Obama confident trade deal will pass Congress

President Obama said Monday he’s confident that Congress will overcome election-year gridlock and approve the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement. Obama acknowledged during a news conference in Vietnam that passing trade deals is tough, especially during a political campaign when the issue is hotly debated. The TPP has drawn opposition from members in both parties in Congress along with the leading Democratic and Republican presidential candidates, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Critics of the deal say it could lead to American firms shipping jobs overseas to countries with lower wages, including Vietnam. They also have said the labor and environmental protections in the deal are not strong enough.