Thousands of Rohingya Trapped in Myanmar Mountains; President Trump Ends Obama`s Immigration Program

1. SEPT 6, 2017
Thousands of Rohingya Trapped in Myanmar Mountains; President Trump
Ends Obama`s Immigration Program
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1709/06/sn.01.html
Aired September 6, 2017 - 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 10 ANCHOR: Hi. Thank you for taking a few minutes to get
up to speed on international events. I`m Carl Azuz and this is CNN 10. We
feature down the middle (showing both sides; without taking any side)
explanations of what`s happening worldwide.
Today, that starts in the Southeast Asian country of Myanmar. It`s also
known as Burma. It shares a border with Bangladesh and that`s where tens
of thousands of people are trapped as fighting goes on between Myanmar`s
armed forces and a militant group.
Human rights workers in the area say 100,000 Rohingyas, members of a
Muslim group in Myanmar, had been forced out of their homes since August
25th.
The Rohingyas are a minority in Myanmar.
The country is mostly Buddhist and it doesn`t allow Rohingyas to become
citizens. Myanmar considers them to be Bangladeshi and wants them
in neighboring Bangladesh. Bangladesh considers the Rohingyas to be Burmese
and wants them in Myanmar.
The border between the two countries is closed, but tens of thousands of
Rohingyas have still fled across it while others have been trapped, according
to activists, without food, water, or medicine. Activists and other critics of
Myanmar`s government say it`s used too much force against the Rohingyas
and that it`s burned villages and murdered Rohingya civilians. Myanmar says

2. it`s done nothing illegal. It blames the recent violence and destruction on
Rohingya terrorists, saying the militants killed 12 Burmese security officers in
a recent attack.
CNN is not able to verify the claims of either the Rohingyas or the Burmese
government. Still, a number of international figures are calling for Myanmar to
stop all violence against Rohingyas, and some are hoping a Burmese Nobel
Peace Prize winner named Aung San Suu Kyi will take action.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUBTITLE: Who is Aung San Suu Kyi?
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Her
father was Aung San, a military officer who helped fight for Burma`s
independence after being a British colony for about a century. He is revered
here as the founding father of independent Burma, now officially known as
Myanmar. He was gunned down by political rivals in 1947 when Aung San Suu
Kyi was only 2 years old.
For much of the first 40 years of her life, Aung San Suu Kyi lived overseas. It
wasn`t until 1988 that she really moved back to Burma. That opened up the
launch of her political career.
In 1990, Aung San Suu Kyi led a newly founded party, the National League for
Democracy in elections. And by all accounts, her party won.
But then the military rulers of this country annulled (invalidated) the results.
They placed Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest for much of the next
20 years. In 2010, Aung San Suu Kyi was released from house arrest. It was
part of a transition to a civilian system of government.
Aung San Suu Kyi and her party were allowed to compete in by-elections
(special elections) in 2012, and they won dozens of seats in parliament. Among
the electoral victories there was Aung San Suu Kyi herself.
Myanmar`s most popular politician is constitutionally barred (banned,
excluded) from running for the post of president. In 2008, the same military

3. regime that`s held Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest for years drafted
(wrote a preliminary version of) a constitution that included a clause that
blocks any citizen who has a spouse or children holding foreign passports from
running for the country`s top post. That effectively means Aung San Suu Kyi
cannot run for the post of president.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AZUZ: OK. Next this Wednesday, a change in the U.S. government`s
immigration policy. Yesterday, President Donald Trump repealed (revoked) a
program created by his predecessor, former President Barack Obama. It`s
known as DACA.
And in the five years since it was enacted (promulgado), DACA has directly
affected almost 800,000 people in the U.S., allowing them to stay in the
country legally, they didn`t come to the country legally.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REPORTER: A Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, it was started
by President Barack Obama in 2012. It allows young immigrants who came to
the U.S. illegally as children to apply for a renewable two-year visa. That
allows them to work legally in the U.S. and saves them from deportation.
So, who qualifies?
Those who have been in the U.S. since 2007 and came before they turned 16,
and those who are under the age of 31 before June 15, 2012, when DACA
went into effect. Applicants must be in school, have a high school diploma, or
be a military veteran. And they must have mostly a clean criminal record.
It`s important to note, the status doesn`t put participants on the path to
legal permanent residency, or citizenship. But it does mean these immigrants
can get things like driver`s licenses, credit cards and open bank accounts.
A recent survey found that after being approved for DACA, 5 percent of
recipients started their own businesses and 17 percent bought a home for
the first time. Some critics say DACA is unconstitutional, because Obama

4. introduced it by executive action and without congressional approval. They
also argue that DACA promotes future illegal immigration because it signals
that if you come here illegally, there are ways to be able to stay.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AZUZ: The divide over this issue was clear throughout the U.S. yesterday.
Supporters of the Trump administration`s decision said current immigration
laws must be enforced. But those who opposed the president`s changes joined
in public demonstrations across the country and said they were, quote, here to
stay.
The government`s repeal of the DACA policy doesn`t take effect
immediately. For those whose legal status expires in the next six months, the
Trump administration plans to renew it. The idea is to give Congress time to
agree on a law concerning young people who entered or were brought to
the U.S. illegally.
On Capitol Hill, supporters of the repeal say President Trump is doing the
right thing because former President Obama should have gone through
Congress in the first place to determine U.S. immigration policy. Opponents
say President Trump`s decision could separate families and lead to the
deportations of people who have nowhere to go. Several Democratic and
Republican lawmakers indicated they were willing to work together to come up
with a solution.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ (voice-over): Ten-second trivia:
Which of these objects is about the size of a football field?
An Olympic swimming pool, international space station, Nimitz class aircraft
carrier or New York`s Central Park?
The International Space Station which can be seen by the naked eye from
Earth is about the size of a football field.

5. (END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUBTITLE: NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson is back on Earth after a record-
breaking space flight.
PEGGY WHITSON, NASA ASTRONAUT: Packaged cider and cocoa. Hot cocoa
is one of my favorites.
SUBTITLE: Over the course of her career, Whitson spent 665 days, or
roughly 21 months, in space.
That`s more than time in space than any American woman ever.
During this last trip, Whitson spent more than nine months one the
International Space Station.
At 57, Whitson is also the world`s oldest female astronaut.
And she broke the women`s record for walking in space in 10 spacewalks.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can see that attached to Peggy Whitson right
here. She`ll be using that strap to her as she uses her hands to climb over to
the airlock.
WHITSON: Well, I guess I don`t think about the records themselves too
much, but it definitely, when I do think about them, I think about all the
people that make it possible.
SUBTITLE: Whitson told NASA that she misses pizza and flushing toilets the
most while in space.
Whitson is unsure if she will return to space.
But she thinks she could have spent more time there on this current mission.
(END VIDEOTAPE)

6. AZUZ: Happy birthday, two-two, who live in a zoo. They look like two pandas
and they`re officially one. Well, there are two, but they`re officially 1-year-
old.
Ya Lun and Xi Lun are giant pandas, just over 20 pounds, maybe not so giant
yet, but they`re getting bigger every day. And to celebrate their special
day, they each got their own ice cake and frozen fruits and biscuits. These are
the only panda twins in America.
And luckily, they don`t mind sharing the same cubby holes, the same cubicles,
they`re own birth cub cakes. Oh, they might have been a little bamboozle
(perplexed) at first, but they got their just desserts and that`s about all the
pandering (indulgent), bad puns we can bear.
I`m Carl Azuz. This is CNN 10 and we`ll see you tomorrow.
END

7. AZUZ: Happy birthday, two-two, who live in a zoo. They look like two pandas
and they`re officially one. Well, there are two, but they`re officially 1-year-
old.
Ya Lun and Xi Lun are giant pandas, just over 20 pounds, maybe not so giant
yet, but they`re getting bigger every day. And to celebrate their special
day, they each got their own ice cake and frozen fruits and biscuits. These are
the only panda twins in America.
And luckily, they don`t mind sharing the same cubby holes, the same cubicles,
they`re own birth cub cakes. Oh, they might have been a little bamboozle
(perplexed) at first, but they got their just desserts and that`s about all the
pandering (indulgent), bad puns we can bear.
I`m Carl Azuz. This is CNN 10 and we`ll see you tomorrow.
END