(CNN Student News) -- October 27, 2009



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Transcript



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NATISHA LANCE, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: A member of the military is making history. We'll explain how in today's edition of CNN Student News. Hi, everyone. Carl Azuz is off this week. I'm Natisha Lance.



First Up: Afghan Crashes



LANCE: First up, Pakistan and Afghanistan. The countries share a border, and they also share a common problem: threats from militant groups and terrorists like the Taliban and al Qaeda. It's an issue facing both nations' governments, and one that the U.S. government is concerned about as well. That's why President Obama has been holding a series of meetings with some of his advisers. They're reviewing the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Samantha Hayes has the latest on those meetings and on the violence in the region.



(BEGIN VIDEO)



SAMANTHA HAYES, CNN CORRESPONDENT, WASHINGTON, D.C.: Two helicopter crashes make it the deadliest day in four years for Americans in Afghanistan. While a NATO security force spokesman says enemy fire is not to blame, the loss of 14 Americans comes while President Barack Obama is considering a request to send thousands more troops to the region to fight al Qaeda. The president addressed service men and women in Jacksonville, Florida Monday, after a White House meeting with his national security team.



U.S. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Fourteen Americans gave their lives, and our prayers are with these service members, their civilian colleagues and the families who loved them.



HAYES: The deadliest of the two crashes happened following a raid on suspected drug traffickers, and three DEA agents were among those killed. Also among the dead, three U.S. civilians, members of the embassy community. The State Department says the efforts of civilians and other nonmilitary personnel are essential to the overall mission.



JACOB LEW, DEPUTY SECRETARY OF STATE: Improving Afghan governance, providing security, justice, jobs and services, and giving the Afghan people a meaningful alternative, as much as possible, to the Taliban's recruiting.



HAYES: Democratic Senator John Kerry, off of a recent trip to the region, addressed those efforts and the U.S. relationship with the Afghan government in a Washington speech.



SEN. JOHN KERRY, (D) MASSACHUSETTS: The fact that the Afghan government has not prosecuted a single high level drug trafficker damages all of our efforts because it goes to the fundamental question of credibility.



HAYES: President Obama's White House meeting was the sixth in a series of high-level discussions about what to do in Afghanistan, as the administration awaits results from that country's November 7th presidential runoff. For CNN Student News, I'm Samantha Hayes.



(END VIDEO)



I.D. Me



CNN STUDENT NEWS: See if you can I.D. Me! I was born in 1939 in Searchlight, Nevada. I was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986, and I'm currently the Senate Majority Leader, which means I'm the highest ranking member of the Senate's majority party. I'm Harry Reid, a Democrat who is the senior senator from Nevada.



Public Option



LANCE: And in that role as majority leader, it's Sen. Reid's job to help combine health care bills from different committees into a single bill that can be presented to the entire Senate. Yesterday, Sen. Reid announced that the combined bill will include a government-run health care program; what's been called the public option. During his announcement, Reid also said that the bill will let individual states choose not to take part in the public option. They would have until the year 2014 to make that decision.



This has been one of the most controversial issues in the debate over health care reform. Critics argue that if companies use the public option, then some people might lose the health care coverage that
What does a proposed health care bill address? What will be offered to Afghans? what are we considering u.s. efforts to do?
program; governance, providing security, justice, jobs and services, a request
question: What does a proposed health care bill address?, answer: program; | question: What will be offered to Afghans?, answer: governance, providing security, justice, jobs and services, | question: what are we considering u.s. efforts to do?, answer: a request