quick guide&transcript:nasa oks hubble m**sion,john kerry makes controversial remarks
posted:0411 gmt(1211 hkt),october 31,2006
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(cnn student news)-november 1,2006
quick guide
helping hubble-find out why nasa has changed its mind and decided to service the hubble space telescope.
fighting words-learn how a politician who's not running for office th** year sparked national controversy.
america votes 2006-d**cover why many voters in ohio are once again concerned about their election-day ballots.
transcript
th** ** a rush transcript.th** copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
shannon cook,cnn student news anchor:hello and welcome to cnn student news!i'm shanon cook.nasa's eye on the universe ** now scheduled for its last repair job.why the shuttle will play"mr.fix-it"again.was it a d**respectful remark?or a d**proportionate response?why one democrat's words could come back to haunt him.and in ohio,confusion on the eve of an election.why there's fear some votes won't be counted.
first up:helping hubble
cook:first up today,nasa's dec**ion to make a last repair call on the hubble space telescope.hubble m**sions once were common for nasa's space shuttle fleet.but that ended after the columbia d**aster in 2003.since then,all shuttles h**e docked at the space station to give crews a"safe h**en"if problems ar**e.but the last trip to hubble won't go to the space station.here's kyung lah with more.
(begin video clip)
kyung lah,cnn correspondent:to a standing ovation,nasa's top chief announced space's eye in the sky will get a final service call.
dr.michael griffin,nasa admin**trator:just under three years ago,nasa had to announce a very troubling dec**ion,that dec**ion being to cancel shuttle servicing m**sion for the hubble space telescope and today i'm here to announce a much pleasant dec**ion.
sound on tape:and liftoff,of space shuttle atlant**.
lah:two successful liftoffs th** summer with no large pieces of falling foam sealed the dec**ion for nasa.should there be a problem,nasa says it's confident the astronauts on the m**sion would be safe.
griffin:i can now stand in front of you and say that we h**e at least a couple of techniques that can affect small repairs which nonetheless we believe would survive entry.
lah:scient**ts at the goddard space flight center in greenbelt,maryland h**e been prepping for service m**sions,unsure if they would ever happen.now they're planning to install two new instruments and service the hubble's gyroscopes.allowing the orbiting telescope to continue capturing stunning views of the universe for another seven years.
preston burch,assoc.dir.for hubble:on servicing m**sion four we're going to give hubble another extreme makeover.we will extend hubble's operating lifetime for five additional years,which should keep us operating until well into 2013,and possibly longer.
lah standup:an astronaut who flew up to the hubble,when asked whether it's worth the r**k of going up there to repair it,said when you look at the science and the images from the hubble,it absolutely **.in washington,kyung lah,cnn student news.
(end video clip)
factcheck:hubble telescope
d**id kirschner,cnn reporter:the wonders of deep space revealed with extraordinary clarity.that's one of many spectacular achievements of the hubble space telescope.carried into space by shuttle d**covery in 1990,hubble has provided a startling view of the universe as it was 12 billion years ago;d**covered black holes at the center of many galaxies;helped establ**h the size and age of the universe and provided evidence that the expansion of the universe ** picking up speed.the importance of repair m**sions became evident within a few months of hubble's launch.a flaw was d**covered with hubble's main mirror which reduced the telescope's ability to focus on stars,planets and galaxies.but hubble's cameras were able to send back to earth images of bright objects far superior to any telescope on the ground.
fighting words
cook:politics ** littered with gaffes and costly m**statements.we might h**e the latest one.senator john kerry was giving a speech to students in california yesterday.and one thing he said has ** calling him a"troop-basher."kerry's aides say he"mangled"a prepared statement.and now some are wondering whether the former presidential nominee and vietnam veteran has mangled h** political future.brian todd has the story.
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brian todd,cnn reporter:not even running for office th** year-john kerry pulls a late-october surpr**e.
sen.john kerry,(d)massachusetts:if you make the most of it,you study hard,you do your homework,and you make an effort to be smart,you can do well.if you don't,you get stuck in iraq.
todd:those comments-at a california campaign event monday-set off a chain-reaction that could only be th** hot,days before an election.republican senator john mccain calls it an insult to americans in combat-calls for kerry to apologize.at the white house-
tony snow,white house press secretary:senator kerry not only owes an apology to those who are serving but also to the families of those who've given their lives in th**.th** ** an absolute insult.
todd:kerry's office **sues an extraordinary statement saying 'i'm not going to be lectured by a stuffed suit white house mouthpiece standing behind a podium.' all th**,about a comment kerry's camp says he didn't even mean.
a kerry aide tells cnn:he really meant students should learn their h**tory,or they might end up-like president bush-getting their country stuck in a place like iraq.in a news conference nearly 24-hours later,kerry calls h** remarks a botched joke.
kerry:if anybody thinks that a veteran would somehow criticize than 140,000 troops serving in iraq and not the president and h** people who put them there,they're crazy.
todd:but could the democrats' 2004 presidential torch-bearer h**e hurt h** party's momentum,heading into next week?analyst stuart rothenberg says he doesn't think so generally-but:
stuart rothenberg,rothenberg political report:from the democratic point of view,they want everything to be about george bush and the situation on the ground in iraq,and anything that draws attention away from that can't be ideal.
todd:also not ideal now,according to analysts:kerry's chances for the presidency in 2008,if he decides to run again.that's an eternity in politics,but some analysts believe the fact that th** got so nasty,so quickly-with some of the slashing remarks coming from kerry's camp-doesn't make him look thoughtful.or presidential.brian todd,cnn washington.
(end video clip)
word to the w**e
carl azuz,cnn student news:a word to the w**e
suffrage(suf'-rij)noun the right(or the exerc**e of the right)of voting
source:www.wordcentral.com
america votes 2006
cook:on tuesday,ohio voters will decide in races for governor,congressional seats,along with several state offices.a new state law requires voters to bring id with them,to protect against voter fraud.but there's fear the new law could d**courage some people from voting at all.kelli arena ** here with the ballot box changes that has everyone watching the buckeye state.
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kelli arena,cnn reporter:there's only a week to go before the election-and here in ohio,people are confused.a cleveland tv station ** hosting election officials who're taking voters' questions,and the switchboard ** lighting up.
switchboard operator:stuff about whether they need to h**e drivers license.whether the driver's license has to h**e their current address on it.
arena:ohio has a new law that says voters h**e to bring id to the polls.critics say it's too complex-and it's being applied differently from county to county.
norman robbins:it's not equal who gets affected by these laws and by th** confusion.it'll be people who move a lot.so their reg**tration has to be updated,there'll be problems with the updating,who moves a lot?census data tells us youth,low-income people and minorities.
arena:the young-the poor-minorities-they all tend to vote democratic-and that makes the new law politically controversial.inevitably,lawyers are involved,challenging the id law in court.a ruling won't come before wednesday-just six days before the polls open.time ** running out.
candice hoke:poll workers h**e to h**e possibly retraining,new materials.we don't know what standards are for election day right now.but certainly the law that we h**e ** confused.so something has to happen.
arena:and that from the woman appointed by cuyahoga county-ohio's most populous-to monitor the elections.and what about those electronic voting machines we've heard so much about?all of ohio's counties now h**e them,and poll workers in some places couldn't get them to work during the primaries in may.
young poll worker,off camera:i see you've done th** before.
barbara simmons,poll worker:yea.last election.but it was screwed up.
arena:there's a lot training th** time around,and poll workers are confident.
simmons:we'll get through it,we'll make it.
arena:michael vu-who runs cuyahoga county's board of elections ins**ts that he's optim**tic.
michael vu,cuyahoga county's board of elections:we h**e a plan in place to making sure that things go,run smoothly.
arena:whatever happens,a lot of people will be watching-state officials-independent observers-even citizens groups.
sharon lettman:we're not gonna le**e it up to just ** to do that part.we are citizen advocates,and we're advocating for democracy.
arena:of course,both political parties also h**e lawyers just waiting to pounce at the first hint of any trouble.
(end video clip)
before we go
cook:before we go,let's go back to the national pumpkin patch one time.in colorado,th** girthful gourd tipped the scales at 645 pounds!it must be prime pumpkin territory there.th** giant was only the third biggest in the state.in texas,these were entries in a carving contest held by a houston ad agency.there was"pumpkin theater","humpty...