CNN news 2014-12-16 加文本

cnn news 2014-12-16

CARL AZUZ, cnn ANCHOR: Fridays are awesome. The undisputed king of weekdays. I`m Carl Azuz. We are starting today`s commercial free coverage

on the West Coast where wind gusts in the Sierra Nevada Mountains have been as high as 147 miles per hour. That`s hurricane force. Where seven foot

waves have been reported on Lake Tahoe, where as much as 14 inches of rain has fallen near San Francisco. It is a monster of a storm. One of the

strongest to hit the area since 2008.

Ferry services have been canceled, schools around the San Francisco Bay Area have been closed. A stream of moist air has flowed to the region from

Hawaii. It`s effecting California, Oregon and Washington.

You`d think rain would be good for California in the middle of its historic drought, but so much rain in so little time on such dry ground can bring

serious flooding. And there`s a blizzard warning in parts of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

Students, please remember, Sierra Nevada Mountains. It`s an answer to the weekly news quiz at our website. Teachers, you can buy in that news quiz

on today`s transcript page. It`s totally free, we put one together for you every week on Friday. It`s a great way to quiz your classes` recall of

topics we`ve covered or to offer extra credit. Why not? At cnnstudentnews.com, just click under transcript and "Roll Call." Ten news

quiz questions are waiting for you there.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Time for "The Shoutout." Managua is the capital of what Central American nation? If you think you know it, shout it out. Is

it Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica or Nicaragua? You`ve got three seconds, go!

You`d find Managua in Nicaragua, a nation located between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. That`s your answer and that`s your "Shoutout."

AZUZ: That location is key. They country`s government is hoping to build a canal, a manmade waterway between those two seas. Nicaragua is a few

hundred miles from Panama, where a canal already exists. Why does Nicaragua want one? Well, the government says building it would create

50,000 jobs, significantly helping Central America`s poorest country.

It`s planned canal would be wider and deeper than Panama`s, but thousands of people are protesting the plans. Many are concerned their land would be

taken away to build it and that they wouldn`t be paid fairly for that. Their concerns aren`t the only ones about the project.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Panama Canal may be getting some competition, at least if Nicaraguan government gets its wish. If all goes as planned,

construction on a giant transoceanic canal across Nicaragua will begin as soon as next month. Chinese investment firm, HKND group is leading the

project. The planned route is 172 miles long, more than three times the length of the Panama Canal. It comes with the promise of economic

benefits, but many questions remain unanswered. Like who is going to foot the bill for the $50 billion project.

RICHARD FEINBERG, SENIOR FELLOW, BROOKINGS INSTITUTE: There`s no sense - and I want to underscore no sense as to where this 50 billion would come

from.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What happens to farmers and indigenous communities along the canal route, and what risks are posed to the country`s drinking

water? The planned canal cuts through Lake Nicaragua, their primary fresh water reservoir.

FEINBERG: That`s what we need to see more studies on to really have a good sense as to just how severe the damage would be, what it would cost to

mitigate some of those damages, how much money would be paid to those persons or companies that are adversely affected.

All this fundamental information has yet to be released by the government or the Chinese company.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Despite the concerns, developers stand by the project.

ZHU XIAOYA, HKND GROUP (through translator): Some voices have doubt and even though right opposition have emerged out there, we want to express our

understanding.

TELEMARCO TALAVERA, NICARAGUAN CANAL DEVELOPMENT PROJECT (through translator: We are saying that all the people who have not gotten the

proper information, we are convinced, they will be in agreement with these project, because it is for their benefit as well. We will talk with each

one of them, with every community, with every property owner or home owner, et cetera.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Others are more skeptical: will this actually help the economy. Is there a need for two canals in the same region? What if the

money runs out? All questions perhaps better answered before the project begins.