Return to Transcripts main page

Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Children Found Alive After Crash And Month In Amazon; Human Rights Groups In Europe Allege Gender Discrimination In Job Advertisements On Facebook; New York Moving Forward With Congestion Pricing Plan. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired June 12, 2023 - 05:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL)

[05:33:46]

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Four children found alive after wandering more than a month in the Colombian Amazon following a plane crash -- they're telling a harrowing tale of survival against all odds. Officials say the children, ranging in age from 13 years old to a baby -- they are malnourished. They have been hospitalized but they are out of danger.

Reporter Stefano Pozzebon is live in Bogota for us. This story has been -- you know, just captivated many people for a month now. What do we know about the children, how they survived, and how they were found?

STEFANO POZZEBON, JOURNALIST: Yes, Christine, this is a story that really captivated the imagination of the entire country here in Colombia and, frankly, everybody who hears it and knows about this case feels very much involved.

The children are now in hospital. They have been here in hospital since early on Saturday morning in Bogota -- in the Central Military Hospital in Bogota -- and they are expected to stay under hospital observation. They are receiving some medical, physical, and psychological treatment already. You can just imagine how affected they are from this harrowing experience. To think that the youngest of them is only one year old. She actually spent her first day in the middle of the jungle.

[05:35:00]

On Sunday we had the privilege of speaking with the father of the four children who has arrived in Bogota to stay with them. He has been in the jungle for the past five to six weeks joining -- first leading and then joining the search and rescue operation that brought military forces and indigenous guides together to try to achieve this objective. And, of course, he had words of rejoicement. He was very happy, saying that he is just glad to be able to play with his children again.

So for the time being they are out of critical danger and that is the first and most important thing, and they are under medical observation, Christine. They will be here safe with their family for the time being.

ROMANS: Just an amazing story. All right, Stefano. Thank you so much for that.

OK. Facebook parent company Meta is facing new complaints from human rights groups in Europe alleging that the algorithm used to target users with job advertisements is discriminatory.

Let's bring in one of the writers of the newly-published article, which was written for CNN's "As Equals" series, CNN Business writer Clare Duffy. Good morning, Clare.

CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: Good morning.

ROMANS: So how was this research conducted, and what did it show?

DUFFY: So this U.K. nonprofit, Global Witness, bought job advertisements on Facebook for real positions and targeted all users in seven different countries -- all adult users of any gender. And what they found was that the algorithm often targeted users, with these job ads, based on historical gender stereotypes of who would traditionally be in those kinds of jobs.

So in France, for example, an ad for a psychologist job was targeted to 86 percent women. A preschool teacher ad was targeted to 93 percent women. But an ad for a pilot was targeted to just 25 percent women. And a mechanic job was just six percent women.

So it sort of shows how people could be missing out on these job opportunities --

ROMANS: Right.

DUFFY: -- just because of gender.

ROMANS: And reinforcing biases --

DUFFY: Exactly.

ROMANS: -- in the hiring process.

Here's what an attorney from one of the groups said -- filed the complaint said in your article. Quote, "You cannot escape big tech anymore. It's here to stay and we have to see how it impacts women's rights and the rights of minority groups."

So what are the larger concerns at play here?

DUFFY: I think the larger concerns are just that -- that these algorithms are reinforcing these disparities -- these biases that we have existing in our workplace and sort of marring the opportunity for progress and for people to move forward. And the other thing is that people aren't going to know what they

don't know. They're not going to know that they're missing out on these job opportunities -- on these job ads that they're not seeing. And so it's sort of marring the opportunity for progress.

ROMANS: Facebook has previously made some changes to its ads, right?

DUFFY: Yes. So Facebook has limited the opportunity for advertisers for employers to target certain genders with job ads, and the company pointed to that when we asked them about this. They say we no longer allow advertisers to target certain genders.

And the company also said they're working with experts across academia, human rights groups, and other disciplines on the best ways to study and address algorithmic biases.

But with the -- you know, these experts and these human rights advocates say it's not quite enough. The company's algorithm is sort of undermining their efforts by not allowing employers to target -- to target certain genders. But the algorithm is seeming to do just that --

ROMANS: Interesting.

DUFFY: -- and they want authorities to investigate.

ROMANS: All right, CNN's Clare Duffy. Great piece. Great article. Thank you. Nice to see you.

All right. Just hours from now, Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie takes center stage right here on CNN. And New York City about to charge drivers a toll for going downtown. Could other big cities soon follow?

(COMMERCIAL)

[05:42:23]

ROMANS: Here is today's fast-forward lookahead.

Former President Trump traveling to Miami today ahead of his arraignment in the classified documents case. He is expected to meet with lawyers and discuss a new Florida-based legal team.

President Biden set to meet with outgoing NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg at the White House today. They are expected to discuss the intensifying competition to replace Stoltenberg.

Former Gov. Chris Christie appearing in a CNN town hall tonight. The audience will be Republicans from New York, New Jersey, and the first four states to vote in the GOP primary.

All right, Novak Djokovic captured his 23rd Grand Slam title at the French Open and now stands alone as the greatest winner ever in men's tennis.

Carolyn Manno has this morning's Bleacher Report. Hey, Carolyn.

CAROLYN MANNO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning to you.

A lot of people saw this coming. It was kind of inevitable, right? And right or wrong, Novak Djokovic has never really received as much adoration as Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal, the other two cornerstones of the sports' big three. But there is no denying his drive and this is certainly the proof of that.

The 36-year-old from Serbia facing Norway's Casper Ruud, 12 years his junior and on Ruud's best surface. And despite a sluggish start, Novak still found a way to win, taking the final in straight sets to claim his third French Open title and break the tie with Rafael Nadal for the most majors by any man, becoming the first man to win the career slam three times over -- something he says he manifested with decades of hard work.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NOVAK DJOKOVIC, WINNER, FRENCH OPEN: One thing is for sure. I feel that I have -- I had the power to create my own destiny. I try to visualize every single thing in my life and not only believe it but really feel it with every cell in my body.

And I just want to send a message out there to every young person. Be in the present moment. Forget about what happened in the past. The future is something that is just going to happen, but if you want a better future you create it. Take the means in your hands, believe it, create it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MANNO: A powerful message for young people there.

Djokovic now tied with Serena for the second-most majors all-time, one behind Margaret Court, with a chance to pull even next month at Wimbledon where he is a seven-time champion.

Elsewhere, people are going to be talking about this today at work. An incredible ending on the PGA Tour, Christine. Take a listen to this radio call.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER, CANADIAN OPEN: A swing and the putter. Comes up with some speed, now up the rise for the eagle! For the win! The drought is over! The drought is over! Nick Taylor with the eagle. The 2023 RBC Canadian Open champion.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[05:45:02]

MANNO: This is golf, right? This is still the sport of golf? Winnipeg's own Nick Taylor sinking the longest putt of his career -- a 72-footer on the fourth hole of a playoff -- becoming the first Canadian to win the country's home tournament since 1954.

In all that chaos, by the way, this is Taylor's longtime friend and fellow Canadian golfer Adam Hadwin getting smoked by security trying to celebrate his buddy's victory. He went out there with a bottle of champagne thinking hey, I'm going to congratulate my friend, and the next thing you know security taking him down. So a huge win, of course, for Canada and everybody else. And I think he's going to get ribbed for that for many, many years to come, although he is OK. And hopefully, the security guard is OK, too.

ROMANS: Of course.

All right, Carolyn Manno. Thanks so much. Have a great morning.

Coming up on "CNN THIS MORNING" former President Trump facing 37 counts over mishandling classified documents. New details on the charges and then what happens next.

And next, right here, the S&P 500 marking the start of a new bull market. Why that doesn't mean a recession watch is over.

(COMMERCIAL)

[05:50:12]

ROMANS: Looking at markets around the world, Asian markets finished mixed there. European markets are higher this hour. And this just in. UBS says it has officially completed its emergency takeover of Credit Suisse.

On Wall Street, stock index futures moving higher this morning. Markets finished the week in positive territory. The Nasdaq posting its seventh-straight winning streak. It was a fourth-straight week of gains for the S&P 500.

On inflation watch, gas prices held steady overnight at $3.59 a gallon, but down dramatically from a year ago when it hit a record high.

It is a busy week on the economic calendar. Consumer and Producer Price Indexes, retail sales, and, of course, the critical Fed meeting all on tap this week.

So while the world has been on the longest recession watch in memory, the stock market has just entered a new bull market. Does that mean the recession watch is over though?

Let's bring in Spencer Jakab, editor of "Heard on the Street" column with The Wall Street Journal. Nice to see you this morning.

SPENCER JAKAB, GLOBAL EDITOR, "HEARD ON THE STREET", THE WALL STREET JOURNAL (via Webex by Cisco): Nice to see you.

ROMANS: So if you're a doctor running diagnostic tests on the health of the U.S. economy, what's your prognosis right now? JAKAB: Well, luckily, doctors are a little bit better at diagnosing things than economists are. I mean, I -- it's like the joke is that they invented economists to make weathermen look good. But they just are not that super at forecasting the economy and I'll give you a couple of examples.

The Wall Street Journal surveys a number of economists, and has for many years, of various things. And one of the things they ask is how likely do you think a recession is -- a U.S. recession in the next 12 months.

Now, last October, it was the highest ever. Sixty-three percent said that they saw a recession in the next 12 months. But if you go back to the month that the recession would begin -- the worst-ever post-war recession back in December 2007 -- it was just 23 percent, which is above average. But they sort of missed that one.

And then, of course, the stock market tends to have actually a better record of predicting recessions than economists, but it's by no means perfect either. As a matter of fact, Paul Samuelson, who won the Nobel Price for economics many years ago, made this joke that the stock market has predicted nine of the last five recessions.

ROMANS: Yes.

JAKAB: So it's not that good. It peaked a couple of months earlier before that sharp recession.

So the fact that we're pretty strong now really reflects what people think -- what price people are willing to pay for stocks. And it does reflect a collective feeling about the economy but that feeling has also been wrong, just not as wrong as economists.

ROMANS: So you could be in a bull market in the stock market and also still be on recession watch, I guess, here. Because we've had 10 rate hikes in a row here. We're still kind of working all of that tightening through the system.

What do you think the Fed does this week?

JAKAB: The money is sort of slightly on the odds of the Fed skipping -- pausing and not doing anything this week and then waiting to see and returning to the question in July.

You know, it -- whether or not they raise a quarter point is not really that critical. What is critical is that they have raised rates tremendously and very, very quickly and that does take time to ripple through the economy. So to sit back today and say that they -- if on Wednesday, if the decision is that they're not raising and if they send pretty dovish signals that will send stocks higher for sure. Well, not for sure because you can never be sure of these things.

ROMANS: Right.

JAKAB: But it likely will send stocks higher in the short run.

But in terms of the effect on the economy, it's a wait-and-see.

ROMANS: Sure.

JAKAB: The economy is very different today than it was in the past recession and that's the thing. That's why economists get things wrong is because it's not a science that you can reproduce in a test tube. And so, they'll be looking for the things that caused the last recession and they won't see them or they will see them and be very worried. And then an entirely new set of circumstances will be the thing that kind of tips the thing over into a recession this time --

ROMANS: It's what -- it's whether --

JAKAB: -- or it does not.

ROMANS: It's whether that old joke about Harry Truman who demanded to his aides somebody get me a one-handed economist. He was tired of all these on the one hand, on the other hand, on the one hand --

JAKAB: Yes.

ROMANS: -- because it is not an exact science.

Spencer Jakab with The Wall Street Journal, thank you so much. Nice to see you this morning.

All right. Traffic in New York City may never be the same. Ah, yes. President Biden's administration is set to allow New York to move forward with a landmark program to impose a toll on cars and trucks driving into Lower Manhattan. The public review period ends today.

Let's bring in CNN Business reporter Nathaniel Meyersohn. So tell us more about this congestion pricing plan in Lower Manhattan.

NATHANIEL MEYERSOHN, REPORTER, CNN BUSINESS: Don't you just love that honking, Christine?

ROMANS: Ah, the smell and sounds of New York.

MEYERSOHN: So, yes -- so New York City's been trying to implement congestion pricing for about the last 50 years and it's finally set to move forward. Officials are studying proposals to toll cars anywhere ranging from $9.00 to $23.00, and this would be the first city in the United States to implement congestion pricing.

[05:55:11]

It's supposed to ease traffic, ease congestion, and also direct the toll funding to the MTA and public transit. About 75 percent of trips to downtown New York are through public transit. That's the dominant form of transportation. It's key to the city but it's struggling. Ridership is below pre-pandemic levels. So they're trying to get more people on public transit, cut greenhouse gases, and reduce all that honking.

ROMANS: And so -- and all that honking. So that could be coming to a -- to a downtown street near you soon.

MEYERSOHN: That's exactly right.

ROMANS: Thank you so much, CNN's Nathaniel Meyersohn. Nice to see you this morning.

All right. Former President Trump attacking special counsel Jack Smith ahead of his Miami court arraignment tomorrow. What he said in his first remarks after the historic indictment ahead.

(COMMERCIAL)