WHEN: TODAY, FRIDAY, APRIL 10

Following is the unofficial transcript of a CNBC interview with MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred on CNBC's "Squawk Box" today. Following is a link to video of the interview on CNBC.com: http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000370039.

All references must be sourced to CNBC's "Squawk Box."

JOE KERNEN: BASEBALL DEFYING ITS REPUTATION AS AN OLD SCHOOL METHODICAL GAME AND BREAKING INTO THE HI-TECH WORLD GAME STREAM ONLINE ON OPENING DAY SHOWED AN INCREASE OF 60% FROM LAST YEAR. A TOTAL OF 50 MILLION PEOPLE TUNED IN VIA VIDEO STREAMS. HERE TO TALK ABOUT THE REVIVAL OF BASEBALL'S BRAND AND FOCUS ON STREAMING CONTENT, ROB MANFRED, MLB COMMISSIONER. IT'S GREAT TO HAVE YOU ON, TO MEET YOU, AND WISH YOU LUCK.

ROB MANFRED: GREAT TO BE HERE.

JOE KERNEN: I WAS KIDDING A BIT THAT ALL THE HARD STUFF HAS ALREADY BEEN DECIDED IN BASEBALL. BECAUSE PAST COMMISSIONERS HAVE HAD SOME HUGE ISSUES. OBVIOUSLY TO DEAL WITH. BUT I THINK SOME THINGS WILL PROBABLY COME UP WITH YOU THAT MAYBE YOU DON'T KNOW ABOUT.

ROB MANFRED: I SUSPECT THAT'S THE CASE. YOU KNOW, RIGHT NOW I FEEL GREAT ABOUT WHERE THE GAME IS. WE HAVE GREAT COMPETITIVE BALANCE WHICH IS WHAT WE SELL AT THE END OF THE DAY. AS YOU ALLUDED TO, BOB BOWMAN AT MLB ADVANCED MEDIA HAS DONE A GREAT JOB FOR US IN THE TECH SPACE. WE FEEL GREAT ABOUT OUR BUSINESS.

JOE KERNEN: IT'S A GREAT -- OBVIOUSLY A LOT OF THE MONEY IS LOCAL. AND YOU CAN SEE IT IN ANY PLACE -- LIKE I'M FROM CINCINNATI. YOU CAN SEE IT THERE. THE WHOLE TOWN BLEEDS RED. I GUESS EVERYBODY BLEEDS RED. BUT IN THIS CASE IT'S A BIG DEAL IN LOCAL MARKETS. IF I WAS THERE -- I USED TO LISTEN WITH MY DAD TO THE RADIO EVERY DAY. I LISTENED TO JIM NUXOLL WHO WAS THE YOUNGEST PITCHER EVER, ANDREW, DID YOU KNOW THAT? HE WAS 15 YEARS OLD. I'D LOVE TO WATCH EVERY GAME. AN I WOULD WATCH COMMERCIALS IN THE LOCAL MARKET.

ROB MANFRED: IT'S THE BIGGEST CHANGE IN THE LAST COUPLE OF DECADES HOW MUCH PRODUCT WE HAVE AVAILABLE LOCALLY. YOU KNOW, IT USED TO BE ONLY SOME GAMES WERE TELEVISED. NOW EVERYTHING'S AVAILABLE ON TELEVISION. AND I THINK IT'S ONE THING THAT CONFUSES PEOPLE ABOUT OUR BUSINESS. IT'S HARD TO TAKE A SPORT LIKE OURS THAT PLAYS EVERY DAY 162 TIMES IN 183 DAYS AND SAY HOW DO YOU COMPARE TO A SPORT WHERE YOU PLAY ONCE A WEEK, TWICE A WEEK, OR THREE TIMES A WEEK.

JOE KERNEN: IT'S DIFFERENT THAN FOOTBALL. PEOPLE SAY FOOTBALL HAS TAKEN OVER, BUT IT'S DIFFERENT. THERE'S WAYS OF MAKING IT GREAT AGAIN. BUT ONE OF THEM IS YOU GUYS HAVE TO FIGURE OUT THE LENGTH. IT'S A HALF HOUR LONGER THAN IT WAS JUST TEN YEARS AGO. YOU ALWAYS WANT OFFENSE. ALTHOUGH I LOVE A GREAT PITCHING DUEL TOO.

ROB MANFRED: WE'RE WORKING HARD ON THE PACE OF GAME THIS YEAR. TOM WAS ON A COMMITTEE THAT WE STARTED LAST FALL. WE EXPERIMENTED WITH SOME REALLY RADICAL IDEAS IN OUR ARIZONA FALL LEAGUE, BUT WE PUT IN A SET OF CHANGES AT THE MAJOR LEAGUE LEVEL THIS YEAR THAT WE FEEL ARE IMPORTANT AND WE'RE ONLY HALF A WEEK IN, BUT WE'VE HAD PRETTY GOOD RETURNS ALREADY.

JOE KERNEN: YOU'RE SEEING -- LIKE, HAVE YOU AVERAGED HOW MUCH QUICKER IT IS YET?

ROB MANFRED: WE'VE BEEN ABOUT TEN MINUTES DOWN FROM WHERE WE WERE LAST YEAR. IT'S NOT SO MUCH -- 3:02 WAS AVERAGE GAME TIME LAST YEAR. WHEN WE SAT AROUND AND TALKED ABOUT IT, IT WAS NOT WE WANTED TO GO FROM 3.02 TO 2:50 OR 2:45 OR SO, IT WAS WE WANTED THE FANS TO LOOK AT THE GAME AND SAY IT MOVED A LITTLE MORE CRISPLY IT MOVED ALONG AT A GOOD PACE. AND THE SLOW MOMENTS OF THE GAME WERE SHORTER.

JOE KERNEN: WHAT WAS THE MAIN PROBLEMS YOU THINK? PITCHERS ARE GOOD.

ROB MANFRED: I THINK THERE'S A COUPLE OF THINGS. I THINK WE HAD GOTTEN A LITTLE SLOPPY, FRANKLY, ABOUT INNING BREAKS. OBVIOUSLY OUR PARTNERS EITHER 2:25, OR 2:45. THOSE BREAKS HAD SLID TO BE IN THE 3s SOMEWHERE AND THAT'S JUST DEAD TIME IF YOU'RE A FAN WATCHING IT ON TV OR IN THE BALLPARK. AND PLAYER HABITS IS ANOTHER ISSUE. GUYS GET IN THE HABIT OF STEPPING OUT OF THE BOX. IT BECOMES PART OF THEIR ROUTINE. WE'RE TRYING TO DO A LITTLE RETRAINING ON THAT FRONT.

TOM WERNER: I NOTICED THE PLAYERS HAVE REALLY COMPLIED WITH THAT. I USED TO SAY THAT VELCRO IS ONE OF THE BIGGEST ENEMIES OF BASEBALL. PLAYERS WOULD COME OUT AND PLAY WITH A BATTING GLOVE. BUT I NOTICED IN THE FIRST FEW GAMES THEY REALLY ADOPTED THE PROGRAM. I DO THINK THE GAME IS CRISPER.

JOE KERNEN: ALL RIGHT. SO WE COULD SPEND THE REST OF THE TIME TALKING ABOUT THIS, BUT WE CAN'T DO THAT. I SAID I SAW PETE ROSE RUN INTO RAY FOSSE AT RIVERFRONT STADIUM IN 1970. I DON'T KNOW HOW TO GAUGE STEROIDS AND JUICE VERSUS BETTING. AND GUYS THAT ARE KNOWN JUICERS ARE NOT JUST STILL IN BASEBALL, BUT THEY'RE STILL PLAYING BASEBALL. AND YET ROSE WHO WASN'T THE MOST TALENTED GUY. THAT WAS PURE HEART AND CHARLIE HUSTLE. AND I'M NOT SURE I WANT HIM IN. I DON'T KNOW. HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO THINK ABOUT THIS?

ROB MANFRED: HERE'S HOW I THINK ABOUT IT. I THINK IT'S A QUESTION OF NOTICE AND RULES. THE MOST FUNDAMENTAL RULE IN BASEBALL IT HAS BEEN THERE FOREVER IT IS RULE 21. IT PROHIBITS ANYBODY WHO IS ON THE FIELD FROM BETTING ON BASEBALL OR BETTING ON ANY SPORT. AND IN FACT, THE RULE IS CLEAR THAT IF YOU BET ON BASEBALL, YOU WILL BE BANISHED FOR LIFE.

JOE KERNEN: WE KNOW ALL THAT THOUGH. ISN'T THERE A RULE LIKE THAT WITH STEROIDS?

ROB MANFRED: NO, THERE ISN'T. THAT'S THE DIFFERENCE. THE RULE ON STEROIDS IS – AND IT'S A RULE THAT WAS BARGAINED WITH THE PLAYERS ASSOCIATION. IT IS, YOU KNOW, IF YOU'RE CAUGHT THERE ARE DEFINED PENALTIES. IT'S NOW 80 GAMES, ONE YEAR, AND THEN LIFE. AND SO IT'S A DIFFERENT PENALTY --

ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: SO YOU THINK THE RULES SHOULD BE AS STRICT AS THE GAMBLING RULE?

ROB MANFRED: I THINK THAT THE RULE ON STEROIDS PROBABLY SHOULD NOT BE QUITE AS STRICT. AND THE REASON FOR THAT IS --

ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: WELL LOOK STEROIDS SHOULD BE LESS STRICT THAN IT IS AND THAT IS EVEN LESS STRICT THAN THE GAMBLING?

ROB MANFRED: NO LESS STRICT THAN THE RULE ON GAMBLING. I THINK THE GAMBLING RULE IS SO FUNDAMENTAL TO THE INTEGRITY OF THE GAME THAT IT SHOULD ALWAYS STAY WHERE IT IS.

JOE KERNEN: ROB, WHEN YOU BET ON BASEBALL, IT TAKES ANOTHER STEP TO ACTUALLY CHEAT. JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE BETTING DOESN'T MEAN YOU'RE CHEATING. WHEN YOU JUICE, YOU'RE CHEATING THE MINUTE YOU START DOING IT YOU'RE CHEATING. SO THERE'S NOT EVEN A -- IT'S -- GAMBLING IS A STEP REMOVED FROM CHEATING.

ROB MANFRED: I THINK THE DIFFICULTY WITH THE STEROID ISSUE IS THAT THERE IS A CONTINUUM OF PRODUCTS OUT THERE THAT CAN CAUSE PLAYERS PROBLEMS. YOU KNOW, IT'S ONE OF THOSE AREAS THAT EVERY SPORT STRUGGLES WITH. I THINK THAT COMMISSIONER SELIG DID A FANTASTIC JOB OF TAKING A SPORT THAT HAD A HUGE PROBLEM, WORKING THROUGH THE COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT AND YOU HAVE TO ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT. WE HAVE A BARGAINING OBLIGATION THERE TO GET TO A PROGRAM THAT THE WORLD ANTI-DOPING AGENCY NOW CONSIDERS TO BE THE BEST IN SPORTS.

ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: SO STRAIGHT UP AND DOWN SHOULD PETE ROSE BE IN THE HALL OF FAME?

ROB MENFRED: I CAN'T ANSWER THAT QUESTION. WHAT I CAN TELL YOU ABOUT PETE ROSS IS HE'S APPLIED FOR REENSTATEMENT. HE HAS THE RIGHT TO DO THAT. I AM GOING TO TAKE A FULL AND FRESH LOOK

ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: IS THERE ANYTHING DIFFERENT THIS TIME?

ROB MANFRED: LOOK, THE PASSAGE OF TIME IF NOTHING ELSE, CHANGES, I THINK, THE SITUATION SOMEWHAT. AND, YOU KNOW, MR. ROSE HAS SUGGESTED TO ME HE HAS THINGS HE WANTS ME TO UNDERSTAND ABOUT THE SITUATION. I'LL GIVE HIM A FULL OPPORTUNITY TO LET ME KNOW THOSE THINGS.

JOE KERNEN: YOUR FIRST ANSWER WAS THAT'S THE RULE YOU SEE WHEN YOU WALK INTO EVERY CLUBHOUSE. IT IS THE ONE IMMUTABLE RULE IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU ALREADY ANSWERED IT ALMOST.

ROB MANFRED: YOU KNOW LOOK, I THINK THAT IT IS IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER HOW FUNDAMENTAL OUR GAMBLING POLICY IS TO THE INTEGRITY OF THE GAME.

ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: AND YOU THINK LETTING SOMEBODY LIKE PETE ROSE IN CHANGES THAT?

ROB MANFRED: YOU KNOW, IT'S IMPORTANT TO DRAW A DISTINCTION BETWEEN TWO ISSUES, IN MY VIEW. ON THE ONE HAND, MY JOB IS TO PROTECT THE INTEGRITY OF THE GAME ON THE FIELD. IF YOU'RE ON THE PERMANENTLY INELIGIBLE LIST, YOU CAN'T WORK IN THE GAME. WHETHER OR NOT YOU'RE ELIGIBLE FOR THE HALL OF FAME IS A PRODUCT OF THE HALL OF FAME'S DECISION TO FOLLOW OUR INELIGIBILITY LIST. THERE'S TWO DIFFERENT --

JOE KERNEN: YOU DON'T HAVE TO LET HIM MBACK INTO BASEBALL TO PUT HIM IN THE HALL OF FAME.

ROB MANFRED: THAT'S EXACTLY RIGHT. AND MY JOB IS I DON'T CONTROL THE HALL OF FAME RULE. THE HALL OF FAME IS AN INDEPENDENT ORGANIZATION. THEY HAVE THEIR OWN RULES. YOU KNOW, I'M GOING TO MAKE A DECISION ABOUT THE INSTITUTION THAT I'M CHARGED WITH PROTECTING.

ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: WHAT'S THE TIMELINE FOR THAT?

ROB MANFRED: I DON'T HAVE A TIMELINE. WE'RE TALKING TO MR. ROSE'S REPRESENTATIVES ABOUT WHAT THE PROCESS WILL LOOK LIKE. THERE'S A HUGE FACTUAL RECORD HERE. I'VE BEEN AROUND BASEBALL FOR A LONG TIME, I WAS NOT INVOLVED IN THAT PARTICULAR INCIDENT, I NEED TO MAKE SURE I NEED TO UNDERSTAND ALL THOSE FACTS. AND I DO NEED TO GIVE MR. ROSE A CHANCE TO COME IN AND DO WHATEVER HE WANTS TO DO.

ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: SO FANTASY IT'S NOT GAMBLING IN YOUR VIEW.

ROB MANFRED: IT'S NOT JUST MY VIEW. THERE'S A LINE IN THE LAW. AND, YOU KNOW, WE UNDERSTAND THAT LINE VERY CAREFULLY. YOU KNOW, BEFORE WE DID THE DEAL WITH DRAFT KINGS WE LOOKED AT ALL THE GAMES ON THEIR SITE. HAD THEM ANALYZED. WE ARE COMFORTABLE THAT THEY ARE FANTASY. WE THINK THE FANTASY SPACE IS REALLY, REALLY IMPORTANT TO US IN TERMS OF ENGAGING YOUNG PEOPLE.

ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: ADAM SILVER OF THE NBA HAS COME OUT PUBLICLY AND SAID THAT HE ACTUALLY THINKS THERE SHOULD BE GAMBLING OR IT SHOULD BE LEGALIZED. WHERE DO YOU STAND?

ROB MANFRED: WELL THAT'S NOT QUITE WHAT HE SAID BUT WHAT HE DID SAY IS THAT IT IS IMPORTANT TO LOOK AT OUR POLICY ON GAMBLING AND ONE OF THE THINGS HE SAID I DO AGREE WITH A UNIFORMED FEDERAL SCHEME ON GAMBLING WOULD BE GOOD THINK I THINK FOR THE COUNTRY. IT'S VERY DIFFICULT WHEN YOU HAVE DIFFERENT LAWS ON GAMBLING IN 50 STATES WE OPERATE NOT IN ALL OF THEM BUT IN A LOT OF THEM. I THINK THAT CAN BE CONFUSING AND NOT REALLY A GOOD POLICY.

ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: I'M SURE YOU MEASURED THIS. IN TERMS OF ENGAGEMENT, HOW DOES FANTASY CHANGE IT? HOW MUCH MORE ENGAGED IS SOMEBODY INVOLVED IN FANTASY?

ROB MANFRED: FANTASY IS REALLY IMPORTANT TO ENGAGEMENT. AND THE SIGNIFICANCE OF FANTASY PARTICULARLY DAILY FANTASY IS BIG IN THE YOUNGER DEMOGRAPHIC THAT WE'RE FOCUSED ON.

JOE KERNEN: YOU -- I REMEMBER SOME GREAT PLAYERS IN CUBA. THEY PROBABLY STILL HAVE SOME, DON'T THEY?

ROB MANFRED: THEY HAVE GREAT PLAYERS

JOE KERNEN: HOW'S THAT GOING TO WORK? HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE. WHAT HAS TO HAPPEN?

ROB MANFRED: THERE'S BEEN A TREMENDOUS INTEREST IN SIGNING CUBAN PLAYERS AND A NUMBER OF CUBAN PLAYERS INCLUDING ONE THE RED SOX SIGNED.

TOM WERNER: THEY SIGNED FOR $62 MILLION.

JOE KERNEN: I SAW THAT HE'S 19 YEARS OLD, ISN'T HE?

ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: DIDN'T YOU JUST SAY YOU WERE GOING TO TRY TO DO ON EXHIBITION IN 2016.

ROB MANFRED: WE'D LIKE TO PLAY SOME EXHIBITION GAMES THERE IN 2016. WHAT WE'RE REALLY DOING IS WORKING CLOSELY WITH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TRYING TO FIGURE EXACTLY HOW THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK IS GOING TO CHANGE. WE WANT TO GO WHEN IT'S CONSISTENT, OBVIOUSLY, WITH FEDERAL LAW AND FEDERAL POLICY. BUT IF WE COULD BE HELPFUL IN TERM OF THE THAWING, WE'D LOVE TO BE PART OF IT.

JOE KERNEN: I THINK PEOPLE WANT TO SELL SOME EQUIPMENT IN CUBA TOO. LIKE THE LOUISVILLE SLUGGER. WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN WITH THE DODGERS?

ROB MANFRED: LOOK, THE DODGERS SITUATION IS UNFORTUNATE. I MEAN, IT -- ANY TIME WE DON'T HAVE FULL DISTRIBUTION OF OUR GAMES IN THE LOCAL MARKET, IT'S A HUGE PROBLEM FOR US. AND IT'S A TERRIBLE PROBLEM FOR MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL. BECAUSE WE DON'T HAVE A SEAT AT THE TABLE IN THOSE DISCUSSIONS. I'M HOPEFUL THAT WHEN THE MERGER SITUATION IS CLARIFIED ONE WAY OR THE OTHER, THAT THERE'LL BE SOME FLEXIBILITY CREATED AND THEY'LL GET THE DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENTS DONE.

JOE KERNEN: MONTREAL. I DIDN'T KNOW THEY LOVE BASEBALL.

ROB MANFRED: IT'S INTERESTING. TWO YEARS IN A ROW THEY'VE PLAYED TWO EXHIBITION GAMES ON THE WEEKEND BEFORE THE START OF THE SEASON. THEY'VE DRAWN ABOUT 90,000 – IN EXCESS OF 90,000 PEOPLE FOR EACH OF THE WEEKENDS. YOU KNOW, PRIOR TO THE STRIKE IN '94, MONTREAL WAS A GOOD BASEBALL MARKET. I THINK WITH A MAJOR LEAGUE QUALITY FACILITY, THERE'S A LOT OF BASEBALL INTEREST UP THERE. IT COULD BE A MAJOR LEAGUE MARKET AGAIN.

ROB MANFRED: THE ONE THAT IS INTERESTING TO ME AND I THINK IT'S A LONGER TERM PROJECT IS MEXICO. I THINK IT WOULD BE GREAT FOR THE GAME. I THINK IT WOULD HELP US NOT ONLY IN TERMS OF EXPANDING OUR INTERNATIONAL FOOTPRINT, THE INTERNATIONALIZATION OF THE GAME, BUT I THINK IT WOULD BE HELPFUL IN OUR DOMESTIC MARKET IN TERMS OF GETTING ENGAGEMENT WITH THE HISPANIC MARKET IN THE UNITED STATES.

JOE KERNEN: THAT WOULD BE EXCITING I THINK

ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: WANT TO START A TEAM DOWN THERE? A HUGE MEDIA MARKET

TOM WERNER: I THINK 20 MILLION PEOPLE LIVE IN MEXICO CITY. SO WHAT A MARKET.

ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: WOULD YOU BID ON THAT TEAM?

JOE KERNEN: THE FLIGHTS WOULDN'T EVEN BE THAT DIFFERENT.

ROB MANFRED: THE CHALLENGE FOR US, WE'VE DONE SOME GREAT THINGS. WE'VE PLAYED OPENERS IN JAPAN PLAYED AN OPENER IN AUSTRALIA LAST YEAR. IT'S GREAT IN TERMS OF GETTING THE GAME GOING IN THOSE MARKETS. I THINK THE CHALLENGE FOR US THAT WE'RE WORKING HARD ON IN INTERNATIONAL IS SUSTAINED ACTIVITY. MORE PERSISTENT, LONG TERM ACTIVITY AND OBVIOUSLY AS YOU POINT OUT THE GEOGRAPHICS OF A PLACE LIKE MEXICO WORKS PRETTY DARN WELL FOR US.

JOE KERNEN: DID WE FINALLY DECIDE THE BALLS ARE THE SAME AS THEY'VE ALWAYS BEEN?

ROB MANFRED: AS FAR AS I KNOW THE ONLY

JOE KERNEN: IT'S GOT YOUR SIGNATURE ON IT.

ROB MANFRED: IT'S GOT A DIFFERENT NAME ON IT. SAME BASEBALL.

JOE KERNEN: HOW MANY TAKES?

ROB MANFRED: THEY CAME WITH A STACK OF INDEX CARDS THAT THICK. I THOUGHT I WAS BACK IN GRAMMAR SCHOOL. I WANTED IT TO LOOK LIKE MY ACTUAL SIGNATURE.

JOE KERNEN: WHICH ONE DID THEY PICK?

ROB MANFRED: WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENS IS THEY TAKE FIVE. AND THEN THEY ACTUALLY MAKE FIVE BASEBALLS AND THEY BRING THEM BACK TO YOU AND YOU GET TO PICK THE ONE THAT IS GOING TO GO INTO PRODUCTION. IT WAS KIND OF FUN, ACTUALLY.

TOM WERNER: LIKE THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY.

JOE KERNEN: I THINK IT'S BETTER. YOU KNOW WHAT'S A DOLLAR WORTH THESE DAYS

ROB MANFRED: IT WAS REALLY THE FIRST THING AFTER WE HAD A MEETING IN BALTIMORE WHERE I WAS ELECTED AND I LITERALLY GOT BACK TO THE OFFICE THE NEXT DAY AND IT WAS THE FIRST THING THEY ASKED ME TO DO. IT TOOK ME A BACK A LITTLE BIT. I WASN'T QUITE READY TO UNDERTAKE IT, BUT WORKED OUT OKAY.

JOE KERNEN: OKAY. WE'VE GOT TO GO. IT'S KIND OF WEIRD BECAUSE GUYS THAT HAVE THE STEROID REP, THEY DON'T GET VOTED INTO THE HALL OF FAME. IT'S POSSIBLE THEY CAN STAY IN THE GAME BUT NOT IN THE HALL OF MAYBE PETE CAN'T GET BACK IN THE GAME BUT HE GETS IN THE HALL OF MAYBE IT'S THE OPPOSITE OF THE GUYS THAT ARE JUICERS.

ROB MANFRED: WE'LL SEE THEY ARE SEPARATE ISSUES AND WE'LL HOW THEY GET RESOLVED.

JOE KERNEN: BUT THEN I ALSO HEARD FROM GREAT PLAYERS THAT IN THIS DAY AND AGE, WE EXPECT THESE GUYS MODERN DAY GLADIATORS WE EXPECT THEM TO GO OUT AND DO SUPERHUMAN THINGS THAT YOU CAN'T FAULT THEM FOR TRYING TO GET AN EDGE AT TIMES. AND THEY'RE SACRIFICING THEIR BODIES ANYWAY SO IT'S UNDERSTANDABLE.

ROB MANFRED: IT'S A HUGE AND ONGOING TEMPTATION. IT REALLY IS.

JOE KERNEN: GREAT TO HAVE YOU ON.

ROB MANFRED: THANK YOU IT WAS FUN TO BE HERE.

JOE KERNEN: AND YOU HAVE A VERY ENVIOUS -- PEOPLE WOULD KILL TO BE COMMISSIONER OF BASEBALL OR FOOTBALL. ANYWAY, THANK YOU FOR BRINGING HIM ON. I DON'T KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS FOR THE RED SOX.

With CNBC in the U.S., CNBC in Asia Pacific, CNBC in Europe, Middle East and Africa, CNBC World and CNBC HD , CNBC is the recognized world leader in business news and provides real-time financial market coverage and business information to approximately 371 million homes worldwide, including more than 100 million households in the United States and Canada. CNBC also provides daily business updates to 400 million households across China. The network's 15 live hours a day of business programming in North America (weekdays from 4:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. ET) is produced at CNBC's global headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., and includes reports from CNBC News bureaus worldwide. CNBC at night features a mix of new reality programming, CNBC's highly successful series produced exclusively for CNBC and a number of distinctive in-house documentaries.

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Summary: CNBC Transcript: MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred on CNBC's "Squawk Box" Today


According to Finra, John Carris Investments LLC was expelled from Finra membership. The sanctions were based on Finra findings that the firm and George William Carris "willfully violated Securities Exchange Act of 1934 Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5 thereunder by knowingly or, at a minimum, recklessly selling securities issued by the firm's parent company on the basis of false statements of material fact and misleading omissions of material fact."

Finra concluded the firm and Carris "committed securities fraud and defrauded customers in connection with the sale of securities issued by the firm's parent company by failing to disclose the poor financial condition of the firm and its parent company, failing to disclose that Carris used firm funds for personal expenses, and misleading investors regarding the parent company's financial condition by paying dividends to the parent company's early investors with funds contributed by new investors."

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Carris was barred from association with any Finra member firm in any capacity.

Additionally, Andrey V. Tkatchenko, a registered representative at John Carris Investments, was assessed a deferred fine of $10,000 and suspended from association with any Finra member in any capacity for two years. Jason Christian Barter, head trader at John Carris Investments, was assessed a deferred fine of $5,000, suspended from association with any Finra member in any capacity for 18 months, and required to requalify by examination as a registered representative.

Summary: The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority disciplined several financial services firms and individuals in May 2015.


(Adds details from decision, InterDigital stock price)

NEW YORK, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp avoided a potentially costly setback to its financially troubled mobile phone business on Friday as the U.S. International Trade Commission declined to block the import of its devices in a longstanding patent dispute.

The decision rejected a ruling in April by a U.S. trade judge who found that Microsoft had infringed two InterDigital Inc wireless patents, and recommended an import ban.

The commission's action is good news for Microsoft, which has been struggling to compete with popular Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd devices. The Redmond, Washington-based company has captured just 3 percent of the smartphone market in both the United States U.S. and globally, according to recent estimates.

Microsoft last month posted a record quarterly loss as it took a $7.5 billion charge on its handset business, which it bought from Nokia last year.

Wilmington, Delaware-based InterDigital first accused Nokia of infringing its patents in 2007.

InterDigital stock was down 3 percent in after-hours trading on Friday.

Microsoft and InterDigital are at odds over how much InterDigital should be able to charge to license its patents, which are considered essential to cellphone technology.

Earlier this month, Microsoft sued InterDigital in Delaware federal court, claiming InterDigital violated U.S. antitrust law by breaking promises to offer licenses on reasonable terms.

(Reporting by Andrew Chung; Editing by Chris Reese and Matthew Lewis)

Summary: NEW YORK, Aug 28- Microsoft Corp avoided a potentially costly setback to its financially troubled mobile phone business on Friday as the U.S. International Trade Commission declined to block the import of its devices in a longstanding patent dispute. The decision rejected a ruling in April by a U.S. trade judge who found that Microsoft had infringed two...


U.S. services sector expansion eased slightly in April from a seven-month high in March on a dip in new business growth, but the pace of hiring in the sector accelerated to its highest since last June, an industry report showed on Monday.

Financial firm Markit said its "flash," or preliminary, reading of its Purchasing Managers Index for the services sector slipped to 57.8 in April from a final reading of 59.2 in March, which had been the highest level since August.

A reading over 50 signals expansion in economic activity.

Read MoreS&Pdowngrades Puerto Rico to CCC+ from B

Markit's April reading of employment at service companies, meanwhile, rose to a 10-month high of 55.4 from March's 54.0.

The services index's new business component pulled back slightly from the month before, when it had notched its highest level since September.

Markit's composite PMI, a weighted average of its manufacturing and services indexes, dropped to 57.4 from 59.2 last month. Last week, Markit in its flash reading of U.S. manufacturing activity said the goods-producing sector's growth fell in April by the most in six months, although it remained solidly in expansion territory.

"Alongside a solid rise in output signaled by the sister manufacturing PMI survey, the robust growth signaled by the services survey points to the economy as a whole picking up speed again after a temporary soft patch at the start of the year," Markit Chief Economist Chris Williamson said in a statement.

Read MoreUS business investment falls for 7th straight month

The Markit surveys suggest annual gross domestic product growth could accelerate to around 3 percent in the second quarter from a very anemic first-quarter pace of around 1.0 percent, Williamson said.

Summary: U.S. services sector expansion eased slightly in April, but the pace of hiring in the sector accelerated to its highest since last June.


Costolo also touched on Twitter's pessimistic guidance for the rest of the year, including a warning Tuesday on monthly active user (MAU) growth in April. The company is "just not seeing the trends" it saw in the first quarter, when MAUs hit 302 million, up 18 percent year over year.

"We don't know what May and June are going to bring," Costolo said.

He noted that Periscope, the recently launched app that allows users to stream video to their followers, marks a bright spot for the company. Persicope has already hit 1 million users, Costolo said.

He contended that the app will not cannibalize Vine, the short-form video service that Twitter owns.

"Not only can they coexist, I think they make each other better," he said.

Costolo also downplayed speculation about his future at the company, noting he needs a "thick skin" in his position.

"We're going to ignore the external noise and focus and execute," he said.

Summary: Twitter's early earnings release made for an unexpected headache as the company faced reaction to a disappointing quarter, CEO Dick Costolo said.


How lovely it must be to live in Nancy Meyers’s universe. The weather’s always sunny, the clothes look great, everyone’s home is ready for a magazine spread.

Her latest, “The Intern,” is set in a Brooklyn that resembles a hermetically sealed and hypoallergenic version of its actual self. The emotions and situations are ready-to-wear, too, which makes the writer-director’s oeuvre (“What Women Want,” “Something’s Gotta Give,” “It’s Complicated”) entertaining and unthreatening when encountered in a date-night setting but practically useless for long-term investment. Still, the stuff’s cute and it sells.

In “The Intern,” the cuteness is off the charts and the sell-by date feels stuck in the past. The film is supposedly about the touching cross-generational relationship between a young Internet entrepreneur, Jules Ostin, and the senior citizen, Ben Whittaker, who starts as her intern and becomes her father figure. Really, it’s about Anne Hathaway learning to have it all with the help of a magic elf named Robert De Niro. That casting alone is cause for despair.

Ben’s a retired widower trying to keep busy while resisting the advances of a horny widow played, as broadly as possible, by Linda Lavin. Jules’s 18-month-old company, About the Fit, is an online clothing boutique working out of a former Red Hook factory — in one of the less credible script tangents, we learn it’s the same building in which Ben labored for four decades — and in a fit of PC inclusiveness, she brings Ben and other seniors in as office gophers to work alongside the young coders with flannel shirts and baroque facial hair.

Hathaway is easily the best part of “The Intern,” giving sympathetic shadings to a role that’s written as a collection of morning-show discussion topics. Jules is a workaholic struggling to keep her young company afloat while maintaining a home life — in a gorgeous Park Slope brownstone, of course — with stay-at-home husband Matt (Anders Holm) and teeth-grittingly adorable daughter Paige (JoJo Kushner). There are crises at home, crises at work, the investors are pushing her to hire an experienced CEO — what’s a businesswoman to do but sit in the conference room and cry? And to whom should she look but a benevolent 70-year-old dude who knows the answer to everything?

It’s a fantasy and a flattering one, and Lord knows we go to the movies for that. “The Intern” is welcome in its insistence that those who’ve been around long enough to have life experience might have much to teach those who haven’t. But does everything about Ben have to be perfect? He dresses impeccably, knows how to reel Jules in when she gets drunk with the staff, helps her with her marital troubles and business decisions, goes for tai chi classes in the park, provides helpful feminist advice (!), and recalls his 42-year marriage as an unbroken span of bliss. Put him in a nightshirt and he’d be Clarence the angel from “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

De Niro is likable and professional in the role, and that’ll be enough for the movie’s mainstream target audience. For anyone who remembers when the actor was the most dangerous man in movies — when the suspense was in waiting for his characters to lurch forward in spasms of violence — “The Intern” is cause for sorrow. There’s even a scene that puts Ben in front of a mirror, not to snarl “You talkin’ to me?” but to ensure he’s presentably bland enough to please his new boss. Scorsese wept.

Another scene requires Jules to invite Ben into a business-trip hotel room and onto her bed while they’re both wearing bathrobes — a weirdly dissonant moment that isn’t resolved by the confessions and tears that ensue. “The Intern” gives us De Niro defanged, a wise scoutmaster to the fuzzy boys of Jules’s office (Adam DeVine, Zack Pearlman, and Jason Orley as a sort of Williamsburg Manny, Moe, and Jack) and a benevolent lover to the office masseuse, played with Zen-lite indulgence by Rene Russo.

By the final scenes, Meyers has loaded up the movie’s designer paper plate until it buckles. She’s so desperate to make sure Jules has it all and then some that the plot stops making sense. (The characters may look kindly on that errant husband, but we’re not likely to.) For a comedy that presents itself as forward thinking, “The Intern” is bizarrely retrograde, implying that every working woman only needs a cuddly Yoda daddy to make it in the world of business. It’s soft in the heart — and soft in the head.

Written and directed by Nancy Meyers. Starring Robert De Niro, Anne Hathaway, Rene Russo, Anders Holm.

At Boston Common, Fenway, suburbs. 121 minutes.

PG-13 (some suggestive content and brief strong language)

Summary: “The Intern” review: The new Nancy Meyers comedy, about Anne Hathaway learning to have it all with the help of a magic elf named Robert De Niro.


09/25/2015 AT 10:15 AM EDT

loves a good Snapchat session with her boyfriend

star, 18, documented her time hanging out at home with her 25-year-old beau Thursday – and it seems she might enjoy the camera a little more than he does.

In one video, she holds the rapper's hand and swings it around while he taps away on his phone.

In the following clip, she stands up and holds both arms out towards him: "Don't put that on camera!" he says while waving his hand at the phone. He then wraps her in his arms and the two share a laugh.

The couple then heads outside, and Tyga complains that Kylie is always playfully touching his face: "You keep touching my face, I hate people touching my face. Now I got s--- breaking out," he says while Jenner raises an eyebrow at him.

Jenner also shared a few videos of her and Tyga lounging and listening to music, embracing each other.

The reality star regularly documents her time with her boyfriend on Snapchat, sharing videos earlier this month of their

, Jenner even shared a

of her grabbing Tyga's face and seductively biting his lip at the Alexander Wang afterparty.

Jenner and Tyga have been much

. After Jenner posted a Snapchat video of her beau

on Thursday, engagement rumors began to fly (and

from her website with her older sister

Summary: The 18-year-old reality star regularly documents their time together on Snapchat


August was the hottest month in modern history.

Last month was the hottest August in modern history, in the latest sign of an unusually warm year across the world's land and sea surfaces, US government scientists say.

Not only was last month the warmest August on record when land and water temperatures were taken into account, sea temperatures were the highest for any month in the 1880-2015 record, according to a report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that was released on Thursday.

When sea temperatures were compared to months of August over the past 136 years, "this was the highest for August in the 1880-2015 record, besting the previous record set in 1998 by 0.23 Fahrenheit (0.13C)", said the report.

The record continued a worrying trend of warming, which many scientists say is caused by fossil-fuel burning and is exacerbated by the presence of El Nino, which has a warming effect on some parts of the world's oceans.

"This was the sixth month in 2015 that has broken its monthly temperature record (February, March, May, June, July and August)," the NOAA report said.

Record-breaking warmth was seen across much of South America and parts of Africa, the Middle East, Europe and Asia.

Much of August's warmth was driven by the world's water.

"Large portions of the seven seas (where temperature records are available) recorded much-warmer-than-average temperatures, with some locations across all oceans experiencing record warmth," the report said.

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Summary: US scientists say last month was the hottest August on record, besting the previous record set in 1998 by 0.13C.


"Stock markets are in focus, and absence of risk appetite is acting as a headwind to the dollar," said Nordea FX strategist Niels Christensen.

Volumes were relatively low. London was shut for a holiday, and traders were awaiting Friday's key U.S. employment report for August which may hint at whether the Federal Reserve will lift interest rates in September.

Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer said in a speech on Saturday that U.S. inflation was likely to rebound as pressure from the dollar fades, allowing the Fed to raise rates gradually.

That revived ideas of a September rate hike and helped the dollar rise against some other currencies, such as the British pound and the Swiss franc, according to Win Thin, global head of emerging markets at Brown Brothers Harriman & Co in New York.

"Fischer pushed back against the dovish sentiment," Thin said, "and that gave the dollar some traction."

The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was down 0.16 percent on the day and nearly 1.5 percent lower for the month. It was well above a seven-month low of 92.621 reached a week ago as the prospect of a slowdown in China sent global stocks plunging.

Read MoreChina dumping Treasurys? Here's what you must know

The dollar shed 0.13 percent to 121.23 yen, down about 2 percent for August but well above a seven-month low of 116.15 touched a week ago. The euro rose 0.3 percent to $1.1225, below last week's high of $1.1715 but still up 2.4 percent for the month.

The dollar was up 0.44 percent against the Swiss franc to 0.9672 franc and off 0.31 percent against the pound at $1.534.

Summary: The dollar lost ground against the yen and the euro as global stock markets began the week in the red, prompting investors to trim bets.


The decline came as more weak economic data from the euro zone piqued hopes the European Central Bank (ECB) will implement further aggressive stimulus measures after it meets this month.

German factory orders data on Thursday morning showed a sharp monthly fall in November, with new orders down 2.4 percent. This, coupled with the consistent rise in the dollar, pushed the bloc's currency lower.

Meanwhile, data from the euro zone on Wednesday showed the currency union's inflation rate fell into negative territory in December for the first time since 2009, adding to pressure on the ECB to launch a U.S. Federal-Reserve-style bond-buying program.

"Market participants seem to believe yesterday's 'flash' estimate, that euro zone consumer prices had fallen 0.2 percent in the year to December, raises the chances that the ECB will resort to full-blown QE at its meeting on 22 January," said chief economist at ADM ISI, Stephen Lewis.

"In truth, the figures were probably no surprise to members of the ECB's Policy Council, who have been talking for several weeks past about the pending impact on consumer prices of the sliding oil market."

When the euro was launched it became the currency of 11 euro zone member states, replacing old national currencies including the German Deutschmark and the French franc. It is now used by 19 countries.

Follow us on Twitter: @CNBCWorld

Summary: The euro hit a fresh nine-year low against the U.S. dollar on Thursday, taking it close to its starting point in 1999.


The boss of Mercedes-Benz owner Daimler admitted it was playing "catch-up" in China but is optimistic for the future. Mercedes' second-quarter unit sales saw 34 percent year-over-year growth in China.

"Our products pipeline is full, people are extremely excited about our new product but there is more to come…so we are really optimistic for the remainder of the year and next year as well," Dieter Zetsche, Daimler CEO told CNBC.

Automakers with a broad product portfolio seem to be faring best, with the Porsche boss adding that while sales of its Panamera model remain weak in China due to the slowing premium segment, its Cayenne model is selling better, adding that the company has reduced its growth outlook in the company slightly.

"We are strong, we can grow…but we have reduced a little bit the growth for the future," Matthias Müller, CEO of Porsche, told CNBC.

Summary: Bosses of some of the world's biggest automakers have shrugged off concerns over future economic growth in China.


Morgan Creek Capital Management CEO Mark Yusko said Wednesday the Federal Reserve should raise interest rates to 3 percent in one fell swoop.

"Get back to normal," Yusko told CNBC's "Squawk Box."

"Just reload the gun, 300 basis points."

Acknowledging a move like that would shock the markets, he argued, "it would send a message of confidence and saying the economy is strong [and] it can handle normal interest rates."

The Fed's two-day September meeting begins Wednesday, with a decision on whether to raise rates for the first time in more than nine years Thursday afternoon, followed by a news conference by central bank chief Janet Yellen.

Read More Fed's market dependence is troubling: David Darst

"If you think about ... 100-plus years of history, the short-term rate has been equal to the nominal GDP growth rate. Nominal GDP is around 4 percent. So 3 [percent] would even be below that," said Yusko whose Morgan Creek Capital, currently with $4.5 billion in assets under management, is primarily a hedge fund allocator, which means it invests in other funds on behalf of clients. The firm also makes its own bets on certain stocks.

"This artificial period of rates has been harmful," he said. "It's like water behind pipe. If you hold it back, hold it back, hold it back. When it finally releases, it's going to be much worse."

Morgan Creek was founded in July 2004 by Yusko, a former chief investment officer of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Endowment. He has close ties with investment legend Julian Robertson, who provided seed funding.

Summary: Morgan Creek's Mark Yusko says the Fed should raise interest rates to 3 percent in one fell swoop.


All my work is urban. I love seeing people moving round, the great buildings, the changes, the energy ... I love drawing movement - people moving within the architecture. I believe that people make buildings come to life. I'm also interested in the physical changes within the city - buildings being demolished and new architecture being made. Sometimes we only see the finished structure, but what about all the planning that goes into these fantastic new structures? The end is just part of the story.

I do lots of sketches in front of my chosen subject - I take a board and a sketchbook out and generally use a soft pencil, sometimes a graphite stick or charcoal. Back at the studio on my large finished pieces I either use willow charcoal or conté crayon.

When I begin my large drawings, I tie a piece of conté or charcoal on to a cane or the end of a long brush. This is so I can work on the whole of the drawing and not get drawn into working on small areas too soon. Also I can stand back and think of the whole composition, indicating the direction of visual movement around the depicted environment.

I have an idea from quite early on of one or two areas that I desperately want to keep light. As the composition changes this might get shifted around and often there are marks underneath that I have to erase. Conté crayon is especially difficult to remove, so sometimes I use sandpaper to rub out a layer of paper. This erasing can lead to holes in the paper, which doesn't generally bother me.

It's impossible to think of not drawing. It's an equivalent to thought for me. I don't go to the studio each day, but I draw everyday. It might be a sketch of someone on the tube I make on a corner of the newspaper - the way a person stands, their shoes ... I'll inevitably leave it behind, but it generally doesn't matter because it's part of my thinking process. It will all help me with a piece of work sometime later.

• Jeanette Barnes was born in Lancashire in 1961. She is represented by Octavia, Bath

Summary: As a great believer that people make buildings come to life, Jeanette Barnes loves drawing movement within architecture


In the era of Facebook, we’ve thrown open the doors, emotionally speaking. We’ve become needy. We beseech everyone to like us, or, rather, “Like’’ us.

Theater people want to be liked, too. And yet the unofficial theme of a recent theater confab in Boston could have been lifted from the lyrics to a Broadway meta-musical: “I’d rather be nine people’s favorite thing than a hundred people’s ninth-favorite thing.’’

That defiant and wishful sentiment, from “[title of show],” captures the spirit of the Theatre Communications Group conference, which drew 1,000 drama professionals from around the country to Boston. The aim of their three-day gathering: to consider new models of making theater.

The question that no conference could resolve and that still lacks a ready answer is how far theaters can go in embracing new methods without jeopardizing their own values, tastes, and mission. As anyone who works in the newspaper, publishing, or music industries could tell them, there’s really no script to follow when you’re utterly transforming your business model while simultaneously running for your life.

To an extent, of course, theater’s state of perpetual crisis is nothing new. Yet audiences have become more elusive than ever, to judge by the chatter at the conference. One much-cited reason: the ever-expanding popularity of digital entertainment.

Recommended performances around the region, including “Totem,” “Car Talk: The Musical!!!,” and “Avenue Q.”

That means theater has to find a path to relevance in a highly networked cultural landscape whose inhabitants spend their tablet-toting, smartphone-wielding days plugged in to YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Yelp, Tumblr, and much, much more. “Most people relate today to the recorded image rather than the live whatever-it-is,’’ multimedia artist DJ Spooky (real name: Paul D. Miller) noted during his speech-cum-performance at a plenary session on day two of the conference.

In response, one survival strategy that sparked interest revolved around this possibly counterintuitive notion: Instead of casting a wide net and sending a message of come-one, come-all, individual theaters should intensify their focus on narrower niche audiences that are in tune with their aesthetic approach, while finding ways to invite those audiences more fully into the theatrical experience by social media and other means.

Rather than looking to television or film, mediums that command a mass audience that theater cannot approach, some speakers cited the Slow Food movement as a model to emulate, especially in the way it has developed a passionate following by instilling a sense of belonging, along with an emphasis on locally produced, high-quality products.

As a case in point that illustrates the upside of that sense of belonging — of being part of the kind of event that theater is uniquely equipped to deliver — Diane Paulus, the artistic director of the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, pointed to “Sleep No More,’’ a site-specific, mostly wordless reworking of “Macbeth’’ by the British theater company Punchdrunk.

When she proposed that the ART should present “Sleep No More’’ at a former school building in Brookline in 2009, Paulus said, it was “probably the most crazy, whacked-out thing I could have done early on’’ in her tenure. But, she said, “Sleep No More’’ became so hugely popular that fully one-third of the audience ended up seeing the show more than once. “You discover it, you own it, you tell your friends about it: That is what happened in Boston,’’ Paulus said. She noted that “Sleep No More,’’ now playing at the McKittrick Hotel in New York, relies primarily on “viral, underground’’ word-of-mouth rather than traditional advertising. In Brookline, she said, the majority of the audience was male, a relative rarity in the theater.

The monologuist Mike Daisey managed to make an off-Broadway hit out of a show about technology: “The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs,’’ which described working conditions at a factory in China where Apple products were made. But offstage drama engulfed him earlier this year when the public radio program “This American Life” revealed that he had fabricated parts of the piece. In the final plenary session of the conference, a panel discussion moderated by director Emily Mann, Daisey addressed the controversy. Initially, he was a bit defensive. “Did I get in trouble with my audience, or did I get in trouble with cultural arbiters?’’ he asked. But he went on to say that what he did was “stupid,’’ and added that he worries that he “did a disservice’’ to the field of documentary theater.

Given the conference’s focus on identifying, attracting, and solidifying audiences, it was heartening that diversity was the subject of another day-three session titled “Ensuring the Sustainability of Our Field.’’ Roche Schulfer, the longtime executive director of Chicago’s Goodman Theatre, said that “inclusivity is now the identity of the Goodman,’’ adding pointedly that plays with diverse casts by minority playwrights have performed strongly at the box office. Adam Thurman, director of marketing at Chicago’s Court Theatre, said that three of the highest-grossing shows in the theater’s history featured predominantly minority casts.

However, Chicago and other big cities have large minority populations. Nationwide, the diversity picture is not as encouraging, according to Ralph Peña, artistic director of the Ma-Yi Theater Company in New York, who said that Asian-American, Latino, and African-American actors are still underrepresented on American stages. In particular, Peña called for more plays about the Asian-American experience that are not “exoticized’’ versions of that experience.

The eternal, uneasy dance of art, money, and politics was another preoccupation of the conference, often pushing its way to the surface.

Theater finances, precarious in the best of times, were severely battered by the Great Recession, and there were indications during the conference that the current economic turmoil in Europe has the leadership of American theaters bracing for the possibility of another downturn.

In that somber context, everyone’s antennae were alert for talk about any sources of reliable funding. At one session, the entire room snapped to attention when a San Diego theater executive mentioned that in his city, a portion of the hotel occupancy tax is earmarked for the arts. You could almost hear a collective sigh of longing.

Amid all the what-if scenarios and inside-baseball theater talk came some blunt advice from Capitol Hill about coalition-building at the grass-roots level. US Representative David Cicilline (D-R.I.), the former mayor of Providence, told his presumably liberal audience that theaters and other cultural organizations should cultivate relationships with mayors — especially Republican mayors — who are more likely to gain a sympathetic ear from GOP members of Congress when arts funding cutbacks are being considered.

Again and again, a variation on this message was heard at the conference: The future is coming, so get ready. But that gave a sense of déjà vu to some theater professionals, who wondered what everyone is waiting for. In private hallway conversations between sessions, they expressed an edgy impatience with the hand-wringing, the strategic plans, and the sometimes-stilted jargon that filled the air at the conference. Listening to the talk about the need for theaters to stage more new plays, for large companies to share resources with small companies, for the industry to place a higher premium on diversity in casting and programming, their response could be summed up by the Nike slogan: “Just Do It.’’

Another audacious line could also provide some guidance to the industry, trying to build an audience while redefining itself in a multimedia era. Elaine May said it to Mike Nichols a half-century ago: “The only safe thing is to take a chance.’’

Summary: The unofficial theme of a recent theater confab in Boston could have been lifted from the lyrics to a Broadway meta-musical: “I’d rather be nine people’s favorite thing than a hundred people’s ninth-favorite thing.’’ That defiant and wishful sentiment, from “[title of show],” captures the spirit of the recent Theatre Communications Group national conference. The aim of the three-day gathering: to consider new models of making theater.


The Land Rover Defender has emerged from the company's Solihull factory for 68 years, which means that in car years, it roughly predates the invention of the wheel. But like the wheel, the Defender has aged remarkably well (better than, say, singer Steven Tyler, also born in 1948). The proto-Landie has aged so well, in fact, that many people with passionate opinions on the subject and a willingness to share those opinions in public (car writers, that is) have wondered aloud, and often, why the Defender couldn't slog on for another 68 years in its present form — maybe with a better radio. Well, it couldn't, for a variety of legitimate reasons — safety standards, emissions standards, the usual. That's the bad news. The good news (we hope) is that Land Rover has promised to deliver a new, kinder, gentler Defender. With a better radio. Eventually.

For now, however, let's bask in the minty glory of the Defender number 2,016,933 — a 90 Heritage Soft Top — surrounded by some 700 current and former Solihull employees, proud parents all. To the certain dismay of a legion of well-heeled hunters, horticulturalists and hipsters, this last Defender is not for sale; it's bound for the Jaguar Land Rover Collection.

Introduced at the Amsterdam motor show in 1948, Land Rover's original Series I cost £450. In 2015, Defender number 2,000,000 sold at auction for £400,000.

Fittingly, Land Rover took the opportunity to announce a new Heritage Restoration programme, offering factory restoration and maintenance services for the marque's classics models. The programme, smartly, steps right into the line at Solihull, and of its 12 team members, 10 are former members of the Defender production crew, who will be restoring the very vehicles they helped build.

Said Jaguar Land Rover CEO Ralf Speth: "There will always be a special place in our hearts for Defender, among all our employees, but this is not the end. We have a glorious past to champion, and a wonderful future to look forward to."

If you would like to comment on this or anything else you have seen on BBC Autos, head over to our Facebook page or message us on Twitter.

Summary: We knew the day would come, and at last, it has: The final Defender — number 2,016,933 — has rolled off the production line at Solihull.


A moratorium on hunting fin whales was imposed in 1985 and the mammal is classified as an endangered species and placedÂ on a "red list" compiled by the World Conservation Union.

But Iceland says the mammal is plentiful in the north Atlantic and confirmed the catch via a spokesman on Saturday.

"One fin whale was caught today and will be landed tomorrow," said Rune Froevik of the Norwegian High North Alliance, which represents the interests of Arctic hunting and fishing communities.

He said the whale wasÂ up toÂ 21 metres long."Two fingers"

Reykjavik is seekingÂ to catch nine fin whales and 30 minke whales in the year to August 31, 2007, fishing officials announced on Tuesday.By resuming commercial whaling, Australian politicians said Iceland was "sticking two fingers" up to the rest of the world.

"This is not just sticking a harpoon into a species that'sÂ endangered," said Ian Campbell, the country's environment minister.

"This is really sticking two fingers in the air at the entireÂ global community; entire international, environmental [and] institutional arrangements."Iceland has hunted minke whales since 2003, saying the activity was for scientific research, and alongÂ with NorwayÂ the two areÂ the only nations that sanction commercialised whaling.

Japan allows whaling, but says it is for research purposes.Scientific huntReykjavik argues that it is harvesting whales in line with other marine resources around Iceland, such as cod.

Many countries say that whale stocks are still too uncertain to allow catchesÂ and argue that harpooning is cruel.Blue whales, the worldâs biggest mammal, are among species that have been hunted close to extinction.

Whaling nations argue that stocks of some species have recovered since the moratorium.

Iceland says there are about 70,000 minke whales and 25,800 fin whales in the central North Atlantic region.

Froevik said that Iceland had hunted some fin whales as part of a scientific research programme in the late 1980s but had not caught anyÂ commercially since 1985.

Summary: Iceland has broken a 21-year-old international commercial whaling ban by catching a fin whale in the north Atlantic ocean.


03/14/2016 AT 05:30 PM EDT

A 43-year-old bouncer was killed on Saturday night while attempting to break up a fight inside a bar in the New York City borough of Queens, PEOPLE confirms.

An NYPD spokeswoman tells PEOPLE that after several officers responded to a fight at Johnny's Restaurant and Bar in the Ozone Park neighborhood, they found bouncer Elsworth Reid unresponsive.

Police say the brawling patrons turned on Reid when he tried intervening and that they continued attacking him even after he'd stopped breathing.

According to police, eyewitnesses reported that one of the attackers punched Reid in his temple, knocking him unconscious and causing him to hit his head on the ground when he fell.

Reid had married his wife six months ago, police say.

Authorities say they have arrested two men for their alleged roles in Reid's death: Deonarine Deoraj, 31, and Harrydatt Nandalall, 48, have both been charged with manslaughter and gang assault.

Deoraj and Nandalall are being held on an unspecified amount of bail. It was unclear Monday if either suspect had legal counsel.

Summary: Deonarine Deoraj, 31, and Harrydatt Nandalall, 48, are facing manslaughter and gang assault charges


The Arizona Coyotes will launch their "Raising Coyotes" jersey exchange program on Friday, Feb. 12, at Gila River Arena when the Coyotes take on the Calgary Flames. Adult fans can exchange any jersey from other active NHL teams for a replica Arizona Coyotes jersey for each child (14 and under) present with the adult. There will be a limit of eight jerseys per adult.

As part of the "Raising Coyotes" program, the team also announced today that all kids 14 and under will be admitted free with the purchase of any regularly priced adult ticket for lower level or upper level end seats for all remaining regular season home games during the 2015-16 season. Fans can take advantage of this program at the Gila Arena Box office and via Ticketmaster.

"There are a number of northerners who continue to spur the Valley's population growth," said Coyotes Chief Marketing Officer John Pierce. "These new residents bring their traditions and allegiances with them to Arizona, including their love for the NHL team they grew up with. We have a young and exciting team, and now we are going to help these parents give their children the same opportunity they had as kids -- to grow up rooting for their hometown team -- the Coyotes."

The program will continue on Feb. 15 (Montreal Canadiens) and Feb. 20 (St. Louis Blues). Fans can exchange their jerseys at the Fanatics mobile trailer, which will be stationed on the Gate 4 plaza at the north end of Gila River Arena prior to these home games from 4:30 to 7 p.m.

Future "Raising Coyotes" jersey exchange dates will be announced in late February.

At the conclusion of the program, the Coyotes will donate all the adult NHL jerseys collected to Defending The Blue Line, a non-profit organization that works to ensure that children of military members are afforded every opportunity to participate in the game of hockey.

For more information on Coyotes tickets, visit ArizonaCoyotes.com or call 480-563-PUCK (7825).


Nonetheless, there are encouraging signs in the world of financial literacy. For example, Lusardi points out that the Organisation for Economic, Co-operation and Development in 2012 started measuring financial literacy among students around the world, The results will be released in July.

"That can provide more evidence" of the need for financial education, "and I think more stimulus," she said.

Lusardi is also enthusiastic about some new financial literacy initiatives, like a program from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to provide financial education through public libraries. Since libraries now provide broader community services, like job hunting and resume assistance, financial education materials are a kind of natural extension.

A few existing initiatives have also shown promise. One, a curriculum developed by the Council for Economic Education, was implemented in Tennessee in 2010. Before the start of the program, students were asked a serious of questions to gauge their financial literacy, and just 3 percent of middle school students got 70 percent or more correct. After the curriculum, that figure rose to 40 percent.

Fidelity Investments is now partnering with the council to extend the reach of the curriculum, which is called Financial Fitness for Life. Fidelity's Blank says a small group of Fidelity volunteers can have an impact on a large number of students by training a group of teachers who then take financial literacy lessons back to their students.

Fidelity won't disclose the resources it has committed to this financial education effort, but whatever its size, Lusardi says partnerships like this are necessary. "When public resources are very limited, these partnerships with institutions in the private sector are very important."

Maybe they will even tilt the marketing-education scales a bit.

Summary: April is financial literacy month, and financial education programs are sprouting—but surveys show we're not gaining money smarts.


By Kate Coyne and Aaron Couch

05/12/2016 AT 05:20 PM EDT

may be leaving soon to take on an expanded role at

– but don't expect her to follow suit.

Amid the drama surrounding Strahan's exit, speculation swirled that Ripa, 45, might eventually want to leave for a show such as

is her daytime TV home.

"Our show is very different than your standard television program that has hosts on air. We do everything out in the open," Ripa tells PEOPLE in an interview for this week's cover story. "If we need to know something it's usually written on a card. If we need to talk to the director we yell up to the director and he yells down over a PA system."

Kelly Ripa on the cover of PEOPLE

tenure, she was asked to fill in temporarily for

– and she ended up making a faux pas on air that she still recalls with laughter.

"I have this earpiece in," says Ripa. "We're talking to – and I can't for the life of me remember who the celebrity was, because I freaked myself out so much – but [the producers in my ear] said, 'Kelly?' And on the air I say out loud, 'Yes?' And they say, 'Okay, don't answer us out loud.' And I say, 'Okay, I'm sorry, I won't [still out loud].' " Ripa eventually got the hang of it, but says she still prefers the environment she has cultivated at Live.

From left: Robin Roberts, George Stephanopoulos and Lara Spencer on Good Morning America

Lou Rocco / ABC / Getty

is my daytime home. That is where I am the most comfortable, that allows me the freedom to do other projects, and raise my children, and be able to show up for all of their practices, and all of their extra curricular stuff," says Ripa, who shares three children with husband

. "It's been a blessing for me as a working mother to be able to have stability, to be able to raise my children in one place their whole lives."

is Friday, and the hunt for a replacement is underway. In the meantime,

will co-host alongside Ripa on Monday. Other guest co-hosts coming up include Fred Savage,

airs weekdays (check local listings).

Summary: Kelly Ripa tells PEOPLE in this week's cover story that her daughter wants to move to attend college in California


NEW YORK — New York is about to find out whether it’s possible to build a 35-gate terminal at LaGuardia Airport around the existing one without disrupting operations or being plagued by cost overruns and delays.

To finance construction, a group created by the Swedish construction company Skanska AB, Canadian airport operator Vantage Airport Group, and France’s Meridiam sold $2.4 billion of debt Tuesday in the biggest offering of municipal bonds since March. The group, which put up $200 million in equity for the $4 billion project, guarantees it will be finished, on budget, in six years.

“The fact that the consortium has $200 million at risk is 200 million reasons why they’re going to be focused on getting this done,” said Patrick Foye, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns and operates the airport’s 52-year-old central terminal.

The authority is relying on the consortium to design, build, finance, and operate the new terminal, seeking to avoid the type of cost overruns that dogged rebuilding of the World Trade Center.

The project will revamp an airport that Vice President Joe Biden famously likened to one in a third-world country.

Investors are snapping up debt for lower-rated projects to boost returns as municipal bonds yield the least since the 1960s. Moody’s Investors Service, which called the construction project among the most complex it has evaluated, ranks the bonds Baa3, one step above junk. Fitch Ratings grades them BBB, one level higher.

Citigroup, which managed the LaGuardia deal, priced 5 percent coupon bonds maturing in 30 years at 3.27 percent, after earlier marketing them for 3.52 percent.

The debt will be repaid with fees from airlines and concession revenues. According to the official offering, when the new terminal is fully operational, airline-generated revenue and charges will be enough to cover debt service on the bonds.

“It’s going to be an expensive terminal, no doubt, but it’s not out of whack with what airlines expect to spend in New York,” said Moody’s analyst Earl Heffintrayer. “In theory, if no one ever bought a sandwich or a beer or a sweatshirt in the terminal, the bondholders would get paid so long as an airline shows up.”

The Port Authority is contributing $1 billion to the project and spending another $1.2 billion for roads, parking and a “central hall” to connect the new terminal to those serving Delta Air Lines.

LaGuardia’s new terminal will be 64 percent bigger than the current one and have more restaurants, lounges, stores, larger areas around the gates, and improved passenger and baggage screening.

A key element is the relocation of a parking garage in front of the current terminal, where a new check-in area will be built.

Summary: The Port Authority aims to build a 35-gate terminal around the existing one without disrupting operations.


Luke Walton is the best type of lame duck. In fact, he's a cool duck. The Warriors assistant coach has already accepted the Lakers' head coaching job for next season. Before he takes his talents to L.A., Walton, who went 39-4 as Golden State's interim coach for the first half of the season, is finishing out his duties for Steve Kerr.

But of course, Walton had his eye on the NBA Draft Lottery Tuesday night. The Lakers received the No. 2 overall pick.

And the Warriors trolled Walton.

Before lottery, Warriors PR czar Raymond Ridder texted Luke Walton that Lakers got 4th pick. Luke fell for the prank, now has last laugh.

— Bill Oram (@billoram) May 18, 2016

It's gullible of Walton to think the Warriors PR staff would have inside information on the Draft Lottery. But maybe Walton is still so wrapped up in coaching the Warriors, who play in Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals Wednesday night, he didn't pay attention to start time for the lottery.

Either way, Walton, 36, who played for the Lakers from 2003 to 2012, should laugh and relax. He gets to coach Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson for the rest of this postseason, and in one month, the Lakers' young core of Jordan Clarkson, Julius Randle and D'Angelo Russell will welcome either Ben Simmons or Brandon Ingram to their team.

More NBA: -- Most Famous Celebrity Fans Of 2016 Final Four NBA Teams -- Enes Kanter Trolls Skip Bayless On Twitter -- 6 Players Drafted Before Stephen Curry

Basketball, Ben Simmons, Brandon ingram, Draft Lottery, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers, Luke Walton, NBA, NBA Draft Lottery, prank, Troll

Summary: The Warriors pranked future Lakers coach Luke Walton during the Draft Lottery.


If you’re thinking of shedding a few pounds this new year, you’ll be far from alone. In 2012, 22 percent of people were on a diet after the holiday season, and that is a number that stays stable throughout the years, according to NBP group, a marketing research firm.

Not wanting to lose out on a profitable consumer population, chain restaurants have been adding new items to their menu that cater to a calorie-conscious crowd, but when most people who start a diet end up gaining back their weight and more, and amid new studies that are finding it is more than possible to be fit and fat at the same time, is branding the healthy-option menu a “skinny menu” a good move? Will it push sales? More importantly, will it continue to perpetuate the idea that looks are more important than health?

The trend started with Starbucks when it introduced its Skinny Lattes, meaning nonfat milk, sugar-free syrup, and no whipped cream. The drinks are only 110 calories versus their 250-calorie not-skinny counterparts. But are they any healthier? Obesity researcher Zoe Harcombe argues no. She says many of the vitamins we need are fat soluble and by getting rid of all the fat in our diets, we are slowing or even halting the necessary absorption of nutrients. She adds that these so-called treats only make us feel hungrier, and points to the fact that while saturated fat intake has fallen 50 percent since the 1970s, obesity levels have risen 10 times over.

The skinny trend soon carried over to other well-enjoyed drinks, like mojitos, margaritas, and martinis. There are only 100 calories in one of Applebee’s Skinnybee margaritas, compared to 150 to 170 in a regular margarita, and up to 550 calories depending on the mix and flavorings you use. The reviews for it are drab: Serious Eats dubs it “diluted lime and aspartame.” And with research confirming that drinks mixed with diet colas and other sugar-free options get you drunker more quickly, are they actually any healthier for you?

Some restaurants have moved on from solely skinny drinks and are now offering skinny food items, most famously Pizza Hut’s Skinny Slice, made with one-third of the crust and less cheese. It weighs in at 210 calories versus the 290 of a regular slice. The pizza chain is using the skinny label for marketing purposes, as it already has a flailing Fit and Delicious Pizza option. If Skinny Slice does well, they’ll phase out Fit and Delicious.

Not to mention, Dominos has created a similar pizza line, only this one is marketed to schools looking to improve their menus to federal standards. Instead of Skinny Slice, they’re marketing it as Smart Slice. Probably because school administrators aren’t out to make their students super-slim model types, but are instead interested in healthy eating habits, which could be considered smart.

But it doesn’t stop at drinks and pizza. Restaurants are adding full menu selections under the skinny label. The Melting Pot has a posh “Skinny Dipping” menu which advertises three courses of fondue for under 700 calories. Included are salads and fairly small portions. Potbelly Sandwich Shop offers “Skinnys,” a line of sandwiches made with thinner bread and less meat and cheese, all under 400 calories. The Cheesecake Factory, now known for having the fattest dish in America, offers a Skinnylicious menu: mostly grilled, small burgers, salads, and drinks.

I’d argue these restaurants are doing it right, with portion control and vegetable intake some of the bigger healthy-eating issues in America, but why label it skinny? Because of the wordplay? Not likely.

More likely is that skinny sells better than healthy does. People want to look good more than they want to feel good. And restaurants are for-profit ventures under no obligation to overturn societal stereotypes. That’s where we have to come in.

Instead of glorifying the thin ideal we’ve all been ingesting through media message since we could turn on a television or open a magazine, we need to continue the fight to relabel health around medically sound advice. We need to reconstruct body image so that those looking to feel better, to improve fitness and to be healthier have a shot at doing so without being shamed for not being skinny.

We won’t be alone. Some restaurants are already taking the leap, like TGI Fridays with its simply named “Low-calorie menu.” It’s not as snazzy, for sure, but it says what it is with no innuendos and no subconscious judgment. Subway keeps a bit of its branding by labeling its healthy menu items “Fresh, Fit Choices.” As states continue to tighten their legislation around fast food restaurant fare, many now requiring calorie counters alongside the menu items, restaurants from McDonalds to Arby’s to Chili’s are introducing new foods with lower caloric intake with no labeling at all.

None of this is necessarily bad. Americans are getting a wider array of choices to fit their ever-changing lifestyles. But when you take a bite out of your Skinny Sandwich and wash it down with a Skinny Latte, just remember, none of that will magically make you skinny. It’s up to all of us to replace the idealization of skinny with healthy, of thin with fit. It’s up to us to know that beneath that Skinnygirl cocktail there is a person looking to make healthy choices for herself, regardless of the label.

Darlena Cunha is a freelance journalist. This article originally appeared on xoJane.com.

Summary: I’d argue these restaurants are doing it right, with portion control and vegetable intake, but why label it "skinny"?


Johanna Katrina Simon and Michael Walter Morris, both 28, grew up in rural New Vernon, N.J. -- he on his family's 200-year-old hay, pumpkin and corn farm and she in a hilltop stone house surrounded by horse stables and rolling hayfields.

They met in kindergarten at the Harding Township School, and while they attended different schools after that, their paths, like the horse trails in New Vernon, crossed and re-crossed many times. But there was never a spark between them until they saw each other last fall at an engagement party for a mutual friend. By then, their lives were very different.

Mr. Morris, who is philosophical and looks like a cross between Bruce Springsteen and John F. Kennedy Jr., had just driven cross-country in a pickup truck with his dog. He was living and working on his family's farm and spent most evenings quietly watching the sky change color.

Ms. Simon, who is the youngest child of William E. Simon, the former Treasury Secretary, was living in Manhattan and teaching kindergarten at the Episcopal School. She was known among her friends for her incredible energy -- she had just run the New York Marathon; she danced on tables in the hottest night clubs; she threw pajama parties during snowstorms.

"We're the country mouse and the city mouse," said Mr. Morris, who also works as a real estate agent and volunteer firefighter in New Vernon.

"We're total opposites," Ms. Simon added. "I drive a BMW and he drives a truck. I love shopping on Fifth Avenue and down in the Village, and he likes walking in the fields and looking at the corn he's planted."

After running into each other at the engagement party, they went out for a cheeseburger. He recalls falling madly in love. It took her a little longer -- she decided a week later, on their second date, that she wanted to marry him.

Mr. Morris was strikingly different from the men she had dated before, who were mostly investment bankers. His idea of a great night out was to take her on a walk around his farm and tell her stories about the trees.

That is precisely what he was doing when he proposed six months later. "We came up to a rise," he recalled. "I pulled a wire ring out of my pocket -- it was the only thing I could find in the house before we went out there -- and I slipped it on her finger and I think it cut her finger. I asked her to marry me, and she immediately informed me of the date and where the wedding was going to be."

The date was Sept. 9, and like the couple, the wedding combined the country and the city. Three hundred and fifty formally dressed guests filled the Church of Christ the King in New Vernon. Yet the couple, who plan to live in a carriage house on his farm, left in a red fire truck, followed by the wedding party in an antique trolley car. Behind them, 13 nieces and nephews of the bride rode atop hay bales in the back of a farm truck.

The reception took place on the Simon farm, where guests parked at the bottom of the long driveway, then waited to be ferried up to the house in carriages towed by pickup trucks. It was like arriving at a ski lodge in the middle of winter, except that the air was balmy and the crickets were singing.

Later came dinner and dancing in a huge tent that Paul Bott, the New York flower designer, had decorated, covering the poles with moss and curvy white candlesticks that looked like antlers sticking out of the greenery. At midnight, a fireworks display was visible through the transparent tent.

As a bride, Ms. Simon was graceful, fun and down-to-earth. Soon after arriving at the house in her Vera Wang gown, she threw off her shoes and changed into sneakers.

"Before the wedding, she was walking around in her gym shorts and stockings with her hair in curlers," said Maria Prorok, a bridesmaid, who is a senior fashion editor at GQ magazine. "She said she'd never been so happy in her life."

Photo: The Simon Farm, New Vernon, N.J., Sept. 9 (Photographs by Laura Pedrick for The New York Times)


In the not-so-far-off future, teens won't bother getting driver's licenses, consumers will shun owning their own cars, and taxis will be replaced by "taxibots."

That's the world described by speakers on the first day of the Los Angeles Auto Show, which was devoted to the connected car. The two-week convention in recent years has shifted its focus away from the latest car models to the newest tech innovations transforming vehicles from the inside.

After three media and trade days, the L.A. Auto Show opens to the public Friday through Nov. 29.

UPDATES: Get live updates from the floor of the L.A. Auto Show

Car ownership takes a back seat

Here's a 16th-birthday present John Zimmer's daughter won't be getting: a car.

Lyft's co-founder and president shared that parenting tidbit Tuesday during his keynote address.

"It's not because I'm cheap," Zimmer said. "It's because she won't want to own one. And by then she won't need to."

He also revealed he won't even teach her how to drive, saying he's so confident in the ride-sharing revolution being led by ride-hailing apps that he predicts it will end car ownership "as we know it."

Zimmer noted that the average U.S. household uses its cars only 4% of the time and that only 20% of seats are occupied. In L.A., commuters spend more than 250 hours a year in traffic.

"Simply put, owning a car today is not enjoyable," he said. "Roads and parking lots have paved 60% of Los Angeles, and this is the same pattern happening all over the world, where we are literally paving paradise.... Our cities don't need to and shouldn't be this way."

Zimmer predicted that millennials, who are more focused on experiences such as travel, food and friends over cars, will help usher in a "massive shift" away from car ownership. Less than 70% of 16- to 24-year-olds have a driver's license.

"This is the new transportation consumer," he said in front of an audience of reporters and industry professionals at the JW Marriott hotel. "They're telling us the days of traditional car ownership are over.... This trend will continue to accelerate rapidly."

With ride-sharing options such as Lyft, which had more than 7 million rides in October, Zimmer said consumers are getting back some of their freedom and that traffic congestion will subsequently lessen.

He then outlined an ambitious goal to rebuild cities that would include the removal of parking garages, parking lots and even "some stretches of freeway" in order to make room for parks and businesses.

Eric Spiegelman, president of the Los Angeles Taxicab Commission, said Angelenos will one day be able to hail driverless taxis. The autonomous vehicles will be able to get people from place to place while lowering costs drastically, he said.

"Driverless cars have the potential to solve certain intractable social inequity problems," he said.

For one, fares will decrease 85%, to about 25 cents a mile, he predicted. That means for most people, there will be no need to own a car.

"That's not just competitive with taxicabs — that's competitive with private car ownership," he said. "At 25 cents a mile, that's competitive with a city bus. Any trip less than 7 miles is cheaper than a city bus."

Spiegelman said the new transportation method would be less than half the cost of owning the most popular car in America, and he believes that in 20 years, L.A. will be filled with taxi robots.

With the price so low, people from all socioeconomic backgrounds would be able to afford riding in a taxibot, which will mean more equality for anyone who wants a ride. As it is now, he said, ride-sharing services are less available in lower-income neighborhoods because drivers can pick and choose where they want to operate.

"Taxibots are probably not going to be racist," he said.

The vehicles will also be free of the constraints of today's taxis — robots, for instance, don't need sleep. Spiegelman said the commission starts worrying when its drivers log more than 50,000 miles of driving a year, but taxibots can do 100,000 miles a year.

If his lofty predictions come true, it could be great for customers.

Not so much for taxi drivers.

PHOTOS: See the best of the L.A. Auto Show

More challenges for driverless cars

Driverless cars are poised to become the vehicles of the near future, but there is still a long way to go when it comes to safety, reliability and policy.

That was the takeaway from one of the first sessions at the auto show, in which executives from tech companies and carmakers praised and lamented the issues surrounding autonomous cars.

Although the cars have performed well in sunny weather, they still need to prove themselves in hazardous conditions. Sensor ranges need to increase so the vehicles can perform long-range scanning, and cameras have to be able to detect diverse lane markings and signage. Carmakers need to have serious conversations about what will happen when driverless cars get into accidents.

And even after autonomous cars become mainstream, there are some people who say there will still be a need for competent human drivers.

"You have to consider the driver is the top of the pyramid," said Gary O'Brien, global director of advanced engineering at Delphi. "People are going to be much better than any algorithm we develop and code into a computer."

In detail: The cars of the 2015 L.A. Auto Show

California emissions rules charge debate over all-electric cars vs. hybridsFiat Chrysler's ambitious new cars raise reliability Our favorite cars at the 2015 L.A. Auto Show


Some international travelers are bringing back and spreading a bacteria that’s resistant to the drugs used to treat it, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported on Thursday in an investigation published in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

The bug, called shigella sonnei, causes an estimated 500,000 cases of diarrhea in the U.S. each year, and the CDC reports that between May 2014 and February 2015, a drug-resistant strain infected 243 people in 32 states and Puerto Rico. When investigating clusters of shigellosis—the infection caused by shigella—in Massachusetts, California and Pennsylvania, the CDC discovered that 90% of the cases were resistant to an antibiotic called ciprofloxacin (Cipro), which is the drug of choice when treating shigellosis.

Most shigella strains are already resistant to other drugs used to treat it, and public health experts have noted that a Cipro-resistant strain is spreading worldwide. The bacteria can spread very quickly and are commonly discovered in places like childcare centers and nursing homes, according to the report.

“Drug-resistant infections are harder to treat and because Shigella spreads so easily between people, the potential for more—and larger—outbreaks is a real concern,” said CDC director Dr. Tom Frieden in a statement. Frieden added that the recent outbreaks reveal a “troubling trend” of infections in the U.S.

The CDC was first alerted to a new strain of shigella in December 2014 and discovered in the lab that it was resistant to Cipro. The CDC then investigated several large clusters of shigella infections across the United States. Nearly 100 cases were from an outbreak among homeless people in San Francisco, and others were related to international travel. Infection can be common among people who travel to developing countries.

The CDC says international travelers should wash their hands “meticulously” and be cautious about food and water consumption. Travelers can download the CDC’s app, “Can I Eat This?” as a guide for what’s safe to eat while traveling.

Antibiotic resistance is becoming a growing global problem; in September 2014, President Obama signed an executive order to create a task force to tackle the issue of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Summary: The bug is resistant to the antibiotics used to treat it


Facebook is in the midst of forcing its mobile users to download a second app to chat in real time with their friends. Messenger, a stand-alone texting app, is replacing the Messages tab within Facebook for iPhone and Android users. Users aren’t happy about it — Messenger currently has a 1-star rating in the App Store — but there may be a work-around to avoid the new app, at least for now.

iPhone users will soon see a screen that compels them to download Messenger when they click the Messages tab. There’s no getting around this — you have to at least start downloading Messenger to send private missives to your friends. However, if you pause the download in the App Store, then return to Facebook, the old messaging interface will return. You can even give Messenger a test drive and delete it if you don’t like it. After that, Facebook won’t pester you to download the new app again.

Our tests showed that the test only worked with iPhones (sorry, Android owners). And since the shift to Messenger is part of Facebook’s broader strategy to both dominate the messaging space and unbundle the company’s different offerings into discrete apps, it’s likely it’ll close this loophole sooner rather than later.

But for now, you can show off your rebellious side by refusing to download a small social app — and you’ll save 35 megabytes of space to boot.

Summary: iPhone users don't have to use a second app to send messages, for now


's penis is being hailed as a HERO by Vegas officials ... 'cause experts say the free worldwide publicity Sin City enjoyed from the naked billiards scandal is worth roughly $23 MILLION.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority issued a report, in which it says the pictures of Harry romping around his hotel room with a hot naked lady has reached an estimated 154 MILLION PEOPLE worldwide since TMZ broke the story back in August.

The agency says it's unable to track how much tourism has been generated due to the publicity ... but LVCVA Board Chairman Tom Collins is clearly optimistic ... saying at a recent board meeting, "God bless Prince Harry. He made us a bunch of money."

FYI -- The LVCVA had launched an advertising campaign for the city earlier in the summer warning tourists to "know the code" ... what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.

When someone broke the code and shared the pics of the naked Prince, some officials felt the timing couldn't have been better.

Attempts to reach the Prince were unsuccessful ... 'cause he's fighting in the Middle East.

Summary: Prince Harry's penis is being hailed as a HERO by Vegas officials ... 'cause experts say the free worldwide publicity Sin City enjoyed from the naked…


Last year, an octopus named Paul proved quite adept at predicting winners in the FIFA World Cup. While his stock-picking prowess never was tested, his skills do suggest an interesting idea for investors -- consulting the domesticated animal kingdom for investing ideas.

It's not as far-fetched as it might sound: Historical returns have shown that growth in pet products has proceeded at a steady pace. And more than half of households have a built-in product focus group -- a furry, fuzzy or scaly pet that is probably more than eager to test the latest and greatest pet products.

Want to throw your portfolio a bone? Follow your dog's nose and see what pet products make his tail wag in delight.

The cost of unconditional love According to the American Pet Products Association, Americans spent $48.4 billion on their pets in 2010, and as of 2008 more than 62% of households owned at least one pet.

Almost $20 billion of that amount was spent on pet food, $14 billion on veterinary care, and $11 billion on supplies and over-the-counter medicine, according to the APPA. These revenue figures have nearly tripled since 1994 and are even more reason to consider investing in the pet products sector.

Cashing in on Fido and Fifi Pets.com is long gone, but thankfully we're left with a few highly profitable places to dig for investment opportunities:

Note that all of these companies have strong double-digit growth expectations, yet none are trading at a ridiculous valuation. As gravy, PetMed Express pays a very delectable dividend -- currently yielding north of 4% -- while PetSmart also pays out 1.2%, a figure I predict could rise in the coming years given its dividend growth rate of more than 100% in the past two years.

Also, don't discount what owners are willing to do to ensure the health of their four-legged family members. A typical visit to the vet usually costs hundreds of dollars and translates into healthy margins for pet companies like MWI and VCA Antech, which supply various products to veterinary clinics.

Big retailers hopping on the gravy train The appeal of high-margin pet products is even attracting large names that want a piece of the pie. Wal-Mart (WMT), Target (TGT), and online retailer Amazon.com (AMZN) have expanded the amount of pet food and toy products they carry in the hopes of cashing in on this high-margin gravy train.

Have you bought into the pet products sector because of the animals you own? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Motley Fool contributor Sean Williams has no material interest in any companies mentioned in this article. He regularly consults his obese dachshund for stock advice. The Motley Fool owns shares of PetMed Express and Wal-Mart Stores.


Just how much money is reality TV star Kim Kardashian West’s hit mobile game bringing in? According to the Kim Kardashian: Hollywood developer, Glu Mobile, it’s in the nine figures.

Kardashian’s game, which is produced in partnership with the gaming giant, is free to download to smartphones and tablets. But users can spend money on virtual goods like private planes and on dressing and styling their avatars with virtual clothing and accessories made by designers like Balmain’s Olivier Rousteing. This week, Glu Mobile’s CEO Niccolo de Masi said that the game brought in $100 million since its launch in 2014.

The game’s goal is for players to push their avatars to fame by emulating the Kardashian lifestyle–including hanging out with Kardashian’s sisters, other celebrities, fashion elites, and designers like Lagerfeld and Anna Wintour.

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De Masi also said that the app has been downloaded 42 million times with users logging around 3.3 billion sessions in total since launch.

It’s unclear what the exact financial agreement Kardashian has with Glu Mobile, but it’s likely she’s making millions from the app.

Glu Mobile is attempting to replicate the elder Kardashian’s gaming success a similar game for her younger sisters, Kendall and Kylie Jenner. The company also recently announced that it had signed an exclusive multi-year deal with prominent music artist Taylor Swift, with a game to debut later in 2016.

Along with her game, Kardashian has also built a small empire of mobile apps for her fans, in partnership with LA-based media company Whalerock. In 2015, Kardashian launched a mobile app that includes photos, videos and other content, and debuted an new emoji app, aptly titled Kimoji. Kimoji, which costs $1.99, gives iOS and Android users access to 500-plus Kardashian-themed emoticons (up from 250 in the last version of the app), including emojis of Kim, her engagement ring, her lips, and even her infamous Paper Magazine “break the Internet” photo. People who download the app can use the emoticons—small cartoon-like images—with messaging apps like iMessage, WhatsApp, and Facebook Messenger.

The app has been topping Apple’s charts since launch, and could also be Kardashian’s next big money maker.

Summary: Kardashian's hit mobile game has brought in $100 million since launch.


Ruby Washington/The New York Times

The choreographer Jerry Mitchell and the architect David Rockwell at Grand Central Terminal.

THE Grand Foyer at Radio City Music Hall has been described as many things: a tour de force, a people's palace, even an Art Deco masterpiece. But it has not typically been described in the language of dance, as it recently was by the architect and set designer David Rockwell. The commanding room, he said, functioned as a kind of ballet master: a magnetic presence that forced people to move well and look good. "I have a vivid memory of the first time I walked up that stairway," he said, referring to the huge yet perfectly proportioned flight of steps to the mezzanine. "I had bad posture, but just being on it made my posture improve."

Individual behavior is only part of the story; the Grand Foyer also alters the behavior of crowds, who instinctively know how to use it. Much as a dancer doing pirouettes keeps her eyes focused on a reference point so she won't get dizzy, visitors, without even realizing it, use the room's precisely deployed architectural signposts â stairway, chandelier, mirrors, doorframes â to align themselves and stay on track. As a result, Radio City can pull 5,900 people through its lobby without contusion or confusion; more than that, it does so with the theatricality and orderliness that you might imagine at a formal ball.

For Mr. Rockwell â whose mother, once a vaudeville dancer, had hoped to be a Rockette â the dance of people in public space is not so much a matter of inborn grace or hours spent at the barre, as of how the built environment pushes us around and how we push back. His designs have explored these dynamics in a variety of settings, from upscale hotels and restaurants to the viewing platform at ground zero.

But his latest project involves one of the most notoriously pushy environments there is: an airport terminal. Last year his firm was hired to design the "interior experience" (arrival, departure, retail space) of the new JetBlue Airways terminal being built at Kennedy International Airport. And in what may be a first for architectural collaboration, Mr. Rockwell hired a choreographer â his Broadway colleague Jerry Mitchell â to help him.

The two men thought a lot about which public spaces in New York were well "choreographed" â that is, which shaped people's movement successfully â and which were not.

Mr. Rockwell had been pondering the general subject for decades. Even while a student at Syracuse University, he would stand on the roof of the architecture building and study the patterns carved in the snow by a sort of unspoken group will, patterns he would later connect to those described by the urbanist William H. Whyte in his classic studies of public space. What caused them? It wasn't just expedience, because the paths were often curved, where a straight line would be more direct. People moved as they did, Whyte believed, at least in part because they sought out pleasing experiences; they voted with their feet.

If Whyte was right, then why are so many public spaces so deeply unpleasurable â and sometimes almost dangerous â to move through? How could the exquisite choreography of Grand Central Terminal, with its powerful beams of natural light making what Mr. Rockwell called a "gateway inviting people into the city," coexist with the claustrophobic purgatory of Penn Station? (Penn Station seems to sneer and say, "Get lost!") How could the Grand Foyer at Radio City have the same function as the bewildering entry to the Marquis Theater on Broadway, which is cruel enough to suggest that the place was named for the Marquis de Sade?

With their traffic-stopping lady-or-the-tiger mystery corridors, their dizzying hairpin escalators, their misproportioned steps that send people tumbling, such places actually seem intended to enhance human clumsiness. Whyte certainly thought so.

"It is difficult to design a space that will not attract people," he wrote. "What is remarkable is how often this has been accomplished." In New York, if you want to feel like an oaf with two left feet, there are many places that will gladly assist you. Quite often these will be places that people cannot choose to avoid. Jury pens, Social Security offices and ticket lobbies of hit shows, facing no competition, are usually disasters, to say nothing of emergency rooms, which only a corpse on a gurney could love.

Summary: The architect David Rockwell and the choreographer Jerry Mitchell collaborate to streamline the airport experience.


Jun 8, 2016 2:41 PM EDT Crimesider

By Crimesider Staff / AP

STAFFORD, Va. -- Authorities say a man shot a sheriff's deputy who was responding to a break-in call at a Virginia home.

Stafford County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman M.C. Morris Moncure said by telephone Wednesday that residents of the Stafford home reported Tuesday night that a man they knew was breaking in. She says as the deputy responded, a man fired multiple shots, striking the deputy four times, but he was protected by body armor.

Morris Moncure says the deputy's injuries are serious, but not life-threatening. She says it's not clear whether the deputy fired any shots.

The sheriff's office announced in a statement early Wednesday that authorities arrested a suspect, 18-year-old Joshua Anthony Sumter, who was sought on warrants for attempted capital murder. Morris Moncure says he was arrested without incident or injury.

Summary: Officials say a suspect who was sought on attempted murder warrants shot the deputy four times; the officer was wearing body armor


Toyota, the world’s largest automaker, is sending 5,000 connected cars that can wirelessly communicate with other vehicles and infrastructure onto the streets of Ann Arbor, Mich., in a real-world experiment designed to move autonomous driving closer to reality.

Toyota tm is partnering with the University of Michigan’s Transportation Research Institute on the project. Drivers who agree to participate in the tests will have a small data-collecting box installed in the trunk area of their car and two small antennas—one on or near the rear windshield and another on the roof. The equipment transmits speed and position data from the vehicle to other participating vehicles as well as infrastructure such as traffic signals and research equipment located at intersections or along roadways.

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Drivers won’t be required to take specific routes. Researchers want to gather data on regular everyday driving. The hope is that the results of the study will help develop future vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure driver assistance and safety systems for passenger vehicles. Before self-driving cars can be deployed on a mass scale they need to be able to do more than recognize objects in the surrounding environment; they also need to be able to communicate with other vehicles.

“The current limitation of connected vehicle testing outside of a closed circuit test tracks is the lack connected vehicles,” Toyota said in a statement. “In order to move autonomous driving toward reality, testing requires more cars, more drivers, and more day-to-day miles traveled than any combination of research facilities could support.”

The announcement comes on the heels of Toyota’s plans to add a third artificial intelligence and robotics center in Ann Arbor. The Toyota Research Institute opened two locations in January: one in Palo Alto, Calif., next to existing AI partner Stanford University and a second in Cambridge near the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This third facility will be near the University of Michigan, where it will fund research in artificial intelligence, robotics, and materials science.

Toyota recently scaled up its plans for connected cars—an industry term that refers to Internet capability in vehicles that allows wireless communication with other vehicles and infrastructure and the delivery of services within the car that a user might expect from a smartphone.

Earlier this month, Toyota formed a new data analytics company in partnership with Microsoft to bring new Internet-connected services into the car without overwhelming the driver with technology. The new entity, named Toyota Connect, will use Microsoft’s cloud computing platform Azure to crunch data and help develop new products for drivers, businesses with car fleets, and even dealers.

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Last year, Toyota said it would invest $1 billion over the next five years in a research center for artificial intelligence to be based in Palo Alto. The institute aims to bridge the gap between research in AI and robotics in order to bring this technology to market. The technology is largely being developed for self-driving cars, but the institute is also researching and developing AI products for the home.

Summary: The mission is to gather data to make autonomous driving a reality.