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CNN International: U.S. Justice Dept. Files Antitrust Suit Against Live Nation; Ebrahim Raisi To Be Buried After Final Funeral Ceremonies; Biden Welcomes Kenyan President To White House. Aired 11a- 12p ET
Aired May 23, 2024 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.
RAHEL SOLOMON, HOST, "CNN NEWSROOM": Welcome. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York, where we are following multiple developing stories this hour. We will take you live to Washington, D.C. That's what we have learned the U.S. Department of Justice, as you're seeing here, has filed a groundbreaking monopoly lawsuit against ticketing and entertainment giant Live Nation. We're expected to hear from the U.S. Attorney General any moment now. Once we do, we will bring it to you.
Plus, President Biden and Kenya's President William Ruto will soon hold a bilateral meeting at the White House. Why China's influence looms large over this visit? And later, we'll take you to Louisville, Kentucky, where police there are expected to release their findings after an internal investigation into last week's arrest of golfer Scottie Scheffler.
But, let's get back to this news out of Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. It's a move that could have huge implications for millions of concert goers in the U.S. who have claimed that they have faced soaring ticket prices and headaches trying to get seats to see concerts which reached a breaking point with the Taylor Swift fiasco. Remember this?
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Well, thousands of fans were not ready for it. They were left out in the cold ahead of her historic "Eras Tour". What now? The U.S. Department of Justice is suing the entertainment giant that critics say controls ticket prices in the U.S. The DoJ and several states have just filed that lawsuit against Live Nation, this is the company that owns Ticketmaster, and they accuse it of being a monopoly. They say that its exclusive contracts with concert venues, well, they say that that has led to high ticket prices and exorbitant fees. Ticketmaster, meantime, has long denied these claims, and they say that ticket prices are actually set by the artists.
Let's bring in CNN Technology Reporter Brian Fung, who joins us with more on this. Brian, this is obviously a story that you and I have been talking about for quite some time now. We now have a sense of these allegations. What could the impact of this suit be for consumers?
BRIAN FUNG, CNN TECHNOLOGY REPORTER: Yeah, Rahel. This is a monumental case. It could change everything about how concert ticketing works in the U.S., and officials say a breakup of Live Nation is absolutely on the table. According to the Justice Department and 30 attorneys general, Live Nation has a monopoly in live events ticketing, and enjoys huge leverage over artists, fans and competitors, because it owns big chunks of every industry needed to put on a successful tour. So, that stack includes not just the sale of concert tickets through Ticketmaster, but also the concert promoters who work with artists on shows and even many of the most popular venues where they play.
So, DoJ says Live Nation has weaponized that integration using things like threats and retaliation to make sure venues and rivals stay in line, and that means the ability to charge fans higher fees and impose restrictions on what they can do with their tickets. Now, this suit has been a long time coming. For most people, this became a high- profile issue after that Taylor Swift debacle you mentioned when millions of fans were locked out of buying tickets for her Eras Tour. But, lots of other antitrust critics say the problem dates back to Live Nation's merger with Ticketmaster in the first place in 2010.
Now, the DoJ is looking to fix that situation and they're asking for a jury trial which, given how much of a headache Ticketmaster has been for consumers, might help them win the case in the long run. Rahel.
SOLOMON: Yeah. It certainly seems like it's a bipartisan issue. And we were just looking at shares of Live Nation, which are off about 5.5 percent right now. Brian, how is the company responding to this? I mean, what are they saying?
FUNG: Yeah. That's a great question. So, obviously, Live Nation is vowing to defend against this suit, calling a lot of these allegations baseless. I want to read you a little bit of a statement that they just put out moments ago. They're saying, quote, "The DoJ's lawsuit won't solve the issues fans care about relating to ticket prices, service fees, and access to in-demand shows. Calling Ticketmaster a monopoly may be a PR win for the DoJ in the short term, but it will lose in court because it ignores the basic economics of live entertainment. We will defend against these baseless allegations, use this opportunity to shed light on the industry, and continue to push for reforms that truly protect consumers and artists."
Now, Rahel, obviously, this is setting up a major court battle, a showdown that could potentially take years to play out. But, if the DoJ gets its way, it could potentially lead to lower prices for consumers or more ticketing options for fans.
SOLOMON: Yeah. And Brian, I should say for our viewers that we have just gotten the two-minute warning. So, we expect to see either AG Merrick Garland or someone from his office momentarily.
[11:05:00] But, Brian, I want to circle back to something you said, which is really important, the combining of the companies in the first place in 2010. Even back then, there were critics who warned this very thing could be a problem. Remind us of sort of the implications then.
FUNG: Yeah. At the time, the DoJ didn't challenge the merger between Live Nation and Ticketmaster, saying, instead, it was going to impose a series of obligations on the company to protect competition. And now, more than a decade on, we now see the DoJ says, well, maybe those behavioral modifications didn't work in the first place, and now we have to go to court to fix the problem.
SOLOMON: And Brian, to be clear, it's not just consumers who have had these concerns, and I sort of joke that this is a bipartisan issue, because we have seen both Republicans and Democrats argue, perhaps, for more regulation on this company, but it's also some artists who have also spoken out about how they feel like this merger might harm them.
FUNG: Yeah. Absolutely. This has been a wide-ranging issue for artists, for venues, and for consumers, and for lawmakers too. In many hearings over the years related to ticketing, we've seen senators from both sides of the aisle throw in Taylor Swift references in their complaints about Ticketmaster and Live Nation. And we've seen a lot of pushback from consumer advocacy groups about this, this tie-up that they say has harmed consumers and harmed competition. So, this is a really big deal that could end up leading to major changes in the industry.
SOLOMON: Yeah. We will certainly see what the AG's office there says. Brian Fung, thank you for breaking that all down for us.
Let me get the legal point of view and bring in Norm Eisen. Norm, I just want to sort of preface that I might have to jump in here as soon as we could see someone at the podium. So, please Excuse the interruption. One thing that Brian said that caught my eye and the Ticketmaster response is that the government will lose in court, which makes me wonder, how high is the burden, Norm, to try to break up a company like this?
NORM EISEN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST, & FMR. HOUSE JUDICIARY SPECIAL COUNSEL IN TRUMP'S FIRST IMPEACHMENT TRIAL: It's a substantial burden and the government is going to be put to its proof. But, I think Live Nation has made a critical --
SOLOMON: Norm? Hold that thought. I want your answer. But, I also want to take our viewers to the podium now where we are listening now to the AG Merrick Garland. Let's listen together.
MERRICK GARLAND, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: Earlier today, the Department of Justice joined by 29 states and the District of Columbia sued Live Nation entertainment and its wholly owned subsidiary Ticketmaster for violating the Sherman Antitrust Act. In recent years, Live Nation- Ticketmaster's exorbitant fees and technological failures have been criticized by fans and artists alike. But, we are not here today because Live Nation-Ticketmaster's conduct is inconvenient or frustrating. We are here because, as we allege, that conduct is anti- competitive and illegal.
Our complaint makes clear what happens when a monopolist dedicates its resources to entrenching its monopoly power and insulating itself from competition, rather than investing in better products and services. We allege that Live Nation has illegally monopolized markets across the live concert industry in the United States for far too long. It is time to break it up. Live Nation-Ticketmaster has made itself ubiquitous in the live entertainment industry. It controls at least 80 percent of primary ticketing at major concert venues. It directly manages more than 400 artists and controls more than 60 percent of concert promotions across the country. And it owns or controls more than 60 percent of large amphitheaters in the United States.
We allege that to sustain this dominance, Live Nation relies on unlawful anti-competitive conduct to exercise its monopolistic control over the live events industry in the United States and over the fans, artists, independent promoters and venues that power the industry. The result is that fans pay more in fees. Artists have fewer opportunities to play concerts. Smaller promoters get squeezed out, and venues have fewer real choices for ticketing services. As detailed in our complaint, Live Nation-Ticketmaster locks out competition in ticketing through the use of long-term exclusive ticketing contracts with venues that can last over a decade, as well as by acquiring venues themselves.
With exclusive agreements to cover more than 70 percent of concert ticket sales at major concert venues across the country, Ticketmaster can impose a seemingly endless list of fees on fans.
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Those include ticketing fees, service fees, convenience fees, platinum fees, price master fees, per-order fees, handling fees and payment processing fees, among others. For fans in the United States, this illegal conduct means higher prices. In other countries where venues are not bound by Ticketmaster's exclusive ticketing contracts, venues often use multiple ticketing companies for the same event, and fancy lower fees and more innovative ticketing products as a result.
We also alleged that Live Nation-Ticketmaster uses these long-term ticketing agreements with venues and its control over those venues to unlawfully pressure artists into agreeing to use its promotion services. In fact, Live Nation often sacrifices profits it could earn as a venue owner by letting its venue sit empty, rather than opening them to artists who do not use Live Nation promotion services, even during peak concert season. Live Nation has not only deployed anti- competitive tactics to coerce artists and venues into using its services and to charge fans excessive fees, it has also worked strategically and illegally to eliminate the threat of potential rivals from emerging across any of its businesses.
As detailed in our complaint, Live Nation suffocates its competition using a variety of tactics, from acquisitions of smaller regional promoters and venues to threats and retaliation to agreements with rivals designed to neutralize them. This has included acquiring or co- opting key independent promoters, even when the economics of a particular deal did not make sense for Live Nation's promotions business.
For example, as recounted in our complaint, Live Nation acquired a controlling stake in AC Entertainment, an independent promoter in Tennessee. Live Nation's Chief Strategy Officer assured executives that even though quote, "the numbers are not super exciting, and this feels like more of a defensive move, the acquisition helped grow our moat in the Nashville market."
When faced with another potential competitor to its promotions business, Live Nation took action to ensure that the competitor would not threaten its dominance in the live music industry. Live Nation initially categorized that competitor, the venue operator, Oak View Group, as one of its quote, "biggest competitor threats". Over time, however, Oak View and Live Nation morphed from competitors into partners. As detailed in our complaint, Live Nation executives repeatedly scolded Oak View for trying to compete.
In one instance in 2016, Live Nation's CEO warned Oak View that competition would only lead to artists demanding more compensation. The Live Nation CEO emailed Oak View, writing quote, "Let's make sure we don't let them now start playing us off," referring to a prominent artist agency. Oak View backed down. In a similar instance in 2022, Live Nation's CEO scolded Oak View's CEO quote, "Who would be so stupid to do this and play into the artist agents arms?" Oak View again backed down, quote, "We have never promoted without you. Won't." said its CEO, and later added, quote, "I never want to be competitors."
We also allege that Live Nation has repeatedly wielded its powers to keep its rivals from expanding in the U.S. concert promotions market through threats and retaliation. In 2021, Live Nation threatened to retaliate against private equity firm Silver Lake unless one of the latter's portfolio companies "TEG" stopped competing with Live Nation for artist promotion contracts in the United States. Live Nation's CEO told Silver Lake that he quote "failed to understand why Silver Lake continued to invest in a business that competes with Live Nation." The threats ultimately succeeded and Silver Lake has tried to sell "TEG" altogether. We allege that Live Nation --
SOLOMON: All right. Let me bring back in both our reporter Brian Fung and our legal analyst Norm.
Norm, let me let you finish your thought about the bar, how high it is. I mean, we heard Merrick Garland say there, it is time to break up this company. How high is that bar?
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EISEN: Well, they are going to have to prove those allegations in a court of law. It is a serious bar. They've requested a jury trial, which means the jury will have to judge if the Sherman Antitrust Act is being violated here. So, they will be presented with the evidence and they will -- if it reaches the jury, they will rule.
But, Rahel, as I was about to say, given the nature of the allegations and the evidence we've just heard about from the AG, I think Live Nation is making a mistake with that defiant tone, because this is a rare issue where you have not only the Biden Department of Justice, but you have over two dozen Republican and Democratic attorneys general from across the country saying that the vertical monopoly here, the fact that Live Nation has rolled up all these companies, is hurting consumers, artists, promoters, venue owners, and there is a massive amount of evidence.
So, my first judgment is that Live Nation, despite that steep hurdle in court, is at substantial risk. They've managed to do the impossible, unify everyone against them.
SOLOMON: Yeah. I think there was a joke about that on Capitol Hill, I think from Senator Blumenthal, that this was the issue that unified both sides. Norm, before I let you go, let me just quickly ask, both of these companies are industry leaders respectively, even if they were broken up. I mean, what would real change you think -- what would that look like? I mean, how could that be accomplished?
EISEN: Well, there would be genuine competition. It is the fundamental idea of American capitalism that companies will compete. So, for example, if venues are free to contract with other ticket providers, not just with Ticketmaster, we'll see ticket prices come down for consumers. We will see better customer service, unlike that Taylor Swift fiasco, that was so crushing for so many Americans. So, prices will come down. Consumer service will go up. That is how competition is supposed to work. Artists will have more choices. Venues will have a freer hand in booking. That is the theory that these bipartisan AGs and the Department of Justice are operating on in bringing this lawsuit.
SOLOMON: Yeah. That is how the system is designed. We will leave it here. But, so good to have both of you. Norm Eisen, thank you. Brian Fung, thank you.
OK. We're going to turn internationally now, now to Iran in the holy city of the Mashhad. That's where the late Iranian President is about to be laid to rest. Here you can see the massive crowd of mourners and circling Ebrahim Raisi's coffin in northeastern Iran. The late leader's remains have been taken into the shrine of Imam Reza. This is considered the holiest Islamic site in the country. Raisi was killed after his helicopter crashed near the Azerbaijan border on Sunday. Iran's Foreign Minister and other officials were also killed.
CNN's Fred Pleitgen is following the crowds and has this report from the streets of Mashhad.
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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Pretty remarkable scenes here on the streets of Mashhad as Ebrahim Raisi's casket gets wheeled through the streets. He will, of course, later be laid to rest inside of the shrine of Imam Reza, one of the most important pilgrimage sites here in Iran, but also the political and the spiritual homeland of Ebrahim Raisi. He was always affiliated with this city. He was always affiliated with that shrine. In fact, his father-in-law is still the prayer leader at the Imam Reza shrine. So, the folks here in this town of Mashhad, many of them are
supporters of Ebrahim Raisi, and many of them told us that while they're in great sorrow at this point in time, they also say they will remain loyal to his ideals, which, of course, were very tough on the United States. You can hear them screaming now "Death to America" here in the streets of Mashhad as the casket is being wheeled through those streets. So, they hope that this conservative ideals of Ebrahim Raisi will remain in place. Again, remarkable streets here in this city of Mashhad, on the ground here, as the casket gets wheeled through the streets to then be laid to rest inside the Imam Reza shrine.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Mashhad, Iran.
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SOLOMON: Thanks to Fred for that report.
Well, at this hour, U.S. President Joe Biden is holding bilateral talks with his Kenyan counterpart at the White House. U.S. officials are hoping that President William Ruto's state visit will strengthen the relationship between the two countries and act as a sort of counterbalance to Kenya's ties with China.
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The U.S. is designating Kenya a major non-NATO ally, paving the way for more military cooperation.
Let's bring in CNN Senior White House Reporter Kevin Liptak, who is with us now. Kevin, good to have you. What can we expect from this trip? What's on the agenda?
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, I think these two leaders really do want to mark what is a historic relationship. It has been 60 years since the U.S. and Kenya established diplomatic ties, and they are in the Oval Office now. And I just got a little bit of a readout what they said, and what President Biden wanted to emphasize is that this meeting, the state visit, is not just about that history, but it's also about looking forward, developing new ways and deeper ways to establish these ties.
And of course, as you mentioned, the backdrop to all of this is the strategic relationship that Kenya also holds with China. Of course, Beijing has spent a lot of money, billions and billions of dollars, investing in infrastructure projects, not just in Kenya, but across Africa, that has also left countries like Kenya saddled with debt, and that's something that Ruto, President Ruto does want to discuss with President Biden. And I think from the American perspective, they do want to position the United States as a better, more reliable partner than China when it comes to investments.
But, at the end of the day, the U.S. is lagging behind China on that. And part of what this visit is intended to do is to demonstrate American commitment to those projects and to the African continent more generally. But, I think for President Biden, of course, a number of foreign conflicts have proven a distraction to this goal, whether it's the Middle East, whether it's Ukraine. And remember, Rahel, President Biden at the end of 2022 promised he would visit Africa within the next year. That visit never materialized. And part of what this state visit in Washington is intended to do is to demonstrate that he remains very much committed to Kenya and to the broader continent.
SOLOMON: Yeah. And Kevin, any sense -- I mean, the last state visit of an African nation was I believe 2008 or so. Any sense of the timing of this visit? Why now?
LIPTAK: Yeah. That's right. It was back in 2008. The three presidents since then haven't invited an African leader to Washington. And I think part of what the President is trying to do is also expressed gratitude to Kenya for this security mission that it's sending to Haiti. That is part of what this specific visit was timed to demonstrate. That mission is largely funded by the United States. 1,000 police forces from Kenya going to Haiti to try and restore order on that Caribbean nation.
And President Biden, part of what he is doing today is trying to express gratitude from the United States for that, of course, the Haiti situation is in the United States' backyard. But, Kenya has really stepped up to provide its own police forces to help quell the gang violence that has been sort of racking that island for the last several months. And so, that's part of why this visit is timed to right now.
The other reason, I think, is this a matter of China. The U.S. is trying to bolster its own infrastructure projects. And it was interesting to hear from the Ambassador to Kenya, Meg Whitman, she told us earlier today that the U.S. will announce a new road from Mombasa to Nairobi. That's a route that China has also built a strategic rail line. So, you can see the U.S. and China literally in parallel, trying to develop their own infrastructure projects in Kenya as part of a way to gain leverage and gain influence on a very important continent.
SOLOMON: Absolutely a very important continent. You also think about the influence, the rising influence of Russia on the continent. It makes for a really, really fascinating visit. Kevin Liptak live for us in Washington. Kevin, thank you.
All right. Still ahead, horrifying moments when a political rally in Mexico turns deadly after a stage collapses. We'll have a live update.
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SOLOMON: Well, that was harrowing video from Mexico, that's where nine people have died and dozens more are hurt after you see the stage collapsed. This happened during a presidential campaign rally. Let's get to CNN's Gustavo Valdes, who joins us now with the details.
Gustavo, this was apparently caused by strong wind. What's the latest on the injuries and the situation on the ground from what you're hearing?
GUSTAVO VALDES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is really a very scary situation that happened minutes after the candidate and other local candidates took on the stage near the metropolitan area of Monterrey. You can see, they're surprised when they hear the noise of the metal buckling on the force of the wind and it collapses seconds later almost on their heads. You can see they managed to run away from the collapsing stage. Unfortunately, there were people underneath. The latest report is that nine people have died, including the child. There are 70 people injured. One of them is one of the campaign members who said she has a broken ankle that has to have surgery. She explains how, when they heard the noise, they rushed the stage and jumped. That probably saved their lives. But, obviously, now she is going to have to recovery.
The state government of Nuevo Leon is leading the investigation. They said they also are going to cover all the costs for the victims, the medical costs for the victims, and they're trying to figure out why this happened. This happens about 10 days before the presidential election of June. The second, Maynez, is one of the main candidates in this election, the other two main candidates have sent their condolences. Claudia Sheinbaum, who had scheduled a campaign event today, has canceled the event. And the President of Mexico has also sent their condolences to the victims.
SOLOMON: That's just horrifying video there. Gustavo Valdes, thank you so much for that update.
All right. We're going to take a short break. And still to come, U.S. airports are bracing for an influx. Millions of Americans are taking to the skies for what's expected to be the busiest Memorial Day weekend in over a decade. We'll be right back.
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SOLOMON: Welcome back. You're watching CNN Newsroom. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York. And here are some of the international headlines we are watching for you today.
French President Emmanuel Macron doubling down and vowing to restore order in New Caledonia. President Macron says that security forces will stay in the French territory for quote, "as long as necessary". The comments came during the visit to the Pacific territory where he toured areas hit by deadly riots. The violence was sparked after the French National Assembly voted to change New Caledonia's Constitution, expanding voting rights for some French residents there.
Meantime, in Ukraine, officials there say that Russian airstrikes in the northeastern Kharkiv region have killed at least seven people. 23 others were wounded by the strikes which hit several locations. Russia's attacks have intensified as its troops advanced towards the city, which was liberated from Russian control earlier in the war. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying that Russia is taking advantage of Ukraine's lack of air defense support.
And China has launched military drills around Taiwan as punishment for what it called separatist acts. Dozens of fighter jets carrying live ammunition conducted mock strikes alongside its warships. Now, this comes just days after Taiwan sworn in a new democratically elected leader. He called on China to stop intimidating Taiwan. Beijing claims the island as its own.
Well, officials in Louisville, Kentucky, are giving an update really any moment now, we expect, on last week's arrest of PGA star Scottie Scheffler. The Louisville mayor and police chief are releasing their findings of an internal investigation. They are also expected to release video of Scheffler's arrest. The world number one -- the world's number one golfer was taken into custody at the Valhalla Golf Club and charged with felony, second-degree assault on an officer. He was also charged with third-degree criminal mischief and reckless driving. Now, Scheffler says that it was all a misunderstanding.
Let's bring in Carolyn Manno. Carolyn, I mean, Scottie went right back to playing just as soon as he was released that day, and today, apparently no different. He is playing today as well.
CAROLYN MANNO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. That's right. He is going to be back on the golf course later this afternoon in Fort Worth, Texas, at the Charles Schwab Challenge PGA Tour event. He is scheduled to tee off for his first round at 1:45 Eastern. Last week, he returned to play just hours after his release from jail. He actually said he went through his warm up and his progressions while he was inside a jail cell, started to do some stretching. After taking a mugshot, he made it to the course in time for his second round. He shot a five under that day on his way to finishing the tournament in a tie for eighth place. He was eight shot back of the eventual PGA championship winner Xander Schauffele.
He came out and probably had a lot of adrenaline, and then in the following round the next day, seemed to fall off a bit. But, the top ranked men's golfer facing four charges right now, including felony assault, which is the big one, for allegedly dragging a detective with his car. And now, ahead of this news conference, which was expected to start right now, around 11:30, high-ranking police officials in Louisville have privately said that they feel like that felony charge against him is excessive. That's a source familiar with the discussions telling CNN that they feel like that felony might be a bit over the top, given the circumstances very early in the morning, a lot of chaos and confusion. It was raining, heightened police presence. And so, some feel like it's a bit too much to charge him with a felony.
SOLOMON: Carolyn, the day of his arrest, I can't remember exactly who I was speaking to, but as we were covering it, someone described Scheffler as being regarded as one of the nicest guys in golf. I'm curious what the reaction has been like to his arrest by some of his fellow golfers.
MANNO: Absolutely shocking, I think, because of what you just detailed. I mean, when you think about the picture perfect member of the PGA Tour, Rahel, it Scottie Scheffler. He is the top ranked golfer in the world, but he is nice to just about everybody he meets. He is incredibly faith based, both he and his caddy. And so, he is a stand- up example of what it means to be a good representative of your sport. And so, when news initially broke that he was in fact being taken off to jail and that he was going to be booked and getting a mug hot, I think as that news started to make its way around Valhalla Golf Club, a lot of his friends and golfers probably did a double take and said, what could you possibly be talking about?
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Because out of everybody on the tour and there aren't many who might end up in a jumpsuit like this, of all the golfers, Scottie Scheffler is really just not the one because of his reputation on tour for being the happy-go-lucky, oh gee, another win for me kind of guy with a stellar reputation.
SOLOMON: Carolyn, speaking of reputation, I mean, how do you think that this could potentially impact him more long term?
MANNO: Well, I mean, the longer this drags out, the more of a distraction it's going to be. I think his team is hoping that they're going to get some finality to this and resolution quickly. That felony charge, I think, obviously, they're hoping will be dropped, and maybe this will be buttoned up and resolved and everybody can move forward.
It was fascinating to hear him detail. He hasn't said much about what happened, but that he was going through his stretching and warm ups while he was in a jail cell before he went back to the PGA Championship. He knows how to compartmentalize. He is a professional. He has got an incredible amount of physical and mental strength and fortitude. So, I think now it will just become more of an annoyance, a distraction. Hopefully, they can find the resolution. It'll be curious, it'll be interesting to hear what everybody says with this press conference that's about to start, about what the immediate future could look like for Scottie Scheffler. I think his team hoping that this will all be taken care of sooner rather than later.
SOLOMON: Yeah. And Carolyn, I wonder, because, in addition to obviously his professional ambitions, he also has a lot going on personally. I mean, even just hours after Andy Scholes sort of reminded us that he just had a baby.
MANNO: Yes.
SOLOMON: I mean, he certainly has his hands full at the moment. Have you seen any of this impact his play at all?
MANNO: No, not really. I mean, when he returned back after being booked, there was an, I would imagine, an incredible amount of adrenaline pumping through his body and to see him pull up to Valhalla Golf Club, and he kind of disappeared into the clubhouse, probably got himself together, because, remember, this was something of a physical experience as well as a mental experience. I mean, to be -- as it was described by ESPN reporter Jeff Darlington, pinned up against the car and having your hands put behind your back. He is a golfer by trade. So, there is a little bit of physicality to it. We'll learn more about what exactly happened here in the next couple of minutes. And there is an incredible amount of adrenaline that comes with an experience like that.
So, I think after he came back, he turned it an incredible round. The following round, you really saw maybe the exhaustion, the fatigue, mental and physical, that came with that. But, no, I mean, now that he has this behind him, I don't expect any kind of drop off, but we'll have to wait and see. And to your earlier point, Andy Scholes' point, for a new father, he is not getting much sleep anyway, I imagine. All this stuff is a pretty big distraction.
SOLOMON: For sure. Carolyn Manno, thank you. And my understanding is that the presser has actually just begun. So, let's all listen together to Louisville, Kentucky officials there.
SGT. MATT SANDERS, COMMANDER OF MEDIA AND PUBLIC RELATIONS DEPARTMENT, LOUISVILLE METRO POLICE DEPARTMENT: Following the mayor, LMPD's chief, Chief Gwinn-Villaroel, will issue a statement, and then the mayor will finish this brief. We will not be taking any questions at the podium today. All questions subsequent to this brief should be emailed directly to my office, lmpdpio@louisvilleky.gov. Immediately following this brief, my office will publish relevant documents to our forward facing transparency page. Relevant redacted videos will be posted to our YouTube channel. We will link off to these websites on our official Twitter account. Mayor.
CRAIG GREENBERG, LOUISVILLE MAYOR: Thank you very much. Good morning. Last Friday morning, our community suffered the tragic death with the loss of Mr. Mills just after 5 a.m. in the morning. That tragic death led to a series of very unfortunate events in dark, rainy, and tense conditions.
Transparency is incredibly important to our administration, to LMPD, to our community. Given the importance of transparency, we're releasing some information and some video today as we committed to following the tragic events and series of events that happened thereafter. To restate what we've already said, we are not aware at this time of any video footage which captures the initial interaction between LMPD and Mr. Scheffler. We are releasing today video footage at the time of Mr. Scheffler's arrest from two video cameras. One of those video cameras is a fixed pole camera. It was from the other side of Shelbyville Road, and the other camera is from the dashcam of a police car.
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At the request of the county attorney's office, any additional video or evidence related to this case will not be released until the conclusion of the legal process. Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel is now going to speak to the investigation of the arresting officer with respect to the lack of use of body-worn camera. Chief.
JACQUELYN GWINN-VILLAROEL, LOUISVILLE METRO POLICE DEPARTMENT CHIEF: Good morning. Thank you all for joining us. Thank you for your patience as we worked together all available facts regarding this incident. Obviously, it is of great public interest. So, we appreciate you providing us the time to ensure that we release accurate information while the judicial process is occurring. We are grateful to PGA officials and Mayor Greenberg for bringing this prestigious event to our beautiful city on last week.
But, tragically, last Friday, we lost a beloved community member who was working the event. As we stated in our preliminary public message, LMPD expresses its sincere condolences to the family and friends of John Mills who was fatally struck by a shuttlebus outside of Valhalla Golf Club. By all accounts, we have learned that Mr. Mills was known for his kindness and dedication to our community. His passing has left a notable void in the golfing community and throughout this city.
Regarding the results of our internal investigation, Detective Gillis did have an encounter, as we know, with Mr. Scottie Scheffler. Detective Gillis should have turned on his body-worn camera, but did not. His failure to do so is a violation of LMPD policy on uniforms and equipment, subject category, body-worn camera, and he was the same for violation of the policy 4.31.6 procedures and 4.31.7 operation. Detective Gillis did not have his body-worn camera operationally ready as required by our policy. He was performing a law enforcement action as defined in our policy. Further, and Section 4.31.7 states members will maintain their BWC in a constant state of operational readiness.
Detective Gillis was counseled by his supervisor. We understand the seriousness of the failure to capture this interaction, which is why our officer has received corrective action for this policy violation. This corrective action has been notated on a performance observation form, which is in line with our disciplinary protocol and practices. We respect the judicial process and we will allow the courts to proceed accordingly. We will not be able to make any further statements as relates to this matter.
At the conclusion of this press conference, as you've already heard, we will release the documents as follows. You will find the investigative findings memorandum by the commander of the unit. You will also see the failure to activate form completed by Detective Gillis. You also find our policy located as well, as well as the two aforementioned video footage that the mayor has mentioned. Also, all this information will be uploaded to our YouTube page.
I would like to take a point of privilege to thank again Mayor Greenberg, the local media, and the national media for making every effort to provide fair reporting, but also wanted to take a moment to thank all law enforcement officials around the nation for the work that you do every day. And I'm truly grateful for LMPD's dedication to keeping this community safe here in Louisville.
We thank you and we appreciate your support as we navigate through this process. Mayor. GREENBERG: Thank you, Chief. In Louisville, around the country, but especially here in Louisville, after the recent past, activating body- worn cameras is critically important for our police department to have evidence, to maintain the community's trust, to be transparent. So, Chief, I appreciate the speed at which with you have conducted the investigation into this situation. You've dealt with it transparently and straightforwardly. We are all looking to move forward.
[11:45:00]
I know there are a lot of questions right now from every member of the media here and people across the entire city. We have to respect the legal process, and that's what we are going to do, and we're going to let that play out.
We want to move forward. Mr. Scheffler has made it clear that he wants to be moved forward. And I know that everyone else involved at LMPD wants to move forward. LMPD needs to be focused on reducing the amount of violent crime in our city, reducing the amount of gun violence, protecting and keeping people safe. That is what they do every day. That's what they've done since last Friday when they were working with a detail out of Valhalla and on Shelbyville Road, and that's what they will continue to do.
So, again, we understand there are a lot of questions. We are going to respect the legal process. I'm very hopeful that on June 3 the next step in the legal process that all parties are in a position to move forward. Thank you all very much.
SOLOMON: All right. Let me bring back in Carolyn Manno who is with us now. Carolyn, as we wait for authorities, I believe presumably they're going to show us these two videos, one of which they said was from a pole camera near the site of the arrest. The other, I believe, was the dash cam -- the police cam. Carolyn, my sense just based on listening to that is that the police officer who actually arrested Scheffler did not have his body camera operational, meaning that apparently that perspective is missing. That is, according to the police chief there of the LMPD, a violation of policy. Anything else you hear in that press conference that really stood out to you?
MANNO: That's the headline. I mean, the headline is that Detective Gillis didn't have his body cam recording to capture the essential point of the felony relating to Scottie Scheffler, because what we need to see is that interaction, that exchange that occurred with reports of Detective Gillis sort of being dragged out in what Scottie Scheffler described as a misunderstanding, which would have led to that felony. And so, I'm taking away exactly what you, Rahel, is that the mayor of Louisville is basically saying -- apologizing for not having that video available. He came out and talked about wanting to be transparent, wanting to get the Louisville Police Department on the podium to say, listen, this is video that we don't have, and now the legal process is going to have to play out, which is that arraignment that he alluded to on June 3.
So, now we're going to have to wait and see. But, I mean, the main takeaway from what I'm taking away is that we don't have an angle on the critical piece here, which is what exactly happened between Scheffler and Detective Gillis before he was ultimately put in handcuffs.
SOLOMON: Yeah. And just to provide just a point more of context, we heard the mayor there talk about how important transparency is, how important a body camera footage is. He said, in light of our recent past, presumably referring to the death of Breonna Taylor, and for our international audience, this was a black woman who was killed by police after a botched raid into her apartment, so that is presumably the reference that the mayor was making there up.
Carolyn Manno, great to have you to help us break down what we just heard there. Thank you. We will let you go.
We're going to take a quick break. But, coming up after the break, the future of AI is coming with controversy and success. Details ahead on what Nvidia's strong earnings report told us about the emerging artificial intelligence industry. We'll be right back.
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[11:50:00]
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SOLOMON: Welcome back. Shares of Nvidia continue their march higher, as the stock continues to soar. But soon, the stock price will look a little cheaper, a lot cheaper, in fact. Shares right now are trading above $1,000. For the first time ever, you can see, it's up almost close to $1,050 there. That's after the company posted another quarter of strong financial results on Wednesday, the company reporting an increase in revenue by 262 percent and a 462 percent increase in profits year-over-year. But, the company also announced a 10-for-one stock split and that will make shares more accessible for individual investors.
All of this, of course, fueling that AI boom taking advantage of the AI boom, and AI's ascent could mean the fall, though, of some jobs. The FCC also considering AI rules now for political ads. And remember, just this week after Scarlett Johansson said that she could be open to suing open AI after they created a voice assistant that sounded really similar to hers without permission.
Joining us now from Los Angeles is Brian Merchant. He is the author of the "Blood in the Machine: The Origins of the Rebellion Against Big Tech". Brian, great to have you. It's certainly been a very busy week for AI. First is your reaction to this news from Scarlett Johansson. I mean, she is the epitome of Hollywood A-lister, now potentially going after open AI.
BRIAN MERCHANT, AUTHOR, "BLOOD IN THE MACHINE": Yeah. Sure. It's a real encouraging development, I think, for a lot of artists and actors who have seen companies like OpenAI take their data, take their likeness, and turn it into an automated product. So, I think a lot of creatives are kind of cheering her on, on one side, and a lot of people are watching how this battle is going to play out for the industry on the other.
SOLOMON: And speaking of the industry, Brian, I know you've covered the SAG-AFTRA strikes quite well. The artificial intelligence sort of component of the industry was a really big sticking point. And if I remember correctly, it is part of the reason why it took the two sides so long to reach an agreement because of AI. Talk to me a little bit about the damage you think AI could potentially create for creators in that industry.
MERCHANT: Yeah. Well, you have to keep in mind that what these AI companies, led by OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman, have done is vacuumed up all of the data and the work, the creative labor of people across the world. That means creatives here in the United States. That means people everywhere, anybody that's put something to digital tape, so to speak. They have vacuumed that up and used it in their training data and transmuted it into a product that they're now selling for profit. And this does not sit well with artists, with writers, and it was a key part of that strike that you mentioned last year when the WGA and SAG-AFTRA went on strike. They were still telling the studios that, no, you cannot use this technology to replace us, to erase us, to degrade our wages.
SOLOMON: Yeah. Where are we, Brian? I was reading your LA Times piece from, I believe, December of 2023, and you were sort of conceptualizing the year of AI in 2023, and also making predictions about what AI in 2024 might look like. Walk us through that.
MERCHANT: Yeah. So, last year was the big year of hype, right? It was the story of the rise of AI, all the promises that the companies were making about what this technology could do, how it was going to transform the world. But, sometime in the fall, as that year sort of started to sort of draw to a close, a lot of investors and partners and people who were hoping to see more profit margins, frankly, from this technology started to get a little bit itchy. And they started to expect to see these companies really starting to make more money than they have so far.
So far, it's been, you can think of it as one big tech demo, or of number of tech demos after another to show what's potential. We've seen very little realization of how it's going to make money in the long run. And so, my argument was, what they're really going to try to do is lean in to this element where they're basically trying to automate jobs.
[11:55:00]
They're trying to automate a lot of creative labor. They're trying to replace illustration, graphic design, copywriting, things like this. So now, 2024 is going to be the year when we really see sort of the rubber hit the road.
SOLOMON: Yeah. On that stark warning, unfortunately, we have to leave it here because of time. But, Brian, we'll have you back because I certainly have a lot more questions about its impact on the labor market. But, for now, we thank you for your time. Thanks so much, Brian. And we thank you for your time. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York.
Stick with CNN. One World is coming up next.
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