CNN news 2012-03-22 加文本

cnn news 2012-03-22

CARL AZUZ, HOST, cnn STUDENT NEWS: The end of winter brought a huge snowstorm to one U.S. state, but probably not a state you associate with snow. That story`s coming up. I`m Carl Azuz. This is cnn Student News.

First up, voters are casting ballots in Illinois today as that state holds its Republican presidential primary. A lot of experts are describing this as a showdown between former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, the front-runner, and former Senator Rick Santorum.

AZUZ (voice-over): Governor Romney just enjoyed a win in Puerto Rico on Sunday. He got more than 80 percent of the vote in the primary there, so he won all of Puerto Rico`s 20 delegates.

AZUZ: There are 54 delegates up for grabs in Illinois today, and it takes 1,144 delegates to win the Republican presidential nomination. Here`s how things stack up right now.

AZUZ (voice-over): The latest estimates from cnn shows Governor Romney with 519 delegates. Senator Santorum has 239, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has 138 and cnn estimates U.S. Representative Ron Paul has 69 delegates.

AZUZ: One thing all the candidates, including the president, have been talking about recently -- gas prices. If you or your parents drive, you know they are on the way up. The national average price for a gallon of gasoline has been rising every day for more than a week now.

AZUZ (voice-over): It`s currently $3.84. That`s the average. It`s actually more expensive in some places, and cheaper in others, because of the cost of oil, taxes and distribution. The record price was $4.11 in July of 2008.

AZUZ: Rick Vincent now show us how gas prices are fueling political fire.

RICK VINCENT, cnn REPORTER (voice-over): Prices at the pump climbed steadily beginning March 9th after a few days of slight declines. They rose on the back of soaring oil prices. President Obama put a spotlight on the issue in his weekly address. He outlined his energy policy and knocked Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich for campaigning on a promise of $2.50 gas.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It`s easy to promise a quick fix when it comes to gas prices. There just isn`t one. Anyone who tells you otherwise, any career politician who promises some three-point plan for $2 gas, they`re not looking for a solution. They`re just looking for your vote.

VINCENT (voice-over): Campaigning over the weekend, Rick Santorum said high gas prices are leading to inflation, and he says it`s only going to get worse.

FORMER SEN. RICK SANTORUM, R-PA., PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It`s going to have a ripple effect if $4, and in some places now, $5 a gallon gasoline, and they`re talking $5 and maybe even $6 in some areas.

VINCENT (voice-over): Right now, the highest price nationally is in Hawaii at an average of $4.48 a gallon.

Mitt Romney said the president is not the right person to tackle such problems.

FORMER GOV. MITT ROMNEY, R-MASS., PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The president learned about the economy by reading about it --

(LAUGHTER)

ROMNEY: -- not by living it. Twenty-five years in business taught me how jobs come and how they go.

VINCENT (voice-over): I`m Rick Vincent reporting.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Today`s Shoutout goes out to Coach Streiffert`s economics classes at Waccamaw High School in Pawleys Island, South Carolina. What is the state nickname of Arizona? Here we go. Is it the Land of Enchantment, Desert State, Last Frontier or Grand Canyon State? You`ve got three seconds, now go.

Arizona gets its nickname from its most famous natural feature, the Grand Canyon. That`s your answer, and that`s your Shoutout.

AZUZ: You might think of Arizona as the Desert State. Its usually warm weather is a big draw for tourists. Not this past weekend, though. While people all over the central and eastern U.S. were enjoying early spring temperatures --

AZUZ (voice-over): -- parts of Arizona were dealing with this: massive snowstorms. The city of Flagstaff got 10-14 inches of snow over the weekend. Officials were worried about dangerous driving conditions, especially in some of Arizona`s mountain regions.

Around 180 miles of one major interstate was shut down because of the weather. One resident talked about the major shift in temperature, saying, quote, "The other day it was 65 degrees. Next day it`s snowing. It`s crazy."