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Japan Ends 17-Year Run of Negative Interest Rates; Appeals Court Again Blocks Texas from Arresting and Deporting Migrants; How to Save Plants from Unexpected Spring Freezes; Dorothy`s Ruby Slippers from "The Wizard of Oz" Were Stolen. Nineteen Years Later, They`re Finally Back Home. Aired 4-4:10a ET

Aired March 21, 2024 - 04:00   ET

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

COY WIRE, CNN 10 ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to CNN 10, the best 10 minutes in news. I`m Coy Wire. Happy Friday Eve. It`s Thursday, March 21st. And

we`re going to start today with the latest on the border security battle brewing between the Biden administration and the State of Texas.

You may remember that back in December, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed into law Senate Bill 4, more often referred to as SB4. This made entering

Texas illegally a state crime and gave state judges the authority to issue deportation orders.

Border security and immigration enforcement are areas the federal government handles. So the law has been paused as the U.S. court system

determines if this state law is constitutional or not.

Already, there have been multiple rulings and appeals about whether the law should take effect while those legal decisions are decided. And those

arguments made their way to the Supreme Court earlier this week. Those justices allowed Texas to start enforcing this law, even as some legal

cases were waiting to take place.

But just hours later, a federal appeals court placed this measure back on hold while their hearing gets underway. That`s quite the rigmarole,

lengthy, complicated procedure, right?

So to simplify things a bit, let`s go to our Rosa Flores, who explains more on what both sides are arguing with this measure. And after watching her

report, take a minute, consider, discuss, do you think our immigration laws here in the United States need reconsideration? And what are the pros and

cons to this bill?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: SB4 creates a state crime for the illegal entry into Texas or an individual`s, quote, "Illegal presence" in the

state, and gives local law enforcement the power to arrest and judges the power to remove violators.

BRANDON JUDD, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL BORDER PATROL COUNCIL: It`s going to cause a drop in illegal immigration through the State of Texas. And that`s

going to be a huge benefit to border patrol agents. It`s going to be a huge benefit to those individuals that want border security.

FLORES: Human rights groups warn it will lead to the racial profiling of Latinos who make up 40% of the state`s population.

FERNANDO GARCIA, BNHR: We`re fighting against racism, xenophobia and white supremacy.

FLORES: This new state crime will mostly be adjudicated in county courts.

ADAM HAYNES, POLICY DIRECTOR, TEXAS CONFERENCE OF URBAN COUNTIES: It will clog our courts.

FLORES: Adam Haynes from the Texas Conference of Urban Counties lobbied against SB4 on behalf of these 34 Democratic and Republican-led counties

and says that the 6,000 to 7,000 county jail beds across the state could fill up in days.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Senate Bill 4 is finally passed.

FLORES: The law, which was passed by the Republican-led Texas legislature and signed by Republican Governor Greg Abbott last year, did not include

funding.

DAVID STOUT, EL PASO COUNTY COMMISSIONER: We`re going to be lots of negative impacts, lots more racial profiling.

FLORES: El Paso County Commissioner David Stout estimates a new jail in his county could cost $250 million to build and $40 to $50 million annually to

operate.

STOUT: This will be the single largest unfunded mandate that we have seen.

FLORES: Stout led the charge in his county to sue Texas over SB4 and says he`s in talks with the district attorney and local law enforcement about

interpreting the law narrowly to lessen its impact on county resources.

(On camera): Are you hoping that local police and the sheriff`s office focus on violent crime and not on targeting migrants?

STOUT: Yes, I mean, that`s I think, what they typically do.

GOV. GREG ABBOTT, (R) TEXAS: Senate Bill 4 --

FLORES: Abbott maintains Texas has constitutional authority to enforce SB4 and that it will not lead to racial profiling.

ABBOTT: Officers understand, and that is wrong to profile.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WIRE: All right, let`s head to Japan now, which has the fourth largest economy in the world. And the island nation just did something that it

hasn`t done in 17 years, raised interest rates. According to the Bank of Japan, the short-term rates will now increase from minus 0.1% to around

zero to 0.1%.

This move will shift away from the country`s negative interest rate policy, which was initiated years ago to help stimulate a struggling economy. With

more on this move and the future of Japan`s economy, let`s turn now to our Hanako Montgomery, who`s in Tokyo.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A bit of background as to why Japan has finally ended negative interest rates. There are really

two key components. The first, we`re finally seeing inflation. The second, wages are finally going up. So right now, the rate of inflation in Japan is

hovering at about 2% for its core consumer prices. That includes everything besides food and fuel.

Now, 2% is that magic number you want to see that indicates the economy is healthy and growing in the right direction. This is historic for Japan,

which has seen years and years of deflation. So at the same time, we are also seeing wages increase significantly.

On Friday, Rengo, Japan`s largest labor union comprised of the country`s biggest companies, agreed to raise wages by 5.28%, the largest pay hike in

33 years.

Now, this is historic for Japanese workers in the country, because they haven`t seen their wages increase that much in comparison to the United

States, the U.K., Germany, other OECD countries, for example. It`s seen a lot of stagnant growth.

Now, these two key components are what indicated to the Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda that it was finally time to end negative interest

rates, which will now set the economic agenda for the months to come in Japan.

Now, in terms of a stronger yen, though we did see the price of the yen fall today. Experts did tell me that we might see a stronger yen in the

months to come riding on the back of higher interest rates.

Now, if we do see that, it would mean input prices do go down. Now, this is hugely significant for the country because Japan is a resource-poor nation.

It imports more than 90% of its fuel, of its gas, and about 60% of its food. So input prices do go down, that means the cost of living in Japan

will also go down.

Now, for foreign tourists, however, it might mean that their next vacation to the country is just a bit more expensive. But again, this is a gradual

change that we might be seeing many, many months in the future.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WIRE: All right. Spring officially sprung this week. But Mother Nature said not so fast warm weather. Many states, especially in the eastern part of

the country, experienced this dip in temperatures, making it feel like we were still full-throttle wintertime.

So if you or anyone you know were ready to leap into spring by maybe freshening up the garden, there might be some worry over how to protect

those precious flowers and veggies. Well, we`ve got you covered. Our meteorologist Elisa Raffa has some tips from some of the pros, some

seasoned farmers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELISA RAFFA, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We`re at that time of year where cold snaps can still happen, but things are blooming. Winter is our fastest warming

season. Spring winds up springing sooner. So that means that growing season in some places is as much as two to four weeks longer. So you might have to

protect those plants in the cold, just like these farmers. We`re at a strawberry farm where you can see the farmers here have covered these

strawberries with row covers to keep those strawberries protected from frost forming on their leaves. And the blankets also help trap some of that

heat.

Now, while you might not have acres and acres of strawberry farms at home, you can still use some of the same practices to protect your own plants.

You can use things like bedsheets, blankets, burlap, and cheesecloth all to protect your own flowers and vegetables in your garden.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WIRE: Ten second trivia. Which of these iconic movies is based on a book?

Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Wizard of Oz, Singin` in the Rain, or Toy Story?

If you said, The Wizard of Oz, you are correct. The book is actually called The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and it`s written by American author L. Frank

Baum. The fairy tale published in the year 1900, nearly 40 years before the movie starring Judy Garland premiered.

Toto, we are not in Kansas anymore. Today`s story, getting a 10 out of 10, takes us to Minnesota, where FBI agents closed the loop on a stolen

collector`s item that was from the set of MGM`s iconic 1939 movie, The Wizard of Oz.

Remember those ruby red slippers that Dorothy clicks three times? Well, those shimmery shoes were swiped from their home, the Judy Garland Museum

in Grand Rapids, all the way back in 2005. The U.S. District Attorney`s Office of North Dakota says they were finally recovered during a sting

operation in 2018, but the item`s owner, collector Michael Shaw, wasn`t reunited with the shoes until now. When Shaw finally saw the shoes, he

compared it to a reunion with a long-lost friend. They`re one of only four pairs known to be left from the historic film set, and the North Dakota

D.A. estimates these slippers are worth around 3.5 million bucks.

All right, superstars, we`re at the end of The Yellow Brick Road, the end of the show, but it is time to recognize some of you. First, we want to pay

some homage to the concept of think it, see it, and believe it if you want to achieve it. Every day dating back weeks and weeks and weeks, Mr.

Bartosh`s Social Studies class in Stewartville, Minnesota, wrote that on March 21st, they would get a shout out, and their persistence has

manifested their destiny. Stewartville Middle School, rise up. And thank you for your dedication to CNN10. My team loves your passion.

And this shout out goes to my firebird friends at Chaparral High School in Scottsdale, Arizona. Keep blazing that trail and flying high. Maybe I`ll

see you when I`m out there during the final four. Oh, yeah. See you tomorrow, everyone. Let`s finish this week strong.

END