CNN news 2014-10-30 加文本

cnn news 2014-10-30

CARL AZUZ, cnn ANCHOR: We learned a lot of interesting stuff producing this Tuesday show. Hope you enjoy it. I`m Carl Azuz. Welcome to ten

minutes of commercial free current events for the classroom.

First up today .

The British flag was lowered over Helmand Province in Afghanistan this week, a symbol that the U.K.`s combat mission in the country is over.

Britain`s defense minister says Afghanistan is no longer a safe haven for the al Qaeda terrorist group and that the country now has a chance of a

better future. In a recent BBC poll, though, most Britain said the war was not worthwhile for the U.K.

Afghanistan is still a dangerous place, where terrorists and insurgent attacks happen regularly. The U.S. combat mission there formally ends this

December, but the U.S. and Afghan government signed a deal last month that will allow American troops to stay in the war torn country.

From South East Asia, we are headed out into the Pacific Ocean to the island state of Hawaii. On the Big Island, scenes like this near Kilauea

volcano are pretty common.

It is the most active volcano mass on the planet. But this particular lava flow is threatening a village named Pahoa, so much so that a main road

through town had to be closed, and officials say Pahoa`s 945 people need to be ready to evacuate.

Most have already left. The lava has crept over fields, a fence, a cemetery. After accelerating over the weekend, it was moving toward the

town at the speed of about a foot per minute. That`s fast for something a 150 yards wide, and incredibly destructive. Kilauea volcano has been in a

constant state of eruption since 1983. This particular lava flow started threatening Pahoa in June.

We are setting sale this Tuesday. It`s a boat to be awesome. Say hello to the sailors of Oceanside Middle School. They are casting off from

Oceanside. New York.

Next, it`s night time. The golden nights of Welch, West Virginia on the roll. They are at Mountain View High School and gather around table with

more nights. DeLong Middle School in Eau Claire, Wisconsin thanks for watching, day or night.

One week from today, Americans will be voting in the country`s midterm elections. And there`s a new political poll out from cnn-OTV

international. It indicates that almost seven in ten Americans are angry at the direction their country is headed and that 53 percent disapprove of

President Obama`s job performance. But he is not on the ballot. Lawmakers are, and as far as Congress goes, the poll showed that 85 percent of

Americans don`t approve of how it`s doing its job. What cold this mean next week? Well, we`ll let Jonathan Mann explain that as well as what

exactly is going to be on the ballots.

JONATHAN MANN, cnn CORRESPONDENT: How angry are Americans at Barack Obama and the rest of the men and women they`ve put into government? Or to put

another way, how good do they feel about their elected officials. Well, we are about to find out because millions of Americans will be going to the

polls November 4 what it`s called midterm elections. Midterm because they fall halfway through the president`s own term. Barack Obama`s name will

not be on the ballot.

Instead, we are talking about state and local officials and lawmakers at the federal level, members of the two houses of Congress. 435 members in

the House of Representatives and about a third of the U.S. Senate.

Now, the House of Representative is reelected in its entirety or elected, for that matter every two years. Republicans have a majority there.

That`s not likely to change. In the Senate where senators serve six year terms, about a third of the Senate faces election or reelection every two

years. This year adds some vacancies and there are 36 Senate seats up for grabs. We are expecting the House will stay in Republican hands. The

Senate will be the real battlefield. The Republicans there are hoping that they can pick up a few seats. But Democrats have a majority, the

Republicans hope to have their own majority there when the ballots are cast and counted.

The White House, though, stays in President Barack Obama`s hands, which is to say a Democrat in the White House will be looking at a Republican-

controlled House of Representatives and a Republican majority, probably, in the U.S. Senate.

What does that give us? Well, it`s what Americans already have, divided government.

In Washington, to see nearly paralyzed because Republicans and Democrats don`t work well together. When all the ballots are cast and counted this

time, they are probably going to find they`ve got more of the same.