CARL AZUZ,
CNN 10 ANCHOR: Ten minutes of world news starts right now.
It's great
to see you this January 24th. I'm Carl Azuz, your host for CNN 10.
First
story: U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an executive action to pull back
from the negotiating process of the Trans Pacific Partnership. Here's what all
that means: first, the Trans Pacific Partnership, or TPP, it's a controversial
international trade deal involving 12 countries located around the Pacific Rim.
It's supposed to encourage more trade, more business between them, partly by
getting rid of tariffs, taxes on certain goods that countries import.
Former
President Barack Obama who helped negotiate the TPP said it'd be good for
American workers. But critics and some U.S. lawmakers disagreed. They said the
partnership can lead to more U.S. manufacturing jobs moving overseas. And while
he was on the campaign trail, Mr. Trump had promised to withdraw from the TPP.
(BEGIN
VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD
TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The Trans Pacific Partnership is another
disaster, done and pushed by special interests.
(END VIDEO
CLIP)
AZUZ: The
deal was not final and needed to be ratified by Congress and Congress had not
done that under President Obama. Many Democrats were against the TPP and though
many Republicans initially supported it, some backed away from it over time.
The election of President Trump signaled to the other nations involved that the
TPP probably wouldn't go through.
Another
international trade deal that candidate Trump campaigned against was NAFTA.
That deal was finalized years ago. But as president, Mr. Trump is now moving to
renegotiate it. He's blamed NAFTA for hurting American manufacturing jobs but
some leading Republican lawmakers say pulling out of NAFTA could hurt
businesses across the U.S.
(BEGIN
VIDEOTAPE)
REPORTER:
You might have heard of NAFTA, also known as the North American Free Trade
Agreement. It was the first agreement of its kind and still makes the world's
biggest free trade area.
So, just
what is it?
Well,
let's begin with the basics. First, it includes Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. It
was proposed in 1992 by these guys and it was extremely controversial. Critics
feared massive job losses, with businesses packing up and moving production to
Mexico. Supporters though, they claimed that it will lead to cheaper goods and
that will lead to economic growth.
In fact,
it was so controversial that in the 1992 presidential election, a billionaire,
outsider, presidential candidate shot to the top of the polls railing against
it. Businessman Ross Perot. Sounds pretty familiar.
But NAFTA
won out in the end with Congress and then President Clinton ratifying it in
1993.
WILLIAM J.
CLINTON, THEN-PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are ready to compete and we
can win.
REPORTER:
NAFTA is a large, incredibly complicated document. But at its core, it's pretty
simple. Before NAFTA, when items were imported, they were taxed. After NAFTA,
they weren't. This protects goods made domestically at the expense of consumers
since the tax on foreign products is passed down, higher tariffs, more
expensive goods, less trade.
Free trade
agreements like NAFTA removed those tariffs incentivizing trade and lowering
cost for consumers. Tariffs were greatly reduced at the start of the agreement
in 1994 and totally eliminated by 2008.
So, what
did NAFTA accomplished?
It's not
easy pinpointing the exact effects that NAFTA's had because there are many
factors in how economies function. But since the agreement, U.S. trade amongst
Mexico and Canada has tripled. The U.S. trade deficit with Canada and Mexico
has increased significantly.
But
according to this congressional report, NAFTA actually hasn't had that large an
effect on the U.S. economy. NAFTA only increased the U.S. GDP by a few hundreds
of a percent because relative to the size of the total economy, trade with
Mexico and Canada isn't that big.
So, the
biggest question of all, how has it affected American jobs?
Economists
agree there's no simple answer. It's impossible to completely separate the
effects NAFTA's had on the economy from other external forces, like recessions,
currency evaluations, technological automation and overall increases in
globalization. Many U.S. manufacturing jobs have moved overseas to countries that
America doesn't even have free trade agreements with, like China.
Overall,
domestic manufacturing has taken a spill. Oh. Trade has increased and goods are
cheaper.
(END
VIDEOTAPE)
AZUZ:
There's been a tense leadership change in the West African nation of Gambia.
This is
the smallest country on the Africa continent, population just over 2 million.
Its former leader, Yahya Jammeh, took over in a military coup in 1994. In the
years that followed, the country became a presidential republic with President Jammeh
winning every election since then, until last month. That's when Mr. Jammeh was
surprisingly defeated by a property developer named Adama Barrow.
Though
Jammeh conceded the presidency at first, he then rejected the results and
stayed put, while the new president was sworn in in neighboring Senegal last
Thursday.
Military
troops from other countries the region, supported by the United Nations
Security Council were deployed to remove Jammeh from power. But after
negotiations, Jammeh ultimately stepped down and left the country.
International troops are planning to stay in Gambia's capital to provide
security as the new president takes over.
(BEGIN
VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ
(voice-over): Ten-second trivia.
What do
Hong Kong, Sydney, and Vancouver have in common? Are they all north of the
equator, south of the equator, Pacific locations or Atlantic locations?
Hong Kong,
Sydney, Australia, and Vancouver British Columbia are located around different
parts of the Pacific Ocean.
(END VIDEO
CLIP)
AZUZ:
They're also the three most expensive places to live, according to a new
survey. The Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey comes out
every year. What it does is compare median house prices with median household
incomes in a given area. The more than house prices exceed incomes, the more
unaffordable a place is considered.
For the
ninth year straight, Hong Kong came in as the most unaffordable place to live
on a list of 406 major city markets. Home prices there are 18 times what the
median household earns in a year. In Sydney, they're just over 12 times what
people earn. In Vancouver, they're just under 12 times the median annual
income.
Now,
contrast that with one of the least expensive places to live -- Racine, Wisconsin,
where home prices are only 1.8 times what people make in a year. Looking at
countries, the U.S. had the most affordable housing market overall, followed by
Japan and the United Kingdom.
On
websites, customers can find things easily, sometimes to save money, order with
single click. But they may not spend as much time shopping and they may be
hesitant to buy something new they can't see in person. In stores, people can
try on clothes, ask for an opinion, return something immediately. Some retailers
are finding the best business is having the best of both worlds.
(BEGIN
VIDEOTAPE)
VANESSA
YURKEVICH, DIGITAL CORRESPONDENT, "CNN MONEY" (voice-over): Online
shopping is expected to reach almost half a trillion dollars in the next three
years, but brick and mortar stores still bring in 10 times that.
So, how do
you appeal to the shopper of today and tomorrow? Be in both places at the same
time.
DAVID
GILBOA, CO-CEO & CO-FOUNDER, WARBY PARKER: We're finding that customers are
really responding and voting with their wallets when we open a store. And then
it also creates awareness and drives business to online sales, as well.
YURKEVICH:
Neil Blumenthal and Dave Gilboa started Warby Parker out their New York
apartment six years ago. Today, the company's been valued at more than $1
billion. And in just three years they've opened 31 stores in the U.S. and
increased online sales.
NEIL
BLUMENTHAL, CO-CEO & CO-FOUNDER, WARBY PARKER: For the traditional optical
shop, you walk in, the glasses are under a lock and key. They're behind the
counter, out of reach. You can't interact with them. In our stores, we've used
technology that we built ourselves.
So, when
you go to check out, there's not a cash register. All of our sales associates
have iPad minis and they're using software that we've written to help you check
out seamlessly.
YURKEVICH
(on camera): So, you're essentially making it very difficult for people not to
buy your product.
GILBOA:
We're trying to use technology to enhance customer experiences and really rethink
the way that glasses are sold.
YURKEVICH
(voice-over): That includes a user profile, just like you would have on social
media.
BLUMENTHAL:
That sales associate can take a picture wearing the glasses and you in nicely
formatted email with the click and you can shop out on your way home.
YURKEVICH:
According to Warby, 85 percent of people who go to their stores have been to
their website first and their online sales are still more profitable.
BLUMENTHAL:
You know, it's funny, in a few years, I don't think we're going to think about
these businesses in terms of distinct channels of online and offline, because
it's so integrated. So, we just need to build the company that's adaptable
regardless of the medium.
(END
VIDEOTAPE)
AZUZ: For
"10 Out of 10", someone has totally lost his marbles. And you thought
we were just talking crazy.
A trailer
ripped open recently on an interstate in Indianapolis, Indiana. No one was hurt
but 38,000 pounds of marbles, 38,000 pounds, spilled onto an embankment on the
side of the road. Yes, part of it had to be shut down, while officials
collected the marbles.
According
to Chron.com, police were planning to use vacuums, though the site said someone
on Twitter suggested they'd use hungry, hungry hippos.
Maybe
that's not a mar-oble idea. Even if you toyed with it, you'd find someone who
was game and if it worked -- hey, you'd be on a roll y'all.
I'm Carl
Azuz and you know I've lost my marbles shooting puns like this. Have a great
Tuesday.
