CNN Student News - May 25, 2016 - English Sub/ CC - Wed, 05/25/16

A major battle has begun for a city in Iraq, and that's where we begin today's show. I'm Carl Azus,

thank you for watching. Fallujah is located in central Iraq, along the banks of the Euphrates River.

It's been controlled by the ISIS terrorist group since early 2014. In fact, it was the first Iraqi city that ISIS

captured as part of its plan to create its own Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. The fight to take Fallujah back

involves Iraqi troops, police, and militias and they're supported by US led air strikes. But trapped in the

crossfire between these forces and the ISIS fighters who control the city, an estimated 10, 000 civilian families,

according to the United Nations. The Iraqi Air Force dropped leaflets on the city, telling residents how

they can get out safely. But activists in the area say ISIS is not allowing civilians to go and that some have

died trying to leave. Falluja is where dozens of US troops were killed during the Iraq war in 2004.

It's a strategic city that's no stranger to terrorist or violence. Falluja has a long history of bloody battles.

It's considered A hotbed of Sunni insurgent groups.

This was the first city to fall to ISIS months before any other city in Iraq, in January of 2014. Extremist groups

like ISIS and Al Qaeda in Iraq before that used Falluja as a symbol of Sunni resistance. Now for the

Shias of Iraq, many of them feel that a lot of the terrorist attacks that target them, whether it's ISIS or Al Qaeda

in Iraq before that, those attacks, they feel, stem from Falluja, especially with its proximity to Baghdad.

So they really have wanted to see ISIS cleared out of that city for a very long time.

Now with this new offensive underway right now, it's expected to last a very long time and expected to be

bloody if history is anything to go by.

Here what remains a major issue is the civilians who may still be trapped inside that city.

The head of security for the US Transportation Security Administration has lost his job.

A house of representatives committee announced the change earlier this week. It followed a congressional

hearing on mismanagement at the TSA. The organization's in charge of screening passengers and

cargo at airports across the US. But the Department of Homeland Security which oversees the TSA says,

it's had a number of security failures recently and some have swelled long lines at airport checkpoints,

causing hundreds of passengers to miss their flights. The TSA says, Kelly Hogan wasn't fired specifically

for doing anything wrong, but that the agency wanted a different approach to security leadership.

It's saying that a number of management changes are ahead, and that they'll deliver better

leadership and screening operations at American airports.

Starting in Brazil on today's call of the roll, the nation has 26 states and in the northeast state of Ceara Hello

to all of our viewers at Escola de Ensino Medio Liceu do Crato. San Juan Hills High School is next, from

the US state of California. The Stallions are roaming in San Juan Capistrano. And one state over in Arizona,

we've got some Wolverines watching today.

Mountain Vista Middle School rounds out our roll from San Tan Valley.

The Walkman, the floppy disk, the dot matrix printer, and the VHS, the video home system.

These are some of the inventions of the 1970s, that have become obsolete with the passage of time,

and the progress of technology. But there are some designs of the disco era that we can't imagine

living without. Email, the first video game, cell phones, and one thing that doesn't get a lot of credit but has

revolutionized shopping, the barcode.

On June 26, 1974, a pack of Juicy Fruit gum made history when it was the first item to ever be scanned via

a state of the art technology, the bar code. And now, more than 40 years later, 5 billion bar codes

are scanned every day across the world.

The code itself, you know those black lines of varying width on the label was inspired by mores code.

But the holy smokes component of the innovation was how it was scanned, by lasers. Lasers had

been the stuff of nerd fantasy until the early 1960's, when the Hughes Aircraft Company unveiled the

first one at a press conference. A Los Angeles newspaper reported the story underneath the headline,

LA Man DIscovers Science Fiction Death Ray. But the fact of the matter is, no one knew what to do with that

new technology until that June morning in 1974 when a pack of Juicy Fruit gum in Ohio changed the world.

Today, bar codes are the unsung heroes that make everything from shipping, into boarding an airplane to

keeping track of medication possible. But the biggest beneficiary is retail. Think about a grocery store from

yesteryear, every individual item had to be marked with a price and the cashier had to manually input it

into the register. So thanks to the bar code, you're waiting in the checkout line a whole lot less. And the

stores themselves have benefited big time. The bar codes allow them to keep accurate real time inventory.

That's a major advance in efficiency. Even in the costs in groceries staff their jobs.

For about 20 people who live in a housing project in Richmond, Virginia, Craig Dodson has become a sort

of father figure. The 37 year old leads a non profit organization called Richmond Cycling Core. It allows

young people who's opportunities are extremely limited and who's schools are some of the lowest

performing to join cycling teams and to train to ride. The lessons and the benefits go far beyond the bike trails.

All right. Come on back guys. Rows of five.

The thing is for you, you got to get in the woods, all right?

And then settle into your rhythm, you know what I mean?

Stay positive, run, run, there you go that's how it's done.

All during the race, we see our kids are going through this rollercoaster of emotion.

Come on, Jay. I know you fell dude, but you got this. What a lot of people can't see is that our kids have the

equivalent of ten suitcases each of baggage that they are carrying on that bike.

The kids live in Richmond Public Housing. It's not just bad because of drugs, violence, guns.

Goodbye.

You ain't gotta swerve. You gotta tighten up, man. I'm not playing with you right now, man.

I'm being serious. You're clowning way too hard. That's why we've been on you so hard.

Matt's gonna be here in the morning to pick you up. We're tired of getting messages from everyone

that you're ducking school. It's gotta stop or you're gonna fail 9th grade.

We gotta get Antonio. Our organization is not about giving kids positive life experiences through bikes.

Our job is to get them out of public housing. The bad news is you gotta little suspension.

So we can pick him up in the morning this week, put him to work at least.

That's what I do here with him.

This is a war to me.

What time do you wake up?

It's me against the circumstances these kids live in. Thought I was gonna let you off the chain, man?

You come in and hold them accountable and it shows a level of care that their not use to.

He taught me to be your own person. Don't be what you live around. You never give up.

I'm so proud of you man.

We see the side of these kids that is genius. There are so many things that we wish the world could see.

These are kids that have been let down.

Guys, we'll pick you up tomorrow, man, at the same time, all right?

My promise to them is, I'm not going to leave you. Good job, today. All right, I'll see you Thursday.

All right.

Those of you who were not Star Wars fans are gonna see this and think, okay, well loud sliding door.

Those of you who are Star Wars fans might hear it and think

So again, the R2- D2 screaming door.

Maybe the laughter is not as infectious as the viral Chewbacca mask video. But it certainly made

some folks Chewbac- up to hear it again thinking it was R2- D2 good to Skywalk through just Ob- 1 time.

That's it for today's pun solo, it's part of my Jabba and for putting up with them. Yoda the best.

CNN Student News, we'll catch you Vader.