[clock ticking]
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CARL AZUZ: Hi, I'm Carl Azuz for CNN.
This is our last week on the air in our spring
broadcasting season.
So after this Friday, we'll be working behind the scenes
until the daily show resumes in August.
First up, more American assistance is on the way
to the nation of Ukraine.
The two countries are not officially
allies through the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Ukraine is not a member of NATO, but the US
has been a leading supporter of Ukraine
as it fights the invasion launched by Russia in February.
While on a trip to Asia, US President Joe Biden
signed a bill to provide $40 billion in new assistance
to Ukraine.
It includes military equipment and humanitarian aid
for the European country.
This is in addition to the $13.6 billion
that Congress approved for Ukraine in March.
These packages have had bipartisan backing
from Democrats and many Republicans on Capitol Hill.
The president says they're a sign of strong support
for Ukraine as it defends itself from Russia.
But some Republicans say the US is spending too much to help
Ukraine, that it should be selling the nation
weapons instead, and that European countries should
be spending more to support Ukraine.
Meanwhile, a product from Europe is
arriving to help out with a problem in the United States.
That problem is a widespread shortage of baby formula.
One of America's largest manufacturing plants
was shut down in February over safety concerns,
and it won't be able to reopen for at least another week.
70,000 pounds of formula landed in America from Switzerland
yesterday, and President Biden says
his administration is working around the clock
to get it to people in need.
But critics say that administration waited too long
and moved too slowly in taking action.
ELIZABETH COHEN: Here at Ramstein Air Force Base,
we've been watching service members
putting together these pallets.
You can see them all throughout here.
It's 1.5 million bottles--
each bottle 8 ounces--
1.5 million bottles of baby formula
being sent by a European company to the United States.
The Department of Defense is doing the shipping.
Let's take a look at what they're sending.
If you look at this, you can see it says Nestle.
That's a Swiss company.
Alfamino-- that's a formula that's hypoallergenic.
That's because a lot of the children in the United States--
their parents who are having trouble finding formula-- often
those children have particular medical conditions.
Or they have allergies, and they're
looking for a particular kind of formula
like a hypoallergenic formula.
So there's a lot of hope that this
could help families in the US.
Now, we want to be clear-eyed about this.
As great as it is to have these 1.5 million bottles,
this will not solve the infant formula shortage.
There are other steps that are being taken too,
but even all put together, this will not solve anything.
Hopefully, it will alleviate it to some extent.
But as far as getting those shelves full again,
that could take many, many, many weeks.
CARL AZUZ: In the United States, fuel is at its highest price
ever.
The AAA automobile association says
the latest record for a gallon of gasoline
was set on Sunday at more than $4.59 per gallon on average.
Diesel's record was set last Wednesday
at over $5.57 per gallon.
Here's how that impacts inflation,
the rising prices for goods.
DENTON CINQUEGRANA: It could be gasoline.
It could be diesel.
It could be jet fuel.
But that fuel is eventually going to be distributed.
Right now, those tank levels are pretty low, though.
- Is that concerning for you?
DENTON CINQUEGRANA: Absolutely.
- These oil tanks in New York Harbor
sit at alarmingly low levels not seen in 30 years
as demand outpaces supply.
DENTON CINQUEGRANA: Over there.
- This is one of seven critical fuel points across the country
supplying our nation's gas stations,
planes, trucks, and homes--
critical to fueling the US supply chain.
DENTON CINQUEGRANA: And really high diesel prices
get passed on to the consumer, whether that's for construction
or whether that's for delivering groceries to the grocery store
where you're going to buy whatever it is you need.
- US diesel prices are already at record highs,
with particular pain here in the Northeast.
And now with tankers like these exporting much needed diesel
to Europe instead of supplying the US,
prices are spiking higher.
But there are also fewer US diesel
refineries after years of closures to make
up that difference in supply.
DENTON CINQUEGRANA: Right now, there's just
a global shortage of diesel.
It's really tight.
- Katie Child, owner of Berkshire Energy Depot
in New Haven, Connecticut, is responsible for setting
the price of diesel here.
How does it feel to have to make the price higher every day?
KATIE CHILD: You can see the pain in their face
when they come in and see the price.
And you just apologize and say, I'm sorry.
And just there's nothing I can do about it.
- She's a small business owner who
services other small businesses and says the record
prices have lost her customers.
KATIE CHILD: When prices are high, people shop around more.
If you save $0.10 down the road, you're going to go there.
- Hudson Square Pharmacy back in New York
is also facing the same problem.
Everything from cereal to toilet paper is more expensive.
AL SOLMAN: We do pay a gas surcharge too.
Now that gas has gone up a lot, we notice on our bills--
$2.00, $3.00, $5.00 surcharge for gasoline.
- That extra charge has to be recouped from somewhere.
AL SOLMAN: Once the prices become a little too much,
then we just have to pass it on to the consumer.
- But the consumer holds some power to turn
the tide of high prices.
Our relentless buying and spending
inflicted on a brittle supply chain
are contributing to the high price of diesel.
DENTON CINQUEGRANA: And at some point,
the consumer is going to say, all right, enough's enough.
I've got to slow down because this is taking too
much of my disposable income.
If we do have a pullback in economic activity,
that might help to level off supplies.
But for the time being, things are really tight.
CARL AZUZ: 10-second trivia.
Which of these animals symbolizes a lasting decline
in the stock market?
Bull, turtle, bear, or pig?
A bear market can describe a condition
when stock prices drop for a sustained amount of time.
So far, this year has not been a good one
for the US stock market.
Continued inflation, rising interest rates,
global instability, worries about a possible recession,
which is an economic downturn-- all of these
have been factors in why major indexes like the Dow Jones
have taken a significant hit in 2022.
Another index you hear a lot about is the S&P 500,
or the Standard and Poor's 500.
It tracks the stocks of 500 large American companies.
And last Friday, the S&P 500 temporarily
sank into the territory of a bear market.
- So we talk about being in a bear market.
- People were panicking.
GEORGE W. BUSH: The market is not functioning properly.
CHRISTINE ROMANS: What exactly is a bear market?
It's when stocks drop 20% from a recent high.
When we talk about the overall stock market,
we usually look at a broad index like the S&P 500.
But individual stocks or commodities
can also fall into a bear market if they decline 20%.
A bear market is different from a correction.
That's a 10% decline.
So if the S&P falls into a bear market,
it's already had a correction and then fallen another 10%.
Since World War 2, there have been 14
bear markets for the S&P 500.
A bear market doesn't always signal
a severe economic downturn.
In the last 40 years, four bear markets have
occurred without a recession.
But the drops that coincide with recessions tend to be worse.
The good news is bear markets don't tend to last
as long as bull markets.
The average lasted 339 days and declined nearly 32%,
but history shows it takes about a year for stocks
to fully bounce back.
CARL AZUZ: The S&P 500 did bounce back a bit on Friday.
After temporarily meeting that bear market definition,
the index ended the day at 19% below its high in January,
just shy of bear market territory.
But the recent drop is its biggest
since March of 2020, when the COVID pandemic was sinking in.
And the NASDAQ, a different index,
is already in a bear market.
Its stocks are down 30% from their recent high last fall.
So all this will be closely watched.
[music playing]
After a three-year hiatus, the Tramdriver Championship
returned to Europe over the weekend,
and what a championship it was.
One event involved tram pool.
Bump the cue, and try to get the ball to roll to the middle.
Another looks like a tram version of bowling,
though I'm not sure the whole train
was supposed to smack the pins.
There's the no-hands, did she program in enough braking
power to stop in time event.
She did not.
But if you want to see what a perfect tram stop looks like--
- Wow.
CARL AZUZ: Wow is right--
500 points for this masterful maneuver.
Sometimes, there was too much speed.
Sometimes, there wasn't enough.
But if your favorite kind of transport is tram-sport,
and you're not afraid of tramifications of trampling
the competramption, train your eyes
on an event that tracks the best conductors
as they toe the line with the trolleying
cry of keeping it rail.
Old Orchard Junior High School is keeping it real.
Shout out to our viewers in Skokie, Illinois,
and thank you for your requests on our YouTube channel.
I'm Carl Azuz.