Quick Guide & Transcript: Sen. Hagel delays political announcement, Chirac calls it quits

POSTED: 0239 GMT (1039 HKT), March 12, 2007

(CNN Student News) -- March 13, 2007

Quick Guide

Presidential Plans? - Find out why a press conference wasn't as presidential as many expected.

Au Revoir - Discover which European leader says he's not seeking another term in office.

Continental Concerns - Learn how and why some immigrants are willing to risk their lives to travel north.

Transcript

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

MONICA LLOYD, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: You've landed on Tuesday's broadcast of CNN Student News! I'm Monica Lloyd at the CNN Center. Some journalists might've compared it to crying wolf. Then again, Senator Chuck Hagel never promised his announcement would be a presidential one. Some leaders stay in command, as long as they can. But France's president is saying "au revoir," well before his nation's next election. And some people never get their heads out of the clouds. Meet an 89-year-old woman, who's making it a point to keep her feet off the ground!

First Up: Presidential Plans?

LLOYD: First up, it's the season for presidential announcements, and the list of candidates seems to grow by the day. But Senator Chuck Hagel's name can't be added to that roster, at least not for now. A lot of people thought the Nebraska republican would kick-off a presidential campaign at a news conference Monday. CNN's Dana Bash was in Omaha for the announcement, and explains why, when it comes to Hagel, we'll have to stay tuned.

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DANA BASH, CNN REPORTER: It was billed as a hometown press conference about his future plans. The buzz was that he'd announce presidential intentions. But, Senator Chuck Hagel came out to a suspense filled room of Nebraska supporters...and didn't announce anything.

SEN. CHUCK HAGEL: I'm here today to announce that my family and I will make a decision on my political future later this year.

BASH: It was the political version of kicking the can.

HAGEL: I believe there will still be political options open to me at a later date. But that will depend on the people of Nebraska and this country. I cannot control that.

BASH: The most prominent Republican critic of the president's Iraq strategy said he wants to focus on ending the war, not "political considerations." and then bristled at the suggestion he's perceived as an opponent of war.

HAGEL: I am not an antiwar candidate. I have never been antiwar. There are times in a nation's history -- and we have seen them certainly in ours -- where force is required

BASH: The press conference wasn't even half way over when Hagel was asked about a pundit already on TV calling it "bizarre." He insisted he was just making good on a promise to talk about his political plans after the first of the year. He said he still doesn't know those plans, but had the press conference anyway.

HAGEL: If that's not good enough for somebody's timeline, I understand that. But I can only do things that I think are right for me, my family, and the institution I represent.

BASH: Some Hagel supporters who came thinking they'd hear whether he'll run again for Senate, run for president -- anything definitive -- were disappointed.

CRAIG CHRISTIANSEN: I'm worried about the fact that the rest of the parade is marching down the street, and the fact that in the future he may be running to catch up.

BASH: But while acknowledging that frustration, the risk of people tiring of hearing Senator Hagel is thinking about running for president but not decided -- Hagel supporters say there is a flip side, that he can test his fund raising ability by trying to fund his Senate campaign coffers - and wait to see if leading Republican candidates who got such an early start, become bruised and bloodied and he could have an opening down the road. Dana Bash, CNN, Omaha, Nebraska.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Shoutout

CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS: Time for the Shoutout! Who is the president of France? If you think you know it, shout it out! Is it: A) Francois Mitterand B) Jean Chrétien C) Jacques Cousteau D) Jacques Chirac You've got three seconds--GO! The current leader of France's 62-million people is Jacques Chirac. That's your answer and that's your Shoutout!

Au Revoir

LLOYD: Jacques Chirac has been the president of France since 1995. But he made an announcement Sunday that he isn't planning on holding on to that job for too much longer. Richard Roth has the story on the Chirac's decision not to run for another term as president, and looks back at his sometimes rocky relationship with the United States

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD ROTH, CNN REPORTER: A political au revoir for Jacques Chirac. After 12 years in office, the president of France told his nation in a prime time speech he will not run again.

JACQUES CHIRAC, PRESIDENT OF FRANCE (TRANSLATED): The moment has come for me to serve you...in a different way. I am not going to stand for president. In a different way, and with the same enthusiasm and with the same passion that I have, I will continue to fight for justice, for progress, for peace and for the grandeur of France.

ROTH: Americans will best remember Chirac for his refusal to join the U.S. against Saddam Hussein in 2003. Chirac said Iraq did not pose an immediate threat. Few on this side of the Atlantic agreed.

PROTESTOR: This red wine represents the blood the French have never spilled for freedom!

ROTH: And who could forget freedom fries? Gastronomic fury aimed at a French leader who once served up ice cream at a Howard Johnson's in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1953. Relations were icy for a while with President Bush.

SIMON SERFATY, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: Both of them when sure of themselves, dominant and potentially domineering, which brought about this kind of clash, was a clash of personalities.

ROTH: Quite a change from the harmony between France and the U.S. After 9/11, when a French newspaper said 'today we are all Americans.'

CHIRAC: I have a lot of things in my heart to be said for the solidarity with the Americans and the New Yorkers. Thank you.

ROTH: These days, some of that solidarity has returned...opposing terrorism and nuclear arms.

FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR JOHN BOLTON: There were plenty of occasions when we were able to work together with the French under Chirac because of other another French characteristic, and that's a very cold blooded realism when French interests were at stake.

ROTH: A man of hearty appetite, Chirac was known as "the bulldozer". But he wasn't able to overcome criticism at home. The two presidents now have something else in common; They are both riding very low in public approval polls.

Richard Roth, CNN, New York.

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I.D. Me

LLOYD: See if you can ID Me! I'm a Latin American nation that got its independence from Spain in 1810. My capital city shares my country's name. I have a natural border with Texas that is formed by the Rio Grande. Bienvenidos a Mexico! The United States' southern neighbor is governed by President Felipe Calderon.

Continental Concerns

LLOYD: Mexico is the last stop on President Bush's 5-nation tour of Latin America. He's scheduled to meet with his Mexican counterpart, President Felipe Calderon, on Tuesday. One topic that's sure to be on their agenda is immigration. It's a problem for both countries But as Soledad O'Brien reports, it's a problem in different ways.

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SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN REPORTER: The small village of Villigran is almost a ghost town. Two and a half hours west of Mexico city, its streets are empty, its only factory has closed. You can make enough money here to eat, locals say, but not enough to afford a home. Almost everyone has a relative, a brother, a father, an uncle, who's crossed the border and is living illegally in the United States.

That massive migration is why a group of Mexican Indians is hoping to keep jobs by creating a tourist attraction that turns illegal border crossing into entertainment. They say it honors the bravery of migrants.

For about 20 dollars a person, tourists can pretend to hide form border patrol agents, who arrest would be immigrants. North of Mexico City, real would-be immigrants try to hop the train for the United States.

Giant cargo trains like this one run right through the heart of Tultitlan. And it's a jumping off point of sorts for Mexicans and Hondurans and Guatemalans, who are trying to get up north. And what they can do is just hang on to one of these ladders like this, climb up onto the train and then ride along for free obviously as this train heads up north. Clearly it is very dangerous. Clearly it can be deadly. And it's truly an indication of just how desperate people are to risk everything to try to get our of their poverty.

One young woman who left Honduras and rode the train into Mexico now lives along tracks in Tuititian. She is out of money she says, and she's afraid to go any further. Soledad O'Brien, CNN, Mexico City.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Promo

LLOYD: From France to Mexico, you'll find all the countries of the world in our new maps section. But the challenge of labeling them, goes to you! They're just a click away at CNN.com/education. Just scroll down 'til you see "Maps" on the right-hand side of the page.

Before We Go

LLOYD: Before we go, she's living proof, you're never too old to fly. An 89-year-old woman fastened her safety harness and her nerve yesterday and then took a walk, 10,000 feet in the sky! She's not just out to make headlines -- Hilda Pearson is raising money for cancer research in Australia. And she says this isn't the last daring feat she'll complete: A helicopter ride and ballooning are both on her "to-do" list.

Goodbye

LLOYD: Like Miss Pearson, we wish you lots of luck and a safe journey home today. Check us out tomorrow! We'll be back online and on Headline News.