Vice President Harris Interview, Unrest in France, Actors' Strike

A blow to a Biden promise?

The Supreme Court rejects the president's plan for student loan forgiveness.

And the vice president tells us it's a quote Fight for the future we deserve. I'm Myles Parks.

I'm Aisha Roscoe and this is up first from NPR News.

And with Hollywood writers already on strike, actors are now on the brink as well. We've been in it for weeks now, with great hope that we'll be able to arrive at an equitable agreement. We're not going to settle.

Stay with us, we've got the news you need to start your weekend.

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On the Ted Radio Hour mit psychologist Sherry Turkle.

Her latest research into the intimate relationships people are having with chatbots.

Technologies that say, I care about you, I love you, I'm here for you, take care of me.

The pros and cons of artificial intimacy. That's on the Ted Radio Hour from NPR.

It has been a bruising year for the Biden administration at the Supreme Court.

Earlier at this time, the Dobbs decision overturned Roe v. Wade. This week, the court strikes down affirmative action in the college admissions process, turns back the administration on student debt relief and restricts LGBTQ rights.

Vice President Kamala Harris was in New Orleans this week and sat down with NPR's Michelle Martin. Michelle joins us now to talk about that conversation. Hey Michelle.

Hey, good morning Miles.

Great to have you here. So tell me a little bit about why the vice president was in New Orleans.

She's a featured speaker at the Essence Festival. It's one of the largest, they would say, the largest music festival in the country. People come from all over for concerts and fun, but also for panels and networking. This was a crowd that was really excited to see her, a lot of people told us that they are proud of her.

Well, that was her message from the stage, but you sat down with her after. Tell us a little bit about that interview.

Well, you know. She clearly seemed to be reveling in the fact that this is a very supportive crowd and she seemed to be enjoying herself. But her comments, as I said, were very sobering. Here's a little bit of my conversation with her on the way down here. The plane was filled with people coming here who were so excited to be here, to be part of this. For many people, it's an annual event.

Well, you're absolutely right, they're almost conflicting emotions. But I would suggest that in any moment where there is great challenge, moments of great consequence, and moments of crisis or crises. In the case of even just these three decisions from the Supreme Court, I think it's important to have the natural and appropriate emotion about what those decisions might mean. And to also be joyful about coming together with people who share your life, experience and with whom. There is some commonality of approach and perspective and experience. And all of those can be true at the same time.

So Michelle, you can hear there that she views this as a real fight. Essentially, how does she fit into that as vice president?

Well, I have to tell you, Miles, that her answer surprised me a little bit and that she didn't so much. Frame this as part of her responsibility as vice president, she said that it was her responsibility as an American. Take a listen.

I have a role as an American and that's part of what I talked about today, the role I think we all have. As people who love our country and understand what is at stake, and as people who believe in the promise of our country. But understand we have some work yet to do to fully achieve that promise. I think about my role as Vice president of the United States and what that means. Both in terms of the bully pulpit that I have and the responsibility that comes with that. To hopefully inform folks of things I might be aware of, but also to elevate public discourse and hopefully cut through the misinformation.

And, as you might imagine, miles. She also called on the people there to vote, but also.

That's NPR's Michelle Martin. Thanks, Michelle.

You're welcome.

And you can hear more of Michelle's interview with the vice president Monday on Morning Edition.

Another night of riots and now a funeral.

In France, mourners gathered in the western Paris suburb of Nanterre to pay their final respects to the 17-year-old, who was shot by a police officer earlier this week. After being for running a red light.

Reporter Rebecca Rossman is in Nanterre and she joins us now. Hi Rebecca.

Hi, good morning.

Good morning, So it has been four nights of protests and rioting across France, Thousands have been arrested. And now this funeral, tell us what it's like there.

Well, it's a closed funeral, but I did see some people filing into the cemetery earlier. It's a rainy and quiet morning here, and I have to say quiet feels a bit unusual for.

And what else has come out in the last few days?

Yeah, he's being referred to in the media as Nahel M. No last name has been given. We know that he was of Algerian and Moroccan descent, and he was brought up by a single mother. His mom, Mounia, has told the media that they were extremely close and he was working as a food delivery driver.

A lot of people have been referring to this incident as France's essentially George Floyd moment. Is that an apt comparison?

Yeah, first, just to remind people. George Floyd was the black man killed by a white police officer in 2020, which set off a series of major protests across the US. What I've been hearing from a lot of activists in particular is they take some issue with that comparison. Actually, because they say it makes it sound like people in France are just waking up to issues like systemic racism and police brutality. When this is something that they've been signaling for years, if not decades. But I think what they hope is that the greater public is becoming more attuned to what they see as a culture of impunity within the police force. And they hope that this will start a greater conversation.

Any idea on whether these protests are expected to continue into the weekend and into next week?

Yeah, I think we can definitely expect that. There were 1,300 arrests made last night alone, that's up from 900 arrests the previous evening. That being said, the government has deployed 45,000 police officers across the country.

That's Reporter Rebecca Rossman in France. Thank you so much, Rebecca.

Thank you.

Hollywood remains in suspense over whether actors will make a deal with major studios and streamers or go on strike. The contract for their union, Sag-Aftra, was supposed to end at midnight.

But negotiations are continuing. We're joined now by NPR's Mandelit Delbarco, who has been covering the story from Los Angeles. Good morning.

Good morning.

So there's a new deadline now, July 12th. What does that tell us about where the contract negotiations stand?

Well, you know, we don't know the details because there's a media blackout by both sides, SAG-AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. They've been in talks for the past few weeks, and members already overwhelmingly voted to authorize a strike if necessary. A few days ago, more than 1,000 big-name actors, from Meryl Streep to Pedro Pascal, signed a letter urging negotiators not to cave. That letter was also signed by the President of SAG-AFTRA, Fran Drescher. You may remember her from the 1990s sitcom The Nanny.

You know, in some areas we are, in some areas we're not.

We'll have to see.

I mean, in earnest. It would be great if we can walk away with the deal that we want.

Last night, Drescher sent a message to members saying that no one should mistake the extension of the contract for weakness. Also a note here for full transparency. Many of us here at NPR are members of SAG-AftRa. But broadcast journalists are under a different contract than the film and TV performers. And we wouldn't be expected to go on strike if one is called.

If the actors do end up going on strike, they'll be joining with writers who've been on strike for a while. Has anything changed in those negotiations?

Well, you know, the Writers Guild of America say they've been ready to continue talking with the studios and the streamers. They began their strike on May 2nd, but it does look like they'll probably have to wait until the actors contract gets resolved. Meanwhile, a lot of actors have already been picketing outside studios in solidarity with the writers. The last time the Hollywood actors and writers were on strike at the same time was in 1960. Back then, there were just three broadcast networks.

And so what are actors asking for now? what are some of the things that they want out of this new contract with studios?

Well, they're asking for more residuals when streaming platforms replace shows and movies they're in. And also they want regulations and protections from the use of artificial intelligence. Actors worry that their likeness will be used by AI replacing their work. This week, I met with Vincent Amaya and Elizabeth Mahalik. They're background actors, basically extras who are in the Actors Union.

What they started doing is putting us into a physical machine.

Scanning us and then using that image into crowd scenes, and if a movie wanted to do crowd scenes, they would hire us for a good two, three weeks, maybe a month.

However, if they're scanning us, that's one day.

They kind of tell people like, Well, you have to get scanned forever and ever, you know, it's a perpetual use contract.

Losing workdays means less pay, and they may not qualify for the union's health care and pension benefits.

That's NPR's Mandalit, Delbarco Mandalit. Thank you so much.

Oh, thank you.

And that's up first for Saturday, July 1st, 2023.

And I'm Aisha Roscoe. Today's podcast was edited by Sierra Crawford, Reena Advani, Ashley Westerman, Fernando Naro, and Ed McNulty.

It was produced by Andrew Craig and Michael Radcliffe and directed by Danny Hensel, with engineering support from Hannah Glovno. Evie Stone is our senior supervising editor, our executive producer is Sarah Oliver, and our deputy Managing editor is Jim Kane.

Sunday on Up First, election workers tell us they're being verbally assaulted, followed and harassed. We'll take you to a county in rural Oregon that's preparing for next year's presidential elections.

And for more news and interviews, books and music, you can find us on Weekend Edition from NPR News.

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