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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Writers Guild Demands AI Regulation, Streaming Compensation Or Strike At Midnight; Steph Curry Makes History As Warriors Rout Kings; What To Expect For King Charles III's Coronation Ceremony. Aired 5:30- 6a ET
Aired May 01, 2023 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:30:00]
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: The party has dominated the country's police scene for more than 70 years.
Today, President Biden will host Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for a bilateral meeting at the White House. This comes as tensions with China continue to rise in the Indo-Pacific region.
Just ahead, the president's son, Hunter Biden, ordered to appear in court today. And could production of your favorite T.V. show grind to a sudden halt in just a matter of hours?
(COMMERCIAL)
ROMANS: Here is today's fast-forward look ahead.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy set to deliver a historic address to the Knesset in Israel today. He is only the second-ever House speaker to speak to Israel's Parliament since Newt Gingrich in 1998.
President Biden's son Hunter ordered to appear at a contempt hearing in Arkansas today. It's part of his ongoing paternity and child support dispute with a woman named Lunden Roberts.
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Court resumes today in the Ed Sheeran copyright infringement case. He played guitar in court last week to show he did not copy Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On" for his song "Thinking Out Loud."
All right, the clock is ticking as Hollywood braces for a possible writers' strike as early as tonight. Late-night talk shows would be among the first affected.
Here is Seth Meyers, who started off his career as a writer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SETH MEYERS, HOST, "LATE NIGHT WITH SETH MEYERS": If a writers' strike happens that would shut down production on a great many shows. I'm incredibly grateful that there are negotiators for both sides sitting and talking. I'm incredibly hopeful that they can come to an agreement. I also feel very strongly that what the writers are asking for is not unreasonable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: The Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers have until midnight Pacific time to reach a new deal. Otherwise, writers across the country will go on strike Tuesday.
Alissa Wilkinson has been covering the story for Vox. She joins me now. Good morning.
You heard Seth Meyers there say the writers -- what they're asking for is not unreasonable. Walk us through what they want.
ALISSA WILKINSON, SENIOR WRITER, VOX (via Webex by Cisco): There are sort of two categories of things that they want.
One of them has to do with compensation and a lot of this has been affected by the streaming age and by previous agreements that reduce the amount of money that people get. For instance, if they write a hit T.V. show and it's very popular but it's on a streaming service, they get a lot less money than they would have if it was on broadcast. So it's a number of things along those lines.
And then the other thing to keep an eye on is negotiations over whether generative AI can be used in the future as source material or to generate scripts that would be shot in Hollywood.
ROMANS: Yes. It is fascinating how much the landscape has changed, right, since the last strike in 2007. I mean, Netflix was still mailing -- it was still mailing DVDs in little red envelopes, right, and that -- we just didn't have --
WILKINSON: Yes.
ROMANS: -- a streaming service to speak of.
You write in your piece that the appeal of AI to Hollywood, in particular, to replace writers is obvious. How threatening is the AI revolution to writers, then?
WILKINSON: Pretty threatening. I mean, the challenge here is that you think about it and you say oh well, of course, I want to watch something that a human wrote, not something that a machine kind of regurgitated, right? But the truth is a lot of the entertainment that powers Hollywood is pretty repetitive, right? A lot of times it's very formulaic. It has a sort of pattern that people are used to.
And on top of everything, streamers and the big companies that own them have lots and lots and lots of data that tells us all kinds of things about what people want to watch and kind of what the specifications are that they want their thing to be.
And so, it's very easy to conceive of AI in the very near future being able to generate entertainment on the fly or being able to generate things that they're pretty sure will be possibly sufficient for the majority of consumers to watch. And if that's mostly what's on offer then why do you need writers?
ROMANS: Wow -- all right. Well, this is going to be -- it's going to be like watching a plot unfold over the next -- over the next day or so.
WILKINSON: It sure is.
ROMANS: Alissa Wilkinson, of Vox, thank you.
All right, the Golden State Warriors are off to the second round of the NBA Playoffs thanks to a historic performance by Steph Curry -- watching history in the making last night.
Coy Wire has this morning's Bleacher Report. Hey, Coy.
COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: He's unreal. He is not --
ROMANS: Yes.
WIRE: -- human, Christine.
Curry further cementing, though, as perhaps the greatest point guard ever. Lakers legend Magic Johnson said that this was one of his greatest performances ever and everyone taking notice. Curry taking over in a winner-take-all game seven on the road against the Kings. Teammate Klay Thompson said this is a game seven I'll forever remember as the Steph Curry game.
He had 50 points. That's a new record, Christine, for any game seven in NBA history.
Portland superstar Damian Lillard tweeting, "Steph, you filthy animal." Packing up a very good team in a tough building.
As 120-100 win for the Warriors. It will be them and Curry facing Lakers and LeBron in round two.
Here is the man.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEPH CURRY, GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS GUARD: We're defying the odds by still playing at this high of a level and I know everybody wants to see you fail. That's kind of the nature of where we're at right now. So we love it when we can still prove a lot of people wrong. It's part of our -- part of our vibe now.
REPORTER: So who can stop Steph Curry?
CURRY: Hopefully, we'll never find out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WIRE: It's not cocky, it's confidence. And Curry and company will face, as I mentioned, LeBron James and the Lakers in a much- anticipated round -- second-round showdown. Curry has beaten LeBron three out of the four times, all in the finals when James was in Cleveland. The Warriors have won every playoff series against the Western Conference team in the Steph Curry-Steve Kerr era.
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New Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers fitting in just fine in New York, Christine, in game one of the Knicks versus Heat in round-two series. But the Heat's Kevin Love told Rodgers that he has the best quarterback rating in New York City, hitting Jimmy Butler two times on deep passes in the third. Butler finishing with a team-high 25 as the Heat steal home court from the Knicks 101 -- 108-101, rather.
Now, tonight, it's Celtics-Sixers in round two in Boston with Joel Embiid doubtful with a knee injury. The Nuggets will try to take a 2-0 lead on the Suns. Both games on our sister network TNT.
Now some history in the NHL playoffs as well, Christine. The defending Stanley Cup champs and the best regular season team ever -- both crashing out on the same night. Florida fighting back from being down 3-1 in their series with Boston.
And in game seven, Brandon Montour ties it and sends it to overtime with under a minute to go. Look out, Bruins. No team ever had more wins and points than Boston had this season, but when Carter Verhaeghe scored on a one-timer in O.T. none of that mattered. The Panthers shocking the world. Bruins players and fans are stunned.
And the President's Trophy curse continues. None of the last 10 teams to finish with the best regular season record have even made the final.
And release the Kraken. Seattle are road warriors, winning its first- ever playoff series by taking out the defending champion Avalanche in Colorado -- a 2-1 win. They're the first team to win their first playoff series against a Cup champ. That's Kraken hot, baby.
All right, another game seven tonight. The Devils host the Rangers in Jersey. The winner gets Carolina in round two. Christine, between them and the Knicks you have all kinds of playoff love going on in New York.
ROMANS: I know. Yes, we sure do. Yes, that game will be fascinating tonight.
All right, nice to see you. Thanks, Coy.
WIRE: You, too.
ROMANS: All right, coming up on "CNN THIS MORNING," most of First Republic Bank just sold to JPMorgan Chase. Is that enough to stave off more banking stress?
And next right here, young workers, slackers or hustlers? How some use AI to hold down more than one full-time job.
(COMMERCIAL) [05:46:24]
ROMANS: All right, your Romans' Numeral this morning, 97. Shares of First Republic are down 97 percent this year. The stock plummeted after a disappointing first-quarter earnings report last Monday. And now, JPMorgan Chase will acquire most of First Republic. That happened overnight. The FDIC is closing the bank and selling off all $93 billion of its deposits and most of the assets to JPMorgan.
Looking at markets around the world, all European markets and most Asian markets are closed for the May Day bank holiday. On Wall Street, stock index futures are barely mixed here.
Markets are coming off a winning week and a winning month to kick off the start of May. In April, the Dow gained 2.5 percent -- its best month since January -- while the S&P finished up more than one percent.
First-quarter earnings resume this week. Pfizer, Starbucks, Uber, and Apple among the companies set to report.
On inflation watch, gas prices held steady overnight at $3.61 a gallon.
Look, this is a really significant week here. We've got data on job openings. The Fed has a policy meeting and is expected to raise interest rates. And then Friday, we have that critical April jobs report.
All right, don't dismiss Gen Z as a bunch of slackers, folks. Some may actually be hustlers with multiple full-time jobs. Some are now using ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence tools to help them get all that work done. They are over-employed.
Let's bring in chief scientist of workplace culture at Culture Partners, Jessica Kriegel. I love this story, Jessica. How are people taking advantage of AI technology to actually work more than one full- time job?
JESSICA KRIEGEL, CHIEF SCIENTIST OF WORKPLACE CULTURE, CULTURE PARTNERS (via Webex by Cisco): Well, they're automating their life so that they can get more done with less time, and that means that they have one, two, sometimes three jobs. They're making $200,000, $300,000, $400,000 a year by spreading out their productivity across multiple employers and lying about it. I mean, they're keeping it a secret lying by omission, at least, and not letting any of them know that they've actually got other jobs going on at the same time.
ROMANS: So the work-from-home trend or the hybrid work trend probably feeds into this, right, as does AI, ChatGTP, and some of these news tools.
KRIEGEL: Absolutely. If you're working from home you have no eyes on you and so you can use PTO to take training at other companies. You can get away with having multiple calendars and multiple laptops on your desk. It's just creating a whole new phenomenon, which is part of this anti-work sentiment which is growing. People feel like employers can't be trusted and so they're doing a sort of tit-for-tat activity in this over-employment engagement.
ROMANS: Wow. What are employers doing to monitor, I guess, and manage this trend?
KRIEGEL: Well, there are things you can do. There are background checks. There's something called the work number that you can look with Equifax to see if people have other jobs. But as an employee, you can also freeze your data with those reporting agencies so that they can't see that. So there are people sharing tips online about how to get away with it and it's working. I mean, this trend is growing.
ROMANS: So I suppose you have to quit, like, LinkedIn, right? I mean, you can't be advertising all the places you're working.
KRIEGEL: Yes. There is something online you can actually read, which is the 10 commandments of being over-employed. One of them is quit all social media so that you can get away with it, essentially. Another one is be average. By being average you are not on the radar. They don't ask you to do too much and it allows you to continue working less at each of the employers.
ROMANS: I mean, this, I guess, is the opposite of the quiet quitting, right, where people are just kind of like mailing it in and trying to do as little as possible.
KRIEGEL: Yes. I mean, these people are really making a difference in their financial lives because once you have your expenses paid for by the first job, the entire second job salary is bonus. It's extra.
[05:50:09]
And so, the value to them they see is a significant change in their lifestyle. And they feel like it's fair. Because of the layoffs that happened with employers and the lack of transparency there they think that this is just their way of fighting back.
ROMANS: Jess, is there -- are there some industries where this is more common than others?
KRIEGEL: Yes. I mean, this is really more common with software developers, with I.T. support. In the tech industry you're seeing a lot of this. And one of the things that they're very aware of in the tech industry is not working for competitors because while this isn't illegal you can get in a lot of hot water if you're working for a direct competitor of one of your jobs.
So that's where we're seeing it most often. But with open AI you're going to start to see this more in marketing, as well, across any industry.
ROMANS: Jessica Kriegel, nice to see you. Thank you so much. What a fascinating angle to the job market. All right, have a great day, Jess. All right, Uber releasing its 2023 lost and found report and some of the items range from unique to completely bizarre. Lost and found in the Uber.
Of course, the most frequently forgotten items -- phones, wallets, keys, jewelry, and headphones, but then things get weird. Someone left behind their lightsaber. Another person is missing six cheesecakes. One rider forgot an important pregnancy test. And someone left behind a slushy machine.
The report also says Jacksonville, Florida is the most forgetful city, followed by San Antonio, Texas and Palm Springs, California.
All right. A manhunt underway in Texas for the man accused of killing five people, including a child, after being asked to stop firing his rifle. How much police are offering for information, ahead.
And a tornado leaving a path of destruction in Virginia. New details coming up on "CNN THIS MORNING."
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[05:56:18]
ROMANS: The royal countdown is on. Just six days until the coronation of King Charles III. It is set to be a deeply religious ceremony full of ancient traditions and pageantry.
CNN's Max Foster has more.
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MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Not since 1953 have we had a glimpse of this sacred moment, the crowning of a monarch. Queen Elizabeth, then just 27, thrust to the throne after her father's untimely death. Her coronation designed to introduce the young queen to the world and give a moral boost to post-war Britain.
Seventy years on and amidst a cost of living crisis, King Charles' coronation will have many of the same traditions incorporated, albeit it slightly toned down.
Up to 2,800 guests in Westminster Abbey, CNN understands, versus the 8,000 who gathered for the late queen's.
ELIZABETH NORTON, ROYAL HISTORIAN: The king has actually ruffled some feathers by not inviting many members (INAUDIBLE) ancient nobility, including some of the dukes, in fact. But instead, actually, the king has invited members of the community. So charitable workers, for example.
FOSTER (voice-over): A sign, perhaps, that Charles wants to make the monarchy more accessible, though much of the pomp and ceremony will, of course, remain.
He'll sit on the coronation chair used by monarchs for more than 700 years, and he'll be crowned with the St. Edwards crown -- a gold, velvet, and jewel-encrusted piece weighing more than two kilograms.
The coronation is, first and foremost, a religious ceremony. It culminates in the king's anointing with holy oil, which has been consecrated in Jerusalem.
NORTON: It's seen as symbolizing the king's commitment to God because, of course, he's a very religious man himself. He's now the head of the church. And it's a sacred moment.
FOSTER (voice-over): His wife, Camilla, will also be anointed and crowned.
Charles' sons William and Harry will be there, although Harry's wife Meghan will remain at home in California with their two young children. It remains to be seen what role Harry will play in proceedings now that he's set back from his senior royal duties.
FOSTER (on camera): For many in Britain, the coronation is about more than just another public holiday. There will be street parties up and down the U.K. and thousands will come here to Buckingham Palace to witness the famous balcony moment -- to see for the first time, the newly-crowned king and queen.
FOSTER (voice-over): Many more will line the streets for the coronation procession just as they did for Queen Elizabeth seven decades ago.
The king and queen will travel in this gilded carriage accompanied by a huge military procession. Nighttime rehearsals spotted in the streets of London as the capital gears up for a moment in history.
Max Foster, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: All right.
Our top of the morning this Monday, the top movies at the box office. Here is number one.
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Clip from Illumination's "The Super Mario Bros. Movie."
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ROMANS: "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" is now the 10th animated movie to make a billion dollars globally.
Here's number two over the weekend.
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Clip from Warner Bros. Pictures "Evil Dead Rise."
ROMANS: "Evil Dead Rise" didn't rise at all. It was number two last week, also.
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And at number three --
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Clip from Lionsgate's "Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret."
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ROMANS: Judy Blume comes to life with "Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret."
All right, thanks for joining me this Monday morning. I'm Christine Romans. "CNN THIS MORNING" starts right now.
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