[MUSIC PLAYING]
JON SARLIN: Hey, everybody.
I'm Jon Sarlin.
I'm a producer for CNN.
I cover tech and business, and I'm the host of the CNN
Business show "Nightcap."
I'm so excited to be with you today, filling in for Coy Wire.
Thanks for having me, Coy.
We got a lot of news today.
Let's get started.
We're going to begin with the latest news on Ticketmaster.
Did any of you try to get tickets for the Taylor
Swift concert recently?
What about your favorite sports team?
Well, if you did, chances are, you
probably saw tickets for those events on Ticketmaster.
The company promotes itself as the way
to buy and sell tickets online for concerts,
for sports, for theater events.
But Ticketmaster is in the news this week
after the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing,
exploring whether the merger between Ticketmaster
and the giant concert company, Live Nation,
has led to a monopoly on tickets and harmed consumers
by challenging any competition.
In November, you might remember, Ticketmaster
halted public ticket sales of Taylor Swift's Eras Tour
after a chaotic rollout of pre-sale tickets
left fans scrambling and waiting hours
in virtual queues for tickets.
Congratulations to anyone who might have gotten them.
But the debacle was so bad, that it did something very rare.
It united members of Congress, from both the Democratic
and Republican Party, who fear that Ticketmaster now
has a monopoly, meaning that they have exclusive control
of the supply of tickets.
We'll hear more on this now from CNN National
Correspondent Jason Carroll, who has more
on the details of the hearing.
JASON CAROLL: Scores of Taylor Swift fans still haven't shaken
off the bitter feeling of being shut out of the pop star's
upcoming tour this March.
- Ticketmaster takes the $490 out of my account,
but it, like, crashed.
JASON CAROLL: All that ire directed at Ticketmaster, which
bungled the pop stars ticket sales
so badly last November, it left thousands
facing technical issues, such as cancel tickets
or crashing site and an artist beside herself over what
fans endured to get tickets.
Some of those who did get them ended
up paying thousands for resale tickets
just to get a seat to see Swift.
TAYLOR SWIFT: (SINGING) I'm the problem.
It's me.
JASON CAROLL: Now Ticketmaster is in the hot seat.
It's parent company, Live Nation Entertainment's President
and CFO Joe Berchtold will have to answer to a Senate Judiciary
Committee about claims the Swift fallout is
the result of anti-competitive conduct from a company
with too much influence.
AMY KLOBUCHAR: I've called for years for a change,
and maybe Taylor Swift fans will probably put it-- will
finally put it over the edge.
JASON CAROLL: Berchtold is scheduled to testify Tuesday.
Part of his planned testimony reads,
"In hindsight there are several things
we could have done better.
We apologize to the many disappointed fans
as well as to Ms. Swift."
Antitrust experts say the real issue
before Congress is whether Live Nation Entertainment is
a monopoly, something critics say
was created in 2010 when Ticketmaster
and Live Nation merged.
TAYLOR SWIFT: (SINGING) I'm goin' out tonight.
JASON CAROLL: While some industry insiders question
how much one hearing is likely to change things,
others say the Swift movement has already had an impact.
MORGAN HARPER: This is going to be the first hearing
that the Senate will be holding, and it
shows that this is a priority issue for folks who
are on the Judiciary Committee and that they see
that there are problems with the Live
Nation-Ticketmaster merger.
JON SARLIN: Next up, 10 second-trivia.
What region is surrounded by the Adriatic Sea, the Ionian
Sea, and the Aegean Sea?
Is it the Balkan Peninsula, the Amazon Basin,
Patagonia, or Western Plateau?
Well, the only option here that's
surrounded by all of these features
is the Balkan Peninsula in Europe.
Speaking of the Balkan Peninsula,
let's travel to it, to the country
of Bosnia and Herzegovina, where one lake is experiencing
an example of extreme pollution, pollution
so alarming that even environmentalists
are surprised.
And look, ocean pollution is not unique to the Balkans,
but this collection point provides
a clear picture of what can end up in waterways
when not managed correctly.
CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar
has more on this story along the Drina River,
where a clogged lake filled with downed trees and frozen trash
is gaining attention.
ALLISON CHINCHAR: Snow falls on a lake on the Drina River.
From up high, it's coated with frost, but get a little closer,
and you can see what's underneath the veneer of snow.
A massive tango of trash clogging the waterway.
Even environmentalists are surprised by what ends up here.
DEJAN FURTULA: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: In addition to floating waste,
such as plastic, there are also various household
items, including refrigerators and stoves.
There is nothing that is not present,
but a significant problem is also fallen trees, which
are very difficult to remove.
ALLISON CHINCHAR: Experts say it's
a recurring problem at this spot in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
There are several landfills and illegal dumps near the Drina
River, and after a heavy rain, the waste washes into the water
and collects here.
Anti-pollution barriers have been installed where
the waste ends up accumulating.
Local authorities say the problem will continue
until there is adequate waste collection
and people dispose of their trash more responsibly.
DEJAN FURTULA: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: In addition to posing a significant health
and environmental problem, this is a source
of great embarrassment for all of us,
as we seem unable to solve this issue
for such a prolonged period.
ALLISON CHINCHAR: A lake of trash, far from what nature
intended it to be.
JON SARLIN: Next up, we're going to talk
about the future of work and what exactly that looks like.
So while many companies offered remote work
and flexible and hybrid schedules during the pandemic,
workers may now be entering an era of having
to go back into the office.
Companies, from Apple to Disney to Starbucks,
are now requiring employees work from the office for more
than half of the workweek.
Last week on "Nightcap," my show, CNN's digital show
focused on business and tech news,
I spoke with the CEO Ed Zitron about what
workers can expect in 2023.
You can also sign up for the Nightcap newsletter
and watch the show on cnn.com, with new episodes
every Thursday.
Let's see what Ed has to say.
The battle over working from home has entered a new phase.
Disney just threw down the gauntlet,
requiring workers to be in the office four days a week
beginning March 1.
Two days later, Starbucks ordered
corporate employees back to the office three days a week.
Other companies are enforcing mandates as well.
And Jane Fraser, the CEO of Citigroup,
one of the only big banks to fully embrace hybrid work,
just said this at the World Economic Forum.
JANE FRASER: We do want people collaborating,
and they do collaborate better together.
In productivity, you can see how productive someone is or isn't.
And if they're not being productive,
we bring them back to the office or back to the site,
and we give them the coaching they
need until they get their productivity back up again.
JON SARLIN: So with a tight job market,
workers felt like they had the power to resist mandates
to return to the office, but with all the big layoffs lately
in tech, media, and other corporate jobs,
has the power shifted back to the employers?
Ed Zitron is the founder of EZPR who has written about working
from home for "The Atlantic" and his newsletter
"Where's Your Ed At."
So, Ed, is it over?
Have we reached the tipping point
where this kind of workplace tug of war
has now shifted back to the employer
because workers are afraid of losing their job?
ED ZITRON: I think that there is an implicit threat
from companies around this.
Now that there is a rocky economy, that there are layoffs
happening, they're basically saying,
we're not going to fire you, but we need you back
in the office due to reasons we will
probably never explain to you.
The reality is it's not going away.
Remote work is not going away, but big companies--
Starbucks, Disney, and so on-- are using their leverage here
of, we're a big company, and you want
stability, to say come back in the office
because it makes us happy.
[ROCK MUSIC]
JON SARLIN: And for today's 10 out of 10 story,
this fourth-grade paleontologist made
the discovery of a lifetime.
On Christmas morning, while walking on a beach in Maryland,
Molly Sampson discovered a massive 5-inch tooth
from a prehistoric megalodon shark, meaning big tooth.
The megalodon is an extinct species
of mackerel shark that lived approximately
15 million years ago.
Molly's mom said that children around the globe
have sent letters to Molly sharing their excitement
at her discovery.
Good job, Molly.
Last up, we can't forget to give a shout-out.
Today's special shout-out goes to Mendota High
School in Mendota, California.
We see you.
We thank you for watching.
And for you and everybody else watching around the world,
I hope you have a wonderful day.
I'm Jon Sarlin.
It has been awesome hanging with all of you on this Wednesday.
Have a great day.