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Storm System Rips Through Midwestern United States

Aired November 19, 2013 - 04:00   ET


CARL AZUZ, CNN ANCHOR: On Sunday, Kurt (ph) got a text from his wife that said she`d seen a tornado about a mile away. Five minutes later she sent him another that said their house was gone. They weren`t the only one this happened to. The storm system that ripped through parts of the Midwestern United States on Sunday led to reports of more than 60 tornadoes. Authorities say at least seven people were killed, hundreds more were injured. The enhanced Fujita scale rates tornadoes based on how much damage they cause. The one that hit the city of Washington, Illinois was classified as an EF4. That means its winds were between 170 and 190 miles per hour. It left people relieved to be alive, but struggling to recover.


UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s on the ground! It`s on the ground!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The tornado warning has been issued until 3 P.M. Eastern standard time for the following counties.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get to the center most portion of your home and take cover. I`m hearing things right now. Check ...


UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think - we may need to take shelter right now ourselves.


UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We need to go up here.


UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We will be back when we can.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right. We`ll be right back.



UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our father`s watching (inaudible)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I go outside. And I heard this. It`s like a train. Like a loud train. I said this isn`t right. I said it`s not thunder, it`s not - and it just kept coming. Kept coming, getting louder.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The garage is sitting there with the truck. It`s gone - it`s laying there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was tearing it apart like it was jut cardboard box. I mean the siding, which is getting ripped apart.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is the clothing I owe now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A lot of people have a pile of rubble still, and I mean I don`t have anything. My whole - it`s gone. I don`t know where it went.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`ll make it through it. And we`re just so grateful that the Lord preserved so many lives here.


AZUZ: Moving now to a milestone on Wall Street. Yesterday, the Dow Johnson Industrial Average topped 16,000. People used the Dow as indicator of how the entire stock market is doing, and this is the first time it`s ever been over 16,000. The Dow ended the day lower than that. But still, good news for investors. Experts say, the Federal Reserve or Fed is a big part of why the stock market is doing well. The Fed is the country`s Central Bank. It`s responsible for creating and maintaining the country`s fiscal or economic policies. And recently, many of its policies have been aimed at helping support the U.S. economy. So, some analysts are debating whether this is a boost or a bubble.




QUEST: This is what the important thing to bear in mind is. We`re not watching a Dow that`s hitting 16,000 in normal economic circumstances.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because corporate earnings are fantastic.

ROMANS: It`s not doing it on its own.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, it`s doing it because we are (inaudible) exceptional printing money accommodative policy. Jana and Yan (ph) had talked about it. This is not a normal economy. It`s not a normal market. It`s been artificially (inaudible).

ROMANS: And some conservatives say, it`s a sugar high being helped by the Fed it`s helping the richest Americans, people who invest in stocks but it hasn`t really resolved in a lot of jobs growth yet, and that`s something - you know, Janet Yellen would like some jobs growth.

QUEST: And do watch out for that correction, which may not come until the Fed actually starts tapering, but come it will. There is no doubt about it, and that`s when the investor has to hold in ...

ROMANS: But let`s look at tapering, I think. So people who might think why are they talking about tapering? It`s the training wheels on the economy, and the Fed has training wheels on the economy. Those training wheels will come off. Will the bike wobble?



UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What expensive training wheels! ROMANS: They certainly are.


AZUZ: Teachers, we have an explainer available on the stock market. You can check it out at

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s time for "The Shoutout." How many years are in a score? If you think you know it, then shout it out! Is it four, 15, 20 or 75? You`ve got three seconds, go!

A score means 20. So, four score and seven years means 87 years. That`s your answer and that`s your shoutout.

If four score and seven years sounds familiar, it should - it`s the start of the Gettysburg Address, one of the most famous speeches in American history. President Lincoln gave it 150 years ago today. In honor of that anniversary, we`re sharing five things to know about the Gettysburg Address.

Number one, it was short. Just 273 words total. The first speaker that day, Edward Everett, talked for two hours. When President Lincoln stepped forward to give his speech, it only lasted two minutes.

Next, the legacy of the speech. Lincoln talked about the founding principles of the country: liberty and equality. And about the need to preserve democracy. "Government of the people, by the people, for the people." Another famous line, "The world will little note nor long remember what we say here." That might have been a little misleading: historians say President Lincoln saw a chance to talk to Americans about the significance of the Civil War. They say he put a lot of thought into the exact words he chose.

Number four, the event: the speech happened at the dedication for the National Cemetery of Gettysburg. It was the site of one of the fiercest battles of the Civil War. And the Union`s victory marked a turning point in that conflict.

Finally the reaction: it wasn`t all positive. One Pennsylvania newspaper referred to the Gettysburg Address as "silly remarks". The paper retracted that statement this month. While opinion may have been split in 1863, the past 150 years have ensured that the Gettysburg address will always hold a place of significance in American history.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: See, if you can I.D. me. I`m home to Victoria Land in the Weddell Sea. I don`t have an official population, although researchers set up camps inside my borders. I was established as a continent at 1840. I`m Antarctica. The coldest, driest and windiest continent on the planet.

AZUZ: It`s summertime in Antarctica. Well, that`s relative. Let`s say it`s the time of year when temperatures might get a degree or two above freezing near the coast. But scientists say that could have been enough to melt some of the sea ice around a tremendous iceberg. It started years ago with a crack in the Pine Island Glacier. Now, any iceberg headed towards shipping lanes could be a problem. There was a movie about that a few years ago.




AZUZ: But this isn`t any iceberg. It`s the size of Singapore. It`s twice the size of Atlanta. It`s enormous. And intrepid explore could probably name it and colonize it if the whole melting thing weren`t a factor. It is. But scientists say that could take up to a year. So, if this iceberg drifts in the shipping lanes, it could be threatening and rerouting sailors for months before it dissolves into the sea. What can be done about it? The same thing that can be done about any iceberg. Track it. Chart (ph) its path. Until anyone who might be in that pass to steer clear.

It`s Tiger Tuesday on our "Roll Call". It`s time for us to scratch three more schools off our list: in New York, we`ve got the Tigers from Mamaroneck Avenue School. Then we jumped down to the Mansfield High Tigers from Mansfield, Texas and we`re bringing it home with Mountain Home, the Mountain Home High School Tigers from Mountain Home, Idaho.

Shifting gears now to talk NASCAR. Richard Petty, the king won seven titles. Dale Earnhardt, the intimidator, also won seven. Jimmie Johnson has been known for a while as five time. That`s a reference to the five spring cup titles he`s won. Time for a name change. Johnson took home his sixth championship this past weekend. That`s sixth titles in eight years. Easy to understand why some people are calling Jimmie Johnson one of the best stock car drivers ever, and of the best athletes in the world.

Former NFL quarterback and now sport analyst Donovan McNabb doesn`t agree. He doesn`t consider Johnson or any drivers to be athletes. Johnson responded saying yes, I am, and so is every other driver in one of these race cars. What do you say? Are NASCAR drivers athletes? If you are 13 old, head to our blog at If you are already on Facebook,

Usually, when you say someone walks on water, you mean it figuratively. Not here. This is an annual project for students in an architecture class. Technical name, "Materials and Methods of Construction." General name, "Students Walk on Water" or the y try to with these shoes they made for the attempt. The lake is 175 feet across. First one at the other side gets 500 bucks. Anyone who gets across gets an "A". Otherwise your grade is based on how far you get. The class might be a required course, or it could be an elective. But if you`re in a design, the challenge is guaranteed to what your appetite. Float an idea, see if it holds water, and then hit the lake, boy, and see. That`s all the time we have for now. We`ll sure be back with you tomorrow. For more CNN STUDENT NEWS. See you then.