China`s President Addresses the Issue of Tariffs;
Facebook`s CEO
Testifies at a Congressional Hearing;
A CNN Hero Uses Music to Help Dementia
Patients
CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 ANCHOR: We`re
thankful to have you watching CNN 10 on this Wednesday in April. I`m Carl Azuz
at the CNN Center.
First story we`re explaining today involves the leader of the world`s most
populated nation. Chinese President Xi Jinping gave a speech yesterday that
was closely watched around the world. A big reason for that is because China
and the U.S. have spent recent weeks going back and forth, putting tariffs
or taxes on good imported from the other country. Economists have warned that
this could lead to a trade war, though both sides have said that`s not
what they`re after.
Still, it`s had an effect on stock market. Worries about a trade war have
caused the Dow Jones Industrial Average of 30 significant stocks to take some
major dives recently, losing hundreds of points in a given day. But then on
days when investors thought trade war talk was only talk, the Dow gained
hundreds of points in a given day. Yesterday, for example, it closed up 429
points.
In his speech, China`s president made a statement that ease investors` fears
about a trade war. What we don`t know yet is whether President Xi will
follow through on his promises or if he`s just trying to slow the pace of the
back-and-forth tariffs.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, in past years, this was not the kind of
speech that would have attracted all that much attention. But in the midst
of a looming China-U.S. trade war, each word delivered by President Xi Tuesday
on Hainan Island was important. He started by playing to what most
countries around the world want to hear right now, that China is reforming,
that it is a responsible international player and that a trade war is not
in its best interest.
XI JINPING, CHINESE PRESIDENT (through translator): China will continue to
adhere to its fundamental national policy of opening up and pursue development
with its doors wide open. I wish to make it clear to you all that China`s door
of opening up will not be closed and would only open even wider.
RIVERS: Xi then went on to speak about strengthening intellectual property
rights, about increasing market access for foreign companies. And when he spoke
about increasing foreign imports, he specifically brought up automobiles,
saying that he would lower tariff rates significantly by the end of this
year.
That is absolutely a nod to the United States. Consider what President Trump
tweeted on Monday. When a car is sent to the United States from China, he
wrote, there is a tariff to be paid of 2-1/2 percent. When a car is sent to
China from the United States, there is a tariff to be paid of 25 percent.
Does that sound like free or fair trade? No, it sounds like stupid trade, going
on for years.
So, the Chinese decision to include this issue in that speech was certainly not
a coincidence, though we`ve seen Chinese state media saying that this speech
was in no way a response to potential U.S. trade action, believe that if you
will.
That said, for all the reforms that Xi Jinping laid out, there were only a few
new details sprinkled in. For the most part, these are reforms that have
been promised by the Chinese government for years now, across multiple U.S.
administrations, and most economic analysts and businessmen and women that
we speak to here in China would argue that they have yet to be realized. This
speech did not offer any sort of new, bold, substantive changes that the
government hasn`t talked about before.
So, the question becomes, is this speech and the promises of reform inside of
it going to be enough to prompt the Trump administration to back down from
its tariff proposals. The U.S. has said it wants to negotiate better terms with
China, so it will be interesting to see if this speech by President Xi is
enough to alleviate the concerns of policymakers in Washington.
Matt Rivers, CNN, Beijing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ (voice-over): Ten-second trivia:
Which of these includes more than 2 billion people?
Facebook users, population of China, YouTube users or population of India?
More than 2 billion people are said to use Facebook every month, making it the
most populated option on this list.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: Very different type of speaking event is also having an effect on the
market. The stock price of the Facebook social media company went up yesterday
when its CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified to the U.S. Congress.
The privacy of Facebook users data is a major focus of these hearings. They
started almost a month after news broke that a company named Cambridge Analytica
accessed the personal information of as many as 87 million Facebook users
without their knowledge.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK ZUCKERBERG, CHAIRMAN & CEO, FACEBOOK: It`s clear now that we didn`t do
enough to It`s clear now that we didn`t do enough to prevent these tools from
being used for harm as well. That goes for fake news, foreign interference in
elections and hate speech, as well as developers and data privacy. We
didn`t take a broad enough view of our responsibility, and that was a big
mistake. It was my mistake, and I`m sorry.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: But though Zuckerberg admitted that Facebook fell short in preventing
abuse of the service, he defended that company`s practice of using
people`s personal information to target ads. He said users overwhelming prefer
to see advertisements based on their interests than irrelevant ones.
In recent days, Facebook has a lot of updates designed to address concerns
about data privacy. But some lawmakers and critics still have concerns about
what information Facebook is collecting from its users, who has access to it,
and how it`s being used.
OK, next story. Parkinson`s is a disease that affects the brain and has
symptoms like uncontrollable shaking, slow movements and trouble keeping balance.
Dementia also involves the brain, memory loss, trouble communicating, changes
in mood and personality can happen.
Years ago, Irwin Rosenstein was diagnosed with both Parkinson`s and dementia,
but his wife Carol found a way to use music to help Irwin and more than
200 others like him nationwide. She`s a CNN Hero.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAROL ROSENSTEIN, CNN HERO: When my husband Irwin was diagnosed with
Parkinson`s and dementia, our lives were turned upside down.
We`re really blessed to have each other still every day.
To hear something like that when you`re about to set out on a golden journey of
retirement is quite earth shattering.
You`re ready to go in?
IRWIN ROSENSTEIN, HUSBAND: Yes.
C. ROSENSTEIN: All right.
Every day is a rollercoaster. New symptoms show. Their vocabulary is not
accessible to them, and mental disease carries a terrible stigma. People hide
out in the shadows.
(PLAYING PIANO)
C. ROSENSTEIN: One day, Irwin was playing the piano at home. He appeared to be
more conscious. Playing a musical instrument is like a full body workout
for the brain. The music actually resurrected him.
Yay!
I. ROSENSTEIN: Thank you.
C. ROSENSTEIN: Hey, how are you?
We needed to get some musical buddies so that we could all party
together.
So, I started a band for Irwin. The band is called The 5th Dementia.
It didn`t take long before I recognized that we were on to something really
grand. So, I started an organization that was intent on starting bands
for people with neurodegenerative decline. Everybody comes together under
this wonderful umbrella of music. Our band members regain their
confidence, their identities and their self-worth.
Bravo!
This is a powerful support group that gives people an opportunity to go out and
socialize. Caregivers love and hug and cry together because we`re all in
the same boat.
And here`s to music.
The concerts bring great pride to our musicians.
(SINGING)
My own personal suffering is the fuel that I used to propel this forward.
This project can have people happy until the 11th hour because that`s what the
power of music is all about.
(CHEERS)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AZUZ: Many police forces have K-9 units. When one gets a feline unit, "10
Out of 10".
Something cataclysmic is afoot in the city of Troy, Michigan. The police chief
there said that if its department`s Twitter page got 10,000 followers, it
could also get a police cat. The Michigan Humane Society is providing the
cat-plicants and whoever gets the job will be the station mascot. It will
live with an officer but spend its days hanging out at the office.
Simon Chaudary (ph) of affiliate WXYC had some excellent question for the
cat-didates like how they felt about cat burglars or if they`ve ever been caught
with catnip. That may cat-cratch the surface, but we`d also want to know if
they`d have any mis-meow-nors or if they`ve been convicted of littering or
caterwalling before they try to Siamese their way into joining the long arm of
the claw.
I`m Carl Azuz and cats all for CNN 10.
END
