CNN Student News Transcript: February 7, 2011

February 6, 2011

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: I'm Carl Azuz and this is CNN Student News! We're back from the weekend with 10 minutes of commercial-free headlines, including why you shouldn't believe everything you read.

First Up: Egypt in Crisis

AZUZ: We're beginning in Egypt where there are some signs that things are slowly getting back to normal. In the capital city of Cairo, some shops and banks are re-opening, and traffic is starting to look like it did before the political protests of the past couple weeks. But there are some changes going on in the country. On Saturday, some key members of the ruling party resigned. And yesterday, Vice President Omar Suleiman met with representatives from groups that have protested against the Egyptian government. They talked about some ideas for how Egypt might move forward, although some of the protesters still out in the streets said the people meeting with Suleiman don't necessarily represent them.

We've been watching this political unrest in Egypt and other parts of the Middle East. Barbara Starr joins us now to talk about the potential impact that it could have on the American military.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: With unrest now sweeping across Egypt and neighboring countries, new questions about whether it's a security crisis here at the Pentagon. A quick look at the map tells you how deeply tied the U.S. military is to regimes across the Middle East and Persian Gulf.

In Egypt, the U.S. provides around $1.3 billion a year in military aid. In return, the U.S. gets vital military air, land and sea access. U.S. warships transit the Suez Canal on their way to and from the Persian Gulf. Loss of the canal could lead to catastrophic delays and a crisis.

In Yemen, where President Saleh is facing demonstrations and has already said he won't run for re-election, the U.S. has been quietly training Yemeni forces to go after a rising threat from al Qaeda. The U.S. has conducted drone and missile strikes inside Yemen. The question: will a new government cooperate with U.S. counterterrorism efforts?

In Jordan, King Abdullah is facing increasing discontent due to rising prices and unemployment. Jordan remains one of the U.S.'s closest allies in the War on Terror. Jordan's intelligence services secretly operate against key al Qaeda targets. Jordan has also helped train Iraqi forces, and Jordanian troops serve in Afghanistan.

Three key Gulf allies provide other assistance. Qatar is home of the regional headquarters of the U.S. Central Command, which oversees the region and keeps a close eye on Iran. Kuwait is a staging area for U.S. troops moving in and out of Afghanistan and Iraq. And Bahrain is home to the U.S. Fifth Fleet, which patrols the Persian Gulf and pirate-infested waters off Somalia.

The U.S. spends billions of dollars in military aid and assistance across the region in return for all of this access. But the question may now be if the social unrest that is emerging leads to regime change, will the new regimes want to do the old business with the U.S. military? Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEO)

Source: CNN.
Link: http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/studentnews/02/06/transcript.mon/.