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Earthquake in Nepal; Supreme Court and Same-Sex Marriage; Nanobots

CARL AZUZ, HOST: Welcome to our April 28th edition of CNN STUDENT NEWS.

I`m Carl Azuz.

First subject in today`s commercial-free show takes us to Nepal. Rescue workers, supplies and funding are arriving there from around the

world and journalists are sending in pictures and video that show just how bad the destruction is.

Homes, businesses, temples have been destroyed.

It`s all because of a major 7.8 magnitude earthquake that violently shook the Southeast Asian country on Saturday.

Nepal`s landscape is rugged, it`s mountainous. There are villages near the quake`s epicenter that are hard to get to, with roads blocked and

unreliable communications.

Some areas are reportedly wiped out, either flattened by the quake or buried in mud slides. The Nepalese government says it`s sending

helicopters to try to reach people in remote places.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go, go.

AZUZ: On Mount Everest, the climber at base camp got video of an approaching avalanche shortly after the quake hit. You can see the snow

rolling over him in a dense cloud. This climber did survive. At least 18 others didn`t.

Dozens of people there were injured. Across Nepal last night, the death toll was approach 4,000. At least 72 people died in neighboring

India. China reported 20 deaths.

Power blackouts in the Nepalese capital of Kathmandu weren`t helping. It`s hard to say how many people were injured. Officials said they

numbered more than 7,000. Hospitals short on supplies are literally overflowing with patients. That`s part of the reason why CNN`s Dr. Sanjay

Gupta, who traveled to Nepal, was asked to operate.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We`re in the sort of drive area of -- of a building that`s not -- it wasn`t actually functioning as a

hospital. This has become a hospital because there has been there has been such tremendous demand. You can see people who are -- who were lined up.

There have been ambulances the time have come in from time to time, taxicabs.

There was an 8-year-old girl who needed an operation. There was just such demand. There was 40 to 50 neurosurgical patients in this particular

area, many of them outside.

I want to show you, I don`t know if you can see this, because they gave permission to show this scan here. But just take a quick look, you

know, this is a CT scan. You`re -- they`re able to do CT scans here now, which is a big plus.

And over here, just this may be more than you can see, but that white area over there, that`s the blood collection. It`s called an epidural

hematoma. It`s basically bleeding on top of the brain. If it`s not treated, that can lead to someone dying or certainly having significant

neurological problems. So that was why the operation was performed, the operation that we were doing to try and remove that blood collection.

But again, you know, they asked for me to help. They`re asking anybody to sort of roll up their sleeves and help because of the tremendous

demand right now.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

(ON SCREEN)

Roll Call

AZUZ: From the Northwest to the Southeast, we`re going cross country on today`s call of the Roll.

First up, The Evergreen State. That`s Washington State and it`s in Mill Creek that we found The Hawks of Heatherwood Middle School.

To The Lone Star State, The Vikings are watching this Tuesday. They`re online at Pace Early College High School in Brownsville, Texas.

and in The Orange State, we`ve got The Panthers with us today. Sarasota Florida is home to Oak Park High School.

Yesterday afternoon, riots broke out in Baltimore, Maryland. Police say protesters attacked them, injuring seven officers. Some had broken

bones. One was unconscious.

It was the same day as the funeral for Freddie Gray. He was a 25- year-old African-American man who died on April 19th, a week after he was arrested.

That circumstances surrounding his arrest, his wounds, his death, they`re still unclear. But many protesters blame police.

Initial demonstrations were largely peaceful. Yesterday`s weren`t. Police cars were destroyed, a pharmacy was looted.

When we produced this show, Baltimore was unstable and unpredictable. Teachers, you can find the latest on this at CNN.com.

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court is hearing arguments on same-sex marriage, a contentious issue in America. It`s currently legal in most

states, in many cases, because judges ordered it to be.

Supporters say marriage itself is a fundamental right of every couple, gay or straight. They argue that bans on same-sex marriage discriminate

against gay and lesbian couples.

Opponents say same-sex marriage goes against a traditional view of marriage, between one man and one woman. And many opponents fear that if

it becomes legal nationwide, religious institutions and some businesses could be forced to violate their religious beliefs in providing services to

same-sex couples.

The high court`s ruling on this is expected in June.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (voice-over): The question before the Supreme Court, do same-sex couples have the constitutional right to marry?

At issue, a lower court decision that upheld same-sex marriage bans in Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee and Kentucky.

(VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just two years ago, in a major gay rights case, the Supreme Court ruled same-sex couples already legally married had the

right to receive federal benefits. But it dodged central questions.

On Tuesday, the justices will face them hold on.

Can states ban same-sex marriages and do states have to recognize lawful marriages from other states?

Those who are pushing for legalization of same-sex marriage nationwide say state bans violate equal protection under the law.

JAMES ESSEKS, AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION: This is a case about couples who have been together for years and all they want is to express

their love and commitment to each other in front of friends and family. That`s a basic American commitment, a basic American concept. There`s no

reason that they should be treated differently than other people.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But John Bursch will argue before the court the state bans should remain, saying this isn`t about how to define marriage,

but who decides.

JOHN BURSCH, FORMER MICHIGAN SOLICITOR GENERAL: Is it the people, through the democratic process, where this issue has always been decided,

or is it the courts?

And it`s the position of the states that the people get to decide.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thirty-seven states and Washington, DC now allow same-sex marriage and CNN polling show support is growing to an all-

time high. Five years ago, 49 percent of Americans saw same-sex marriage as being a constitutionally protected right. Now, that number has jumped

to 63 percent.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

AZUZ: Robotics is changing quickly and dramatically. On April 1st, you can find the show in our archives, we covered how scientists were using

a sort of radio transmitter to control living cockroaches. The goal was to use them in rescue operations.

As technology gets smaller and more powerful, even tinier robots, synthetic ones, could help people internally.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK GLASS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: When we think of robots, we think of factory floors and science fiction movies. In these underground research

labs in Zurich and Switzerland, the approach has been radically different - - robots so small, so miniature, they`re barely visible to the eye, enabled to go places almost beyond our imagination.

BRAD NELSON, MECHANICAL ENGINEER: We`re making micro and nanorobots that are guided by externally generated magnetic fields for use in the

human body.

GLASS: Brad Nelson is a mechanical engineer that likes to think small, very small. He`s a pioneer in a field that`s only existed for the

last decade or so -- nanorobotics.

NELSON: To give you an idea how small these are, if I had a teaspoon, I could fit about three billion of them in a teaspoon.

GLASS (on camera): Three billion?

It`s kind of unimaginable.

NELSON: Is it kind of unimaginable, yes.

GLASS: Yes.

NELSON: Well, the first challenges were how to make these things move.

GLASS (voice-over): The inspiration comes from nature, the E. Coli bacterium in particular, which is propelled along by a rotating tail or so-

called flagellum.

NELSON: Now, we can`t make that motor. We don`t have the technology for that. But what we brought in were -- were some lessons we`ve learned

about magnetic fields and using magnetism to move -- move these things. So we -- we actually take these flagella and we magnetize them and then we

have a special rotating field, a special type of magnetic field we generate which allows them to swim.

GLASS: Having cracked propulsion, Nelson and his team worked on refining how the nanobots moved, how they danced, a waltz orchestrated on a

nano scale.

The nanobots are all manufactured in ultra clean rooms like this, specially lit for the purpose. Machines to maneuver them about are also

being designed and built. The target market is health care.

(ON SCREEN)

Make, Create, Innovate

(END VIDEO TAPE)

Before We Go

AZUZ: Some animals are so small and cute, you just want to put them in your pocket and take them to school. This ain`t one of them.

Say hello to Mollisquama SP, better known under the nickname, pocket shark. It`s five and a half inches long, but it`s not called pocket shark

because it could fit in your pocket, it`s called that because it has its own pockets and scientists don`t know why.

This is North America`s first known specimen of a tiny shark.

If you were to pick it to pocket a shark, you`d want to picket a pocket shark, because bull and tiger and great white are larger sharks that

like to bite. Find one that fits inside your coat and you won`t need a bigger boat. These puns are taking a dive.

Tomorrow, CNN STUDENT NEWS has more in-depth coverage.

END