that?
Donald Trump: I never attacked him on his look. And believe me, there's plenty of subject matter right there.
Arielle: Going into the debate, several recent polls show a trend. The candidates, who are not politicians, like billionaire reality star Donald Trump, retired surgeon Ben Carson, and businesswoman Carly Fiorina are on the rise.
And many of those who are politicians are losing ground, like former governors Jeb Bush and Scott Walker.
One of the hottest topics, immigration, Jeb Bush criticized Trump's plan for immigration reform. Trump has called on deporting all illegal immigrants.
Jeb Bush: Are we going to take the Regan approach, the hopeful, optimistic approach? The approach that says, you come to our country legally, you pursue your dreams with a vengeance, you create opportunities for all of us? Or the Donald Trump approach? The approach that says that everything is bad?
Arielle: Ben Carson said he would allow some illegal immigrants to stay.
Ben Carson: People who had a pristine record, we should consider allowing them to become guest workers, primarily in the agricultural sphere.
Arielle: Some of the other big topics- the Iran nuclear deal, gun control and relations with Russia.
Carly Fiorina: Russia is a bad actor. But Vladimir Putin is someone we should not talk to because the only way he will stop is to sense strength and resolve on the other side. And we have all of that within our control.
Arielle: Earlier in the day, four other Republicans who were polling lower also faced off in a debate.
And for a complete breakdown on each of the candidates and to find out where they stand on important issues, check out our interactive guide on the one vote page. It is all on Channelone.com.
Arielle: Alright, coming up, a teen's invention gets him in trouble with the law.
Now Azia has a story about a teen who walked into class very excited to show off his new DIY gadget.
Azia: That's right Arielle. But when he showed his teacher the impressive clock he made, well, the story took a twist.
Fourteen-year-old-Ahmed Mohamed is an inventor and an aspiring engineer who has won awards for his inventions.
His friends say he can build or fix just about anything.
Mekiah Morgan: He’ll bring his inventions to class. He built a radio out of cardboard, fixed the teacher's projector. He built a camera out of cardboard. He fixed my tablet. I mean, he’s a real smart kid.
Azia: But on Monday afternoon, the freshman got in big trouble for bringing one of his inventions, a homemade clock, to school at Macarthur High in Texas.
Ahmed Mohamed: I told them I wanted to impress my teachers. But instead, I got the police called on me. And the police were interrogating me, and they arrested me because I committed a crime of a hoax bomb.
Azia: He says he told officials it was just a clock. But his teacher was concerned it was a bomb and called the police.
Ahmed: And I told her it wasn’t me that made that noise, it was my alarm clock. And she told me, ‘It looks like a bomb.’ She was like, ‘I’ll take it from you right here.’ And I was like, ‘why are you taking it.’ And she was like, ‘I don’t want you going around with that.’
Azia: Ahmed was arrested and handcuffed, then questioned by police.
Ahmed: I was really scared. I felt like I didn't do anything wrong. I felt like I was a criminal.
Azia: The Irving Police Department said they were following procedure when they arrested him, and after further investigation, they were dropping the charges.
Larry Boyd: Taking under consideration, the device of suspicious appearance and the safety of the students and the staff of Macarthur High School, the student was taken into custody for possession of a hoax bomb.
Azia: School officials say they were trying to keep students safe.
Female: We always ask our students and staff to immediately report if they observe any suspicious items or if they observe any suspicious behavior.
Arielle: But some people are saying that Ahmed was singled out because he is Muslim.
His story went viral on social media with the #istandwithahmed. It even got the attention of President Obama, who tweeted “Cool clock” and invited Ahmed to the White House for a science event.
Ahmed: I will try my best, not just to help me, but to help every other kid in the entire world who had a problem like this.
Azia: Azia Celestino, Channel One News.
Ahmed’s family says he was suspended for three days. It is not yet clear whether he will return to school, now that the case is closed.
Arielle: Thanks Azia.
Alright coming up, Tom Hanson’s got a pop quiz for you. So get thinking.
In honor of Constitution Day, Tom Hanson's in front of the Supreme Court building and he is putting you guys to the test. Tom, take it away.
Today, we celebrate the creation of our nation's most sacred documents, so we are putting you to the test.
Our Founding Fathers outlined three branches of government: The executive, which is the president, the legislative, which is the House of Representatives and the Senate, and the judicial, which is the Supreme Court.
One of the responsibilities of the Supreme Court is to decide whether a law follows the constitution. So here's today's question:
What is the power the Supreme Court has to rule whether not a law is constitutional?
Is it?
a. supreme law
b. judicial review
c. ratification
or
d. judicial restraint
You have got 10 seconds. Alright, time's up. The answer is b, judicial review.
Now judicial review isn't outlined in the Constitution. But it is the role the Supreme Court plays today. And this summer, the court really put it to the test, making landmark decisions on same-sex marriage, universal healthcare, employment discrimination and social media.
The 9 justices of America's highest court laid down the law for marriage equality. In the case of Obergefell v Hodges, the court decided that the constitution guarantees all couples be treated equally. And that states must allow same sex couples to get married.
Obergefell Reax: The Supreme Court affirmed what millions across this country already know to be true in their hearts. Our love is equal.
Tom: Another major decision, the Supreme Court upheld the healthcare law, known as Obamacare, passed in 2010.
President Barack Obama: As the dust has settled there can be no doubt this law is working.
Tom: They also took on an issue in the work place. In 2008, a 17-year-old went to Abercrombie and Fitch to interview for a job in a headscarf. She didn’t get it and sued for discrimination. And five years later, that case made it all the way to the Supreme Court.
The justices ruled 8 to 1 that employers may not make someone's religious practices a factor in whether or not they can be hired, but that companies can set standards of behavior or dress codes and ask employees to abide by them.
And the Supreme Court even stepped into the world of social media, taking on a case about threats made on a Facebook post, making it the first real test of free speech on the internet.
A Pennsylvania man posted threatening rap lyrics on his Facebook page. Pennsylvania courts convicted him of a crime. So he appealed all the way to the Supreme Court. And in an 8 to 1 ruling, the justices reversed the lower court decision, saying his posts were protected under freedom of speech and more needed to be done to prove the man was actually a threat.
So a lot of big rulings over the summer, but judicial review is not without its critics, who say justices have too much power and are using it to further their own causes.
Now the Supreme Court is still on summer break. They don’t begin their new session until the first Monday in October. And to check out some other landmark Supreme Court decisions from our nation’s history, head on over to Channelone.com.
Arielle: Wow, it is amazing how a document written over 200 years ago still dramatically affects our laws today.
Alright, that's it for us. But have an awesome day, and we can't wait to see you tomorrow.
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