merry christmas, everyone. we are so glad that you are with us on this special morning. i m poppy harlow with phil mattingly. hope you re having a great holiday with your loved ones. merry christmas. i want to stay on the set. isn t it beautiful? they did a wonderful job. i know. we have a christmas tree. a fire. you re going to see it all here. we have some news. the iowa caucuses are three weeks away from today. we will highlight the key moments on the campaign and how they could shape the final months in the race for the white house. seasons full of strikes reignite the labor movement in america, from hollywood to the motor city. workers won pay raises and new protections. how technology could bring more change in the year ahead. as anti-semitism and islamophobia sentiment rises, we ll talk with faith leaders how we can find common ground. first, let s get a check on the morning s headlines. good morning, everyone. merry christmas. i m danny freeman. the
merry christmas, everyone! we are so glad you are with us on this special morning. i m poppy hearlow with paul maddingly. this is a special edition of cnn this morning. hope you re having a great holiday with your loved ones. merry christmas. i want to stay on this set forever. isn t it beautiful? it s beautiful. they did a wonderful job. i love all the poinsettias all around. we have a christmas tree and a fire. the iowa caucuses are just three weeks away from today. this morning, we ll highlight the key moments on the campaign trail so far, and how they could shape the final months in the race for the white house. and seasons full of strikes reignite the labor movement in america from hollywood to the motor city, workers won pay raises and new protections. how technology could bring more change to the economy in the year ahead. and coming together this holiday season, as anti-semitism and islamophobia sentiment rises, we ll talk to faith leaders about how we
have a tentative deal with the united auto workers union. general motors was the last to settle. jeep maker stellantis reached an agreement on saturday. ford announced its deal last week with this positive reaction from one ford employee, walter robinson. it s definitely going to be life changing for the people. a career and notjust a job. gm said it was pleased with the outcome, with ceo mary barra, adding that the deal would allow it to continue to invest in our future and provide good jobs in the united states. the agreements which still need to be ratified by rank and file union members include a 25% wage increase over four and a half years, as well as other benefits for the uaw. this is a big win. historically, the union has negotiated new contracts with one car maker at a time. by taking on all three at once, uaw president sean fain successfully pitted them against each other. for the past several weeks. analysts and pundits were crying that our union was going too far.
and lower consumer confidence are to blame. our business editor simonjack has been to cardiff to talk to small businesses about the financial pressures they re facing. going, going gone. this wine merchant is picking up the last of the stock as he shuts down his business. 2023 shaping up to be a little shop of horrors. the number of companies in critical financial distress up caught in the last three months and this year is expected to see business failures than any since the crisis of 2009. i realised the shot wasn t valid anymore, i had to close the shop i went back online where i started originally but there was not the same, not the same spending power in the markets i could not make ends meet, i could not make ends meet, i could not make ends meet, i could not pay my suppliers or myself and the additional cost. that s when i realised it was not a valid business. insolvency experts say thousands of other business owners may find themselves in the same boat. it owners may