Return to Transcripts main page

Quest Means Business

Unilever CEO Calls on Business to Battle Climate Change; Inside the Secret World of Superhero Hackers. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired December 07, 2015 - 16:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


[16:00:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

MAGGIE LAKE, CNN HOST: Good evening, I'm Maggie Lake in New York. You've been watching coverage of the latest poll numbers ahead of the Iowa

caucuses in February.

I want to turn back to business news right now. And tonight the Dow has turned negative for the year. That's right, as a Federal Reserve meeting

and a likely interest rate hike fast approaches, volatility is washing over the markets. It is the fifth straight session of triple-digit moves on

Wall Street.

There is also more fallout from last week's OPEC meeting after the cartel decided to keep pumping at its aggressive current levels. Oil prices

dipped as much as 6 percent Monday. Price per barrel has now fallen to its lowest level since 2009.

Joining me from the New York Stock Exchange is Allan Valdes. He is director of floor trading at DME Securities.

And, Allan, it is lovely to see you. Explain to us what is going on. We have an almost 400-point rise Friday. We wake up Monday, it's a completely

different story.

ALLAN VALDES, DME SECURITIES: You know, this volatility that you and I spoken about, this is going to be here for a while. But today was all

driven by the oil world. I mean, S&P oil is such a big part of the S&P. If you take out the -- if you take out energy, the S&P earnings would be up

another 7 percent this year. So it is a big part of it. It weighs on all the markets and, of course, we saw the oil trading at seven-year lows and

that's what's going on down here.

Pushed the whole market down, the whole group down. And so that's what's going on really right now in a nutshell.

LAKE: Yes, Allan, are people concerned?

We're sort of in this game of chicken, everyone waiting for some massive fall on energy, the U.S. producers have been hanging on.

Are people getting nervous?

And what does that mean for the broader market?

Why would everyone be concerned about that if it's only limited to certain states?

VALDES: Well, people are getting nervous. Like I mentioned, the energy sector is such a large sector in the economy, it's like 25 percent of the

S&P. So that takes a beating it's going to weigh on everything across the board.

Sure, it's good at the pump. We all know that, I mean, that's a no-brainer but it weighs on right across the board but also it brings up the U.S.

dollar. The U.S. dollar is trading at all-time highs almost right now. And that's going to weigh on our earnings next year, on our multinationals.

So there's a lot going on in the oil markets that we don't see it right off the bat but it's definitely weighing on the market and it's not going to go

away anytime soon. People talk about $30 barrel oil now. So it looks like it's going to keep on going down for a while.

LAKE: That's right. And I know back when we first started talking about this, worries in the bond market as well, some of these companies highly

leveraged. So we might see fallout there.

Allan, let me ask you about the Fed. We've got so long to prepare for this. It looks like they're going to raise rates.

Is it already priced in?

Or is that also going to feed into the volatility?

VALDES: Well, you know, most people have it priced in and it looks like they're going to raise it. My guess is they will raise it, even though I

don't think it's the right time to. It looks like they're going to do it. But we are in for a volatile week probably ahead of us.

On Friday, we get $1.5 trillion worth of S&P options expiring. So that can move the market all over the place. I think it's going to be more puts

than anything and you'll see a down market.

It could -- it's not the right time to raise rates. You want to raise rates when things are going great. They look like they're going great.

The market is at an all-time high.

But if you look what's really going on, the market, it's corporate buybacks. It's that cheap money they're getting from the Fed to buy the

stock market. You're not getting your average investor buying 100 shares of even Apple. So things aren't as rosy as they appear a lot of times.

LAKE: That's right. And we can -- nobody can figure out why the consumer is fine with all that extra gas money because retail, everyone is

complaining about the fact that people are absent.

Allan, we're not used to going into this holiday period with a stock market that starts to fall apart. Everybody likes to see usually that year-end

rally, looks good for the books as everybody closes out.

Is this going to be an exception?

Is this going to be a tough end to this year?

VALDES: I think we could see a tough end to this year only because of Friday. This is a big week, that option expiration, and no one's talking

about, could be huge.

[16:05:00]

VALDES: You know another thing going on, we only have about 18 days until the end of the trading year, so you're going to see a lot of end-of-the-

year selling going on, which started today. I have a lot of clients getting out of positions that were good for the year. They're getting out for tax

reasons. You know you don't make a profit unless you sell. So they're locking in profits right now before that last week rush. So I think you're

going to see that pick up because a lot of people are saying, hey, maybe we should get out a little earlier this year, meaning this week or next week.

LAKE: It sounds like the Grinch is going to steal Christmas, Allan. It's going to be a tough one. Thank you for spelling it out for us. We

appreciate it.

Allan Valdes for us.

European stocks ended strongly Monday, some good news out there. Although those gains were tempered by the sliding oil price and Wall Street's

reaction. The DAX closed up 1 percent but had been surging 2 percent ahead earlier in the day. The FTSE closed in the red, despite also making some

strong gains in early trade.

Moving out to tonight's other top story, during President Obama's speech about terrorism Sunday night, he laid out his plan to fight ISIS and sought

to quell the fears of many Americans after the mass shooting in San Bernardino.

Notably, President Obama called on tech companies to play a role. He said they have the ability to make it harder for terrorists to evade justice.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We constantly examine our strategy to determine when additional steps are needed to get the job done.

That's why I've ordered the Departments of State and Homeland Security to review the visa waiver program under which the female terrorist in San

Bernardino originally came to this country.

And that's why I will urge high-tech and law enforcement leaders to make it harder for terrorists to use technology to escape from justice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAKE: CNNMoney Jose Pagliery is here with us now.

Jose, this has been a topic of discussion. The public seems to be swinging different ways so that where are we now and what do people make of the fact

that Obama sort of singled out tech companies?

JOSE PAGLIERY, CNNMONEY CYBER SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: This is interesting. Let's note the fact that he wasn't clear about what it was he was even

talking about, right.

LAKE: People think it might have been encryption.

PAGLIERY: Maybe, maybe so. Let's take encryption, if that's the one, let's that one first. So the problem here is that, for the first time ever

in history, two people on opposite sides of the world can plot to do some terrorist activity. And the cops can't find that. They can't see it, they

can't hear it because these conversations are encrypted.

But here's the thing: encryption is also what protects my bank app. It's what protects my e-mail. We all rely on this and so it's not as easy as

just flipping a switch and saying, well, you know what, we all want to know these -- what the conversations are; police need access to them.

It's not like that. It really is -- it's sort of binary. It's either you have this encryption or you don't. And so when the president asked tech

companies to weigh in and try to help out, it's not even sure -- we're not even sure what that means. It's not clear, like does Apple suddenly let

police get into your cell phone?

LAKE: Or do they themselves monitor?

Because what some people will say is, listen, you have a copyrighted piece of material. It's on there for three nanoseconds before it's taken down.

So -- and the tech companies are right in there doing that for the companies that own in social poverty (ph). Why can't they also, if they

don't want to let the police do it, should they bear the burden of seeking the stuff out and looking for them?

PAGLIERY: Well, that's interesting. The example you brought up is like YouTube, right, when you have a video up there that they don't -- you have

a right to post, they'll take it down.

But we're not talking about YouTube videos here. We're talking about text messages. We're talking about emails. We're talking about secret

conversations you have with your significant other, right.

But there's another angle to this. So tech companies like Twitter, Facebook, they could be more proactive and actually learning law

enforcement when they see somebody getting radicalized, whatever that might mean, right.

And so that's --

(CROSSTALK)

LAKE: That's another --

(LAUGHTER)

LAKE: -- one person's -- right.

PAGLIERY: It gets tricky, right, is Facebook going to go and police anytime they see anyone make any reference of ISIS?

Are they going to tip off law enforcement because when I read a story about ISIS, I post it on my Facebook page.

LAKE: Right, and that name would come up in a filter, which has always been the problem.

Jose, what's the relationship between tech companies and the government?

It was very antagonistic in the wake of Snowden. Now that we are seeing mass shootings and deaths, is it changing?

Are they finding a way to try to constructively work together or is that unclear as well?

PAGLIERY: No, that's unclear and I'll tell you why. The government got caught with its hand in the cookie jar. Let's remember what this

conversation is about, right, 2013 Edward Snowden comes out and reveals how the government is conducting this mass, warrantless surveillance.

And so tech companies, on behalf of their customer base, said we're going to raise the walls and now the government is complaining about the walls

being raised. And so there's a dissonance there. This is going to be hard to fix.

LAKE: And there still is, although one wonders what -- where the public opinion will move, now that we see it needs sort of acts (ph) happening --

(CROSSTALK)

LAKE: -- does it change the nature of the conversation.

PAGE: Look, Twitter is taking down pro-ISIS accounts regularly. But here's the tricky part, there is a double-edged sword here because every

time they take down a pro-ISIS account that's one less Twitter account that law enforcement can monitor.

LAKE: And sometimes there have been discussions about do they really take them down. Clearly a very complicated thread for all of us to follow,

Jose. I know you're on the front line of doing. We appreciate that. You are on it for us. Thanks so much.

PAGLIERY: Thank you.

LAKE: Jose Pagliery.

Now he goes after the media --

[16:10:00]

LAKE: -- politicians without holding back now Donald Trump is accusing Amazon's chief of using "The Washington Post" to run a tax scam on the

American people. We'll have the details.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

LAKE: Donald Trump's lead continues to grow in the key primary state of Iowa. A new CNN poll breaking this hour shows Trump taking his biggest

lead yet. He's getting 33 percent of support among likely Republican voters, making it a double-digit lead over his nearest competitor.

The primary voting begins in Iowa in just eight weeks.

Trump is now taking on a fellow billionaire, Amazon's Jeff Bezos. In a series of tweets, Trump accuses the Amazon owner of running a tax scam

through his ownership of "The Washington Post." This is a quote.

"'The Washington Post,' which loses a fortune, is owned by Jeff Bezos for purposes of keeping taxes down at his no-profit company, Amazon. If Amazon

ever had to pay fair taxes, its stock would crash and it would crumble like a paper bag. 'The Washington Post' scan is saving it," unquote.

Trump perhaps best known for bashing his political rivals has taken on plenty of major companies, too. Macy's decided to Trump's clothing line

last summer. On Friday when Macy's share price dropped, Trump celebrated. He asked his Twitter followers not to shop at the department store for

Christmas.

Last month when Pfizer announced a deal to move its the tax base abroad, Trump said in a statement the move was "disgusting."

And right at the very beginning of his campaign Trump called out Ford for its investments in Mexico. He took credit for Ford's decision to move a

plant from Mexico to the U.S. and said in a speech he can't be bought by corporate America.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The head of the Ford will call me back. I would say within an hour after I told him the bad news. But it

could be he wanted to be cool and he'll wait until the next day. You know, they want to be little cool.

And he'll say, please, please, please, he'll beg for a little while. And I'll say no interest. Then he will call all sorts of political people and

I'll say, sorry, fellows, no interest because I don't need anybody's money. It's nice. I don't need anybody's money.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAKE: Paul La Monica is here now.

And, Paul, every day we seem to be (INAUDIBLE) news headlines.

Does Trump have a beef with Jeff Bezos? This sort of seemed to come out of nowhere.

PAUL LA MONICA, CNNMONEY DIGITAL CORRESPONDENT: It would appear to come out of nowhere, except for the fact that, over the weekend "The Washington

Post" ran --

[16:15:00]

LA MONICA: -- an editorial calling Donald Trump "a poison pill for the Republican Party." Obviously, it doesn't seem like that sat very well with

Donald Trump. Hence the tweets that we had this morning, which, really, when you look at it, it doesn't make any sense.

I spoke to tax experts. Amazon doesn't own "The Washington Post." It's not as if "The Washington Post" is a subsidiary that Jeff Bezos can hide

losses in. He owns "The Washington Post" personally through a separate investment firm. There is no legal way that he could make Amazon pay a

lower tax rate because of whatever losses are going on "The Washington Post."

It's just absurd.

LAKE: OK, so fact check complete, complete rubbish in the tweet but clearly he is annoyed. Jeff Bezos, to be clear, did not write the article.

He just owns "The Washington Post" --

LA MONICA: Exactly.

LAKE: -- which mentioned it.

This is, as we pointed out, this is common strategy for Trump. He mentioned I don't need their money. He is. This is the thing that's made

him so attractive and let's reminded everyone, his poll numbers keep going up. So this message is -- it may not be factually true but it's resonating

with voters.

LA MONICA: Oh, it definitely is and the attacks he's had on other big companies seem to have worked, even though, again the facts, when you look

at them, they don't really jive.

Ford, for example, he took credit when Ford announced a new plan in Ohio, was going to be moving some things back from Mexico but Ford quickly came

out and said, no, these were actually plans we had since 2011, which was well before anyone, let alone Donald Trump, was considering a 2016

presidential run.

Pfizer, to be fair, a lot of people have criticized that Pfizer deal with Allergan because of the potential tax inversion there. But he's not the

only one. Interestingly, he's on the same side as Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders --

(CROSSTALK)

LAKE: -- blurring the lines.

Clearly, there is frustration with corporate America, people feel like that certain companies and certain individuals do well in this country. Others

don't. Trump seems to be tapping into this when he attacks other billionaires and he attacks companies.

I'm curious, resonating with voters, what does the business community make of Donald Trump, especially when he is taking on high-profile businesses

and high-profile business people?

Does he have support?

He is one of their own. One would think that there would be support for him.

LA MONICA: He's sort of one of their own but I think --

(CROSSTALK)

LA MONICA: -- in name only. I mean, Carl Icahn is also very outspoken. We know that he is a vocal backer of Donald Trump as well. But a lot of

people that I talked to on Wall Street, average investment managers and analysts, almost all of them seem to shy away from Trump.

Many of them feel that Marco Rubio will be the best candidate for big business from the Republican side. A lot of them used to think Jeb Bush

was that candidate until Jeb Bush really started to fade into oblivion. The polls I think now Marco Rubio is the best hope for big business.

Because Trump to his credit can play the populist card because he doesn't need that money and also because I think he is not your average businessman

in the same way that he's not your average politician.

He is a lot different than a Wall Street titan or other --

(CROSSTALK)

LAKE: -- and he's talking to ordinary people and they are responding to that, even if other people are sort of shaking their head. Do we expect

Jeff Bezos is a very private person.

Would we expect him to respond to respond to this in any way?

LA MONICA: Amazon had no comment when I asked them about this unsurprisingly. Jeff Bezos has only tweeted three times since he just

started tweeting a few weeks ago. Two of them are about his rocket company, Blue Origin, which Donald Trump, if you're watching, he's not

hiding losses there, either, for tax purposes. The other tweet was about the Bill Gates recent initiative for energy. So that's something that I

think Bezos --

(CROSSTALK)

LA MONICA: -- more likely to talk about --

(CROSSTALK)

LAKE: -- climate change much more --

LA MONICA: -- and philanthropy and climate change than taking on Donald Trump --

LAKE: Yes, and we have it -- we don't know him as a political person per se --

LA MONICA: Yes, I think no one wins a Twitter war with Donald Trump except maybe T-Mobile CEO John Legere --

(CROSSTALK)

LA MONICA: -- and they did actually have a Twitter war.

LAKE: Now that one we'll have to talk about that at another time --

LA MONICA: He did have a Twitter war a few minutes ago.

LAKE: --should probably take it.

All right, Paul, thank you so much for bringing us up to date.

We need to bring you up to date on some news just in to CNN. Donald Trump has just released a statement, calling for a complete shutdown of Muslims

entering the United States.

Trump says, quote, "Without looking at the various polling data, it is obvious to anybody that hatred is beyond comprehension, where this hatred

comes from and why we will have to determine."

Again, that new just in to CNN.

Well, it is a country suffering the double whammy of recession and inflation -- after the break. We'll see how Venezuela is hoping for a

brighter future as it bids goodbye to socialist rule.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:20:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

LAKE: Hello, I'm Maggie Lake. There's more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS in a moment when the tumbling price of oil helps sweep in a new government in

Venezuela and the CEO of Unilever tells us why it's time for business to step up and take action on climate change. Before that, here are the top

news stories we are following for you.

(HEADLINES)

[16:25:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

LAKE: We are seeing another selloff in the oil market. U.S. crude is now trading under $39 a barrel and Brent is at its lowest level in almost seven

years. Oil is telling after OPEC made no move to cut production Friday despite a growing glut of created.

One of the countries suffering from those low oil prices is Venezuela. Oil is the South American country's biggest export and it could be partly

responsible for the resounding defeat suffered by the country's ruling party in the parliamentary elections this weekend.

It is the first time in 17 years that the socialist ruling party has lost an election. The country is in recession and battling high inflation. The

opposition party, the Democratic Unity Roundtable, has promised to turn around the country's fortunes.

President Nicholas Maduro blamed the result on the so-called economic war he sees -- says is being waged on the country by outside forces, including

the United States.

He did, however, accept his party's defeat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICOLAS MADURO, PRESIDENT OF VENEZUELA (through translator): I recognize these adverse results and accept them and tell our Venezuela that the

constitution and democracy have won. We accept the results exactly as the electoral authorities have emanated.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The country wants a change and this change begins today. The agenda of peace reigns. The agenda of

citizens was imposed. The vote democratically defeated a government that isn't democratic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAKE: Our senior Latin American affairs editor, Rafael Romo has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SR. LATIN AFFAIRS EDITOR: It's the first time in almost 17 years that Chavismo has not won a nationwide election in Venezuela.

According to Venezuelan electoral authorities, Venezuela's opposition has claimed the majority of seats in the national assembly in elections held

Sunday.

Voter turnout was nearly 75 percent. Out of 167 seats, the opposition won 99, the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, President Nicholas Maduro's

party, was left with 46 seats, less than half.

There are still 22 seats that are too close to call, meaning the opposition has the possibility of reaching a two-thirds majority of 112

representatives, which would give it increased powers, including sacking supreme court justices and convening a convention to rewrite the

constitution.

Maduro recognized his party's loss and assured Venezuelans he will respect the results. He blamed the defeat on the economic war waged by political

interests inside and outside Venezuela.

The opposition called it a victory for democracy and the beginning of change for Venezuelans who have endured triple-digit inflation and

shortages of basic food products for years.

The new national assembly will be sworn in on January 5th -- Rafael Romo, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAKE: The far right National Front party in France has scored a massive election victory in the first major vote since last month's terror attacks.

The party, led by Marine Le Pen won nearly 48 percent -- sorry 28 percent of the vote in regional elections. A second round of voting on December

13th will determine the final results.

From Paris, Jim Bittermann has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SR. INTL. CORRESPONDENT: Champagne corks were popping over at the National Front's party headquarters, the extreme right party

doing the best it has ever done in elections here, coming in first place across the nation with nearly 28 percent of the vote.

The Socialist Party of Francois Hollande came in a distant third. Nonetheless, despite their big victory, these are just regional elections.

There are 13 regional councils. They stand now in a position to win perhaps two of the 13 and could -- are leading in four others so they could

four others.

But in fact there's a building consensus against them amongst the other parties here, trying to build what they call a front republican (ph), which

is to say a massive front of the other parties to work against the National Front.

Whether or not this will work in the second round of the elections next Sunday remains to be seen but this is a significant election in the sense -

-

[16:30:00] BITTERMANN: -- it does show the French mood after the end of the terrorist attacks here and the waves of immigrants that have come into France and as

well the economy, which really hasn't moved under the leadership of Francois Hollande -- Jim Bittermann, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAKE: After the break, we return to Paris and the COP 21 summit, where the CEO of Unilever said businesses will feel the impact of climate change

before governments. So it must take action right away.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

LAKE: Preventing climate change is crucial for stability and growth in emerging markets because these areas will be among the first to feel the

impact. That's what the CEO of Unilever told CNN at the COP 21 climate conference in Paris.

Paul Polman told John Sutter that businesses have to step up and do their part.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL POLMAN, CEO, UNILEVER: Business has an enormous role to play. You just take, for example, the emerging markets, where we will see most of the

issues of climate change show up before anywhere else.

And there is less resilience and population growth and urbanization in the wrong spots. And business in that part of the world is about 60 percent of

the GDP, 80 percent of the financing flow and 90 percent of the job creation.

Business itself is an enormous carbon emitter through its value chain and also is in fact the receiver of all the negatives if we don't take the

mitigation, the volatility in prices of let's say raw materials, agriculturally-based raw materials, the economies themselves that don't

function and the stress that that brings with it.

So it's not surprising that you see businesses rapidly getting involved in all parts of the world, not only from a mitigation or a risk management

point of view but also the enormous opportunities that that new economy is increasingly offering all of us.

JOHN SUTTER, CNN DIGITAL CORRESPONDENT: We hear a lot of talk about how expensive it might be to fight climate change. I'm wondering if you think

there's a business case for cutting emissions.

POLMAN: Well, there are costs that need to be borne. For example, the mitigation of things that need the resilience that need to be built because

some of the effects are already here.

You see it today again in the papers, we go from India to parts of the U.S. to other parts of the world. That's now a daily occurrence. So there are

costs that we are all incurring. But increasingly, it's also clear that there are enormous benefits.

If we can unlock the new greener economy, 100 billion now, looks like everybody is in agreement as 2020 that we have done. But 100 billion

itself --

[16:35:00]

POLMAN: -- would not be enough to deal with all these issues to transform the economy.

But what it does is if these -- if the governments come out here with a clear and ambitious agreement, if they come within net zero target or a

carbon neutrality target, then business will get a clear signal and these hundred billion of funds will unleash the trillions that are needed to

transform these economies.

I give you very quick very simple example: urbanization (INAUDIBLE) world population now living in cities. That's 3.5 billion people out of the 7

billion people. Urbanization will move to about 10 billion people, 70 percent living in cities.

That's not another 3.5 billion people. So in the next 30, 40 years, we need to build as many new cities in this world as we currently have. That

means in New York every two and half months. It means a total investment of $90 trillion.

How we are going to make these investments over the next 15 years will decide how we are going to live for a longer time. Cities like London

still have the road systems from the Roman times, so it's not that we need significantly more money. I don't believe that.

It's just that we need to spend the money smartly to not lock ourselves in in a high carbon gross model, which will be unsustainable.

SUTTER: How do you convince your shareholders that this is the right thing to do?

POLMAN: Well, the job is known -- it's easier by the day because the effects of climate change are increasingly there and it's internalized in

companies. When you have a drought in Brazil or a drought in California, when you don't have access to water that you need to run your factories,

you have to move your factories is the cost.

Consumers will take less showers or wash their hair less and you see it reflected in the markets that are going down. Every day now you'll see the

cost of climate change actually coming in.

And interestingly, businesses see it well before governments do because it hits the P&L first.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAKE: Hacking is being called a modern-day superpower. We'll go behind the hype and introduce you to some superhero hackers who are using their

skills to fight the dark arts in the real world.

First, a highlight from "Make, Create, Innovate."

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

LAKE: (INAUDIBLE) Homeland Security Committee on Capitol Hill wants a special panel to investigate how technology could be helping terrorists

avoid government surveillance.

The world of hacking and online security is now the front line in a battle that involves governments, corporations and ordinary citizens. Laurie

Segall takes us inside the secret world of superhero hackers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

LAURIE SEGALL, CNNMONEY TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Vegas: a belief found it strangely fascinating. You've got gamblers --

[16:40:00]

SEGALL (voice-over): -- adrenaline junkies and (INAUDIBLE).

From the standpoint Vegas is about the show, the promise of something better.

But on this particular week, there's a different type of show. You might not even realize it's happening. But I'd suggest you turn off your wi-fi

because during this week, this strange little mecca fills with what's becoming one of the most influential groups in the world: hackers.

Thousands and thousands of hackers descend on Vegas. To party and hack.

And Vegas is a gigantic party. Every year its cyber security conference's black-hatted DEF CON, the best hackers in the world gather to show off

their party tricks. It's not what are you drinking, it's more like what are you hacking.

Think about hacking as a modern-day superpower that can be used for good or evil. Josh Korman (ph) is a hacker who uses his power for good.

JOSH KORMAN (PH), HACKER: Well, mistake number one is thinking all hacking is bad, right. It's a form of a power big. I'm a big fan of Stanley (ph)

and the whole Spiderman thing, with great power, comes great responsibility.

SEGALL (voice-over): One hacker who uses her power for good found a flaw with a Wi-Fi connected gun.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can just connect to the wireless network and you can talk directly to the back end of the system.

What we tested specifically was to change the weight of the bullets and that made the shot go 2.5 feet to the left instead of the target that they

were aiming at.

SEGALL (voice-over): (INAUDIBLE) gunmaker, they say its safe to use and have updated the rifle since the version she tested. It's that step,

telling the company, that divides the hacking community.

A good hacker or white hat reports the problems they find so other users aren't at risk. A bad hacker or black hat takes advantage of the problem,

usually to make money or gain power. Exploits can sell for thousands online on the black market.

But, you see, it's not that cut and dried. In this community, there is a lot of gray area the white hat by day could be a black hat by night. And

for those who use the skill for good, there's always the what if.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's always the fleeting thought, (INAUDIBLE), I could be on a beach, drinking out of a gold encrusted goblet. But I always

keep in mind that like, for any hack, especially one that would result in financial gain, there's a victim.

SEGALL (voice-over): And here's what you realize when you hang out with hackers at DEF CON. This strange cyber event is a microcosm for the real

world, connect to insecure wi-fi in a room full of hackers, chances are you'll end up on what they call the Wall of Sheep.

Stolen passwords and emails displayed for everyone to see.

Now this is meant to be a public service to remind you to only browse on trusted wi-fi networks.

So would you call yourselves hackers?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: White hat hackers.

SEGALL (voice-over): Because as they say, with great power comes great responsibility.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAKE: We'll have more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS after this break.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:45:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

LAKE: Listen to this all-star lineup: Ben Bernanke, the former Federal Reserve chairman; Gordon Brown, the former U.K. Prime Minister and

Chancellor; Jean-Claude Trichet, the former president of the European Central Bank; add to that Amory Slaughter (ph) formerly of the U.S. State

Department and Ng Kok Song, the former chief investment officer of Singapore's Sovereign Wealth Fund.

They will make up PIMCO's new global advisory board. PIMCO describes it as an unrivaled team of thinkers whose insights into the intersection of

policy and financial markets will now be a part of their investment strategy.

Just in case you didn't think central banks mattered anymore.

And finally tonight, in one hour from now, Beijing will do something it has never done before in its history. The Chinese capital is issuing its

first-ever red alert over pollution. That means extra precautions will come into effect to try and stop the thick smog that has shrouded the city,

as you can see in these pictures.

It includes everything from restrictions on driving to a ban on barbecues. According to Beijing's environment protection bureau, even with the

restrictions, there could be severe pollution in the city for more than three days.

And that is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. Thanks so much for watching. I'm Maggie Lake in New York. The news continues here on CNN.

[16:30:00]

BITTERMANN: -- it does show the French mood after the end of the terrorist attacks here and the waves of immigrants that have come into France and as

well the economy, which really hasn't moved under the leadership of Francois Hollande -- Jim Bittermann, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAKE: After the break, we return to Paris and the COP 21 summit, where the CEO of Unilever said businesses will feel the impact of climate change

before governments. So it must take action right away.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

LAKE: Preventing climate change is crucial for stability and growth in emerging markets because these areas will be among the first to feel the

impact. That's what the CEO of Unilever told CNN at the COP 21 climate conference in Paris.

Paul Polman told John Sutter that businesses have to step up and do their part.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL POLMAN, CEO, UNILEVER: Business has an enormous role to play. You just take, for example, the emerging markets, where we will see most of the

issues of climate change show up before anywhere else.

And there is less resilience and population growth and urbanization in the wrong spots. And business in that part of the world is about 60 percent of

the GDP, 80 percent of the financing flow and 90 percent of the job creation.

Business itself is an enormous carbon emitter through its value chain and also is in fact the receiver of all the negatives if we don't take the

mitigation, the volatility in prices of let's say raw materials, agriculturally-based raw materials, the economies themselves that don't

function and the stress that that brings with it.

So it's not surprising that you see businesses rapidly getting involved in all parts of the world, not only from a mitigation or a risk management

point of view but also the enormous opportunities that that new economy is increasingly offering all of us.

JOHN SUTTER, CNN DIGITAL CORRESPONDENT: We hear a lot of talk about how expensive it might be to fight climate change. I'm wondering if you think

there's a business case for cutting emissions.

POLMAN: Well, there are costs that need to be borne. For example, the mitigation of things that need the resilience that need to be built because

some of the effects are already here.

You see it today again in the papers, we go from India to parts of the U.S. to other parts of the world. That's now a daily occurrence. So there are

costs that we are all incurring. But increasingly, it's also clear that there are enormous benefits.

If we can unlock the new greener economy, 100 billion now, looks like everybody is in agreement as 2020 that we have done. But 100 billion

itself --

[16:35:00]

POLMAN: -- would not be enough to deal with all these issues to transform the economy.

But what it does is if these -- if the governments come out here with a clear and ambitious agreement, if they come within net zero target or a

carbon neutrality target, then business will get a clear signal and these hundred billion of funds will unleash the trillions that are needed to

transform these economies.

I give you very quick very simple example: urbanization (INAUDIBLE) world population now living in cities. That's 3.5 billion people out of the 7

billion people. Urbanization will move to about 10 billion people, 70 percent living in cities.

That's not another 3.5 billion people. So in the next 30, 40 years, we need to build as many new cities in this world as we currently have. That

means in New York every two and half months. It means a total investment of $90 trillion.

How we are going to make these investments over the next 15 years will decide how we are going to live for a longer time. Cities like London

still have the road systems from the Roman times, so it's not that we need significantly more money. I don't believe that.

It's just that we need to spend the money smartly to not lock ourselves in in a high carbon gross model, which will be unsustainable.

SUTTER: How do you convince your shareholders that this is the right thing to do?

POLMAN: Well, the job is known -- it's easier by the day because the effects of climate change are increasingly there and it's internalized in

companies. When you have a drought in Brazil or a drought in California, when you don't have access to water that you need to run your factories,

you have to move your factories is the cost.

Consumers will take less showers or wash their hair less and you see it reflected in the markets that are going down. Every day now you'll see the

cost of climate change actually coming in.

And interestingly, businesses see it well before governments do because it hits the P&L first.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAKE: Hacking is being called a modern-day superpower. We'll go behind the hype and introduce you to some superhero hackers who are using their

skills to fight the dark arts in the real world.

First, a highlight from "Make, Create, Innovate."

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

LAKE: (INAUDIBLE) Homeland Security Committee on Capitol Hill wants a special panel to investigate how technology could be helping terrorists

avoid government surveillance.

The world of hacking and online security is now the front line in a battle that involves governments, corporations and ordinary citizens. Laurie

Segall takes us inside the secret world of superhero hackers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

LAURIE SEGALL, CNNMONEY TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Vegas: a belief found it strangely fascinating. You've got gamblers --

[16:40:00]

SEGALL (voice-over): -- adrenaline junkies and (INAUDIBLE).

From the standpoint Vegas is about the show, the promise of something better.

But on this particular week, there's a different type of show. You might not even realize it's happening. But I'd suggest you turn off your wi-fi

because during this week, this strange little mecca fills with what's becoming one of the most influential groups in the world: hackers.

Thousands and thousands of hackers descend on Vegas. To party and hack.

And Vegas is a gigantic party. Every year its cyber security conference's black-hatted DEF CON, the best hackers in the world gather to show off

their party tricks. It's not what are you drinking, it's more like what are you hacking.

Think about hacking as a modern-day superpower that can be used for good or evil. Josh Korman (ph) is a hacker who uses his power for good.

JOSH KORMAN (PH), HACKER: Well, mistake number one is thinking all hacking is bad, right. It's a form of a power big. I'm a big fan of Stanley (ph)

and the whole Spiderman thing, with great power, comes great responsibility.

SEGALL (voice-over): One hacker who uses her power for good found a flaw with a Wi-Fi connected gun.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can just connect to the wireless network and you can talk directly to the back end of the system.

What we tested specifically was to change the weight of the bullets and that made the shot go 2.5 feet to the left instead of the target that they

were aiming at.

SEGALL (voice-over): (INAUDIBLE) gunmaker, they say its safe to use and have updated the rifle since the version she tested. It's that step,

telling the company, that divides the hacking community.

A good hacker or white hat reports the problems they find so other users aren't at risk. A bad hacker or black hat takes advantage of the problem,

usually to make money or gain power. Exploits can sell for thousands online on the black market.

But, you see, it's not that cut and dried. In this community, there is a lot of gray area the white hat by day could be a black hat by night. And

for those who use the skill for good, there's always the what if.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's always the fleeting thought, (INAUDIBLE), I could be on a beach, drinking out of a gold encrusted goblet. But I always

keep in mind that like, for any hack, especially one that would result in financial gain, there's a victim.

SEGALL (voice-over): And here's what you realize when you hang out with hackers at DEF CON. This strange cyber event is a microcosm for the real

world, connect to insecure wi-fi in a room full of hackers, chances are you'll end up on what they call the Wall of Sheep.

Stolen passwords and emails displayed for everyone to see.

Now this is meant to be a public service to remind you to only browse on trusted wi-fi networks.

So would you call yourselves hackers?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: White hat hackers.

SEGALL (voice-over): Because as they say, with great power comes great responsibility.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAKE: We'll have more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS after this break.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:45:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

LAKE: Listen to this all-star lineup: Ben Bernanke, the former Federal Reserve chairman; Gordon Brown, the former U.K. Prime Minister and

Chancellor; Jean-Claude Trichet, the former president of the European Central Bank; add to that Amory Slaughter (ph) formerly of the U.S. State

Department and Ng Kok Song, the former chief investment officer of Singapore's Sovereign Wealth Fund.

They will make up PIMCO's new global advisory board. PIMCO describes it as an unrivaled team of thinkers whose insights into the intersection of

policy and financial markets will now be a part of their investment strategy.

Just in case you didn't think central banks mattered anymore.

And finally tonight, in one hour from now, Beijing will do something it has never done before in its history. The Chinese capital is issuing its

first-ever red alert over pollution. That means extra precautions will come into effect to try and stop the thick smog that has shrouded the city,

as you can see in these pictures.

It includes everything from restrictions on driving to a ban on barbecues. According to Beijing's environment protection bureau, even with the

restrictions, there could be severe pollution in the city for more than three days.

And that is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. Thanks so much for watching. I'm Maggie Lake in New York. The news continues here on CNN.

END