CNN Student News - January 7, 2017 | The Trial of Bo Bergdahl | The Dead Sea is Dying

The Trial of Bo Bergdahl; Kraft and Heinz Make A Deal; The Dead Sea is Dying
Almost a year after the controversial prisoner exchange that freed him, U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has been charged with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. Get a recap of the events that led to yesterday's development. Also covered: the planned merger between two U.S. food companies, an annual migration of sharks, and the sinking levels of the world's lowest lake.

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Student News Anchor: Carl Azuz.

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This is CNN STUDENT NEWS.

I`m Carl Azuz at the CNN Center.

First up in today`s commercial-free coverage,
the U.S. Army has charged Sergeant Bo Bergdahl

with desertion and misbehavior before the

enemy when he left his post in Afghanistan.
Sergeant Bergdahl is expected to be court-martialed,

meaning he could be tried in a military court
for

his alleged crimes. If convicted, he could
be dishonorably discharged and imprisoned.

Bergdahl was the longest held U.S. prisoner
of war since the conflict in Vietnam. Securing

his release was a top priority for President
Obama,

who said the U.S. does not leave its soldiers
behind.

But the way the Obama administration secured
Bergdahl`s release was controversial. It didn`t

notify Congress about it 30 days in advance,
as

law requires. It exchanged five Taliban prisoners
held at Guantanamo Bay for Bergdahl. U.S.

intelligence reports have suggested that one
of these

former prisoners had since contacted the Taliban.

The night Bo Bergdahl disappeared from his
post in the summer of 2009, he was 23 years

old. The

Army sergeant`s gun, bullet-proof vest and
his night vision goggles were all found in

his bunk.

From that moment, the U.S. military would
spend almost five years looking for and negotiating

for Bergdahl`s release.

Our commanders are sparing no effort to find
this young soldier.

It`s a saga that still isn`t over for the
soldier who is now 28 years old.

When Bo Bergdahl disappeared, he was stationed
at a U.S. military outpost in Paktika Province,

in Southeastern Afghanistan. He was

supposed to be on a guard shift that night.
This was his first deployment as a U.S. soldier

and he had been in Afghanistan less than two
months.

Other soldiers in his unit have described
Bergdahl as a deserter and a traitor to his

country.

I think he just wanted to go on an adventure
without having anybody to answer to, without

having

anything to worry about. He wanted to be able
to go out and see Afghanistan for himself

without, you know, the Army stopping him.

Bergdahl would end up in the hands of the
Taliban. Intensive efforts to find Bergdahl

in those early days of his disappearance

failed. And before long, Bergdahl`s captors
would start showing off their prized capture

in propaganda videos.

In the propaganda, that the Army grounded
us in, in fact, this is exactly why we are

hated not only by the

afghans, but by many people in the world.

The U.S. government believed Bergdahl was
then passed around between Taliban captors

and members of what`s called the Haqqani

Network, which would have taken him into Pakistan
at some point.

For Bergdahl`s mother and father in Idaho,
these videos would be the only proof of life

they`d see of their son.

Get me to be released.

Frustrated by the slow progress in finding
his son, Bob Bergdahl grew out his beard as

a sign of solidarity with Bowe and started

teaching himself to speak Pashtu, the language
of his captors.

Bob Bergdahl would later receive scathing
criticism as a Taliban sympathizer for growing

the beard.

A father does not leave his son alone on the
battlefield.

Then in May of last year, after several years
of negotiating, the Obama administration agreed

to release five Taliban

prisoners held in Guantanamo Bay for Bowe
Bergdahl.

He was brought to this field in a remote area
of Khost Province and handed over to a U.S.

Special Forces unit. One of the soldiers told
Bowe

Bergdahl on the chopper ride out, "We`ve been
looking for you for a long time."

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Dallas.

Heinz probably makes you think of ketchup.
Other Heinz brands include Nancy`s, Ore Ida,

Poppers, Bagel Bites and Smart Ones. Kraft

brings to mind mac and cheese. Other Kraft
brands include A1, Capri Sun, Cracker Barrel,

Kool-Aid and Miracle Whip. According to "USA
Today," 98

percent of American households have some kind
of Kraft product in them.

The two businesses are planning to merge,
forming the Kraft Heinz Company. We say planning

because the merger must first be approved
by the

U.S. government, whose anti-trust laws aim
to prevent monopolies.

The Kraft Heinz Company would allow the businesses
to grow, to cut down on costs and to better

accommodate the changing tastes of consumers
as

more Americans look for fresh local foods
over processed and shipped products.

Kraft Heinz would be the world`s fifth largest
food and beverage company.

A lot of you are dreaming of going to the
beach this summer. The sea, sand, sun and

swimming -- hopefully not with these. A massive
school of

sharks, likely black tips and spinners, was
recently spotted near the Louisiana coast.

Experts say it`s normal. They typically migrate
north as

the weather and water warm up. It may be a
little early this year, though. And while

black tipped sharks aren`t likely to eat you,
they do account for

about 16 percent of the shark attacks in Florida.
They`re relatively small sized. Black tips

usually weigh between 40 and 55 pounds. That
means the

bite wounds people sometimes get from them
are pretty minor.

Roll Call

Time for the call of the Roll.

Let`s see who`s watching and requesting a
mention at cnnstudentnews.com.

East Windsor High School is in Connecticut.
And it`s The Panthers who are stalking CNN

STUDENT NEWS from East Windsor.

Paducah Tilghman High School is in Kentucky.
Its mascot is the tornado and it`s whirling

our way from Paducah.

And in Central America, in the capital of
Guatemala, hello to the students at Colegio

Interamericano at Guatemala City.

Between the nations of Israel and Jordan is
a landlocked body of water whose shores are

more than 1,300 feet below sea level. It`s
The Dead Sea,

which is actually a lake. It`s called dead
because it`s so high in salt and minerals

that fish and plants can`t live in it.

Water levels in this lowest lake on Earth
are getting lower.

This is The Alito Hotel (ph), built on the
shores of the Dead Sea.

No one was around to see King Herod`s view,
but many middle-aged Israelis remember walking

through

this once swank lobby and right into the waves.

The Dead Sea is way, way down there.

My goodness, are you serious?

So where -- the water line was where?

The water line was actually right at the steps.
The demise of the Dead Sea is completely manmade.

This is not climate change. You

know, this is not an act of nature. The demise
of the Dead Sea is taking place under government

license.

WEIR: He shows me a mural of an old crusader
map of the Jordan Valley and it`s a great

way to get our bearings, to understand that
it all begins

in the Sea of Galilee, where Jesus took that
famous walk across the waves. That is the

main source of the River Jordan. And for centuries,
it flowed

into the Dead Sea with enough force to keep
up with rapid evaporation under that scalding

sun.

But in the last 50 years, warring neighbors
began draining the Jordan.

Israel took half of the River Jordan, another
quarter from Syria and another quarter from

Jordan.

WEIR: So there is no one villain in this manmade
disaster. It is a simple equation of too many

people and not enough cooperation.

As we drive down, down, down below sea level,
ears a popping, we see a liquid victim of

all that conflict -- a lake unlike any other,
smooth as

blueberry yogurt. Just imagine the elation
of ancient travelers seeing it for the first

time. Water! In the desert.

But then they got close and crunched across
a bizarro beach of salt. And instead of cool

refreshment, found a thick mineral soup that
stings the

eyes and burns the tongue.

No wonder that for centuries, the Dead Sea
filled visitors with dread.

WEIR: They say that splashing any of the Dead
Sea in your face is a sensation not unlike

being pepper-sprayed -- or salt and pepper-sprayed
I

suppose.

And so one must ease into the warm and viscous
water, which feels like 90 degrees and almost

slimy. But the floating, amazing.

You need a bit of core muscle to keep from
flipping over, but otherwise if not for the

blow torch sun, you could almost nap out here.

Now, getting out brings the instant urge to
shower. So for most, this is a been there,

done that kind of experience. But for hundreds
of

thousands of people a year, this is not entertainment,
it is medicine.

Before We Go

From the lowest lake on Earth to its largest
known cave. Son Doong Cave was discovered

in 1991, located near the border between Laos
and

Vietnam, it`s gigantic. It has a jungle inside
of it. One of its chambers is three miles

long.

And thanks to a number of cave-ins, it has
its own skylights.

A photographer used a drone to capture these
images of Son Doong. Ryan Deboodt says it

took him eight days and involved a lot of
near misses

with rocks.

That`s easy to see. You stalagmite destroy
your drone flying it through such stalag-tight

spaces. But it would be kind of spelunk-headed

not to cave at the opportunity.

I`m Carl Azuz and I am done droning on for
the day.