MONICA LLOYD, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: Hi, I'm Monica Lloyd and we thank you for tuning in to CNN Student News! A river runs through it. The border, that is, between these two national neighbors. And that was a top topic of their leaders' meeting yesterday. They say all dogs go to heaven. But what will happen to this contested canine, while he's here on Earth? And casino royale. See how one Vegas hotel, went from landmark to land-level in a matter of seconds.

First Up: Continental Concerns

LLOYD: First up today, President Bush is at the last stop on his travels across Latin America. Mexico, America's neighbor to the south, was the destination for Mr. Bush's visit with that country's President, Felipe Calderon. The meeting in the Mexican city of Merida is the first for the two since Calderon was elected president last December. On their agenda, immigration President Bush promised to press Congress into action on tough immigration policies while President Calderon criticized a plan to put up a fence along the 700-mile border the two nations share.

Border Adventure

LLOYD: In yesterday's show we talked about a tourist attraction in Mexico that aims to turn immigration into entertainment -- where people pay admission to find out what it might take to cross the border. Today, Soledad O'Brien takes you inside a live-action game, with a loaded message.

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SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN REPORTER: Gun fire rings out. U.S. border patrol agents discover illegal migrants near the Mexican border. The action is captured on our night scope camera. But it's all fake. In reality, you are hundreds of miles from the border in central Mexico. The real border patrol says they don't fire on migrants. This is a tourist adventure run by the Nanu indigenous people. They say the goal is to keep their people from crossing the border. Their tribe has been decimated, ninety percent of the Nanu has migrated to the United States.

PONCHO, TOUR GUIDE (Translated): This is not training, it's a method of awareness.

O'BRIEN: Human rights groups say it's shocking and insulting. But, it's a full house tonight-more than fifty people are in our group...and many are 7-year-olds in Scout troops.

We hide in the bushes, cling to rocks to cross the river. We slog through deep mud. We make our way through a tunnel. Our guides urge us to hurry. It's after midnight as we approach the fictional border. We've paid 20 bucks a piece for this tourist adventure, and Poncho estimates more than 5000 people, a mix of Mexicans and others, have done it.

O'BRIEN: Pilar Saucedo is a Mexican, working in Mexico City for an American pharmaceutical company.

PILAR SAUCEDO: It's not making fun or anything like that...It's not a sorta training to really cross the border, its to understand that it's difficult.

O'BRIEN: One o'clock in the morning, and we've made it to the fictional border. Poncho says we're in for a surprise. In the distance, we see-hundreds of little fires, a surprising end to our grueling four hours.

Soledad O'Brien, CNN.

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Promo

LLOYD: We've got the subject of immigration covered at our web site. From the categories of immigration to statistics about how many immigrants live in the U.S. today. Head to EDUCATION! You'll find what you're looking for in today's CNN Student News "Extra!"

Wedding of No Return

LLOYD: When a bride walks down the aisle at her wedding, you could hear some people say her family is giving her away. That might not mean much here in the U.S. But for the Druze, a small religious group in the middle east, it's an idea that's taken quite literally. Atika Shubert explains the mixed emotions at one Druze wedding.

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ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN REPORTER: Weddings are usually happy... with much singing and dancing. But like mothers everywhere... the mother of this bride fears losing her daughter.

FATMI, MOTHER OF THE BRIDE: I'm not happy because I won't see her again, she says. If she gets the flu, if she gets sick. If she has a child. If I die or if she dies. I still won't be able to see her.

SHUBERT: But this is not everywhere...this is the Middle East. The bride and groom are both Druze... an ancient people scattered across Lebanon, Syria and Israel. The bride.. Arwad... lives on the Golan Heights.. occupied by Israel since the 1967 War. Her groom is a Druze from Syria. Once Arwad joins her husband, she cannot return home... cannot travel between two countries still technically at war.

ARWAD, BRIDE: You can see on my face I'm happy, but inside I'm sad. I'm leaving my parents, my family and friends, the house I grew up in, Arwad says. I can only return if there is peace. Without peace, I can't come home.

SHUBERT: The International Red Cross organizes these weddings on the United Nations controlled demilitarized zone that separates Syria and Israeli troops - often taking more than a year to set up.

PAUL CONNEALLY, INTL. RED CROSS: It's always a hugely emotional scene, because its only through an another hot wedding, 5 or 6 a year maybe, where through being invited to the wedding, through being a guest at the wedding that you have an opportunity to meet your relations on the other side.

SHUBERT: The celebrations are a rare way the Druze can reunite a divided community, if only for a moment. When its time for the bride to leave for the ceremony, the emotions are too much. The news media moves in to record the moment. Israeli border forces try to control the crowd. Finally, Arwad makes her wedding march past the barbed wire to her waiting groom.

This is the farthest we can go into the buffer zone. But, the wedding is happening behind me. They have exactly an hour for the families to meet, to conduct the ceremony and say goodbye. Only a few can attend. For them... there are happy reunions. But those left behind can only wave and shout... calling relatives they can see... but cannot hear or touch. They plead with Israeli troops to be let across. A handful manage to get through - stealing the last minutes of the ceremony to see mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters. All too soon, the wedding is over...a new family created while many more are kept apart.

Atika Shubert, CNN at the Quneitra crossing.

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Fast Facts - Druze 101

AZUZ: Time for some Fast Facts! The Druze are a pretty small Middle Eastern religious group. In the late 20th century, there were an estimated 250,000 Druze, who lived mostly in Lebanon. They don't allow conversion either from or to their religion, which means you can't become Druze if you're not born into the sect. The Druze mix elements of Christianity, Islam and Judaism, and parts of the religion are kept secret even from some of the Druze themselves.

Pablo's Plight

LLOYD: When Hurricane Katrina hit, many people were forced to leave their pets behind when they evacuated. Some of these four-legged friends were rescued and placed in foster homes in other states. But what happens when the original owner wants their pet back? That's the question being asked in an Arizona court room. Claudia Rivera of affiliate KTVK explains.

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PAULA DUMMING, DOG OWNER: I've lost everything I own. All my life is gone.

CLAUDIA RIVERA, REPORTER: When Hurricane Katrina hit, Louisiana native Paula Dumming lost everything.

DUMMING: Vehicle, motor home. Now they want to take my dog from me?

RIVERA: Paula was airlifted to safety, but was forced to leave her precious pooch Pablo behind.

DUMMING: He's very special to me forever.

RIVERA: Pablo and thousands of other animals were rescued by an organization called Best Friends Animal Society, which placed the animals in foster homes. Pablo went to a young couple in Phoenix. The organization claims it entered into agreements with each of the foster families and required them to care for the animals for at least 90 days and that the ultimate goal was to reunite the pets with their rightful owners.

ANIMAL RESCUE AGENCY: We were looking for groups that would take animals under our terms. There were other groups with other terms. These were our terms.

RIVERA: But when Paula came forward to claim her dog in December 2005, she says there were questions about whether the dog Best Friends had placed in foster care was really Pablo. The custody case began and the case is now playing out in a Mesa courtroom.

DUMMING: They knew it and the fellow even told me that if it's your dog, I have no problem giving it back.

RIVERA: But the foster family says it's bonded with the small terrier-chihuahua mix, and they want to keep him for good.

DUMMING: I just think it's not the right thing for them to do. I think I am the owner, and that we love. I pray to God that they will do the right thing.

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Your Opinion

LLOYD: We want to know how you would decide the case. Do you think pablo should be returned to his original owner? Or should his foster family get to keep the pooch? Log on to EDUCATION, and tell us what you think.

Before We Go

LLOYD: Before we go, you definite want to check this out. It's a city of bright lights and even big events. But these fireworks aren't a part of a grand opening. In fact, it's just the opposite. This is the famous stardust hotel and casino, or at least it was. The Las Vegas landmark was reduced to rubble Tuesday, almost 50 years after its debut. Once considered the crown jewel of the famous Vegas strip, the Stardust lost its luster, and had to say good-bye to make room for a new multi-billion dollar mega-resort.

Goodbye

LLOYD: Turning the "Stardust" into just... Dust. That's a wrap on today's program-- I'm Monica Lloyd for CNN Student News.

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