Students: This is Ms. Everette's first-period career class from Caldwell County Middle School in Princeton, Kentucky, and Channel One News starts right now!
Azia: Thanks to Ms. Everette's class for kicking us off — nice job, guys! I am Azia Celestino, and it is Tuesday, so let's get it going. President Donald Trump is promising a new bond between the U.S. and Egypt. It comes as the White House welcomed the president of Egypt to the U.S.
President Trump met with the leader of Egypt yesterday to talk about the fight against ISIS and their close relationship.
President Donald Trump: We will fight terrorism and other things, and we're going to be friends for a long, long period of time.
Azia: This is President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's first official visit to the White House. President Obama never invited Sisi because of reports of human rights abuses under his leadership. Activists say Sisi's government cracked down on free speech and press, imprisoned or killed protestors and kicked out thousands of people from their homes.
But President Trump sees an opportunity to reboot ties with one of the closest U.S. allies in the region.
Trump: We've made great progress today with Egypt.
Azia: And it is a busy week for President Trump. He sits down with King Abdullah of Jordan on Wednesday and meets President Xi Jinping at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on Thursday.
Next, we head to the country of Russia and the city of St. Petersburg. That is where investigators are trying to figure out who set off an explosion on the subway — and why.
Videos of mangled metro cars at aSt. Petersburg subway platform were posted on social media.Authorities say the deadly explosion happened inside a train car traveling in between two stations shortly before the afternoon rush hour yesterday.
At least 11 people were killed, and more than 50 injured. Hours after the blast, police found an unexploded device in another subway station and were searching for suspects.
Russian President Vladimir Putin was in St. Petersburg, Russia's second-largest city, on Monday for a meeting with the president of Belarus. He expressed condolences to the victims.
And congrats to the North Carolina Tar Heels for their big win in the NCAAbasketball championship game last night.
March Madness is officially over. North Carolina took home the trophy for the men's basketball championship with a gritty 71 to 65 win over Gonzaga. This is its sixth national title and a nice addition after a tough loss to Villanova last year.
On Sunday night the women took the court. In that game South Carolina took home the trophy against Mississippi State with a 67 to 55 win and became the second team guided by an African-American coach to win the title.
After the break, a new debate cropping up over the use of pesticides.
Azia: Now Tom is here with a story about what types of chemicals can be used on our food, right?
Tom: Yeah, Azia. You know, farmers spray different types of pesticides on their crops to stop bugs from eating them, but some scientists say that those chemicals could be dangerous, and one of them is called chlorpyrifos. The Obama administration banned it on the use of food, but this week, the Trump administration reversed that decision.
Almond grower Paul Wenger turns to chlorpyrifos when nothing else will kill the pests that threaten his crop.
Paul Wenger:Chlorpyrifos for years was a mainstay for us.
Tom: Now, he says, it is a product of last resort.
Wenger: It's more just when we absolutely need it, but it's very critical to our integrated pest management program.
Tom: Farming is a big industry across the nation, but it faces an army of small enemies. And many who work in farming use the pesticidechlorpyrifos as ammunition. In fact, chlorpyrifos is used on dozens of crops from strawberries to corn to citrus in tens of thousands of farms across the U.S. Farmers say the sprayed food is safe to eat.
Wenger: It's extremely safe, it's extremely effective, and because wehave it, we don't have to use some other products out there that can maybe even be more challenging.
Michael Kelly: It's very important for controlling those small pests that can wreak havoc on the crop.
Tom: And for half a century, the chemical, also known as Lorsban, has been commonly used, but the EPA's scientists under the Obama administration found that the chemical could be hazardous for kids.
James Jones: Reduced IQ, lower working memory scores, increased ADHD — those are the kinds of things. They were small effects, but they were definitely meaningful.
Tom: And studies from Columbia and UC Berkeley showed thatexposure through the airled to "long-term, potentially irreversible changes … in children" and "is related to lower intelligence scores." In 2015 the Obama administration endorsed a complete ban on the heels of a ban put into place for household use in 2000.
Margaret Reeves is with the Pesticide Action Network.
Margaret Reeves: We've been arguing for the last 17 years that we need to ban its use everywhere, and EPA agreed with us — until a couple days ago.
Tom: She is talking about a complete 180 by the new EPA director, Scott Pruitt. In a statement he said, "By reversing the previous administration's steps to ban one of the most widely used pesticides in the world, we are returning to using sound science in decision-making."
But that has been met with growing concern by those who say the pesticide is dangerous.
Reeves: Chlorpyrifos has been a very useful tool for farmers, no doubt about that; however, the overwhelming evidence of its danger, of its hazard to children and children's development, does not justify its continued use.
Tom: And you know, farmers say that on crops like almonds, the pesticide is carefully sprayed following strict regulations. And the company that makes it said that when it is used as authorized, there are "wide margins of protection for human health and safety." But nonetheless, kind of scary to think about.
Azia: Definitely. Thanks, Tom.
Coming up after the break, this fired-up author is putting the “lit” in literature.
Azia: April is National Poetry Month, a time to celebrate and appreciate the literary art form. And to get into the spirit, Emily Reppert caught up with one author who is bringing poetry to young people in a different way.
Kwame Alexander: You can tell me which book you want me to read to you today. I’ll hold it up. “Crossover.”
Emily: Kwame Alexander is not your average author.
Kind of like a modern-day Dr. Seuss.
Alexander:Fox in socks, fox in socks. Socks on fox and fox on socks.
Emily: And this is not your average assembly.
Alexander: All right, I think I know which book.
Emily: How would you describe one of your presentations?
Alexander: I think I would describe them as sort of literary pep rallies.
Alana Lewis: Really different from what usually happens whenever authors come to our schools. We got to experience it more than just listening and watching.
Grayson King: Because he was hands-on; he was interactive.
Ella Nadler: And it was just so fun, like, repeating things back to him.
Alexander: So I serve him up my alley-oop!Yeah, we got — it's a tie, 2–2. They both get shirts. Give it up, y'all, give it up.
Emily: The poet, educator and New York Times bestselling author is on a mission, traveling all over the country to visit schools like this one in Philadelphia, PA, to share his love of literature.
Alexander: Read — or else. Or else what, right? I like big books, and I cannot lie? Anything that encourages young people in particular, but people in general, to pick up a book, to turn the pages of a book, to find power in words — I think words are cool.
Emily: And when it comes to his books, well, they are not average, either. “The Crossover,” “Surf’s Up” and “Booked” are just a few of his bestsellers that use poetry and sports to get students excited about reading.
Alexander: I’ve met so many teachers who’ve said that boys don’t like to read. And I disagree; I think boys will read if you give them something they’re excited about reading.
Emily: So why poetry?
Alexander: Why poetry? Look at all the white space. Like, it’s so much white space. Like, it’s unintimidating to even the kid who doesn't want to read. And it’s still literary because it’s using figurative language and rhythm and repetition, and so it attracts all of us, whatever, you know, wherever we are on the reading spectrum.
Emily: Which seems to be working here at Elkins Park Middle School. His book “The Crossover,” which won the Newbery Medal in 2015, was part of their reading curriculum.
Isabella Rey: I read it all in one day because I couldn’t really put it down.
Tariq Ginkinger: I don't read a lot of books about sports, so it was fun to have something that’s about something I like to do.
Roberta Jacoby: We bought a bunch, and we're kind of, like, losing them because kids keep taking them and wanting to read it.
Emily: And today was a chance for these students to experience his work in a whole new way during his “literary pep rally,” continuing his mission of making words cool.
Alexander: I think music — I think sports — I think all these are sort of hooks.
Emily: Well, how is that the magic recipe?
Alexander: I can't tell you my secrets; all I can tell you is that it works. And the goal is to get kids reading, and to get kids not just reading, but excited about reading and wanting to find that next book.
Emily: Emily Reppert, Channel One News.
Azia: Love that story! And we want to mention Kwame is an author published by our parent company, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Now, if his story inspired you, we want to read your work! Send us your poems to .
All right, guys, that is all for now. Have an awesome day, and we will see you right back here tomorrow.
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