--:-- Gideon Resnick: Good morning. It's Friday, September 2nd. I'm Gideon Resnick in for Shamita Basu. This is Apple News Today. Each morning, hear about some of the most fascinating stories in the news and how the world's best journalists are covering them.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: President Biden says Trump and his allies are a threat to American democracy. He laid the groundwork for the November election in a primetime speech in Philadelphia last night.
--:-- Joe Biden: Too much of what's happening in our country today is not normal. Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Biden referenced his administration's legislative accomplishments, but much of the focus was on the former president and Republicans who have repeated Trump's lies about the last election.
--:-- Joe Biden: Biden said they see the January 6th insurrection as a playbook to dispute future elections. They look at the mob that stormed the United States Capitol on January 6th, brutally attacking law enforcement, not as insurrectionists who placed a dagger at the throat of our democracy, but they look at them as patriots and they see their MAGA failure to stop a peaceful transfer of power after the 2020 election as preparation for the 2022 and 2024 elections.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: The speech came right before what is often considered the start of the midterm campaign after Labor Day. It's one of three visits the president will make to Pennsylvania, a critical swing state, in just a single week.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: A new polling from The Wall Street Journal finds that independent voters have tilted towards Democrats. Former President Trump is expected to hold a rally in Pennsylvania tomorrow. And House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy gave a speech in the state before Biden's address.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Joe Biden has launched an assault on the soul of America on its people on its laws on its most sacred values A recent Quinnipiac University poll found that 69 of Republicans and Democrats say they believe the nation democracy is in danger of collapse though they likely say that for different reasons.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: As Biden spoke about democracy in January 6th, there were also several big developments in the investigation of the attack.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: The House committee investigating January 6th asked former House Speaker Newt Gingrich about his role in television ads that spread false claims of voter fraud. Gingrich told the Journal that he hasn't gotten the committee's letter and couldn't comment.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Also, a former NYPD officer was sentenced to 10 years in prison for assaulting police during the January 6th assault. That is the longest sentence for anyone involved in the insurrection so far.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: 2022 has been a good year for unions in the U.S. One contributing factor is the tight labor market. More than 11 million jobs were posted nationwide in July.
--:-- Lauren Kaori Gurley: Workers feel they have the upper hand to ask for more, and some are forming unions to bargain for better pay and benefits. A lot of people are saying, I'm not willing to do the type of work I was doing before the pandemic.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Requests to hold union elections were up more than 50 percent in recent months. The Post rounds up labor developments at major companies. Workers at Trader Joe's and Chipotle recently voted to unionize for the first time. And unions have made big inroads at Starbucks, Apple and Amazon.
--:-- Lauren Kaori Gurley: Victories at these high-profile companies get a lot of media attention and there's sort of a trickle-down effect, right? Overall, union membership declined in the U.S. last year. Only 1 in 10 workers are in a union.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: As a labor studies professor explains to The Post, the number of new members gained in recent campaigns is small. But the attention union drives are getting seems to be creating momentum.
--:-- Lauren Kaori Gurley: New polling shows 71% of Americans support labor unions. That is the highest level in more than half a century.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: A recent speech from Fed Chair Jay Powell warned of possible pain ahead in the job market But experts tell Gurley even if the labor market cools unions are tapping into something that could last This cultural shift is not going to just go away.
--:-- Lauren Kaori Gurley: I think there's been some permanent change in how workers feel about unions, sort of the power they have to increase wages and bargaining power and benefits and give people a voice on the job.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: This is a big travel weekend, and if you are flying like me, you might be a little anxious. This summer has been a nightmare for air travel. If your flight wasn't canceled, maybe it was delayed. And when you finally arrived, your bags might have been lost.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Staffing shortages and pandemic issues made for a stressful summer in airports. Lots of travelers were stretched out on benches, wondering if they would ever get home.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Airlines are supposed to compensate flyers in some situations where travel plans get messed up. But it's often hard to know what you are actually entitled to and how to claim it, especially when you're struggling with sluggish airport Wi-Fi and trying to keep your phone charged while on hold with customer service.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told NBC that carriers need to improve the experience for flyers. The message to the airlines is that you've got to make it easier for passengers to understand their rights, and you've got to support passengers when they experience delays or cancellations.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: A website launching today from the Department of Transportation aims to arm passengers with more information. Travel and Leisure magazine gave it a spin. It's got information to think about before you even book, with a dashboard that compares airline policies on rebooking and providing hotel rooms if problems happen.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: And there are details about the rules on what airlines owe you for delays and cancellations. You can read the whole article, which links to the new DOT website on the Apple News app.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Hopefully, though, your flights are smooth and you don't have to use it at all this weekend.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Movie tickets across North America are going for just three bucks tomorrow Thousands of theaters are taking part from big chains to smaller art house venues. It's called National Cinema Day, cooked up by the trade group for the movie theater industry.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Business Insider explains how it's an attempt to keep bringing people back to theaters. The pandemic, of course, hit the industry hard. But lately, there have been some bright spots like big ticket sales for Spider-Man No Way Home and Top Gun Maverick.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Good morning, aviators. This is your captain speaking. That Tom Cruise movie has grossed more than $1.4 billion globally, at least a quarter of which was purchased by me personally.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: But now theater owners worry that there aren't enough big tentpole movies coming out for a while. Studios are putting out fewer films because of pandemic delays and a shift towards streaming content.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: The head of the National Association of Theater Owners says it may take up to a year and a half for the movie supply to get back to pre-pandemic levels. And all of this means less money coming in for theaters.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Hundreds still haven't reopened following pandemic shutdowns. There is hope later this year with a new Black Panther film in November and the next Avatar installment in December.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: For now, theaters hope $3 tickets can get fans off their couches, through their doors, and into the danger zone.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app. And check out our weekend interview show, In Conversation.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: This week, in the latest installment of the Think Again series, we are bringing you an episode from our archives. Shamita spoke with journalist Anne Helen Peterson earlier this year about how to rethink our relationship with work.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: I really encourage people in a non-dorky way, oftentimes, to figure out what they actually like to do that isn't their job. Because if you don't have something that isn't your job, what else is going to pull you?
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Enjoy the long holiday weekend. We'll be back with the news on Tuesday.
