[clock ticking]
[music playing]
CARL AZUZ: For the first time in 22 years,
the US Federal Reserve is raising interest rates
by half a percentage point.
That's what we're breaking down first today.
I'm Carl Azuz.
Interest is what banks get paid for loaning people money.
If the Federal Reserve, America's central bank,
raises interest rates, it means people
have to pay back a higher percentage
of the money they borrow.
Why would the Fed want to do that?
Inflation.
The cost of living in America has gone up significantly
over the past year as prices on the things we buy have risen.
The thinking goes that, if interest rates are higher
and it's more expensive for people and businesses
to borrow money, they'll spend less of it.
And inflation will settle back down.
It's not an exact science.
If the Fed raises interest rates too much,
too quickly, it can be like slamming
the brakes on economic growth, and that could
contribute to a recession.
So the central bank is trying to find a balance between managing
decades-high inflation but without hampering
economic growth.
That's what's behind its decision on Wednesday
to raise interest rates.
Half a percentage point doesn't sound like much,
but the Fed usually makes smaller
adjustments, like the quarter point
rate hike it issued in March.
The last time the Fed raised the rate by half a point
was in 2000, and it says more raises like this are
possible in the months ahead.
The Fed says the US labor market--
the jobs picture is strong.
But consumer prices have risen at their highest rate in almost
four decades, and the Fed doesn't
think inflation is likely to go away on its own anytime soon.
It says COVID related lockdowns in China
are contributing to ongoing problems with the supply chain.
It says the war in Ukraine is contributing to elevated food
and energy prices, and those had risen last year
before Russia invaded.
With all these economic pressures in place,
the Fed is hoping its interest rate increases
will slow down price increases.
New data on inflation itself is also expected soon.
Up next, US President Joe Biden has
asked Congress to approve $33 billion
in additional assistance to Ukraine.
In March, Congress had approved more than $13 billion
in military and aid funding.
President Biden says the cost isn't cheap
but that the bill is needed to support Ukraine in its fight
against Russia, which invaded the nation on February 24.
US Senator Rand Paul has suggested that America should
sell Ukraine weapons but not give them to the country
if doing so increases US national debt.
There are also concerns about America's own stockpiles
of certain weapons running low.
The stunning success the much smaller Ukrainian military has
had against the Russian invaders would not
be possible without the billions worth of US and NATO weapons
flooding into Ukraine, notably, the thousands
of easy-to-use, highly-portable American javelins
and stingers that for more than two months
have taken out countless Russian tanks and aircraft.
JOE BIDEN: Sometimes, we will speak softly and carry
a large javelin because we're sending
a lot of those in as well.
CARL AZUZ: --so many, in fact, that now
the US inventory of stingers and javelins
is running dangerously low.
RICHARD BLUMENTHAL: The closet is bare.
Just to give you one example, the United States military
has probably dispensed about one third
of its javelin anti-tank missiles to Ukraine.
CARL AZUZ: While the US wants to give Ukraine what it needs,
Pentagon war planners must balance
that with not letting supplies dip below what the US needs.
MARK CANCIAN: I think we're at that moment
now with javelins and stingers.
The recent aid packages have not included
any more of these missiles.
To me, that indicates that the war planners have raised a flag
here, and the civilian leadership
doesn't want to exhaust these inventories further.
[beeping]
CARL AZUZ: The Biden administration has just
requested almost $5.5 billion from Congress
to replenish its stocks.
But the Pentagon insists the aid packages for Ukraine
have not hurt overall US readiness.
LLOYD AUSTIN: We will never go below our minimum requirement
for our stockpile.
So we will always maintain the capability
to defend this country and support our interests.
CARL AZUZ: 1,400 stingers, about a quarter
of the inventory, experts and lawmakers say,
has been committed to Ukraine.
The stingers' manufacturer, Raytheon, which also makes
the javelin, says it no longer has some
of the electronics parts, so the stinger needs to be redesigned.
GREG HAYES: We have a very limited stock of material
for stinger production.
We've been working with the DOD for the last couple of weeks.
We're actively trying to resource some of the material.
CARL AZUZ: The new phase of fighting
in the flat and open Eastern Donbass is changing the fight.
- (YELLING) Fore!
[explosion]
CARL AZUZ: The US has just committed almost 100 howitzer
systems and tens of thousands of artillery shells,
but it's the stingers and javelins that
have had the greatest impact.
And now, according to manufacturers,
getting back to pre Ukraine inventory levels
is going to take years.
[music playing]
10 second trivia-- which of these options
occupies the greatest surface area?
Ross Sea Ice Shelf, Germany, Lake Michigan,
or Great Victoria Desert?
[beeping]
With an estimated area of 182,000 square miles,
the Ross Sea Ice Shelf in Antarctica
is the largest of these options.
CARL AZUZ: Scuba diving with leopard seals and a really good
dry suit, ski mountaineering where you actually hike up
the mountain you skied down, kayaking
between icebergs and whales, and caving through frozen caverns--
all of these activities are possible for those
with the means and the motivation to explore
the frozen continent.
You don't necessarily need a ship to get there.
But if you take a seat on the plane you're about to see,
you'll need more than $14,000 for a one-day trip
and more than $62,000 for a five-day stay.
[music playing]
- We have just landed on runway 175.
- [non-english speech]
[music playing]
CARL AZUZ: When I saw this next story was theater raised,
I thought my producer meant razed with a Z,
like it was being destroyed.
I was wrong.
He meant it was being raised as in lifted up.
And for something that weighs 14 million pounds--
#engineering.
This was part of a $2.5 billion renovation.
Using 34 hydraulic lifting posts,
workers lifted New York's Palace Theater
about a quarter-inch per hour.
After four months of that, the landmark,
which dates back to 1913, will now
sit on the third floor of its building,
while new retail and entertainment space
will be installed below it.
Going any higher might bother the "Fiddler on the Roof."
The producers of that company might
have thought, "Mamma Mia."
We could have been "Doubtfired" if we didn't
get all our "Cats" in a row.
They might have gotten "Spamalot" from a "Music Man"
who thought they were out of "Chorus Line,"
but thankfully, the show will go on.
I'm Carl Azuz.
Today's shout-out takes us to Mount
Tabor High School located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Thank you for subscribing and leaving
a comment at youtube.com/cnn10.
[music playing]