(CNN Student News) -- November 30, 2009



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• Afghanistan  • Honduras • Dubai, United Arab Emirates



Transcript



THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.



CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: You are in the homestretch -- just a few weeks left to go before the holiday break. And we'll help get you there. I'm Carl Azuz; this is CNN Student News.



First Up: Troops in Afghanistan



AZUZ: Big announcement scheduled for tomorrow night: what President Obama plans to do about Afghanistan. There are 68,000 U.S. troops there right now. And you know the president's been meeting with advisors for weeks, trying to figure out how the U.S. should approach the war there. He says he wants to get the decision right, but he's been criticized for taking too much time to make it. There is one thing that some critics and supporters of the president seem to agree on, though: that he needs to talk about the U.S. mission in Afghanistan.



SEN. RICHARD LUGAR, (R), INDIANA: The president needs to start by outlining the war we are in. Now by that, I mean, the war not against the Taliban, Al Qaida, but what is, at least, the objective of continuing in Afghanistan or in any place? That is basic.



SEN. JACK REED, (D), RHODE ISLAND: The president has to speak to the American people, remind them why we're there, and also lay out a strategy, not just the reflexive response to a recommendation, but a strategy that involves protecting the homeland from Al Qaida.



Cyber Monday



AZUZ: Good news and bad news about Black Friday, that super shop-off right after Thanksgiving. More Americans showed up in stores than last year -- good for business. But they were spending less money on average -- not good for business. Still, online sales were on the up and up this year, and that could be a good sign heading into Cyber Monday, explained now by Errol Barnett.



(BEGIN VIDEO)



ERROL BARNETT, CNN CORRESPONDENT, ATLANTA: Over the past decade Cyber Monday has become one of the biggest online shopping days of the year. We typically see this on the Monday following Thanksgiving or in the days leading up to Christmas. Huge spikes in online retail sales. People want to avoid those long lines in-store so they head online to snap up some of the bargains.



So exactly how much are people spending? Well take a look at the numbers here. After last year's financial collapse, $536 million was spent online in the U.S. on the Friday after Thanksgiving. On the following Monday, you see it there, online sales swelled to $846 million and this year's numbers, they're still coming in, but you can expect them to go higher. You see, even though a 1% drop in overall retail sales are predicted this year, comScore expects a 3% rise in online retail revenue for the months of November and December. That's over last year, which should amount to almost $29 billion of retail sales. Now that's good news, but it's not great news. Typically we see at least a 20% jump for holiday retail sales. From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Errol Barnett.



(END VIDEO)



Shoutout



Time for the Shoutout! You're looking at a map of Central America. Which of these countries is Honduras? Is it A, B, C or D? You've got three seconds--GO! Honduras is between Guatemala and Nicaragua, and it touches both the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. That's your answer and that's your Shoutout!



Honduras Voting



AZUZ: Sunday's vote was no ordinary election in Honduras. Things there, still at a political standstill, months after President Manuel Zelaya was forced out of office in June. He was accused of trying to illegally change Honduras' constitution.
What is used to help students understand today's featured news stories? What is estimated from Black Friday to Cyber Monday?
CNN 3% rise in online retail revenue
question: What is used to help students understand today's featured news stories?, answer: CNN | question: What is estimated from Black Friday to Cyber Monday?, answer: 3% rise in online retail revenue