CNN news 2012-03-16 加文本

cnn news 2012-03-16

CARL AZUZ, HOST, cnn STUDENT NEWS: Hi, I`m Carl Azuz, and this is cnn Student News. Wanted to slice out a little time to wish everyone a happy Pie Day on this March 14th, 3-14 -- OK. Let`s go ahead and get to today`s headlines.

Two primaries, two caucuses, 110 delegates: that`s what was at stake yesterday in the race for the Republican presidential nomination.

AZUZ (voice-over): You know the candidates by now, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, U.S. Representative Ron Paul, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and former Senator Rick Santorum.

The battle for most of those 110 delegates happened in Mississippi and Alabama. Those were the states that held primary elections yesterday. And they were close ones, too close to call when we produced this program last night.

The caucuses were in Hawaii and American Samoa. Those results were still coming in last night as well. You can get all the latest details, of course, from Tuesday`s contest right on our home page. You go to the "Spotlight" section, click on the link to the cnn Election Center.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Today`s Shoutout goes out to Mr. Moss` sociology class at Farson-Eden High School in Farson, Wyoming.

On the periodic table, cerium, promethium and europium are all what? Here we go. Are they noble gases, halogens, alkali metals or rare earth elements? You`ve got three seconds, go.

These are all part of the rare earth elements group, many of which are used in elections. That`s your answer, and that`s your Shoutout.

AZUZ: You might find some rare earth elements in your phones, and of course we`re also talking about things like flat screen TVs, any sort of electronics, really. Luckily, rare earth elements, despite being called rare, actually aren`t rare. In fact, we know most of them come from China.

AZUZ (voice-over): That country produces about 97 percent of the world`s rare earth elements. But other nations accuse China of hoarding these minerals. The U.S., Japan and the European Union are challenging China`s restrictions on how much of the materials get sent out of the country.

China says its policy meets international standards.

AZUZ: The countries involved think this is important because of what these rare earth elements can be used for. Chad Myers explains what they can do.

CHAD MYERS, cnn METEOROLOGIST: They will power your battery. They actually -- they`re the part that makes the power.

They will turn red, green and blue, which are the colors of your TV set. They will make a tiny magnet, which in, with real magnets, would be this size, they could be almost down to the size of a quarter for the same amount of power, therefore making very small motors or aerospace or for spacecraft or for satellites that go up.

They are elements, they are plentiful in the world. They are all over the place. But a long time ago, China really reduced the cost of them and a lot of mines just basically went out of business. They couldn`t compete. Now China makes 97 percent of these minerals. They don`t want to give them away any more.

They want to make things with them, and sell the things rather than just give away the elements, color TVs, smartphones, wind turbines, all of these things rely on these rare earth elements. They are very powerful things. And they`re in the periodic table. There are 15 here.

The lanthanides here, down on the bottom, and then the 21 and 39 here in the middle are the -- are the biggest ones that we need. And you need them to make -- and to make anything, really, that`s now high-tech.

And here`s the deal. China says we`re just not going to give them away and let you make the things. We`re going to make the things and then sell them for higher value than just giving away the elements. That`s the issue here.