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Quest Means Business
Harvey Weinstein Charged With Rape In New York City; Trucker Strike Now In Its Fifth Day; GDPR Is Now Live; Facebook and Google Face Lawsuits Over New EU Data Law; Police in Canada Search for Suspects in Restaurant Blast; Meghan Markle's Coat of Arms Unveiled; Morgan Freeman Issues Apology Over Allegations; Rusal Founder Steps Down Amid U.S. Sanctions; U.S. Imposes Sanctions on Russian Oligarchs; Amazon's Alexa Records and Shares Private Conversations; Oil Price Drop Pushes Down Energy Stocks; Italian, Spanish Stocks Fall Amid Political Uncertainty. Aired: 4-5p ET
Aired May 25, 2018 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:00]
STEPHANIE SY, CNN HOST: And there is the closing bell, stocks are in the red as traders head home for the long Memorial Day weekend, it is Friday,
the 25th of May.
Tonight, from Hollywood's red carpet to the courtroom steps, Harvey Weinstein is charged with rape in New York City.
When OPEC speaks to CNN, the market listened. Oil prices dropped after Saudi comments with our John Defterios, we will hear them on this program.
And four little letters, years of preparation and millions of annoying e- mail, GDPR has officially arrived. I am Stephanie Sy, this is "Quest Means Business."
Good evening. It all began with Harvey Weinstein, and tonight the disgraced media mogul is facing charges of rape and other criminal sexual
acts. It has been seven months since women began coming forward with accusations against him. Seven months that have rocked the media industry
and sparked a cultural transformation in corporate America.
The founder of the #MeToo Movement says, today's events are a turning point. Let's begin with the charges against Harvey Weinstein. Weinstein's
attorney says his client will plead "not guilty."
CNN's Brynn Gingras is outside the New York Criminal Court. Brynn you've been covering these events throughout the day, take us through the day and
where is Harvey Weinstein this evening?
BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Stephanie, really, everything that happened today was well orchestrated and preorganized by the three people,
really groups involved -- the Manhattan DA's Office, the NYPD and then Harvey Weinstein and his attorneys -- that goes from his turning himself
early this morning, just after 7:00 to then coming here to court and facing a judge immediately, and already, when he was in front of that judge, he
knew pretty much what his bail package was going to be.
He was charged with all of those charges that you've laid out, the most serious of them being rape and those come from two separate women who made
complaints with the NYPD over the past seven months. One of those women, we actually know about, that's because her story was revealed in that
explosive "New Yorker" article, Lucia Evans who says that she was forced to give Weinstein oral sex in his office here in Lower Manhattan back in 2004.
Now, his bail package, he was released on $1 million cash bond. He also had to surrender his passport. He has to wear a GPS monitoring system for
24/7 and he can only stay in New York or Connecticut and he is going to be back in court on these charges in July.
Right now, like I said, he left court. We are not quite sure exactly where he went, but we do believe he is at home in Connecticut.
SY: All right, Brynn. Thanks for laying that out for us. Now, from hotel room assaults to boardroom firings to courtroom charges, Harvey Weinstein
early attempts to dismiss the allegations against him failed.
The #MeToo Movement campaigning against sexual assault quickly picked up the cause and pushed it to the top of the agenda for every industry. Then
came the Time Is Up Campaign pushing for an end to harassment and more equality in workplaces everywhere.
Even a man who was prosecuting Weinstein fell foul. New York Attorney General, Eric Schneiderman was forced from office after multiple women
accused him of assault.
From the start, the #MeToo Movement was about the victims and one of them was journalist, Lauren Sivan. She says, Weinstein sexually assaulted her
at a restaurant. The Weinstein's fame made it hard to speak up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAUREN SIVAN, AMERICAN JOURNALIST: I was terrified when it first happened. It didn't want anyone to know about this publicly. I just wanted you know,
to go along living my life. I wanted to pretend it never happened, and hopefully never see him again, because Harvey Weinstein wielded so much
power, I am not even an actress in Hollywood, but I thought one phone call from Harvey Weinstein, I could have lost my job, I could have been
prevented from getting hired somewhere else, if he wanted to do that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SY: It was a story we heard repeated over and over again. Now, Sivan is hosting a documentary series focusing on abusive power across all kinds of
industries. She told me how elated she was about today's charges and what it may mean for Weinstein's accusers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SIVAN: For all of those women that I have gotten to know, we are really rejoicing today because we saw this coming and we had hoped and prayed that
we could find charges that would stick because this behavior had been going on for three decades and enough is enough.
SY: Now, of course, Harvey Weinstein's lawyer says he doesn't believe these charges will stick and Mr. Weinstein continues to deny that these
incidents happened without mutual consent. Do you ever think you'll see a day when Harvey Weinstein admits to any wrongdoing?
SIVAN: I don't know if he'll admit to any wrongdoing, but I still hope he is found--
[16:05:16]
SIVAN: -- guilty by a jury. I think that the numbers speak for themselves. There is no way that 90 women come out of the woodwork with
the same similar story and it was fabricated in any way. I mean, hearing these stories over the last eight months, there's no other conclusion to
come to, except this man was a monster who preyed on young and vulnerable women in Hollywood who looked to him for opportunity.
You know, he knew what he was doing and he had it down to a science. I mean, the fact that I met him on a random occasion and within an hour and
20 minutes, he exposed himself to me, tells me that "I am not alone" that that had happened to someone else before. I knew it in my heart and so
when his story first came about, when Ashley Judd and Rose McGowen bravely told their story, I knew that they were telling truth, and that's why I
came out to validate them. He belongs in jail.
SY: Lauren, I will never forget when you first told your story, how haunting it was to hear you describe how he told you to just stand there
and be quiet while he exposed himself and pleasured himself in front of you. It was so awful, but then so many more stories came out, and you now
host a show called, "Abuse of Power" on the Oxygen Network, clearly, this has gone way beyond Hollywood and touched really every industry.
SIVAN: Absolutely. Abuse of power can be found anywhere. You don't have to be a rich Hollywood mogul. In fact, on the show which airs on Oxygen on
Saturdays, you can see different accounts of abuse of power from a local sheriff to a well-respected lawyer, to you know, a praised doctor. They
all abuse their power to really disastrous ends.
Even committing crimes to cover up those transgressions and people don't believe the victims because these men are so highly praised and revered and
respected within their communities. I think it's a lesson to all of us that no matter how small or young the victim's voice is, we have to listen
to victims. We have to believe victims unless we are proven otherwise.
SY: And a lot of these cases especially with men of the stature that Harvey Weinstein had, there is no criminal charges that ever come forward.
What does it represent that we are now seeing Harvey Weinstein, criminally charged with these acts, what does it mean for the broader movement?
SIVAN: Oh, I think this is a huge day, and I mean, change is incremental. When I saw that Cosby verdict, I knew that something had turned, that
something had changed, a tide had turned because all of a sudden, his defense of victim shaming, of blaming those victims and trying to discredit
them on the stand backfired on Cosby's defense team and he was found guilty.
And here, I see hope for Harvey Weinstein's victims as well. We have to give Lucia Evans our utmost respect and gratitude for going forward with a
criminal complaint because that is not easy to do.
It's much easier to come to the press and tell your story in a way that you want to tell it, but to go through the criminal process, you know, it's not
easy and so, she has my utter respect and gratitude.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SY: We'll go back to that story later in the show, but let's turn to Wall Street now. It was a rocky session ahead of a long weekend and the Dow
closed off about 58 points there. Shares in Exxon and Chevron saw the biggest losses, as the entire energy sector fell and that is because oil
prices are falling.
After comments made to CNN's John Defterios, Saudi Arabia's Oil Minister told him that OPEC and Russia could supply more oil to world markets in the
near future. That comes as Venezuelan output has collapsed and US sanctions are returning to Iran. His words helped send oil prices falling
down to $76.00 a barrel. It was our emerging market's editor, John Defterios who spoke to the Saudi Oil Minister. He sent us this report from
the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Even after crude prices surged recently to $80.00 a barrel, the major oil producers of the world
were reluctant to address the issue of putting more crude back on to the market to bring prices lower.
However, we seemed to have a breakthrough after a panel I chaired here in St. Petersburg. It included the major oil producers and also the CEO's of
BP, Total and Shell. There seems to be alignment between Saudi Arabia and Russia to put about a million barrels a day back on to the market.
Here is the Minister of Petroleum for Saudi Arabia.
KHALID AL-FALIH, MINISTER OF ENERGY FOR SAUDI ARABIA: We will do the right thing. We will make sure that markets are well supplied. We will make
sure that consumers'--
[16:10:16]
AL-FALIH: -- anxiety are addressed, and that at the end of the day, it's a balanced market with consumers that are comfortable that will drive it
forward, whether it is a million more or less, I think we will have to wait until June to make that announcement
DEFTERIOS: At the end of 2016, OPEC and non-OPEC producers decided to take 1.8 million barrels a day off the market to eat up a big surplus, but that
was worsened by the drop in production in Venezuela due to its economic crisis. Now, they have to wait also, perhaps Iran's production dropping in
the implementation of US sanctions.
But it's not all about a drop in production. The big producers are hearing the complaints by two big consumers, particularly the United States with
President Trump suggesting that prices are artificially high and India suggesting that $80.00 oil pinches their economy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I think it's a very important thing that we must increase supply to ensure that the demand and supply matches each other so
that prices are not tweaked very significantly.
So, I think it's a very good development.
DEFTERIOS: At the same time, Russia and Saudi Arabia don't want to be blamed for higher gas prices for consumers, which could eventually hit
demand for crude at the same time.
John Defterios, CNNMoney, St. Petersburg.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
SY: High oil prices have already taken their toll in some markets. A government source says, Brazilian President, Michel Temer has authorized
his military to clear blockades on roads across the country.
A trucker strike now in its fifth day is bringing South America's largest economy to a grinding halt, Sao Paolo was forced to declare a state of
emergency in fact on Friday. Shasta Darlington is there in Sao Paolo and Shasta, this did all start with rising fuel prices there.
SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Exactly, and as you mentioned, this strike has actually been going on all week, it's blocked major highways
across the country and this has halted the delivery of central goods from food to the supermarkets to fuel to the petrol stations.
So, here in Sao Paolo, a lot of petrol stations have already ran out of gas, and others, you see long lines. There have been altercations spiked.
It has also affected airports in the capital city of Brazilia, a number of flights have had to be cancelled because they just can't get the fuel to
the airports. It is also affecting livestock. There are trade groups saying that up to a billion chickens could die because they can't the feeds
to the chickens.
Now, this is going on even though last night, the government came out saying they had reached an agreement with the truckers unions. That they
would eliminate some taxes on the price of diesel, which would bring it down. In the meantime, the state-run oil company, Petrobras agreed to
lower the price 10 percent. This had a negative impact on Petrobras. They don't like to see a lot of government intervention in price setting here.
But in theory, it was supposed to bring an end to the strike. The problem is we woke up this morning and the trucks were still on the roads. The
drivers said they weren't going anywhere until those taxes -- the elimination of the taxes was approved by Congress so that it was real, so
that they could feel it and taste it and of course, that could take a long time, Stephanie.
SY: They want to see it enshrined in law. Meanwhile, a really tough stance, we're hearing from President Temer who says he will dispatch
national forces essentially, the army to break up this blockade if necessary. Any word, Shasta on when we expect that might happen and what
would happen if that did.
DARLINGTON: Absolutely, Stephanie. What we are waiting for now is the public decree, the official decree, and then the word is that they will
send out the army into the roads around the refineries, clear up the access so they can get that fuel in and out, also to key power plants, especially
in the north where they haven't been able to get fuel in to keep those running, and of course to airports, hospitals and places that really need
these essential supplies, here in Sao Paolo, that's also an issue because it's such a big city, these things need to happen quickly and we are moving
into a weekend when a lot of deliveries aren't made anyway. So, you can imagine how the dire the situation is.
SY: And I understand these blockades are happening in almost every single Brazilian state. You talked a little bit about the impact and the
paralysis when it comes to transporting goods. What impact could this have on sectors of the Brazilian economy that depend on exports?
DARLINGTON: It's already having an impact. I mean, a lot of those -- those one billion chickens that I mentioned, I mean, it sounds comic, but
it isn't. Brazil is the biggest exporter of poultry. They are not even being able to feed them, let alone get them to the port for export.
So, this really is just slowing down the whole economy. It is having a huge impact at a time when everyone is gearing up for a big presidential
elections in October--
[16:15:16]
DARLINGTON: -- so people are taking a very cautious stance. Do they get behind the truckers and say, yes, diesel prices need to come down. Do they
stand behind the very unpopular government. It is making it even more difficult to come up with a solution, Stephanie.
SY: All right, a real developing crisis there in Brazil. Shasta Darlington, thank you so much for joining us.
GDPR is now live. So far, this four little letters have caused a blackout for some US websites. We will speak to a former policy adviser at
Facebook.
And Donald Trump says, he could meet Kim Jong-un after all. We will take you inside North Korea.
This time yesterday, markets had dropped after Donald Trump's decision to cancel his meeting with Kim Jong-un. Now, the US President is suggesting
the summit could be revived. Earlier on Friday, North Korea said Kim Jong- un is still willing to meet at any time. Now, Mr. Trump isn't ruling out having the summit on June 12th after all.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are going to see what happens. We are talking to them now. It was a very nice statement they
put out. Let's see what happens. We'll see what happens, it could even be the 12th. We are talking to them now. They very much want to do it, we'd
like to do it. We are going to see what happens.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SY: During this pivotal moment, CNN's Will Ripley is one of the only Western journalist inside North Korea, one of the most repressive countries
in the world. We've got a front row seat to both Pyongyang's apparent demolition of nuclear sites, and their reaction to Donald Trump's
announcement. This is his behind the scenes report from North Korea.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: From the moment I landed in Wonsan, I knew this story was unlike any other. Eighteen trips to North Korea and this
country still keeps me guessing. For more than 24 hours, we didn't even know if our trip to the Punggye-ri nuclear site would happen. The rhetoric
with the US was really heating up.
Only when we boarded the bus did we know, it was a go. We rode for more than 12 hours on a North Korean luxury train. It was surreal. A 10-course
banquet with all the blinds closed and strict orders not to film outside.
We also couldn't film on the drive to the nuclear site. Arriving at Punggye-ri was surreal. The buildings were log cabins, almost like a
summer camp. It was definitely not what I expected.
We had to carry our gear and hike for what felt like ages of steep ravines to get to observation posts built specifically for us. We visited tunnel
after tunnel, the same tunnels North Korea has used to conduct six nuclear tests since 2006. All of them full of explosives. Football sized bags
strung with wires.
We even had lunch provided by the North Koreans--
[16:20:16]
RIPLEY: -- ham and cucumber sandwiches, surrounded by buildings that would be blown up just hours later. The explosions were huge, earth-shaking,
they sent rocks and debris flying. We found some of it scattered later hundreds of feet away. I can only imagine what it felt like during those
nuclear tests.
It was totally impossible to verify if what we were seeing if all of those dramatic explosions actually made the nuclear site unusable as the North
Koreans claimed. For the nuclear officials on site, there was almost a sense of sadness, watching more than a decade of hard work go up in smoke.
Will Ripley, CNN, at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site, North Korea.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SY: So, this is the day European data privacy activists have been waiting for. The EU's General Data Protection Regulation or GDPR came into force,
but got off to a rocky start. A slew of US websites like the LA Times, NPR, and Chicago Tribune took their own websites down in Europe.
Beyond that, the flood of e-mails jamming your inbox continues. Businesses are asking for consent to store your data. It is required by the new law.
Earlier this week, Europe's data protection chief told Richard on this program, all of those e-mails aren't even useful.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD QUEST, CNN HOST: We are all being bombarded with privacy papers and privacy policies, most of which we don't even read. Tell me, sir, how
is this useful?
GIOVANNI BUTTARELLI, EUROPEAN DATA PROTECTION SUPERVISOR: It is not. What is missing is the human phase of what they are doing. It is time to start
respecting people and privacy and not the companies themselves.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SY: Now, not only are some websites going dark, billion dollar law suits are flying, too. Samuel Burke has the story from London.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
SAMUEL BURKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Austrian lawyer, Max Schrems has been fighting Facebook in court over data privacy for nearly a decade, and
today, he wasted little time, his NGO suing Facebook for allegedly violating the EU's new data protection law called GDPR, the day it came
into force.
MAX SCHREMS, AUSTRIAN LAWYER: They were looking for big companies that really willfully violate the law that kind of tried to ignore it and tried
to get away with it.
BURKE: Schrems who helped write the regulations said he is taking legal action because big tech isn't complying with the law.
SCHREMS: Various (inaudible) this idea of we don't want this, we think it's stupid, so we don't want to comply with it, and then there's obvious
business interest. There are certain things you simply can't do with data anymore that give a profit.
BURKE: The new law was supposed to stop companies from hoovering up your sensitive data like political opinions, religious beliefs, ethnicity and
sexuality for advertising purposes without your consent.
According to legal experts CNN spoke with, Facebook is skirting this requirement.
MICHAEL VEALE, EPSRC PHD: On your Facebook profile, you can put in things like sexuality, religion or political beliefs, and if you put that on, you
don't have any choice but for Facebook to use it to personalize contents, to deliver your advertising and so on.
BURKE: There is only an "I accept" button.
VEALE: Exactly.
BURKE: There is not an "I don't accept" button.
VEALE: Exactly, you've got it.
BURKE: Veale says even if you completely remove sensitive traits from your profile, Facebook can still glean information such as your sexual
orientation by analyzing your behavior on the platform and on other websites, too.
VEALE: Facebook can infer things from the great amount of data that it has about you across the web and also across your mobile devices and apps that
also send data to Facebook.
BURKE: As you understand the law, does it prevent Facebook from making these inferences that they make about us?
VEALE: Yes, that law forbids Facebook from making these inferences without explicit consent.
BURKE: Failure to comply could be costly for a big company like Facebook, European data regulators can impose a fine of up to 4 percent of its global
annual revenue. Based on 2017 figures, that means Facebook could face a penalty topping $1.6 billion each time it runs afoul of the new law.
In a statement to CNN, Facebook's Chief Privacy Officer said the company has "introduced better tools for people to access, download and delete
their information." The company also says, it is building a new tool that will allow users to stop Facebook from storing information about them it
collects from other websites and apps.
MARK ZUCKERBERG, CEO, FACEBOOK: We do expect to be fully compliant on May 25th.
BURKE: Lawyer Max Schrems believes the new rules are tough enough to prevent the kind of data scraping that companies like Cambridge Analytica
have engaged in.
SCHREMS: If we enforce them properly, we can actually get a balance in this digitalized age. In the end--
[16:25:16]
SCHREMS: -- you as a customer have the possibility to use let's say Facebook without worrying 24/7 about your data.
BURKE: However the courts come down on the tech giants, Europe's new data regulations are already redrawing the line between profit and privacy.
Samuel Burke, CNN, London.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
SY: Dipayan Ghosh was a technology adviser to the Obama White House and has also served as an adviser on privacy to Facebook and he joins us now
from Seattle. Dipayan, it's a pleasure to have you with us on this day that GDPR goes into effect.
You know, I am really surprised that so many US publishers decided to take down their own websites. I read that that is affecting 500 million users
today. Was this expected?
DIPAYAN GHOSH, FORMER TECHNOLOGY ADVISER TO THE OBAMA WHITE HOUSE: Well, I think that it was always expected for some major companies to not be in
compliance with GDPR and to the fullest extent on the day that it goes into effect. I mean, there are so many companies that operate over the internet
and have practices that operate over the internet. And GDPR is very stringent and sweeping.
SY: So, it's almost like they are saying, we would rather take our content down than risk the fines and this is how difficult it is to comply with
this law. It really has teeth, doesn't it?
GHOSH: Absolutely, yes. As I said, it's stringent and it is sweeping and businesses do not know how it is going to be enforced. There is no record.
There is no precedence and the requirements include an entirely new consent framework, new rights afforded to individuals, European citizens.
Lawfulness of processing of data in the sense that businesses need to establish that they are processing data lawfully.
So, very broad set of new requirements that GDPR is imposing and I am not surprised at all, but maybe even dozens of companies are having to change
their operations overnight or come offline until they can comply.
SY: So, within hours of the law going into effect, Dipayan, complaints filed against Facebook, Google, Instagram -- a lot of others, as a former
policy adviser at Facebook, Dipayan, are you confident that that company which has been at the center of many of the data usage controversies is
going to comply with the spirit of the law?
GHOSH: Well, the spirit of the law is of course to give the individual greater rights, give the individual a sense of privacy and autonomy from
the corporation, from Facebook, from Google, from the Bank of America, and I think that is a really new challenge for many American companies.
I do think Facebook is taking a number of steps in the right direction and let's be honest, Facebook is not the only company that collects tremendous
amounts of data and monetizes it in different ways over the internet.
And I think that they are all taking steps, steps in the right direction as far as I can see. Now, I think it will be an ongoing challenge and a very
difficult challenge for companies like Facebook and Google and others to continue to comply with GDPR, this is why they are hiring a lot of staff to
do exactly this thing.
SY: Yes, you tweeted today, I hope you don't mind me mining your Twitter feed, "Americans have to stand up and call for better privacy rights.
Else, we will be treated as lesser citizens on the net." Dipayan, do you think Americans have a higher tolerance for how their data is manipulated
or is there just a lack of politic will in this country to do more in the ways of regulation that we are seeing in Europe.
GHOSH: Well, I think it's a little bit of both. You're absolutely spot on in your analysis, but diving into the second of those a little bit, there
is tremendous political gridlock on privacy issues going back several years. I mean, a number of privacy proposals to establish baseline privacy
law in the United States have been pushed forward in the past five years, let's say, the Obama administration, the White House issued its Consumer
Privacy Bill of Rights Act in 2015, and in recent months, we have seen more bills including the Data Broker Transparency Act as well as the CONSENT
Act. These are all very partisan issues.
It's typically Democrats behind this issue, and now, it takes on a heavier political slant with the whole Cambridge Analytica and Facebook incident.
So, I don't think we are going to necessarily see any progress on the legislative front any time soon, and that is an issue. Americans do need
to stand up because public sentiment -- these are all very partisan issues.
It's typically Democrats behind this issue, and now, it takes on a heavier political slant with the whole Cambridge Analytica and Facebook incident.
So, I don't think we are going to necessarily see any progress on the legislative front any time soon.
[16:30:16]
And that is an issue, the political slant with the whole Cambridge Analytica and Facebook incident. So I don't think we're necessarily going
to see any progress on the legislative front any time soon, and that is an issue.
SY: Yes --
GHOSH: Americans do need to stand up because public sentiment can overcome political gridlock over time.
SY: And certainly, a lot of people thought the Zuckerberg testimony before Congress, should it -- Congress doesn't have a full grasp of the technical
issues behind data. Dapayan Ghosh, we'll leave it there, thank you so much for your insights, appreciate it.
GHOSH: Thank you so much.
SY: Up next, in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein charges, another Hollywood figure is also facing allegations from several women -- more
details when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SY: Hello, I'm Stephanie Sy, coming up on the next half hour of QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, one of the Russians sanctioned by the United States says
more and more people are thinking about World War III, you're hear from VTB's Andrey Kostin.
And a major brands are re-thinking their ties with Morgan Freeman after a Cnn exclusive investigation into his conduct. First, these are the top
headlines on Cnn this hour. One day after canceling his scheduled summit with North Korea's leader, U.S. President Donald Trump is suggesting the
summit could be revived.
Earlier, North Korea declared that Kim Jong-un is still willing to meet with Mr. Trump at any time. Mr. Trump called that statement quote, "very
good news." Disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein is out on bail after appearing in a court on charges of rape and sex abuse.
The charges stem from two separate incidents and involves two women. Weinstein's attorney says his client will enter a plea of not guilty and
expects to be exonerated. Polls are about to close across Ireland as the country votes on whether to legalize some of strictest abortion laws in
Europe.
The referendum will decide whether to keep a constitutional amendment that bans abortion in almost all cases. Voting ends in the next 30 minutes, the
first exit polls are expected not long after. In Canada, police hope surveillance photos will help them find two men who detonated and
improvised explosive device that happened in a restaurant near Toronto.
Fifteen people were injured, two of them critically. Police say there is no indication of a motive so far. The Duchess of Sussex better known as
Meghan Markle now has her own coat of arms. The duchess works closely with the College of Arms to design it.
The queen approved the design which includes personal touches like golden poppies from California which is Meghan's home state.
[16:35:00] A Cnn investigation has uncovered a pattern(ph) of alleged inappropriate behavior by legendary actor Morgan Freeman both on set and at
his production company Revelations Entertainment. Eight women told us they were victims of what some call harassment and others describe as
inappropriate behavior.
Freeman has issued an apology. Now he is facing fallout from some brands affiliated with the actor. Chloe Melas who broke this story joins me now.
Chloe, it's good to have you here, and it's interesting to me what prompted your investigation. Talk about that.
CHLOE MELAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: Yes, well, first of all, it's been a month-long investigation with my co-reporter and firm, and what
prompted it all like you said is I had my own experience with Morgan Freeman, it took place at a junket for the movie "Going in Style" over a
year ago.
The junket was in New York, they're permanently held, you know, in hotel rooms, a room full of people, cameras rolling, I walked in there and from
the moment I walked in the room, he began making such like suggestive comments to me, one of which was caught on tape and which he says, boy, do
I wish I was there while looking me up and down.
Very similar comments to what he said when I first walked in the room, I was six months pregnant at the time, I was shocked.
SY: Wow --
MELAS: I mean, I've been doing this for over a decade --
SY: Yes --
MELAS: And I really had never experienced behavior that was so brazen. There's a difference between being flirty and then there's crossing the
line. And you know, I reported the behavior to my supervisors, we chose not to cover the film. But in those next few days, I started making some
phone calls and now here we are a year later and we have this report where we share the stories of 16 people.
SY: Yes, I mean, it's so hard when you sort of become the story, but clearly, it prompted something in your mind, you ended up interviewing
eight women who alleged sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior, right?
MELAS: And you know, it's about giving other people a voice, it's about --
SY: Sure --
MELAS: It's about giving a platform. My transparency and telling my small part of what happened is just a sidebar to this larger systemic issue that
we had found, which is a pattern of behavior on movie sets. At his productions company Revelations Entertainment, at junkets with reporters,
"Entertainment Tonight" released their own footage last night showing Morgan Freeman talking inappropriately to two "Fair" reporters including
Janet Mock who is a well-known activist.
SY: Yes --
MELAS: And then Anne Sung(ph) and I have received numerous people coming forward with their own stories in the last 24 hours since it broke, and we
are rigorously vetting those.
SY: And so many of these women when it comes the situation, they can't go to an HR department, I mean, that's not the situation you're in, they're
not necessarily journalists on Cnn.
MELAS: Well, let me -- well, let me point out is that, I might be a journalist at Cnn, but even my first thought was not to go to HR, I went to
my supervisor and just reported it. A lot of the women that we were speaking to and men who witnessed some of this behavior, they were fearful
of their jobs for speaking out about --
SY: Oh, yes --
MELAS: The most powerful person at the production company or the movie set. It's Morgan Freeman, it's the voice of "God". People were very
nervous --
SY: Yes --
MELAS: And our story is very telling with only one woman we're willing to reveal her identity, two, if you include myself out of the 16. It just
goes to show you that this wave of the Me Too movement, people are so afraid to speak out against the powerful --
SY: And frankly, some don't want the attention too. So what's been the fallout --
MELAS: Yes --
SY: For Meghan Freeman so far?
MELAS: So he did not issue a statement at all before we went to publish. It was a few hours after that he released an apology. Now VISA has
suspended their marketing campaign with him. The transit system in Vancouver that had just recently announced that they were going to be using
his voice for announcement and for campaigns, they have put that on pause.
And the SAG Awards, they just issued a lifetime achievement award to him. In January, had said that they are reviewing the situation right now.
SY: Are you satisfied with the apology?
MELAS: I don't think that it comes down to that. I think it just is what it is and different stars have been covering this movement for many months
now with many different powerful men in the industry, and some people deny some people apologizing some, like Kevin Spacey are radio silent.
So I think it just is what it is, but we will monitor the fallout and keep you posted.
SY: I know you will. Chloe Melas, thank you so much.
MELAS: Thanks.
SY: Harvey Weinstein's attorney lashed out at the Me Too movement moments after his client was charged with rape and criminal sexual acts. Ben
Brafman says he believes the Me Too movement could compromise the case.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[16:40:00] BENJAMIN BRAFMAN, ATTORNEY: Mr. Weinstein has always maintained that any sexual activity he engaged in was consensual. He has vehemently
denied any of the allegations which suggest that he engaged in non- consensual sexual activity.
Many of these allegations are long overdue, quite frankly, having been made about events that are alleged to have occurred many years ago, they were
reported to the police at the time. These events occurred and I anticipate that the women who have made these allegations when subjected to cross-
examination in the event we even get that far.
That the charges will not be believed by 12 people, assuming we get 12 fair people who are not consumed by the movement that seems to have overtaken
this case.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SY: Caroline Polisi says Weinstein arrest is a turning point for the Me Too movement, she is a federal criminal defense attorney and joins me now.
Caroline, thanks for being here. A lot of people believe this is a turning point and most importantly illegal inflection points.
CAROLINE POLISI, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: That's right, and I wrote a piece for Cnn opinion about this very issue because look, in the wake of the Harvey
Weinstein's scandal about a year and a half ago, of course, we saw a lot of lip service being rendered in social media and sort of in the public eye.
My question was whether or not it would infiltrate the court system and really meaningful ways, and today, we seem that it really has. It's a huge
victory for the legal system. You have to look at it in the context of, you know, how charges are interpreting rules.
And I think that if you look at the Bill Cosby, the second trial of Bill Cosby which took place -- the re-trial of course took place after the Me
Too movement. There, we're seeing a more -- judges more willing to take in other acts evidence or other witnesses that say that this type of thing
happened to them as well.
So, looking down the road in terms of any sort of criminal trial for Harvey Weinstein, I think he's got to be worried about the Bill Cosby effect,
which is there are going to be victims lined up outside the door to testify against Harvey Weinstein saying he did the exact same thing to me.
SY: From that point of view, the effect of the Me Too movement is like Brafman said though. I mean, it's the question of whether you can really
get a jury that has not been impacted by the momentum --
POLISI: Right --
SY: By the movement --
POLISI: Right, and I think we're seeing such a saturation in the media at this point, that Brafman is probably right. Now, I don't know if that's a
good thing or a bad thing. I mean, look, coming from the standpoint of a criminal defense attorney, obviously, you want a jury of unbiased people to
decide whether or not the incident that is alleged on that specific evening or the night in question actually took place and not to sort of convict
somebody just because you know, there are rumors and speculation out there.
However, I really do think that Ben Brafman -- and he's an amazing criminal defense attorney, he obviously, he represented Dominique Strauss-Kahn
against his sexual assault --
(CROSSTALK)
Yes, successfully, he's kind of playing by the old playbook though, and the comments that he made today, you know, stating that the casting couch
wasn't invented by Harvey Weinstein. I mean, that's not going to fly in this movement --
SY: That certainly is as --
POLISI: Yes --
SY: Saying everyone does it.
POLISI: Yes --
SY: And that being a legal strategy --
POLISI: Right --
SY: But he also said hinting at the legal strategy, bad behavior is not on trial, which leads to my from a legal analysis. What are the challenges
prosecutors will have in substantiating these specific charges.
POLISI: Well, you heard Brafman say there specifically, that they're going to go after these women hard. We know that there are two specific
allegations, one in 2014 and one thereafter, and one is actual rape. Look, when you have criminal charges dating so far back in time, there's always,
you know, the challenge of not having physical evidence.
Likely, there's not going to be DNA evidence, so it's going to be, he said, she said. Now, this is the type of thing that in the past, defense
attorneys go after these women really hard, and we saw them do it in the Bill Cosby trial, just go after their credibility, say they're only after
money, they're after the fame.
The fact is though, we as a society have realized that, women don't make up claims --
SY: And there are --
POLISI: Sure --
SY: So many --
POLISI: Yes --
SY: Women --
POLISI: There are so many --
SY: In this case --
POLISI: When you look, I think there's over 80 women in Harvey's case --
SY: And cross in jurisdiction --
POLISI: Yes --
SY: As well -- he's under investigation in many places --
POLISI: Yes --
SY: Including overseas and Europe. Caroline Polisi, we will have to leave it there, thank you so much for your insights.
POLISI: Thank you.
SY: Russian businesses and the people who run them are feeling the pressure from American sanctions. One of those sanctioned tells us more,
and more people are worried about relations between the two countries.
[16:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SY: Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska is stepping down from his aluminum company Rusal. His departure comes a day after the resignation of Rusal's
chief executive and seven board members. The world's second largest aluminum producer has been under intense pressure following U.S.-imposed
sanctions.
The chairman of VTB Bank is also under U.S. sanctions. He warns that more and more people in Russia are now thinking about a possible World War III.
He told our John Defterios that sanctions like those against Rusal are just the start.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDREY KOSTIN, PRESIDENT & CHAIRMAN, VTB BANK: What concerns me more on the sanction, that's you know, if for the first time in many years on this
case(ph), people in Russia started to believe in the possibility of not only cold, but World War III.
So people now definitely has concern about the security, which was not the case filed ten years ago. And this is very unfortunate, and on the other
hand, we see the growing anti-American sentiment in Russian society which is also not good.
Because frankly speaking, Russia always was very friendly and important enough to the United States. But this climate(ph) today of sanctions and
mutual, you know, accusations, they don't help it. So, I think the sooner we stop it and start to reverse the process, the sooner, Mr. Putin meets
Mr. Trump and start some dialogue.
I think there'll be -- the process should start to go back --
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: There's a discussion about the red lines being crossed with the aggressiveness of the sanctions for
what took place in the U.K. with the poisoning accusations of interventions and Syria for example as well.
What snaps us? What's the breaking point for Russia? You said we don't want to take it anymore.
KOSTIN: Well, I think on previous sanctions, they restricted the activity of Russian companies to a big extent. Like VTB restrictions of you
borrowing on your stocks. But the latest sanctions against the companies like Rusal for example, they're aiming -- they're actually destroying the
company.
And it means that dozens of thousands of people who are employed will be unemployed. You know, and thus, effectively will kill the companies. So
definitely, that's what I call as the red line.
DEFTERIOS: You're one of 17 top officials or CEOs targeted by the U.S. sanctions. Give us a real honest indication of what it means to try to
operate under these sanctions regime when you've been spotted and tagged.
KOSTIN: My friend, they're saying that I was talking too much on American television, to Cnn, to other "Fox" television and the "Cnbc", that was the
main reason why I'm on the list. You know, because I was quite -- I was spoken under my position and maybe, bankers shouldn't talk very much, but
should do more business.
But I sincerely want a good relationship between our two countries. You know, we are very constructive for work, always and has and still continue
to support the American banks here and our relationship. But I was just -- as a senior government official, just completely wrong, it's a mistake,
they should correct it because I'm CEO of a commercial company.
[16:50:00] But you know, I probably haven't felt that(ph) yet, because there's -- this is because the bank itself is not only -- not as the
sanctions, so it's business as usual, I'm trying to keep a low profile, not to create any additional problem for the institutions, but otherwise, I
mean as business as usual.
Personally, unfortunately, I'm not allowed to come to America, now we should -- I like America, but I hope that one day will come when I'll be
back.
DEFTERIOS: Every year that I come to the St. Petersburg forum, President Putin says we need to focus on domestic road, our new partners in Asia,
diversify, but Russia hasn't grown 4 percent since 2010, 2011. A lot of words and no real concrete action here to get that growth up.
KOSTIN: I shouldn't say, maybe all part of the economic growth, yes. But part of the economic stability, I think there's quite a big progress. For
example, this year, we expect the surplus budget, this year we have the very low inflation between 3.5 percent.
And from this point of view, I think Russia is doing quite well on part of the economic growth. I will give you one of the problems for Russia at
least or for the workforce. We have very low unemployment, but we don't have enough new workforce to develop the economy.
So that's the area where the Russians are to think. Maybe to relax immigration law, to invite particularly more Russians living abroad and
Ukraine, and maybe other countries to come back to Russia. And also yes, I agree, well, probably more should be done in supporting the new industries,
particularly with the export potential.
That's something we should -- we should have happening quite slowly, that's why this year, we don't expect the GDP growth more than 2 percent, we
should -- we should lower(ph) for Russia, I agree with you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SY: It can play music, set timers, order pizza, but Amazon's Alexa has also recorded and sent a conversation with the speaker's knowledge. The
latest among increasing concerns over consumer privacy.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SY: As the new data loss sweeps across Europe, consumer data in the U.S. has yet to see the same sort of protection. And in the state of Oregon, an
Amazon Echo user was shocked when her device recorded and shared a private conversation without her knowledge. Anna Stewart brings us the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's a cautionary tale of technology telling too much. A woman in Oregon said Amazon's Alexa recorded and
(INAUDIBLE) a random person with a private conversation that took place in her house.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I felt invaded, like total privacy invasion. Like immediately, I'm like, I'm never plugging that device in again. I can't
trust it.
STEWART: Amazon Echo owner Danielle said she was chatting with her husband about hard wood floors when the device sent an audio file to a man who
works for her husband. She only found out about the recording when she received an alarming phone call.
[16:55:00] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The person on the other line said, unplug your devices right now. We go around and unplug them all, he proceeded to
tell my husband(ph) he had received audio files recordings from what was going on in our house.
STEWART: Amazon told Cnn affiliate "KIRO 7", the device misinterpreted command like send message and the contact's name as part of the background
conversation and called it an extremely rare occurrence. It's unknown if the couple didn't hear Alexa's voice replies or see the speaker light-out
when it was activated or if the device responded at all.
By the way, it's a case of mixed signals that has a lot of consumers thinking twice about just who or what they bring into the house.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SY: But no impact on Amazon's shares in response to that story. They finished up around half a percent today, not far from their record highs.
And U.S. markets overall closed mostly lower, dragged down by energy stocks.
The markets reacted negatively to a sharp drop in oil prices after Saudi Arabia told Cnn's John Defterios that OPEC and Russia could pump more oil
in the near future. Both the Dow and S&P 500 ended in the red as there's no trading on Monday for the Memorial Day holiday.
It's a bank holiday weekend in Europe as well where it was a mixed day for stocks. London and Frankfurt made small gains, Milan and Madrid fell on
the back of renewed political uncertainty. Italy has a new government this week, and Spain's Prime Minister could face a vote of no confidence.
European banks were among the worst performers. And that is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS tonight, I'm Stephanie Sy in New York, Richard will be back on
Monday, meanwhile, the news continues here on Cnn.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
