Azia: Hey guys. It is Thursday, October 1. I am Azia Celestino and Channel One News starts right now.
First up, lawmakers agreed yesterday to keep funding the U.S. government, avoiding a shutdown.
Lawmakers passed a spending bill, but it is only temporary, and keeps the government funded and operating until December 11.That's when another fierce fight will likely take place over the money. And if no agreement comes by then, a shutdown is likely.
The big debate is over the funding for the non-profit organization Planned Parenthood, which most Republicans are against and most Democrats support.
Next up, Russia is now using its military power in Syria. Yesterday, Russian jets carried out the first air strikes against opponents of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.
Russian military says they were targeting the terror group ISIS.The U.S. is doubtful, saying Russian bombs hit the rebel groups fighting Assad and not ISIS, because ISIS militants aren't in the western part of the country where the strikes occurred.
This video posted online shows what is said to be the aftermath of the explosion.
Syria's civil war has been going on for four years with rebels fighting to overthrow the Assad government.The U.S. has backed the rebels, but Russia is backing President Assad.
All right coming up, her name is Malala, and she is hitting the big screen.
Malala Yousafzai got her passion for learning from her father, who named her after an Afghan legend. Today,she has lived up to that name, becoming an activist for female education, the youngest ever Nobel Peace Prize laureate, and now, as Tom Hanson shows us,her own documentary.
Davis Gugenheim: Hi Malala. It’s Davis. I’m here in Los Angeles.
Tom: Thousands of teens had a message of excitement for 18-year-old Malala Yousafzai as they got ready to watch her upcoming documentary, "He named me Malala."
It is a portrait of the activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner who was shot by the Taliban militants three years ago allbecause she had been promotingeducation for girls in her home country of Pakistan.
Girl: I know at my school there are a lot of people who complain and say,‘Oh, school is such a drag.’But over in other countries there are people fighting and dying for the right to go to school and get an education.
Tom: It seems only fitting that the screening was put on by Girls Build LA, a new non-profit aimed at encouraging young girls to value education. Just like Malala.
Girl #2: She's all of us, in one movie, in one person. Just saying, ‘Like hey, you know you gotta fight for your rights no matter what.’
Tom: A message that Davis Gugenheim, the director, says he wants to convey to his own daughters.
Gugenheim: When you educate a girl, we know that great things happen. And my daughters, sometimes feel alittle bit insecure. They sometimes feel like they don't have a voice. And when youseethe story about this amazing girl, you get inspired.
Azia: He says that if Malala can do it, so can they.
Girl # 3: And if I ever had any doubt about being a teacher, I don't any more. I definitely want to be a teacher. She has inspired me.
Tom: Tom Hanson, Channel One News.
Azia: Her film debuts nationwide this weekend.
Alright next up, the money wars continue. And we find out who is balling like Lebron and whose accounts are overdrawn.
The wallet war wages on in today's Generation Money. Kat, Eric and Jess had 30 days to prove that they had the saving skills to take over their families’ budget. Let’s see how they did when it came to crunching the numbers.
Shelby: Ok guys, it has been one month since we first met with Jess, Eric and Kat. So now we’re heading back to their houses to see how they did with the family finances, if they paid the bills on time and maybe even see if they saved their family some money. So, let's go check it out.
First stop,Kat's house. Her parents were afraid that instead of paying the bills, she might blow their money on shoes.
When we first met you had a budget of $1,500 for the month. How much did you end up spending?
Kat: We spent $1,354.
Shelby: So you saved about $150?
Kat: Yeah.
Shelby: Well, how did you do that or where did you save?
Kat: With my friends. We haven’t been going out to movies or wherever we would usually go. And going grocery shopping, we cut back on things that we don’t need and buying the important necessities we need for that week.
Shelby: So just cut the access.
Kat: Yeah.
Shelby: Did this experience in paying bills and realizing how much things cost change your habits or your change your attitudes towards spending?
Kat: Yeah definitely. I haven't been to the mall.
Shelby: And what about the gas station? Was she able to stretch out her $20 purchase for two weeks?
Kat: It lasted me abouta week and a half. And it's so horrible cause I drive everywhere. AndI need to go to those places. But $20 a week can really hurt your pocket.
Shelby: So she is back at the gas pump again, and she is a well-informed consumer.
How much is gas today?
Kat: $2.97. Two cents lower than yesterday.
Shelby: Kat's parents couldn't believe the results.
Kat's dad: She really did good. You know, I think better than me!
Shelby: So what did Kat's family do with the $150 she helped them save? It went towards paying off the family credit card bills.
Next, we checked in on Eric.
So when we first met you we figured you had about $6,000 to work with for the month. How much did you end up spending?
Eric: What happened is we just sort of gave that estimate and we added up everything we could think of. And we went through all the bills and it came out to be like, we really spend about $7,000 a month.
Shelby: So you had just underestimated, which is probably the case for a lot of families.They might not realize how much they spend every month.
Eric: Yeah. But then we also didn't account for a $2,000 new wood-burning stove because the old one broke. So…
Shelby: So that was a surprise?
Eric: Yeah, big surprise. So in total this month we spent about $9,000.
Shelby: Because Eric's family doesn't have an emergency fund. They had to pay for the stove with a credit card.But Eric did a little research that will help his family save a lot in the long run.
See, Eric’s family is typical. The average American owes $7,000 on their credit card, and pays 15 percent interest. But Eric switched the credit card debt over to a loan with much lower interest.
Eric: I moved our credit card debt to a different place where we only have to pay 5 percent interest.
Shelby: So how much is that saving you?
Eric: It saves like $70 a month.
Shelby: Oh wow. So that's like $900 a year.
Eric got the idea from Kevin Ketcho,his business teacher at Pasiac Valley High School in New Jersey.
Eric: He really just taught me, budget your life and it will really help you in the long run.
Shelby: Eric's parents say they have learned from our challenge too. They eat out less often and if they order in, they don't spend $20 like they used to.
Eric’s mom: When we decided to order Chinese food we kept it to $9. Whereas, normally might not.
Shelby: Eric what do you have to say about that?
Eric: I like how they kept it to$9. But still, I think they could just make some beeferoni or something and save some money.
Shelby: Now to Jess. How did he handle his $6,000 budget?
Jess: So the total was $5,900.
Shelby: Ok. And you were working with $6,000.
Jess: Yeah.
Shelby: So you saved $100.
Jess: Yes, we did.
Shelby: Their savings came mostly from cutting back on food and downloads from ITunes.
Jess’s mom: He had a $100 left over. Better than I usually have.
Shelby: Jess even had to deal with an unexpected expense from Jenny: a parking ticket.
Jess: That was $55 dollars that went out the window.
Shelby: Now it was time for the talk about the tap shoes. Jess had $100 left. And if you remember, Jenny wanted a $300 pair of shoes. So, would he let her put the $200 they don't have on the family credit card?
Jess: Well Jenny, after all these expenses you’ve had from this past month, I'm sorry but you're going to have to wait a month. It's not in the budget.
Shelby: And what about the extra $100?
Jess: That’ll be moved up to next month where quite possibly she may be able to buy those tap shoes.
Shelby: So you will roll it over.
Jess: I’ll roll it over. I'm a good brother.
Shelby: Experts say that's a smart move. Save up over time rather than adding more to your credit card debt.
Now that the challenge is over, what were the main things these teens learned?
Kat: We have a lot of expenses. Like the water was already$96 dollars, just for water.
Shelby: Do you have any advice for students who will have to pay bills in the future?
Jess: Yeah. That advice would be, to separate their wants and their needs. Those are two different things.
Eric: It prepared me 100 percent for my future. I'm already thinking about my retirement.
Shelby: Shelby Holliday, Channel One News.
Azia: Jess really killed it. And guess what? We caught up with him four years later. Tomorrow we will show you if he kept up thoes saving skills.
Now, we want to hear from you. Do you think you could manage your family budget? Let us know by voting and leaving your comments on Channelone.com.
Alright guys. Have an awesome day and we will see you right back here you tomorrow.
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