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Florida Shareholders Urged by Ron DeSantis to Sue Bud Light; WH: A.I. Industries Pledge to Implement New, Voluntary Safeguards; China-Based Hackers Breach U.S. Ambassador's E-Mail; Interview with Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo; Meeting Between Biden and Business Leaders to Discuss A.I.; Matt Damon Discusses "Oppenheimer," and Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired July 21, 2023 - 10:30   ET

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

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[10:30:00]

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Welcome back. And this morning, Florida Governor and 2024 Presidential Candidate Ron DeSantis initiating his latest battle on the culture wars. He's urging the Florida pension fund to consider legal action against Bud Light's parent company. Sales and the stock price of the parent company have plummeted following a market partnership with transgender, influencer Dylan Mulvaney in the subsequent conservative boycott of the beer.

CNN's Steve Contorno is in Florida for us. So, Steve, what's the latest here. What can you tell us?

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: Well, we obtained a letter last night that Governor DeSantis sent to the director of the state pension board asking for them to consider all options to potentially getting -- taking recourse against AB InBev, the parent company of Bud Light, for the recent down turn in the company stock. If you -- when you look at the state's investments in AB InBev, they have about 682,000 shares in AB InBev, totaling about $46 million.

And DeSantis said that the company's actions have hurt shareholders like Florida which holds a lot of money in its pension fund for retirees, for state workers. And he says that there should be some potential legal action. Here's what he said last night when talking about this on "Fox News."

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REP. RON DESANTIS (R-FL), U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT CANDIDATE: We're going to be launching an inquiry about Bud Light and InBev. And it could be something that leads to a derivative lawsuit filed on behalf of the shareholders of the Florida pension fund, because at the end of the day, there's got to be penalties for when you put business aside to focus on your social agenda at the expense of hardworking people.

(END VIDEO CLIP) CONTORNO: Now, I should point out, the Florida pension fund is $235 billion. So, this AB InBev investment, while pretty large, is still just a drop in the bucket. But this is not the first time that the Florida governor has tried to use the state pension fund as a cajole (ph) in his fight against, so-called WOKE Capitalism. Last year, he tried to pressure Twitter's board to sell the company to Elon Musk. Also, threatening action as a shareholder.

And he has pushed the state board -- pension board to divest and to break away from, so-called, ESG Investing, that's Environment Social Governance Investing, that considers the environmental and social good of a company and not just the bottom line. He has said Florida is not going to do that anymore, and he is trying to get Florida's financial interest out of politics.

SOLOMON: Steve Contorno, thanks for breaking it all down for us. Live for us there in Florida. Thank you.

Well, Kate, I'll send it back to you.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN NEWS CENTRAL CO-ANCHOR: Coming up for us, China- based hackers take aim at another top U.S. official. This time, we're now learning it was U.S. Ambassador to China whose e-mail was breached. Another top official we've learned whose e-mail was accessed as well is U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. Secretary Raimondo is our guest. We will be right back.

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[10:35:00]

BOLDUAN: New this morning, the White House is now stepping up to address the growing concerns around artificial intelligence. Under a new agreement, key tech companies leading the way in the development of A.I., like Google, Meta, ChatGTPs, OpenAI, they're now pledging to regulate themselves to avoid the technology spiraling out of control. Promises including using third-party testing before releasing new tech to the public, and also prioritizing medical uses for it.

We're also learning now today that U.S. Ambassador to China, Nicholas Burns, was one of the top officials whose e-mail was breached by China-based hackers. An operation that just came to light last week. Now, these two headlines not necessarily related here but someone at the center of both is U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo who was also a target of that same cyberattack of U.S. government e-mail system last week -- revealed last week.

Secretary Raimondo joins us right now. It's good to see you, Secretary. Thank you. So, we just learned about Ambassador Burns having his e-mail breached. Last week, we learned about your -- that they accessed your e-mail. What did they gain access to?

[10:40:00]

GINA RAIMONDO, COMMERCE SECRETARY: So, first of all, the commerce department has not confirmed that my personal e-mail was hacked, and I am not doing that this morning. All I will say is, you know, Microsoft confirmed a hack. We don't know yet the full extent of it. And we're work -- the FBI, the DOJ, DHS are actively investigating this. So, I don't have anything more to say now. We're going to let them finish their work and complete their investigation.

BOLDUAN: Micro -- the U.S., as you're pointing to, hasn't formally blamed China for the hack. Though, Microsoft's assessment is that it was a China-based hackers behind it. Do you believe China was behind it? Do you have any reason to believe it was anyone other than China?

RAIMONDO: I don't know, and I am certainly not going to speculate. Like I said, it's a significant hack. It's unacceptable whoever did it. And we're going to investigate it fully and find out who is behind it.

BOLDUAN: And you were one of the main point people responsible for helping to manage the U.S.-China relationship, kind of, given the list of things under your purview and things that we've talked about so much the past. If this is confirmed to be China behind this attack, what is the impact -- how does it impact your work and that relationship?

RAIMONDO: Yes. So, again, I don't want to speculate on hypotheticals until the investigation is finished. But any hack of this kind or any economic coercion perpetrated by China, any time they steal our I.P. or target any one of our companies or in any way interfere with our national security is unacceptable and we take it incredibly seriously.

So, as you say, I am very involved with the administration's strategy as it relates to China. We have no intention or interest in escalating tensions. I am planning a trip for later this year. You know, we want to do business with them where we can, work with them where we can. But vigilantly and ferociously protect Americans and American national security.

BOLDUAN: Let's talk about A.I. and the announcement, the pledges coming out today as well, Secretary. What are these pledges from these leading A.I. companies? What are they going to mean in practice?

RAIMONDO: What they'll mean in practice is that Americans can have a greater trust that A.I. is a force for good, is a technology that they can trust, that they can use, and that will benefit us in so many different ways. I have to say, I am so proud of President Biden for stepping up and taking leadership here. About a month and a half ago, he convened in the White House, the CEOs of these companies, quietly, we had a long multi-hour working session. I was there. We dug into the details.

And the president said to them, you know, it's going to take time for Congress to act and come about with regulation, but we don't have time, because this A.I. is moving so fast. And he challenged these companies to step up and prove that they'll, you know, protect people's privacy, have cybersecurity protection, use this technology for good and not for evil. And so, what you're seeing today are very significant commitments from our country, and the world's leading A.I. company is saying, they care about trust and safety and security. And they're going to do the right thing.

BOLDUAN: The commitments are voluntary, is there teeth behind these promises? What happens if they break from these commitments?

RAIMONDO: Yes. Look, it's a great question and it's a fair question to ask because they are voluntary. They stepped up in response to the president's leadership. One thing I do want to be crystal clear about is, this is a first step, right? So, today, they are voluntary commitments. They are very significant.

Now, we work with our allies. We work with Europe, Japan, and the G7, India to come up with a global code of conduct. And of course, work with Congress. Congress will ultimately act here to set forth regulations with teeth, as you say. You know, you need a statute to come up with penalties and teeth. So, we're going to get there. But what we are saying is, we don't have time for that. You know, this stuff is being used right now, every day in America.

BOLDUAN: And what -- look, we've seen -- and you've seen many times before, legislation moves slow and technological advancements move very fast. Really quickly, broadly speaking just from your perspective on what you've seen, would you say that -- would you say you're more excited or more concerned about what A.I. can mean?

[10:45:00]

And what A.I. will mean for Americans, the U.S. government, and national security in the future?

RAIMONDO: Excited. I mean, look, both. To be fair, I'd say equal doses, which is why we're working so hard. I talk to these companies constantly, you know, trying to hold their feet to the fire, talk to experts, academics, civil society. There are huge risks.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

RAIMONDO: But if you allow yourself to think about the transformation A.I. can provide to, you know, medicines, discoveries, scientific discoveries, education, it's pretty exciting. And so, I tip a little bit to the scale of excitement.

BOLDUAN: Secretary Raimondo, thank you for your time.

Rahel.

SOLOMON: All right. Kate. Coming up for us, Chris Wallace sits down "Oppenheimer" star Matt Damon about his new film. His new film is out today and it's all about the U.S. decision to develop the atomic bomb. Chris, joins us next.

Plus, the U.S. women's national team begins its run towards an unprecedented third straight World Cup title tonight. We will talk to soccer legend Joy Fawcett who has played in four women's World Cup tournaments, about the history-making tournament this year when we come back.

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SOLOMON: Welcome back. "Oppenheimer", one of the summer's hottest films premiers today. And it centers on J. Robert Oppenheimer, known as the father of the atomic bomb, and also the fallout of the weapons' creation. Matt Damon who stars in the movie joined CNN's Chris Wallace to discuss the new film and explains why he took on this historic role.

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CHRIS WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR, WHO'S TALKING TO CHRIS WALLACE?: Your latest movie is just out, "Oppenheimer" about the scientist who led the effort to create the first atomic bomb. You play General Leslie Groves, who is the military leader of the Manhattan project. Why did you want to play this project?

MATT DAMON, ACTOR, "OPPENHEIMER": The director, Chris Nolan, is one of the best directors to ever live, and he makes extraordinary movies. It plays like a thriller, like you're on the edge of your seat the entire time.

WALLACE: Anyone who deals with this subject, and I wrote a book and you're now in this movie, I think ends up having to deal with the central question. Was the U.S. right or wrong to drop the bomb on Hiroshima? Where do you come down in that?

DAMON: It's such an impossible question. I remember talking to Ben Affleck's grandfather who's a marine, and he said, I -- when we heard about the bomb dropped we cheered. And he said, I -- you know, this is 50 years later he's telling me this.

WALLACE: Right.

DAMON: And he goes, I -- you know, I live with the fact that I cheered because -- but this is what they were telling us. We, you know, that they were going to fight to the last man, and that we were going to, you know -- I -- you covered it in your book. They said between 250,000 and a million Americans.

WALLACE: Yes, and you read my book.

DAMON: I did read. It was fantastic.

WALLACE: I wish -- we should say, it's called, "Countdown 1945", and it's available on Amazon --

DAMON: It's --

WALLACE: -- if you'd like to get it.

DAMON: -- it actually is -- not to be shamelessly plugging your book, but it really is great.

WALLACE: So, what would you have done? DAMON: I -- boy, I probably would have had a head of gray hair but -- you know, what I mean. It's like the -- you know what presidents just go -- their hair goes white, like, you know. It's funny, because when you look at it, you think there's only one choice to make. And yet, you look at the people who made that choice -- I mean, I don't think Groves, for instance, ever lost a night of sleep about it.

WALLACE: Yes.

DAMON: He was -- he fulfilled his mission.

WALLACE: Right.

DAMON: And he -- you know, but Oppenheimer and a lot of the other scientists, you know, once they went through the test, you know, they started going, oh, my God. And they -- and, you know, it was like a shockwave going through them.

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SOLOMON: And joining us now to discuss is Chris Wallace. Of course, host of CNN's "Who's Talking to Chris Wallace?" So, Chris, tell me more about your conversation. And also, did Matt Damon ever answer the question, what he would do?

WALLACE: You know, not quite. It is a fascinating question, as I mentioned and I shamelessly plugged, I wrote a book about it. You know, because on the one hand, people, I think, particularly now who don't know as much about the story say, how could we have dropped an atomic bomb on a city, Hiroshima, then another city Nagasaki, and killed tens of thousands of people with radiation poisoning, afterwards fairly hundreds of thousands.

The flipside of it with people -- a lot of people don't realize, if we hadn't done that to end the war, the U.S. was going to invade Japan, and they had fought fiercely in all of the islands in the Pacific. And the estimates were that between a quarter of a million and million people would die, both Japanese and also U.S. soldiers, which is why for instance, Ben Affleck's grandfather was sitting there cheering, because this would save their lives.

So, I think, as a no-brainer -- I mean, as a political issue, it is a no-brainer. But as a moral issue, here we are, 75-plus years later, and people are still fascinated by it, which is part of the fascination of the movie "Oppenheimer".

SOLOMON: Yes, for sure. Which comes out again today. Chris, tell us a bit more about your conversation. I mean, when you think Hollywood actors right now, of course, you think about the huge SAG actors strike, I mean, did your conversation stretch in those territories? Tell us more.

WALLACE: Well, it didn't because at that point we didn't know whether there was going to be a strike, but they were very concerned about it. And so, we interviewed Matt Damon -- and I should point this out, because he is not allowed to do publicity for the movie now as part of the strike.

[10:55:00]

We interviewed him three weeks ago because they were so concerned that the stars of this movie and a lot of the other movies that are out there wouldn't be able to publicize them. So, we did it well before the strike was concerned. But we did talk about the industry. And in fact, he and Ben Affleck have started their own studio called Actors Equity, because, you know, the whole business, like a lot of businesses including ours, Rahel --

SOLOMON: Yes.

WALLACE: -- are changing with the streaming, with artificial intelligence. And so, the whole economic model which was built on the old rules of the game, they have changed and you got to adjust to figure out how people are going to get compensated and the protections they're going to have in this brave new world.

SOLOMON: Yes, I mean, the technology could certainly upend a lot of industries, including ours, as you say. Chris Wallace, thanks for being with us today. Thank you.

And make sure that you tune in to "Who's Talking to Chris Wallace?" tonight at 10:00 p.m. on CNN, and streaming on Max. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Coming up for us, the new discoveries about the man accused of being the Gilgo Beach serial killer. Why a focus has turned now to his home, and his family's travel schedule. We'll be right back.

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