(CNN Student News) -- February 24, 2010
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Transcript
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: Food, shopping, music: all familiar subjects; all things we're talking about in today's edition of CNN Student News. I'm Carl Azuz. Let's go.
First Up: Toyota Hearing
AZUZ: First up, Congress is looking at some of the problems that Toyota's been having with vehicle recalls and examining how the carmaker has responded to the situation. You've heard all about this: millions of vehicles affected by issues with floor mats and gas pedals that might get stuck. Congress is holding a few days of hearings to get some information about it. Yesterday, they heard from one expert who said it could be an electrical issue. He says there's a possibility that a short circuit might cause a car to suddenly accelerate. An engineering firm that was hired by Toyota to check out the claim found the same thing. But Toyota's U.S. sales chief, Jim Lentz, says the electrical system isn't the problem.
When asked about how the company handled customer complaints, Lentz said that Toyota focused more on technical issues rather than looking at the possibility of accelerator pedals that get stuck. He called that approach a mistake and apologized for it. In fact, Toyota has repeatedly apologized for the safety issues, and it's working to repair the recalled vehicles. Akio Toyoda, the president of the entire Toyota corporation, has announced new safety measures that the company plans to take from here on out. He's scheduled to appear before Congress today. All of this, as you might imagine, is having an impact on the company's reputation. Consumer Reports just released its list of the top 10 cars. Two Toyota-produced vehicles are on it. Two others were pulled off of the list because of the recalls.
Jobs Bill
AZUZ: All right, staying on Capitol Hill but moving over to the Senate, which is considering a $15 billion jobs bill. On Monday, Senators decided to vote on this bill. That could happen as early as today. In Monday's decision, 62 Senators, including 5 Republicans, agreed to move the jobs bill forward. One Democrat voted against the idea. The goal is to fight unemployment, which is what this animation is about. See those dark areas spreading across the country? That's the unemployment rate in different counties across the U.S. The animation shows how it increased from December of 2007 through December of last year. This Senate jobs bill, as we said, is expected to cost around $15 billion. One of the ways it tries to create jobs is by lowering taxes for employers that hire workers who are currently unemployed. The Senate bill would still have to be combined with a House bill before it could become law.
AZUZ: Consumer confidence. It describes how positive people feel about the state of the economy. It's a big indicator of how the economy is doing. And it's down. According to a research group, that statistic dropped more than 10 points from January to February. This comes after three straight months of increased consumer confidence. The drop is a big deal, because consumer spending drives about two-thirds of the country's economic activity. The research group says consumers' feelings about the state of the economy are the lowest they have been in 27 years. And consumer expectations -- how they think the economy will do over the next few months -- are down, too.
Shoutout
TOMEKA JONES, CNN STUDENT NEWS: Time for the Shoutout! In what decade was the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) created? If you think you know it, shout it out! Was it the: A) 1920s, B) 1930s, C) 1940s or D) 1950s? You've got three seconds -- GO! In 1933, the FDIC was created in response to the failures of thousands of banks. That's your answer and that's your Shoutout!
Banks in Trouble
AZUZ: You've seen the FDIC logo on banks. What it means is when you deposit your money there up to a certain amount, the U.S. government promises you can get it back, even if the bank fails. The FDIC, created during the Great Depression to get the public's confidence back in banks, because so many of them failed at that time. Now, in this current recession, the corporation says more than 700 of the country's banks -- almost one out of every seven -- are on the FDIC "problem list." That means they're in trouble. This could be because of problems with money, how they operate, or their management. In the past, most banks on the "problem list" haven't actually failed. But it's still a bad sign for the industry.
AZUZ: TIME Magazine, which is owned by the same parent company as CNN, recently made a list of the top ten most dangerous foods. Here are some of the more familiar ones. Peanuts. When it comes to allergies, these cause more deaths than any other food. That's why some airlines stopped serving them. Leafy green vegetables, like lettuce and spinach, were at the top of another list of risky foods we reported on a while back. The concern with them is diseases that can contaminate the veggies during production or handling. Tuna is one of the most widely eaten fish in the world. But the U.S. government warns you shouldn't eat too much of it because mercury in the fish could cause damage to your nervous system. Here's one that might surprise you: coffee. And the reason it's surprising is because it's hot! One fast food chain lowered the temperature of its coffee after one customer suffered severe burns. But number one on the list are hot dogs! The American Academy of Pediatrics says hot dogs can be a choking hazard. They think packages should come with warning labels and that the food itself should be redesigned.
Black History Month
AZUZ: The gentleman you see on the left here is Ken Hudson. You may not know him now. You will by the end of this week, and you'll want to hear what he had to say; it's great. It's all part of our Black History Month coverage and it's coming up later this week on CNN Student News. So be sure to tune in.
AZUZ: Well, time to change our tune now and talk about music. Playing the guitar, not easy: I tried it; I failed. But Jason Williams didn't fret about playing the guitar, even though he faced extra struggles in learning how to play. As Brooke Baldwin shows us, Jason's story is an example of how talent and perseverance can win out over adversity.
(BEGIN VIDEO)
BROOKE BALDWIN , CNN CORRESPONDENT: There is one word Jason "Lefty" Williams still isn't used to: can't.
JASON "LEFTY" WILLIAMS, GUITARIST: People have been like, "You can't do this, or you can't do that." I was just raised that if I believe I can do it, I will.
BALDWIN: "Lefty" was born without a right arm, but that has not deterred him from living a normal life, which includes playing the guitar.
WILLIAMS: My dad would say, "Hey, listen to that part, and if you can put them all together you can make it sound like it does on the album." I've been playing for as long as I can remember.
BALDWIN: His passion for playing began at an early age while watching his dad.
GUY WILLIAMS, JASON'S FATHER: We're kind of a musical family. We all; I enjoy music a lot and always listened to music growing up, and I had a father that played music and I guess he kind of got me started on it. And Jason picked it up from there and this was really all his doing.
BALDWIN: "Lefty" started, at age six, strumming as best as he could and eventually created his first prosthetic pick.
J. WILLIAMS: Here's actually the oldest pick that I have. And right now I'm using a brass pick, and what it is is a piece of nylon webbing that's attached to a metal ring. And it fits around my arm like this. And then what I do after I get it on, I use the pick like that. So, I strum and pick individual notes with this and then I fret with my left hand.
BALDWIN: "Lefty" took his picking prowess all the way to music school. He graduated from the Atlanta Music Institute, and has since taken his talent to the stage.
J. WILLIAMS: Sometimes people come out to see me play because they have heard of this one-armed guitar player and I want to check out this one-armed guitar player.
BALDWIN: And so, day in and day out, Jason "Lefty" Williams continues to jam to his own childhood dream.
J. WILLIAMS: I'm a real simple guy. I don't need a whole lot. I don't wanna be rich; I don't wanna be super famous. I just wanna be able to play my guitar and have fun doing it, and I'm gonna do that as long as I can.
BALDWIN: Just don't tell "Lefty" he can't. Brooke Baldwin, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEO)
Promo
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Before We Go
AZUZ: Before we go, it's a bird, it's a plane, it's a million dollar comic book?!? Believe this. This copy of Action Comics number one, which includes the first appearance of Superman, was just sold for a million dollars! That's more than three times the previous record. And it was only on sale for one minute. Just to compare, when it first came out in 1938, this comic would've cost about 10 cents.
Goodbye
AZUZ: An increase in value like that is just super...man. It's where we head up, up and away for today. Have a great one. For CNN Student News, I'm Carl Azuz.
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