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New Day
Pricy Back to School Shopping; Pharmacies Pay in Opioid Case; Mariah Carey Fights for Trademark; Teens Abandoning Facebook. Aired 6:30-7a ET
Aired August 18, 2022 - 06:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[06:30:00]
VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The day elementary school art teacher Deborah Sisane is shopping for art supplies.
YURKEVICH (on camera): $3.99, $2.99. How many of these do you have to purchase for your class?
DEBORAH SISANE, NYC ELEMENTARY ART SCHOOL TEACHER: I usually buy about 48 of these. Just --
YURKEVICH: So that's a couple hundred dollars just on glue.
SISANE: Glue. Glue. Yes. And it's, you know, it's important.
YURKEVICH (voice over): Which is why organizations like Kids in Need Foundation in Minnesota provide free school supplies for more than 300,000 teachers and 7.8 million students each year.
COREY GORDON, CEO, KIDS IN NEED FOUNDATION: With the high cost of inflation and prices, et cetera, teachers are concerned. And we're seeing all across the U.S. a demand for core essential school supplies.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is my second cart. And definitely I probably am saving hundreds if not maybe even thousands of dollars.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know, a pop in colors.
YURKEVICH: But for some teachers, this year's extra expense is still worth it.
YURKEVICH (on camera): But does that affect your personal finances?
SISANE: Yes. So, I'll cut back on something else because when you're an educator, the little eyes that are looking at you are the need.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
YURKEVICH: And even though individual U.S. households are expected to spend more on back-to-school supplies this year, the National Retail Federation actually says that overall U.S. spending on back to school is going to be the same as last year. That's because parents are spending more on these individual items but are cutting back on overall spending because of inflation.
And if you remember last year, we were warning people about supply chain issues, saying you've got to get out early, you've got to buy your back-to-school supplies. Well, this year, retailers, they brought things in early. They actually have some excess. And parents, they were listening because 56 percent of shoppers started shopping for back to school in July of this year. Compare that to 2019, before the pandemic, it was 44 percent.
So, there is supply this year. Unfortunately, it's just going to cost a little bit more. Your pants, John, for your kids are going to be a little bit more this year.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: How are pants in this? Tape is up 70 percent, right?
YURKEVICH: Yes.
KEILAR: You said pants are up what percent?
YURKEVICH: Pants are up. I'll have to get back to you on that, but they're up, John.
KEILAR: You don't have no choice or else they're going to wear capris to school.
BERMAN: We have to - yes, pants are necessary at school.
Vanessa, thank you very much.
Three of the nation's largest pharmacy chains ordered to pay a combined $650 million to two Ohio counties for damages related to the opioid crisis.
Plus, she is the lone survivor of the deadly lightning strike outside of the White House. She joins us ahead with details of her harrowing experience.
KEILAR: And, is Mariah Carey the queen of Christmas?
BERMAN: I kind of think so.
KEILAR: You kind of think so. Well, there's a legal battle between the star and other singers over her efforts to trademark that title.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:36:57]
KEILAR: This morning, a federal judge in Ohio has ordered three big pharmacy chains, Walgreens, CVS and Walmart, to pay more than $650 million for their role in fueling the opioid epidemic. This is a landmark ruling that's the first time pharmacy chains have been ordered to pay money in an opioid lawsuit. CNN's Jean Casarez is tracking this for us.
JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is very significant. $650.6 million is what Walmart, CVS and Walgreens are legally going to be required to pay to two Ohio counties for damages related to the opioid crisis. The pharmacies were found liable for their role last November, but there was a separate proceeding in May to help determine the monetary damages. The current ruling came in on Wednesday.
The lawsuit was initially filed in 2018. It was part of the federal multidistrict litigation created that year to address the claims against opioid manufacturers and distributors. The Ohio counties alleged in their complaint that the pharmacies, quote, abused their position of special trust and responsibility as registered dispensers of controlled drugs. In so doing, fostered a black market for prescription opioids.
U.S. District Judge Dan Aaron Polster wrote in his ruling that the awarded damages were meant to, quote, address a small piece of a terrible and tenacious and escalating national tragedy.
CVS responded in a statement, quote, we strongly disagree with the court's decision regarding the county's abatement plan, as well as last fall's underlying verdict. Pharmacists fill legal prescriptions. They're written by DEA-licensed doctors who prescribe legal FDA- approved substance to treat actual patients in need.
Walgreens responded by saying, quote, as we have said throughout this process, we never manufactured, we never marketed the opioids, nor did we distribute them to the pill mills and Internet pharmacies that fueled this crisis.
And, finally, Walmart released a statement saying the plaintiffs in the case sued Walmart in search of deep pockets.
All three companies say they plan to appeal.
And, Brianna and John, I was in the courtroom for one of the first opioid trials in Oklahoma and the evidence was fascinating because the manufacturers of the opioids would have a huge sales department that would go to the distributors, go to the hospitals, go to the doctors, go to the pharmacies and tout the great things about opioids, namely that they were not addictive and that was the pulse right there, it was the manufacturer and their sales department that really created this scenario where everyone believed they were the next wonder drug.
KEILAR: Yes, it's -- look, this is so far reaching, Jean, and we appreciate you covering it. Thank you.
CASAREZ: Thank you.
KEILAR: Elon Musk says that one of his latest tweets was just a joke. Why SEC regulators aren't laughing, though, next.
BERMAN: And the singers arguing Mariah Carey cannot claim the crown queen of Christmas. What they are doing to try and stop her, ahead. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:43:33]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARIAH CAREY, MUSICIAN (singing): I don't want a lot for Christmas. There is just one thing I need.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Is Mariah Carey the queen of Christmas? John Berman says --
BERMAN: Well, yes. Well, I think she's got the best Christmas song.
KEILAR: OK. Well, that says a lot though.
The five-time Grammy Award winning singer's hit "All I Want for Christmas is You," it's a staple of the holiday season, and for good reason. But now Mariah Carey is facing fierce resistance by fellow holiday music singers for attempting to trademark this phrase, queen of Christmas, which would allow her to sell goods such as perfume, lotion, sunglasses and on and on and on. The possibilities are endless here.
Let's talk about this now with CNN chief business correspondent and anchor of "EARLY START," Christine Romans, and CNN business correspondent Rahel Solomon.
There's two questions here, guys. One is, is she the queen of Christmas. That's a separate question from, should she get to trademark this.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Right. And why does she want to trademark it? For money, money, money, like Christmas is a big seller and she wants to capitalize on that.
RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. I mean Christmas and the holiday shopping season in general is one of the most shopped for events. Last year, for example, folks said that they planned on spending about $650 just on gifts alone. So it certainly makes sense why she would want to be crowned the queen of Christmas.
And, guys, when you look at the trademark application, I mean it lists everything from, she wants to, you know, potentially place it on things like jewelry, dog clothing.
KEILAR: Dog clothing.
SOLOMON: Food products.
BERMAN: Lotion.
SOLOMON: Lotion. I mean it casts --
BERMAN: We knew Christmas lotion. [06:45:01]
SOLOMON: Casts a wide net.
BERMAN: Again, now, I -- what needs to be separated here is whether or not this is the best Christmas song. And I would argue, yes. But that's a discussion for another time because the specific trademark argument, Romans, falls on some very interesting questions.
ROMANS: Listen, "queen" and "Christmas" are words in the public domain. The only thing that you'd be trademarking is putting them together with "of" in the middle. And that is going to be a hard sell, especially when you have these other singers who have been professionally, for years, working under the moniker queen of Christmas as well. So, two singers against, you know, Mariah Carey and her lawyers. We'll see how it -- but "queen" and "Christmas," those are tough ones to try to - to try to trademark, I think.
SOLOMON: And, by the way, Mariah Carey has previously said in an interview that the real queen of Christmas is the Virgin Mary.
ROMANS: I would have said Mrs. Clause.
SOLOMON: Or Mrs. Clause.
ROMANS: I would have said Mrs. Clause.
SOLOMON: Or these other singers.
ROMANS: Neither of which are seeking trademarks, just to be clear on that.
SOLOMON: Right. Yes.
BERMAN: They haven't signed on to this case.
KEILAR: OK, Elon Musk, he puts out a tweet. He says, I'm buying Manchester United, you're welcome. OK, yes, you're welcome. OK, then, when asked to he's serious, he goes, no, this is a long running joke on Twitter. I'm not buying any sports team.
What are the financial implications here?
ROMANS: So he -- look, he has a long history of running afoul of securities regulators for tweeting about his company, Tesla, a public company, which is a public company that has the trust and the solemn responsibility as an officer of that company to give clear information in a legal way. So he has run afoul of the security regulators before.
He riffs (ph), right? And he's got these bro (ph) trolls who love to follow him and, see, now I'm not going to be able to be online for two days because I said bro (ph) trolls. But all these guys who follow him who love him. And he riffs (ph) online, but he does have a very big responsibility when he's using Twitter because people take him seriously. A lot of people take him seriously. And there's often investors who gain or lose money based on things that he says online. And it's a really solemn responsibility as an officer of a public company, a responsibility that I don't - I don't think he takes very seriously.
SOLOMON: And, by the way, to add to that, not only does he have a huge following, as Christine pointed out, he also has the means, right? He also has the wealth. And so he makes these jokes sometimes and he riffs, as Christine pointed out. But the reason why it creates so much chaos and confusion is because he could actually do it, right? I mean he's worth more than -
ROMANS: Well, let's look at an example. And this is in 2018, in August. This got a lot of attention. He tweeted, I'm considering taking Tesla private at $420 - assuming $420 a share, right? Funding secured. Well, he didn't have the funding secured. And the SEC sanctioned him, sued Musk over that tweet saying he misled investors. The stock moved on it.
You know, 420 was some kind of inside pot joke, you know, but people take him seriously and investors can lose money when he is just, you know, riffing.
BERMAN: He has been sanctioned before.
ROMANS: Yes, he has.
BERMAN: So, how do they draw the line between that tweet and saying, I'm buying Man U? Can they or it's just hard, right?
SOLOMON: I mean it's just - it's -- let's just say that Elon Musk is likely the source of frustration for many regulators, right, not just this week but in the past. It's hard to know if any of their efforts have really made a difference because clearly he still jokes in this way.
Man U, by the way, publicly traded. Shares surged after the tweet. They've since fallen back a bit. So, even with Twitter, for example, and Tesla, I mean, when he makes these comments, whether he's serious or not or maybe somewhere in the middle, I mean it makes the stock do really funny things, really strange things, and no one really knows, is he serious, isn't he serious.
ROMANS: It's unfortunate.
SOLOMON: Yes.
ROMANS: It's unfortunate for investors who don't have clarity in what he means and that, you know - I mean it's unfortunate for investors and he does -- sometimes he's funny, sometimes he's crass, sometimes it's just dumb, but that's why people who follow him follow him, because they love to see this stuff.
KEILAR: What we've learned is, I mean, Mariah is kind of the queen of Christmas, but Elon Musk is not going to be trademarking the king of maturity anytime soon. And that's where I'll leave that.
SOLOMON: I -- I somehow have a feeling that this clip is going to make it into a trademark court about her being the queen.
ROMANS: Yes.
KEILAR: Let's see.
Rahel, Christine, thank you so much to both of you.
There's some new data that shows teenagers, they're abandoning Facebook in droves. Do your teens like it?
BERMAN: No, they're not on it.
KEILAR: No, they don't. They're not even on it? Well, so -
BERMAN: But I just don't think teens - yes. Yes.
KEILAR: Why that can be a very big problem for the social media giant.
BERMAN: And a judge getting ready to decide if you can see the affidavit that led to the search of Mar-a-Lago. We're going to speak with one of Donald Trump's former attorneys ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:53:40]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIMMY FALLON, HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JIMMY FALLON": Representative Liz Cheney, who is on the January 6th committee and has been outspoken about Trump's defeat in the election, lost her primary race to a challenger that he endorsed. Trump was so excited, he threw a ticker tape parade made out of classified documents.
TREVOR NOAH, HOST, "THE DAILY SHOW WITH TREVOR NOAH": The Liz Cheney story isn't over yet because she has vowed that she will still do anything to stop Trump from becoming president again, even possibly running against him.
We must admit, it probably is a long shot. But don't forget, she is a Cheney. If there's one thing they're committed to, it's regime change.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: All right, we're going to have much more on those stories going forward.
In the meantime, Facebook, once the king of social media, is showing signs of diminishing popularity among teenagers and young adults.
Here now, young adult and CNN senior data reporter, Harry Enten.
HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: Oh, God.
BERMAN: What trends are you seeing here, Harry? ENTEN: Yes, I - you know, I remember when Facebook was the king. I'm
not going to say I was 13 to 17 years old back in 2014 and '15, but I do remember when Facebook came online when I was in high school and what a big deal it was.
But take a look at the social media use here. Back in 2014 to 2015, 71 percent of teenagers said that they were, in fact, using Facebook, at least sometimes. Check out the 2022 number, down to just 32 percent. A drop of more than half.
We've seen something similar going on with Twitter where we see a drop from 33 percent to 23 percent.
[06:55:04]
The only social media platform that I'm truly active on, maybe a little bit of Instagram. And Tumblr, which to be honest, I don't really -- never knew what it did, went from 14 percent to 5 percent. But the big story here, Facebook, which was once the king, not really any longer with teenagers.
BERMAN: That's a huge drop. So what are they using?
ENTEN: Yes, what are they using? So, look, perhaps, not surprisingly, they're on YouTube. You can make the argument whether or not that's a social media platform, though the definition says yes. The big one, TikTok. Look here, up now from 2022, 67 percent. That was not even created until after 2014. They're also on Instagram, which, of course, is owned by Facebook, went from 52 percent to 62 percent. And then you can also see, that one, Snapchat, went from 41 percent, check that out, all the way up to 59 percent as well.
BERMAN: So what's the problem for Facebook? It's just not addictive enough at this point?
ENTEN: I think that is basically what's going on. So, on this platform multiple times a day, you know, like, I'm kind of checking my email or I'm trying to constantly check what's going on with my Buffalo Bills. Take a look here, multiple times a day, Facebook, with teenagers, just 10 percent. It's just not -- you know, you don't feel that need to keep going back and back and back and back and back. You look at TikTok, look at that, because of those instant, you know, videos that just keep going up and up and up, 48 percent. Same basically here with Snapchat, 44 percent. Even Instagram, maybe you want to see what your friends are doing on there, maybe some new pictures, 37 percent.
But I think the real issue here, John, is just with Facebook it's like, oh, great, my friend put up another picture. Whopity-du-da-day (ph). It's more a place for old folks like you and me.
BERMAN: Yes. Well, my Facebook feed has been filled with my friends from Boston gloating over the fact that the Yankees are losing.
We planned for part of this segment, Harry, before the unfortunate Yankees come from behind victory last night. The Yankees won last night, but it's been rough for them. ENTEN: It's been -- look, if the best you can do is you need a miracle
tenth inning grand slam, then things have been pretty rough for you. The struggling New York Yankees, this includes the game last night. Look at that, they're just 9 in 17 since the all-star break. Their record until the all-star break was 64-28. They were the best in the American league before the all-star break, even including last night's miracle, they're still the second worst in the American League. I believe the Detroit Tigers are worse. But if they're competing against the Tigers, you're doing pretty bad, John.
BERMAN: Just - just to put a finer point on that. In all of the American league they're the second losingest team since the all-star break.
ENTEN: That's right.
BERMAN: No one except for one team has lost more than the Yankees.
ENTEN: That is correct. It's truly a sign that perhaps someone from up above is blessing us.
BERMAN: Right.
How are the Yankees viewed across the country?
ENTEN: You know, this, to me, is so fascinating in so far - OK, the Yankees are America's team of baseball, but just 10 percent of baseball fans say that their favorite team is the New York Yankees, 27 percent say it's their least favorite team. The next closest were the Boston Red Sox at 10 percent, your team, of course. But the highest numbers say it's their least favorite team. And the only team, the only team in all of baseball that had a net negative favorability rating, more people at least had a favorable view than unfavorable view of all 29 other teams, the Yankees are the only team that's under water.
BERMAN: And this whole notion of any sports team claiming to be America's team is sort of fallacious to begin with.
ENTEN: Yes, I think the whole thing is garbage, to be honest with you, to use a technical term.
The phrase America's team I believe was created somewhere in the late '70s by NFL films. America's favorite team is really a misnomer. See the Dallas Cowboys. Just 29 percent say that the Cowboys were one of their three most favorite teams. More, 31 percent said the Cowboys were one of their three least favorite teams. Least favorite teams.
So, this idea the Yankees and the Cowboys, America wants to see them win. No, no, no, John, America wants to see these teams lose.
BERMAN: That's important.
Thank you very much for putting this in perspective.
ENTEN: Yes. It's my pleasure and let's just hope that the Yankees continue to lose more.
BERMAN: From your lips.
All right, Garry, thank you very much.
And NEW DAY continues right now.
All right, spotlight on southern Florida. Will a judge release the memo justifying the search of Mar-a-Lago?
I'm John Berman, with Brianna Keilar.
And Donald Trump's legal team has just two hours to weigh in on requests to unseal the affidavit that spells out the FBI's reasons for searching Mar-a-Lago. A judge is scheduled to hear arguments this afternoon.
Now, the Department of Justice is fighting the release of the affidavit, insisting it could compromise its investigation.
KEILAR: CNN has learned some Trump allies are urging him to publicly release surveillance footage of FBI agents searching Mar-a-Lago. Eric Trump says his father will absolutely release the tapes at the right time.
[07:00:00]
So, just to be clear here, this is not the same surveillance video that was subpoenaed by investigators.
