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CNN 10
Mid-Term Election Results; Segway Not a Flop?
Aired November 07, 2018 - 23:50 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CNN10
CARL AZUZ, HOST OF CNN10: Hi, I`m Carl Azuz and this is CNN10 where we are starting with a look at some of the results from yesterday`s U.S. midterm
elections.
Americans were deciding on a slue of proposed state laws. Thousands of positions in local and state governments who`d serve as the governors of 36
states and when it came to Washington, D.C., which political party would be in control of the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Those races get a lot of attention nationally because they could impact how effective the president is in getting his legislative agenda through
Congress.
Just looking at the House, here are some of the priorities that Republicans said they had if they maintained control. Immigration reform, funding for
a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico, tax cuts for the middle class and repealing Obamacare.
Here are some of the priorities that Democrats said they had if they won control. Ethics reform, voter protection laws, the investigation
concerning President Donald Trump and Russia and a bill to strengthen the nation`s infrastructure. Again, this is just in the House, but it gives
you a sense of the very different priorities of the different political Parties.
As the night began and CNN started monitoring results, making projections, here`s a couple things we were watching when it came to both chambers of
the U.S. Congress.
JOHN KING, CNN HOST: One-third of the Senate up every two years, this year, this map is tilted in favor of Republicans. Ten Democratic
incumbents in states the president carried, some of them hugely up for re- election. So, we favor the Republicans heading into the count tonight.
If you take the races that are not on the ballot, plus those we lean or toss already, 49 Republicans to 45 Democrats. What does that mean? What
does that mean? If nothing else changes, meaning, if the Republicans hold Texas, if the Republicans flip North Dakota, if the Democrats hold Montana,
that`s what we think heading into the night.
We`re about to count the votes. If that happens, this is all the Republicans have to do. If the Republicans can hold Tennessee, now they
think they can do well in these other states too, but this is all they would need for 50. Mike Pence could then break a 50/50 tie.
One last point as we come back to the map here. It`s a midterm election year. Democrats think they have a chance to take back the House, this is
where we start. The Republican majority at 235, Democrats think if there`s a modest to a big blue wave they can do this, they can take us back in time
to the last time the Democrats won a big House majority.
This is right after the election of President Obama in 2008. They lost this majority in 2010, but this is what America looked like the last time
we had a House Democratic majority. This is what it looks like now. The big challenge tonight, can the Republicans keep all this red? Can the
Democrats flip a lot of seats and restore blue, especially in middle America, down toward the south, that is the big challenge as we head into
the night. We`re about to count the votes. Election Night in America starts right now.
AZUZ: But where did it finish. Well, according to the projections of CNN and other major networks, Democrats appeared to have taken control of the
House from Republicans and Republicans appeared to have maintained their control of the Senate.
The exact numbers hadn`t been confirmed by the time we produced this show, we will have those for you in the days ahead. But going forward, the U.S.
has, once again, what`s called a divided or split Congress, with one chamber controlled by one Party and the other controlled by the other. So,
if any major legislation is going to be passed, compromise will be key.
Ten second trivia. Which of these products was launched in 2001? Java programming language, Segway Human Transporter, Digital Video Discs, or
Toyota Prius?
All of these are inventions of the `90s except for the Segway, that was launched in 2001.
Segwaying into our next story, quote, "People like to say Segway was a flop, but we`re still here." Those are the words of company director who`s
been with Segway for 12 years.
And while you`re increasingly more likely to see people using electric scooters on city streets than the original Segways, it`s the technology of
the Segway, specifically the self-balancing technology that gave rise to more modern forms of electric transportation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it`s time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do we have to do something here or does it -- it does it by itself.
(CHEERING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a story about Segway.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the world`s first self-balancing human transporting.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All the knowledge that went into knowing how to walk is transferred to this machine.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Upon it`s unveiling in 2001, the Segway Human Transporter hype was similar to today`s hype around Tesla, with the same
message. This product is going to revolutionize transportation forever.
DEAN KAMEN, FOUNDER OF SEGWAY: I believe the Segway H.T. will do for walking what the calculator did for pad and pencil. You`ll get there
quicker, you`ll go further anywhere people walk.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The cities problem .
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anywhere people walk. Segway was Dean Kamen`s solution to an old challenge. It`s called, the last mile. It`s the inefficiency in
Harrington getting from the train station to your front door.
From a bus stop to your desk at work, it`s the leg of your daily journey where you have no choice but to walk. Segway was finally going to make
this six million year old act of walking better.
So, why didn`t it? What happened to the company, some said, was going to bigger than the internet.
JOHN DOERR, CHAIRM AND VENTURE CAPITALIST, KLEINER PERKINS: I made some pretty bold predictions about Segway that were wrong. I said it was the
fastest company to do $1 billion in revenue ever, and of course, I was wrong.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: By 2007 Segway`s Personal Transporters had only met a mere one percent of their original projected sales, along with a hefty
$5,000 price tag, sales of the Segway P.T. were hurt by yet another problem.
MATT GELBWASK, FORMER EMPLOYEE OF SEGWAY: People looked at the Segway and it`s like, oh, you`re a geek.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Simply put, the Segway P.T. just wasn`t cool.
(LAUGHING)
(YELLING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The body of the British man, who liked the Segway so much he bought the company, was found along with his machine in this river
near his home in Northern England.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The owner of Segway the company, dying on a Segway was both a tragedy and a P.R. nightmare. Shortly afterwards medical
researchers noticed a growing trend. Severe Segway related injuries were on the rise.
After that, Segway`s were relegated to the realm of mall cops and tourists. The company`s mission to change the future of transportation had failed.
But, when all hope was lost, Segway got another chance.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now Segway has been acquired by it`s Chinese rival, Ninebot.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chinese scooter maker, Ninebot, bought the company.
GEORGE MULLER, PRESIDENT OF SEGWAY: The benefits of Segway immediately is, it gives us better access to the Chinese market.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Suddenly Segway was an integral part of a newer movement in mobility, electric scooter sharing. It`s a market that could
reach nearly $30 billion by 2025. Segway`s new parent company, Ninebot, is one of two leading scooter suppliers for growing companies like Lime and
Bird, that in turn are deploying them on city streets across the globe.
But, when you get down to it, Lime, Bird and Ninebot are still trying to solve the same problem Segway was backing 2001.
KAMEN: The last mile is the problem and half the world now lives in dense cities and people spend, depending who they are, between 90 and 95 percent
of their energy getting around on foot.
This one is set to about 12 miles an hour, which is four times walking speed. So, what used to take you a half an hour, will take seven, eight,
nine minutes.
GELBWAKS: The hope was that we would change the world, and now, you know, perhaps if the world has changed and it wasn`t changed by us, that would
have been okay. It`s much less, I think, ultimately about who does it and more about the fact that it`s been done.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Segway, if you look in the dictionary, says, a smooth transition from one position or idea to another. And this is a nice way to
go from one place to another and it is an idea.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: Why did the salmon cross the road? Because it was flooded and that`s why this video gets a 10 out of 10. It just happens to have been
recorded by a fish hatchery specialist, who says, this isn`t unusual for Washington State.
Salmon routinely enter the creeks to spawn and when heavy rain causes those creeks to flood, the fish go everywhere. If they`re lucky, they`ll end up
in the creek on the other side of the road. If they`re not, well who wants salmon. There are just salmany of them and while these fish may fry, they
don`t fly. So, if they`re no longer in the swim, they`re all fished out. They`re on the hook, they`re waiting with baited breath to see if they`ll
get a lifeline or if they`ll be up the creek.
I`m Carl Azuz for CNN.
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