‘60 Minutes’ In Damage Control After Explosive Firing & People Love All-Inclusives

0:01AI is uncharted territory and many leaders are trying to navigate through without a guide to help them. That's why Morning Brew created The Intelligence Shift, a new podcast with PwC. It's all about how AI is fundamentally changing different industries. Host Dan Priest is joined by a top tier roster of industry leaders who share real stories and real lessons learned. Get guidance from industry experts. Listen to The Intelligence Shift wherever you get your podcasts. Good morning, Blue Daily Show. I'm Raymond Liu. And I'm Kayla Lopez. Today, Meadow wants to sell its AI agent to businesses, but will anybody buy?

0:37Then, a fiery firing at 60 Minutes ripples across the media industry. It's Thursday, June 4th. Let's ride.

0:48Good morning, everybody. As you can tell, Neil and Toby aren't here today. They are having fun at Toby's bachelor party. But today I'm super excited to have Kayla guest hosting on the pod. You may know her from co-hosting alongside Kyle Hagey from per my last email. Kayla, how does it feel waking up super early to talk? Honestly, not as bad as I was expecting. That 3.30 wake up really hit different, but a few cups of coffee have done wonders. I feel energized. It's as if it's 9 a.m. So pretty excited to be here. And now a word from our sponsor, Sage. Ray, have you ever had an awkward middle era?

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2:01That's sage.com slash morningbrew. Things just keep getting worse for CBS after firing 60-minute correspondent Scott Pelley, and their damage control is, well, not doing much. Here's where we are. Yesterday, the day after 37-year CBS veteran Scott Pelley was fired, editor-in-chief of CBS News Barry Weiss addressed staff, saying the firing came down to a breakdown of, quote, trust and mutual respect, and that leadership had tried to find a way back with Pelley before parting ways. But Pelley fired back almost immediately in a statement refuting the network's and Weiss's version of events. He said the word firing came up in the first 15 seconds of the meeting, that executives were openly hostile from the start, and that nobody offered a path to resolution.

2:42The turmoil has left employees feeling completely adrift, according to NBC News, especially as this leaves only three full-time correspondents left at 60 Minutes. Ray, what does this mean for the iconic news program? It's looking pretty bleak for the news program. I just want to go over the depth of the exodus that 60 Minutes has had. CBS lost Anderson Cooper, who announced his departure in February. Correspondents Sharon Alfonsi, Cecilia Vega, executive producer Tanya Simon, a 25-year veteran for 60 Minutes, all have left. And that's a lot of institutional knowledge that is walking out the door.

3:18So a lot of people are saying the 60 Minutes that they're familiar with, which is a longstanding news program, is almost kind of unrecognizable at this point. Yeah, I think that makes a lot of sense. This is such an iconic news program, and it is very jarring to see so many big changes. This could also just be the new editor-in-chief looking to make her mark on this legacy media program. Weiss took over the news business last October after Paramount purchased her platform, The Free Press, for$150 million. And this is not the first time that she's shaken up staff or editorial policies, including changes in headlining anchors for CBS Evening News or pulling 60-minute segments last season, which had critiques both inside and outside of the company.

4:04But ultimately, I think both parties are pushing for the same thing, right? They want this program, 60 Minutes, to continue to succeed. They want ratings and they want viewers. So as season 59 starts this September, only time - One shy of 60. I know, crazy. 60 seasons of 60 Minutes. I think only time is going to tell if these changes result in better viewership for the flagship program. Yeah. And talking about the ratings that you mentioned, the show drew 9.1 million viewers last season, which is actually up 9 % year over year, which kind of sounds healthy. But obviously, if you put into context, just broadcasting news in general has kind of dwindled or dwelled in the rise of digital media.

4:46I think you touched on the fact that Barry Weiss, who's the editor-in-chief, is trying to basically bring 60 Minutes and CBS into the digital age. How does the show stay relevant as you have social media, you have all these different areas where people gather news and watch news programs. Is this a good move that's going to bring the program into the future? I mean, we shall see, right? Of course. And one last thing, it's, you know, you can't talk about 60 Minutes and CBS News without talking about the broader environment, which is CBS's parent company, Paramount, is in the middle of a$110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros.

5:22Discovery. And this is also right on the heels of the cancellation of other CBS legacy programs, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Let's move on to our next story. Mark Zuckerberg has been running one of the most lucrative businesses in human history for almost 20 years, and he's ready to finally sell you something else. Meta yesterday announced it's charging businesses for access to its new AI agent, which lives inside WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram. It'll do things like answer customer questions, recommend products, book appointments, basically a 24-7, 365 customer service agent. This is all part of an effort by Zuckerberg to diversify Meta's revenue stream.

6:02Currently, 98 % of its revenue is through advertising, which is great if the ad market is booming, not so great if it isn't. And if we're being honest, Meta hasn't had a great track record in selling other products. The portal flopped. The Metaverse had roughly$80 billion invested in it, and that's effectively gone. Oculus hasn't produced a standout VR headset in quite some time. Remember back in 2019, Zuckerberg dabbled in crypto, but faced so much regulatory hurdles, he basically shuttered the whole project in 2022. Maybe the one exception is the Meta Ray-Ban glasses. People seem to get a kick out of that.

6:39But the AI agent product for businesses is the latest hope that Meta can wean off its reliance on digital ads. Kayla, it's going to be an uphill battle for Meta. Do you think it can pull it off this time, though? Well, first of all, it's hilarious to hear you mention all of Metis failures, big swings and big misses. And it's no doubt that there's really real revenue potential in AI, obviously. Both leaders in generative AI, OpenAI, and Anthropic have attained nearly trillion dollar valuations, even though they're not in public markets. This is private valuations, especially with Anthropic's recent news that it just reached a$965 billion valuation in its latest funding round, which if you were paying attention, we talked about earlier.

7:20I'm sure Zuck and Meta obviously see the reported$47 billion revenue run rate for Anthropic this year and get those crazy cartoon money eyes. It's very, very enticing to want a piece of the generative AI pie. But will businesses actually be willing to pay for what Meta's AI capabilities are offering instead of one of the other major players in the space? Yeah, I mean, this is all kind of a way for these major tech companies trying to find a way to pay for the amount of AI spending that they're investing in. I mean, there's just so much CapEx, as we've previously covered in the show. Is this the best product for the AI market?

7:57I'm not quite sure. I think it's going to be really interesting to see how Mark Zuckerberg is essentially going to make money off of this. I agree. You mentioned AI CapEx. It looks like the big four tech companies are on track to spend over$700 billion as a group this year. And the vast majority of that is coming from data centers and AI chips. So if Meta's AI initiatives don't take off, they have quite a big bill that they're going to have to pay with maybe not a lot of revenue to cover it. Moving on, an old form of travel is getting a bougie new upgrade. Between airfare, accommodations, food, and excursions, going on vacation is looking like the price of courtside Knicks tickets.

8:39So an increasing number of travelers are looking for assurances that they won't go over budget, regardless of how many spicy marks they charge to the hotel room. Hyatt's all-inclusive resorts in the Americas were nearly fully booked in the first quarter of the year, and hotel.com searches for all-inclusive stays this year increased 70 % versus last year. But forget what you think you know about all-inclusives. The increase in interest is paired with an upgrade from buffet lines and Jimmy Buffett stands to premium amenities such as private butlers, personalized concierge services, exclusive experiences, and spa treatments to attract affluent guests.

9:16Ray, would you opt for an all-inclusive over an a la carte vacation? You know, I've only done one all-inclusive experience. I was on a cruise for a friend's birthday. I gotta say, I didn't quite love it. I just felt like the overall quality wasn't great. I am going on another all-inclusive vacation real soon. So we shall see if I have a - You got to keep us updated. Yeah, I'll see if I'll have a better experience. But, you know, the most interesting part of this story for me is it's not just a travel story. It's kind of like an anxiety story because when you think about taking vacation, when you think about planning a vacation, there's a lot of decisions that you have to make.

9:50What hotel you're staying, how are you going to get there, how much, you know, excursions are you going to spend on. And so these all-inclusive resorts and all-inclusive vacations basically eliminates all the psychological thinking and friction that you have to go through beyond just the financial anxiety that you have to make. They mentioned the decisions fatigue that you have. As you're planning these vacations and the more decisions that you're making, you're just getting tired. It's a lot of work to go on vacation for your vacation. And there's also a lot of work that you have to do when you come back from vacation.

10:25There's that phrase of saying you have to take a vacation from vacation. But I think it's really important. I think it's also interesting that there's a lot of people who are just saying, let me just pay this one lump sum and I don't have to think about it and I just want to enjoy myself. I totally agree. I don't think I've ever been to an all-inclusive resort, at least not in my working memory. But there is something really enticing about not having to worry about anything, whether it's deciding to get dessert or doing an extra drink. There are so many areas of uncertainty in this era that could impact the price of my upcoming vacation.

10:55I'd rather like lock in this price now. And when over 90 percent of Americans plan to travel this year with half prioritizing vacations over other financial decisions, it makes sense that if you're reaching the top of your budget to vacation, that you would want that number to be locked in. In fact, to make it happen. Yeah. 17 % of people say they would go into debt for a vacation, borrowing an average of$2 ,500. Maybe not the best decision, but I get it because, honestly, there's a kind of reframing of all-inclusive vacations. Previously, it was kind of like a budget kind of approach where you pay for an all-inclusive, but you kind of get like the most basic kind of buffets and like experiences.

11:41But the luxury trend is kind of heading toward that way. Fora, a luxury travel agency, reports that bookings at top all-inclusive resorts have more than doubled since last year and that all-inclusive properties run about$250 less per night than comparable European beach destinations. But these are accommodations that include helicopter rides, sailboats. Like, they're really going all out in terms of the lavish experiences. and again, there's reports that the Bloomberg article or people are paying up to$20 ,000 for these experiences. So it's reframing the whole all-inclusive luxury vacation plans.

12:20It's like, yeah, I just want to pay for, I just want to pretend like I'm ultra rich for one day. You know what? It sounds pretty great. If you have$20 ,000 to spare for a week, you might as well try an all-inclusive. Yeah, why not? But before we move on, we're going to take a quick break and come back with Neil's Numbers.

12:39Toby, did you know employees who are financially stressed are way more likely to be distracted while at work? What was that? Sorry, I'm really distracted. I've got some questions about this hit to my bank account here. See, this missed work is estimated to cost employers big bucks annually and lost productivity. That's why Aflac pays claims fast, accurately and fairly. Their plans can help employees focus on getting better and getting back to work. To learn more, just head to aflac.com slash morning brew daily. That's A-F-L-A-C dot com slash morningbrewdaily. Toby, what's one thing spreading faster than AI?

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14:30Welcome to a celeb shot of Neil's numbers, the segment where we try to bring you three stats from the week's news that will have you strutting with confidence like Jalen Brunson. For my first number, Americans are pretty bad with money because a new study found financial literacy scores dropped to a 10-year low. In the study, U.S. adults correctly answered just 47 % of questions testing basic financial concepts, which is down from a peak 52 % in 2020. The share of Americans with very low financial literacy has climbed to 25%, up from 20 % a decade ago. And there's gaps between generations, with Gen Z scoring 38 % on average, the lowest of any generation, while baby boomers clocked in at 54%.

15:15But let's consider this. The financial system can be very confusing. Banks, credit cards, mortgage lending, and insurance firms bring in revenue primarily through fees. And the more confused a customer is, the bigger the opportunity it is for those lenders to make money. Kayla, is this an educational problem, or is our financial system just way too complicated to figure out? Yeah, I mean, I don't think basic financials are too hard to grasp with the right education, but I think the wins are against us, especially as we're inundated with misleading or confusing information about finances online, paired with, as you mentioned, the increasingly complex financial products entering the market.

15:54I actually have one of the questions that are included in the test. And, Ray, I'm curious if you think you can get the answer. Well, let's see. So at home also, let us know if you got the right answer here. So Ray has$1 ,000 in savings that earns a 2 % rate of return over the course of the year. The inflation rate during the year is 3%, which statement is true. A, she can afford to buy fewer things at the end of the year. B, she can afford to buy more things at the end of the year. C, it's not clear. Or D, I don't know. It should be D, C, and D. I think, which one was A? You can afford to buy fewer things at the end of the year.

16:40Fewer things. Yeah, I think you're right because the rate of return is less than the rate of inflation. That's what I, you know, working on this show actually works because college me definitely would not have known that answer. But what you mentioned, there's a lot of misinformation out there. The role that social media plays into that where a lot of people get their information through TikTok. And oftentimes, those as engaging as those videos are, they can often oversimplify our complex system. And I think that's part of the issue, though, as I mentioned, is that, you know, I've gone through insurance claims and I've gone through some, you know, bank processes and policies.

17:19They can be really confusing, especially when they ask you to read the fine print of things. Most people, especially if like English is their second language and, you know, banks try to do their best to try to accommodate that. But at the end of the day, sometimes there's nuances that a lot of people don't understand. That's why people go to financial experts or they go to people who know who've gone through the process before. Be like, what do I really know? Because it's hard to anticipate your financial decisions and the impact it'll have on you in a couple years' time. For my next number, don't you just hate it when you get caught behind a super slow truck on the road?

17:54A Wall Street Journal report found that commercial drivers drove 4 % slower in April. Why? To save some money on gas. The price of a gallon of diesel reached$5.49, which is a 44 % from$3.80, which was the price before the start of the Iran war back in late February. But can driving slow really help with saving money? It actually does, because slower speeds on the highway can reduce drag and increase fuel efficiency. For truckers, slowing down by even a few miles an hour can save them hundreds of dollars a week. Now, for the rest of us driving passenger cars, slowing down can actually also save money, but our cars don't eat up as much fuel as trucks do.

18:39The data was compiled by Inrex, who looked at more than 60 million commercial truck trips across 10 major U.S. metro areas, who also found that the average trip length is down by 2%. But slowing down comes with its own costs. Truck drivers operating on the spot market are paid by the mile and they are paid the same rate, even though driving slower means working longer hours, said the owner operator Independent Drivers Association, which represents small trucking companies and independent truckers. So, Kayla, sure, truckers are saving money by slowing down. But what does that mean for the goods they are transporting?

19:16Well, first, I've certainly been stuck behind some of these slower trucks. No worst. Recently. So if I'm ever late, that's the reason why. But no, obviously trucks power the U.S. economy. According to the American Trucking Association, 73 % of U.S. freight got to its final destination via truck, totaling over 11 billion tons of goods transported in a year. And one driver said the cost to fill his truck has increased to roughly$1 ,200 per tank from about$750 before the increases in gas prices. This, obviously, when you're talking about millions of trucks driving across the country, spending that much more per tank, that could impact the prices that you see when you're going to the store.

20:03Definitely. For my final number, happy belated 100th birthday to Marilyn Monroe. This past Saturday on May 30th, over a thousand people came together in downtown Palm Springs in blonde wigs and white dresses to celebrate Marilyn Monroe's 100th birthday beneath the 26-foot statue of the cultural icon. In doing so, they actually set a Guinness World Record in the exact place where her career began. Now, people from all walks of life gathered around, older people, younger people, gays, lesbian, trans people, straight men, straight women, all showed up for Monroe, who died in 1962. And each of them had their own spin on her look.

20:41Kayla, can you imagine what the scene was like having a thousand people all dressed the same? Yeah, I have been to Williamsburg, so I'm familiar with that. Yeah. No, I mean, these pictures and videos from the event are so fun. And I totally get the allure. I also hope that for my 100th birthday, something similar happens. All coming dressed as Kayla. Exactly. Everyone's showing up in just, I guess, black t-shirt. But it seems like celebrity lookalikes are all over the place. days from the viral timothy chalamet look-alike contest in late 2024 to heated rivalry look-alike contest just a few months ago it feels like a really fun viral moment to participate in and the people yearn for community so getting together to celebrate a shared interest in a celebrity or a cultural moment feels like a great time yeah these feel like basically taking the gatherings or community that you would build online because you can connect with people who are into shows like Heated Rivalry or Marilyn Monroe or, hey, I just happen to look like Timothee Chalamet or I like Timothee Chalamet.

21:45But this is basically the IRL version of that. It's like someone, let's organize this one thing that we all love and just all meet up and just gather around and have fun and joke and have a good time. I think this is so fun. It's also very impressive that Marilyn Monroe, again, a cultural icon back in the late, who passed away in 1962, still holds a lot of sway in the cultural zeitgeist of things. So congrats to them. And also congrats on the Guinness World Record. That's pretty impressive. A thousand people. That's a lot. Trying to organize a dinner for like 10 people is a headache. So gathering a thousand people in Palm Springs is an accomplishment in and of itself.

22:22Now let's sprint to the finish to our final headlines. It's a Macy's miracle. Two years ago, Macy's was on the brink of demise with closing locations across the country, trying to figure out what to do in the era of online shopping. But this week, Macy's posted its best final quarter comparable sales growth in four years, beating expectations by more than four to one. Comparable sales at the 200 stores they've invested in and upgraded grew 3 % during the quarter. Bloomingdale's, their luxury brand, led the way with sales up 10 % and the company raised its full year sales and earnings guidance.

22:58It's a sign that CEO Tony Spring has full confidence in their Q1 trends and it'll keep going in Q2. How did they do it? Simply go back to basics. Close stores that weren't working, invest in the ones that were, make sure there's enough staffing, and keep stock of the best-selling items. Pretty simple. Kayla, not only did Macy's bounce back on their feet, it looks like the consumers are continuing to spend, spend, spend. It really does. And Macy's and Bloomingdale's are not the only winners with this consumer trend. Amazon's revenue grew 12 % year over year to$717 billion. And it actually just took the top spot of the Fortune 500, kicking Walmart to second fiddle after 13 years at the top.

23:41That's big news. Big news. And they're not alone. Meanwhile, Target is having a bit of a turnaround, seeing comparable sales up by 5.6 % in Q1, three times higher than analyst expectations. Wow. It seems like what you mentioned, store overhauls and leaning into new trends like mushroom coffee are giving these department stores a bit of a boost. Yes. Congrats to them. Next up, New York's hottest club is the sewer system. At least according to the three recent sightings of people entering or exiting the maintenance holes that lead to sewage tunnels in Brooklyn and Queens. In one instance, at least seven people were recorded coming out of the sewers at one time, with some wearing headlamps and carrying shovels and tools.

24:28The Department of Environmental Protection verified that at least the two of the locations were inspected and no damage was found. Ray, it sounds like the creators of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles might have known something we didn't. You know, I recently just watched the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, The Mutant Mayhem. It was actually pretty good. It's an animated film. I really enjoyed it. It has like a lot of mature themes to it. I also think about Christopher Nolan's Batman, The Dark Knight, where Bane's kind of had like this underground society. I don't know if you've seen it. Oh, yeah.

24:58They basically set up this whole camp underground in the sewers. But what I think is funny about this story is the New York Post coverage on this. They've generated multiple headlines on this. They've spent the past week going all in on this beat. They're just like really, really pushing this mole people concept. They just really want it to work. And they also really hope that this blows up into a bigger story. But I also think it's kind of funny that there's all this talk about aliens and unmanned objects flying overhead in space above us. But really, there could be a whole community living underground beneath us.