CNN Student News - November 3, 2017

cnn 10

GOP Congress Unveils U.S. Tax Reform Plan; President Trump Travels to Asia; Why Do We Change Our Clocks?; Top 10 cnn Heroes of 2017

Aired November 3, 2017 - 04:00 ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CARL AZUZ, cnn 10 ANCHOR: Hi. I`m Carl Azuz. And my middle name is Fridays are awesome. Welcome to cnn 10.

First subject today is tax reform. Major changes to the U.S. tax code haven`t been made for more than 30 years. But that`s a priority for congressional Republicans and U.S. President Donald Trump.

And yesterday, Republicans in the House of Representatives unveiled their plan for doing it. It`s called the tax cuts and jobs act. It has some similarities to the proposal made by the Trump administration in late September and one of them is reducing the number of tax brackets based on Americans` income.

Currently, there are seven brackets. Under the House Republican plan, that number would be reduced to four. And generally speaking, it would reduce the income taxes that Americans pay to the federal government, unless they make more than $500,000 per year.

The plan contains several other provisions aimed at reducing Americans` taxes. As far as businesses go, the proposal would reduce the corporate tax rate, which is a tax on their profits. Currently, that rate is 35 percent. The House plan would reduce it to 20 percent.

Critics say lower taxes would mean less revenue for the federal government, and therefore, a greater deficit. Supporters say lower taxes would increase economic growth, leading to more revenue and a smaller deficit. President Trump and some Republicans have said they like to have tax reform passed by Christmas, but it still has to clear hurdles in the House and Senate before it gets to the president`s desk.

Some Republicans have expressed reservations about the plan, while some Democrats have said they want to kill it altogether.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ (voice-over): Ten-second trivia:

Which of these island nations is located entirely north of the equator?

Indonesia, Fiji, Philippines, or Madagascar?

On this list, only the Philippines which you`ll find between Taiwan and Indonesia is entirely located north of the equator.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ: And that`s one of the five nations that President Trump is visiting on a 12-day trip to Asia that begins this weekend. On his schedule are stops in Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines in that order.

And his two leading objectives, according to the White House, are international trade and the nuclear threat from North Korea.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REPORTER: After a brief stop in Hawaii, Trump`s first stop in Asia will be home to one of his top allies. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has largely aligned with Trump`s aggressive approach to North Korea, while downplaying differences on trade. Abe just cruised to victory in an October snap election. The two may spend some time in the golf course, as they did during a visit at Trump`s Mar-a-Lago.

Where Abe has been hawkish on Pyongyang, South Korean President Moon Jae-in has been more cautious. Moon`s first months in office have been dominated by the actions of the North, with Moon urging diplomacy over aggression. Trump and Moon last met in person at the United Nations General Assembly in September. Not long after the White House floated scrapping a free trade agreement with South Korea. The White House says the president will not visit the DMZ during this trip.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: China has taken our jobs, our --

REPORTER: Tough rhetoric on China was a hallmark of Trump`s campaign. But as president, he`s been asking for their help.

Trump has nudged President Xi Jinping to take a more forceful approach to North Korea. But Beijing feels the issues are between Washington and Pyongyang.

President Xi is coming off of a party congress where he was elevated to the status of China`s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong. He`s also helming an ambitious trade project that seeks to connect China with about 70 other countries, while Trump pulls back on multilateral deals.

The White House says Trump will insist on more balance in U.S.-China trade relations.

Trump will conclude his trip at trade summits in Vietnam and the Philippines. One of his first moves as president was to pull the U.S. out of the Trans Pacific Partnership, TPP, leaving 11 other nations to mull a way forward.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: If you live in the U.S. or Canada, you could get an extra hour of sleep this Saturday night, assuming you don`t stay up later than usual.

Folks in the region will be falling back to standard time. That`s when it`s called when it`s no longer Daylight Saving Time and technically, at 2:00 a.m. Sunday, we`re supposed to set our clocks back to 1:00 a.m.

Why did we do this?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: So why do we change the clocks ahead one hour in the spring and back one hour in the fall? Well, it`s actually to reduce the electricity consumption by extending the daylight hours.

SUBTITLE: Why do we change our clocks?

GRAY: In the U.S., we change our clocks at 2:00 a.m. on the second Sunday in March. That begins Daylight Saving Time, that`s when we spring ahead.

On the first Sunday in November, we change our clock to 2:00 a.m. again, that`s actually just going back to Standard Time.

Believe it or not, this started with an idea from Benjamin Franklin.

Franklin did write an essay suggesting that people could use less candles if they got up early and made better use of daylight.

In 1918, the Standard Time Act established time zones, and Daylight Saving Time. But not all states participate. To this day, most of Arizona and all of Hawaii do not change their clocks.

Over 70 countries across the world observe Daylight Saving Time, with notable exceptions of China and Japan.

In 2007, we actually change the date of when we set our clocks back an hour to the first week in November. This help protect trick-or-treaters by giving them an extra hour of daylight. One of the other lines of thinking was that we would have a better voter turnout on election years.

Experts say each time you change your clocks, it`s always a good idea to change those batteries in your smoke detector and always look forward to fall when you get that extra hour of sleep.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: Since our new season began, we`ve been bringing you the stories of cnn Heroes, ordinary folks making an extraordinary difference in the lives of others. The cnn Hero of the Year will be announced live on Sunday, December 17th. Your votes at cnnHeroes.com will help choose that winner.

If you`ve been watching our show, many of the top 10 finalists will look familiar.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(MUSIC)

SUBTITLE: After losing her lower leg, Mona Patel decided to help amputees rebuild their lives.

MONA PATEL, cnn HERO: She is walking.

(APPLAUSE)

SUBTITLE: Iraq War veteran Andrew Manzi`s free surf camps help vets and their families heal.

Police officer Jennifer Maddox created an after-school program to nurture at-risk kids.

JENNIFER MADDOX, cnn HERO: Eleven. So what do you do with the one?

SUBTITLE: Samir Lakhani recycles soap to help save lives and create jobs in Cambodia.

SAMIR LAKHANI, cnn HERO: Oh, very good. Very good. Yes.

SUBTITLE: Khali Sweeney teaches boxing and important life lessons to children in Detroit.

KHALI SWEENEY, cnn HERO: Keep your hands above his, let`s go.

SUBTITLE: Leslie Morrissette`s free technology keeps kids with cancer and other illnesses connected.

LESLIE MORRISSETTE, cnn HERO: So, I heard you like iPads. Look what we have in here.

SUBTITLE: Stan Hays feeds survivors and first responders after disaster strikes.

STAN HAYS, cnn HERO: There`s a lot of love put into this by a lot of people that want to help.

SUBTITLE: Rosie Mashale is raising a generation of AIDS orpans in Cape Town, South Africa.

Aaron Valencia uses classic cars as a tool to help restore the lives of children in need.

AARON VALENCIA, cnn HERO: This is the rear, so this would be driver side, right?

SUBTITLE: Amy Wright helps people with developmental disabilities find meaningful employment.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And your first latte of the day.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: Back in 1909, a layer of bricks was laid on top of the rock and tar surface of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It`s why the race track is still known as the brick yard.

It`s been resurfaced several times since then and these photos from the track`s president prove it. It`s a core that was pulled up from the track while it was getting repaved recently.

You can see the different layers of stone and asphalt that were added over the years, from top to bottom. It`s a like a trip back in time, all the way down to the 1909 layer of brick at the base.

Now that the photos have surfaced and gotten traction, they show a layer by layer or lap by lap, a gripping story you can track through the years by following the grooves that paved the way for generations of drives to draft and drift down decades of unrev-limited adrenaline fueled wheel to wheel independence crossing the finish line where the rubber meets the road.

I`m Race Carl Azuz for cnn 10.

END