Tom: Hey everyone, it is Wednesday, September 7. I am Tom Hanson, and Channel One News starts right now.
First up today, President Obama is in the country of Laos; that is all the way on the other side of the world, just below China. Obama is the first sitting president to visit the Southeast Asian nation.
President Barack Obama: I am very honored to be the first American president to visit Laos.
Tom: The U.S. and Laos have had a tense relationship since the Vietnam War.In the 1960s and 70s, the U.S. secretly dropped 270 million bombs on Laos, in part to cut off North Vietnamese supply routes. That is like dropping one bomb every eight minutes for nine years.
A third of those bombs didn’t even go off, and now they are causing a huge problem — still blowing up accidentally, often injuring or killing innocent people. That is why yesterday the president pledged more money to help Laos remove the bombs —
$90 million over three years.
Obama: The United States and Laos have agreed to a new comprehensive partnership to guide and deepen our relationship for years to come.
Tom: Experts say the president's visit shows that the U.S. is trying to make friends with countries near China to help balance out that nation's growing power in the region.
Now some good news for an animal that has become a symbol of conservation: The giant panda is no longer considered endangered. This week the International Union for Conservation of Nature said that the panda is now classified as"vulnerable" instead of"endangered."
The wild panda population jumped from around 1,600 to more than 1,800 in 2014. It is all because of the work by conservationists, who have expanded the forest areas where the animals live, and because of laws which banned the hunting of pandas.
While it was good news for the pandas, the report had bad news for the eastern gorilla,which was added to the critically endangered list, making four of the six great ape species only one step away from extinction.
And a consumer group is asking the government to crackdown on social media posts by celebrities. Pop star Selena Gomez has the most popular Instagram post ever; this photo of her sipping from a Coca-Cola bottle has more than 5 million likes. Olympian Usain Bolt has plugged Gatorade.Lady Gaga raved about her Dior jeans. But the nonprofit Truth in Advertising says these posts should have been labeled as advertising.
Bonnie Patten: There's restrictions on commercial speech. So if they are getting things for free or they are being paid to post what they're photographing, then there are rules and regulations.
Tom: The Federal Trade Commission said in a policy statement last year that consumers must be told in a "clear and conspicuous" way when someone is getting paid to promote a product on a social media post,to includehashtags like #ad or #sponsored.
Truth in Advertising accused the Kardashian–Jenner sisters of not being upfront about relationships with companies they are promoting to their more than 300 million combined Instagram followers.
The reality TV stars ended up changing several of their posts.
Now we want to know what you think. Should celebrities have to make it clear when they are getting paid to promote a product? Head on over to ChannelOne.com to vote, or send us a video to .
Okay, coming up, we put you to the test with a presidential pop quiz.
Tom: Okay, as the race to the White House heats up, we want to see how much you know about who can be president.
Arielle: Yep, there are certain requirements because of this little thing called the Constitution. Now let's see if you know what they are — ready for a pop quiz?
Do you know which is not a requirement to be president of the United States?
Is it:
- You have to be a natural-born citizen, which most experts say means a citizen when you are born.
- You have to be at least 35 years old.
- lived in the U.S. for at least 14 years, or
- held at least one public office
Take 10 seconds.
Okay, the answer is d. A president doesn't have to have any experience holding a public office. But you do have to be a natural-born citizen at least 35 years old and lived in the U.S. for at least 14 years.
If you meet all those requirements, then you register with a political party based on how you think the country should be run.In the U.S. we really have two major parties, Republicans and Democrats, but there are a bunch of smaller parties too.
The next step: caucuses and primaries. Those are the races that started at the beginning of this year when each state held its own contest.Democrats get together to vote for their favorite Democrat, and Republicans choose their fave.
After that, there is only one person left standing on each side. That means it is time for the national conventions, the big pep rally that is when each party makes it official that it is backing its candidate and ready to face off against each other.
That brings us to the final sprint: the general election. Arielle Hixson,Channel One News.
Tom: And that is what we are getting ready for right now; the general election is when voters head to the polls on November 8. And one of those choices on the ballot will be Hillary Clinton. Coming up, we rap up her life.
Tom: Okay, so over the next few days, we are going to take a look at the presidential candidates and how they got to where they are. Azia is here to talk about Hillary Clinton.
Azia: Yeah, Tom, Hillary has a really interesting background — a lot of years spent in politics and also as an activist. And you may be surprised at how her views have changed over the years. Here is Hillary Clinton's life — with a beat.
Hi, my name is Hillary.
I am running for president.
Hope that the people feeling me.
I am wise and intelligent.
Raised in the Windy City —
you could tell cuz I am gritty.
Tough as nails
tomboy, andI always been pretty.
See,I used to run home after softball games.
Now I am hitting homeruns when I am on your stage.
Young Republican
accepting life as I come to it.
Tried to be an astronaut;
NASA only wanted men.
But it is cool;
I would rather go to school.
Senior body president
representing the youth.
Wellesley College:
learned to follow the rules.
Dr. King dreaming,
I see where he dropped the jewels.
Turned into a Democrat,
then studied at Yale,
where I found my true love,
but you all know him as Bill.
He is thepresident
93 to 2001.
Then I served on the Senate
till Barack came and won.
Secretary of the state —
ain't no need to debate.
We ain't talking politics,
just the life that I made.
One daughter named
Chelsea, such a beautiful thing.
She the reason that
I gotta show the world we could change.
She the reason why I gotta show you we ain't the same.
Won't be easy,
but it is always gonna be sun after rain.
Hillary Clinton:
youall just remember the name.
I will be the first female president ofUSA.
H.I.L.L.A.R.Y.
Hillary
H.I.L.L.A.R.Y.
Clinton
Tom: Okay, so I had no ideathat she applied to NASA. So cool.
Azia: I know. It wasn’t accepting women at the time,so it was a really bold move,and Hillary hasn't stopped being bold and breaking down barriers. I mean, think about it, Tom— it is the first time a woman's name will be on a ballot for a major political party.
Tom: Definitely a big deal, but not everybody is a fan ofHillary Clinton.
Azia: That is true. Well, for both Hillary and Donald Trump, they are the least liked candidates ever, and that is because more than half of Americans say they don't like either of them.
Tom: So what is the deal?
Azia: Well, for Clinton, there are voters who say they just can't trust her. She has had several scandals. While she was secretary of state, instead of using the official server to send her emails, she used a private one at her home, which many say put top-secret information at risk. And Clinton has also been accused of giving political favors to people and groups who donated to her nonprofit group.
Tom: Well, it will definitely be interesting to see how it pans out on Election Day. Thanks,Azia.
Now let's hear what our Team OneVote has to say about Hillary Clinton.
Simone: I support Hillary Clinton because I know that she's a strong leader, and I think that she really knows what she's doing. She already has so many people on board, and just like everybody else, I'm convinced that she's going to carry out America like the way it is, which — it's a pretty great country, it's cool, it's chill.
Malcolm: Well, I think Hillary Clinton's experience as secretary of state was actually a negative aspect of her campaign. Her time as secretary of state has been a proven failure. I believe that Hillary Clinton is a third-timer of the Obama administration, and the Obama administration, in my opinion, has been an absolute failure.
Elliot: I think that Hillary Clinton is arguably the most prepared candidate for president in the history of the United States. I think youth should absolutely get fired up for Hillary. She is an exciting, historical candidate. You know, I'm not voting for her because she would be the first female president, but that is absolutely a big deal. It's about time.
Tom: Well, there you have it — love hearing from Team OneVote. Tomorrow we rap up Donald Trump's life — something to look forward to. See you then.
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