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Will the president of Brazil be impeached? That question
and the story surrounding it are first up today
on CNN STUDENT NEWS.
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff is the first female leader of the federal republic.
She was elected in 2010 and reelected in 2014.
Brazil`s lower house of Congress voted on Sunday to impeach her. And if the Senate also
approves that, President Rousseff would be suspended and
would have to defend herself in a trial. This is all happening as Brazil prepares to host
the Olympics this August.
President Rousseff is a polarizing figure in Brazil. Critics blamed her for the nation`s
worst recession in decades. A huge corruption scandal
involving Brazil`s government-run oil company has led to the resignations of numerous politicians,
including dozens in the president`s political
party, the worker`s party.
But Rousseff herself has not been accused of corruption, and she says she hasn`t committed
any impeachable crimes. She and her supporters promised
to fight the proceedings.
On South America`s west coast, as the country of Ecuador picks up the pieces from Saturday
evening`s earthquake, President Rafael Correa says
rebuilding will cost billions. Help is pouring from all over the region, as well as the European
and the United Nations. Communications are out in
many parts of Ecuador. Survivors need water. It`s hard to get that to them because the
highways are in such bad shape. That`s also a problem for
rescue efforts.
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The death toll right now is sitting in more than 270
people, with 2,500 others hurt in the aftermath of this 7.8
magnitude earthquake, a devastating earthquake for Ecuador. Those numbers are expected to
continue rising as officials got a closer look at the
extent of the damage.
Part of the problem is with the infrastructure in Ecuador. Some of the hardest hit areas
right now are essentially inaccessible.
After weeks of pounding rain brought about by El Nino, this earthquake essentially decimated
what was left of the roads here. Perfect example is
right behind me in the city of Guayaquil, this bridge came down during a very busy hour.
This is one of the busiest bridges in the city that came
down on top of a car, killing one person and injuring another.
About 10,000 soldiers and 4,000 police officers are on the ground right, sifting through rubbles,
trying to find survivors.
The U.S. Supreme Court is now hearing arguments in a case related to President Obama`s
controversial executive action on immigration. The
president denounced the action in 2014. It allows millions of people who are in the U.S.
illegally to stay without the threat of being deported.
They could apply for work programs and other benefits, as long as they paid taxes.
Twenty-six states sued the government over this. The Obama administration says its action
is legal, and like those of previous presidents on
immigration. But no executive action has ever impacted this many people before. And executive
actions don`t go through Congress. Critics say this
one in particular should.
Another aspect to this -- the Supreme Court is divided. Four of the justices were appointed
by Republican presidents, four by Democratic
presidents.
Conservative Justice Antonin Scalia died suddenly in February and his potential replacements
have been held up in Congress. So, if the high
court rules 4-4 on this issue, the ruling of the lower court stands, and that court
blocked the president`s action on immigration.
This isn`t the only debate happening right now on this issue.
H-1B sounds like an airplane, or an exotic disease. They`re actually visas
and these visas are one of the most controversial parts of
the immigration debate. Huge tech giants like Facebook and Google call them essential to
their business, but critics say companies are exploiting
them at the expense of the American worker.
So, what exactly are the H-1B visas?
Congress created them in 1992 to bring in highly educated and specialized foreign workers
into the country.
This bill provides for vital increases for entry
on the basis of skills, infusing the ranks of our
scientists and engineers.
They`re supposed to fill shortages -- think computer programmers, engineers,
doctors.
Around 85,000 are allotted a year and they last up to six years, plus a possible extension.
To get one, you have to be educated. Ninety-nine
percent of H-1B workers have at least a bachelor`s degree and over a half have advanced degrees.
So, why are H-1Bs are controversial?
Well, critics claim the companies aren`t using them to fill shortages. They say the companies
are actually bringing in foreign workers so they can
pay them less than American workers, and it wasn`t mean to work this way.
To protect American workers from exactly what critics are accusing the companies of doing
now, the law was set up to require a, quote-unquote,
"prevailing wage". That`s a number calculated for each job by the Department of Labor. But
critics say that that number, it`s rife for
loopholes and abuse.
Another problem for, quote-unquote, "specialized hard to fill jobs" sometimes aren`t. Around
50 percent of H-1Bs are going to computer
programmers, but they`ve also been used for sports coaches, ranch workers, preschool teachers.
And it`s not just American workers who can be hurt by their misuse. Employers hold incredible
leverage over H-1B visa holders. Some have
described the workers as indentured servants because an H-1B worker needs to have a job
to stay in the country. Complain about working conditions?
You could lose your jobs and be forced to leave the country.
So, here we are, tech companies want more H-1Bs, critics want reform. Will Silicon Valley
get its way?
The U.S. military is sending an additional 217 troops to Iraq. Defense Secretary Ash
Carter made the announcement yesterday, during a
surprised visit to the Middle Eastern country. The Americans` mission, to help and train
Iraqi troops as they try to retake the city of Mosul from
the ISIS terrorist group.
The Iraqi army fled Mosul in 2014, allowing ISIS to take over. The U.S. forces will also
be providing attack helicopters and protecting Iraqis in
the fight, which means the Americans will be closer to the battle and at greater risks.
In 2011, the Obama administration announced the end of the U.S.-led war in Iraq and eventually
moved out the remaining American combat troops. But
after ISIS claimed large parts of land in Iraq and Syria, the U.S. has gradually moved
military forces back in. The new troops will bring
America`s total in Iraq to more than 4,000.
Here we go, from Monday`s transcript page at CNNStudentNews.com, please welcome
the Panthers. Great to see you, everyone, at Washington
Park High School. It`s in Racine, Wisconsin.
Next up, Middletown, Delaware. That`s where you`ll see the Hawks of St. Georges` Technical
High School.
And in North Atlantic Ocean, thank you for watching from the Bahamas. Lucaya International
School rounds out our roll.
Buying what we don`t need. A creditcard.com survey found that 75 percent of Americans
had made an impulse purchase in 2014. A Nielsen survey found
that 52 percent of people in Thailand had done this, 48 percent in India. And retailers
everywhere have certain tools they use to get people to buy.
The goal is to look at a shopper and find out what they emotionally
crave in a shopping experience and give that to the shopper.
How do retailers do that? By studying you in the store to see what you like and
what you want. One way to measure how a shopper is
feeling is to watch people anonymously.
From cameras that are based on different areas of the store that literally
look at somebody`s face and see what kind of facial
micro expression they`re showing to find out what emotional they`re feeling in whatever
given time.
Another way is to track volunteer shoppers wearing monitoring devices. They
showed me how this is done in their lab. A wrist monitor
captures my heart rate, blood pressure and skin temperature to measure my emotional reactions.
Special glasses show exactly what I`m looking at, to
pinpoint what draws my attention. Then, I`m off to shop in simulated stores.
First, for eyeglasses.
This is what we call visual merchandising. These visual storytelling cues
pull you in, get you a little bit more engaged in
the story of the brand.
Like I want to be like that guy or I want to be with that guy so these are
the glasses I need.
Right. Exactly.
Next, to grab a cup of coffee.
If I`m at coffee shop and somebody`s at the checkout, it`s best to enhance
the emotional experience by having social proof that
others have bought here, that others are into the things I`m into and it helps enhanced
the rewarding experience I have at retail.
And then a mobile device store.
The brain really reacts well to people, and people using the products,
creating story and enveloping the customer in a story
rather than just trying to sell them a product, you want to get them involve in somebody`s
life and again, aspirational type market.
So they can see themselves there.
Exactly. They`re projecting themselves in that environment.
Cattle, horses, elephants, rhinoceros, rhinos, they`re all known to stampede. What
you might not know is that dolphins do this, too. A pod of
common dolphins was swimming near Monterrey, California, when some killer whales attacked.
So, the dolphins` purpose (ph), they repeatedly left out
of the water to escape faster. And a cameraman just happened to be filming when it all happened.
Maybe they didn`t want to be roped in or corralled into a new video, but when they stamp-fled,
they did it on purpose, so that won`t be the lasso
time it happens.
I`m Carl Azuz and we`ll be rounding up more stories for you on Wednesday.