Iraq War Anniversary

Aired March 19, 2013 - 04:00:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

CARL AZUZ, CNN ANCHOR: It`s March and the madness is upon us. Hello, everyone. I`m Carl Azuz. Later on today, we`re going to tell you exactly how all of this came together.

But we`re starting today with an anniversary. It was exactly ten years ago, on March 19th, 2003 that the war in Iraq began.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: At this hour, American and coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm Iraq, to free its people and to (INAUDIBLE) the world from great danger.

(CHEERS)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Down, down, Saddam! Down, down Saddam.

BUSH: Major combat operation in Iraq have ended ...

(BOMBING)

(SHOOTING)

CROWD: (YELLING)

BUSH: By removing Saddam Hussein from power America is safer, and the world is better off. 

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ: You guys have grown up with this war. You`ve seen images like those, maybe learned phrases like "weapons of mass destruction, or shock and awe. For years, the war in Iraq was part of our daily lives. When it began ten years ago, Iraq was under the control of Saddam Hussein, the long time president was forced out of power and in the hiding as U.S. Coalition troops moved through the country and took control of Baghdad, the capital city. Hussein was captured in December of 2003. The war went on for eight more years, as U.S. Coalition and Iraqi forces fought against insurgents. By the time the war did end, Iraqis had voted in their country`s first free election in half a century. Tens of thousands of lives, troops and civilians have been lost and for many of the people who lived through it, like the family that Arwa Damon sat down with, life had changed forever.

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ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And why did you --

BASMA AL-KHATEEB, MOTHER: I still got hope back then.

SAMA WAMEED, DAUGHTER: Yeah, we didn`t lose hope.

DAMON: Right now, it`s worth than 2006, `7 and `8?

AL-KHATEEB: Of course, this is what we said, it`s entrenching. ZEINA WAMEED, DAUGHTER: That`s frustrating. I was depressed. All my close friends left the country. 

DAMON: Did you ever say I want to go to?

WAMEED: No, because I know that she is doing the right thing, that what not living - I know that there is hope.

SAMA WAMEED: We trust her.

DAMON: But you`ve changed your mind now.

AL-KHATEEB: Six, seven months ago.

SAMA WAMEED: When I walk, I don`t feel comfortable because I feel threatened that someone might hurt me or, you know, harass me or do anything to me. And I can`t feel safe unless I`m with my mother or with someone who is older than me.

DAMON: So, you, guys, are just online all the time?

SAMA WAMEED: Yeah.

ZEINA WAMEED: Yeah.

AL-KHATEEB: I have to (ph).

ZEINA WAMEED: I spend most of the time on my phone here.

AL-KHATEEB: One is not enough. So, it`s mostly their life.

DAMON: So, you`re living in a virtual world, effectively.

ZEINA WAMEED: Yeah, yeah, we can say that.

AL-KHATEEB: And when they meet, now they meet at home.

DAMON: A lot of people have a tendency to look at the numbers. They look at the numbers of people who were killed from - but from everything you three are describing, that`s not your barometer.

ZEINA WAMEED: No.

AL-KHATEEB: No. It`s about how to live like human being.

ZEINA WAMEED: There is no future here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Today`s Shoutout goes out to Mr. McCurry`s social studies classes at Bishop Ryan High School in Maina, North Dakota.

The island of Cyprus is located in what sea? You know what to do. Is it the Baltic Sea, Caribbean Sea, Ionian Sea or Mediterranean Sea? You`ve got three seconds, go.

Cyprus is an island nation in the Mediterranean Sea that`s home to a little more than 1 million people. That`s your answer and that`s your shoutout.

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AZUZ: You might guess from that population that Cyprus isn`t too big. If it were U.S. State, it would be one of the smallest. But something happening on that island is sending shock waves around the world. Cyprus is having financial problems, its economy is in a bad recession, and its banks need help. Cyprus is also part of the E.U., the European Union, the organization is set to offer Cyprus a bailout to help. It`s done that for some other countries before. These bailouts come with conditions, and for Cyprus the E.U is asking for a tax on bank customers. People with more money in their bank accounts would pay a higher tax rate. That news had some people running to banks and ATMs. They wanted to take money out to avoid the tax. Why does this matter outside of Cyprus? If the E.U has to give another country a bailout, there are concerns it might make this same rule again. So people might not feel like their savings are safe in banks. For now in Cyprus, the government has ordered all of the country`s banks to stay close until at least Thursday. That will give the island`s lawmakers a chance to debate this tax.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is this legit? The violin is the smallest string instrument in the standard orchestra.

Totally true! Violins are also the string instruments with the highest pitch.

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AZUZ: Adrian Anantawan started playing the violin when he was nine. He went to a music institute on a full scholarship, he`s played in concert halls, at the Olympics, at the White House. And he`s done it all with just one hand. Adrian was born without the other one, and in addition to performing he also works on music education.

March is music in our school`s months, Adrian knows personally how the arts can make a difference.

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ADRIAN ANANTAWAN, EDUCATOR, VIOLINIST: Two days ago I had (ph) playing for the dalai lama, and at the very end of the concert he comes out to me, and I was just thinking, he was going to do a bow, and that`s about it. But he came up and he like put my hands together, and put his hands around mine and he just, you know, our foreheads touched for six or seven seconds, and I`m just thinking to myself, my goodness, where has this instrument and music taken me?

Growing up without an arm, it seems trivial now. But when you are in grade one or two, kids can exclude you on many different levels. I was very shy. I didn`t talk very much. And all of a sudden I had an instrument in my hand, and I think that the instrument and playing music helped me come out of my shell.

What I`m doing now, is focusing on children growing up with disabilities and finding ways to use technology or adaptive physical tools for them to find meaningful, not only access, but meaningful participation with their peers in music.

Well, in classical music especially because it is an acoustic instrument, the way that you`re built physically influences to a very high degree how you sound. So I`m not able to use my entire bow, for instance. So, therefore I put more pressure on my bow to put more weight into the strings and produce more sound. And it sort of gives me a bit of a sonic fingerprint.

I`ve been fortunate that I found some recognition in the work that I do, but it`s nowhere more profound than things that are going on with children with disabilities every single day.

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AZUZ: Now, to return the sound off. Get it? If you are on Facebook, head to our Facebook page. We want you to talk to us about the musicians that you think are the most impressive or inspiring. And teachers, you can talk to us about today`s show on our homepage. Look for the feedback link in the Resources box at cnnstudentnews.com.

We started in front of this giant NCW tournament display, and we`re going to end with a sped up view of how something like that gets built. You could say a tower bracketing today show.

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