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CNN This Morning
Georgia Supreme Court Allows Early Voting On Saturday; Report: Tesla Loses More Than $600 Billion In Market Value In Past Year; Lauren Bush Lauren Shines Light On Hunger With "FEED" Outreach. Aired 7:30-8a ET
Aired November 24, 2022 - 07:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL)
[07:31:39]
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Georgia voters will be able to cast their ballots this Saturday -- will be able to cast their ballots this Saturday in the Senate runoff election between Sen. Raphael Warnock and Democratic incumbent, and his Republican challenger Herschel Walker. The State Supreme Court is now allowing counties to offer early voting on that day after Republicans argued it violated a state law about voting after a holiday.
POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Eva McKend is in Washington with more. This was a big deal. I believe this was about one Saturday, right, but it's key for folks to get the most people to the polls, right? What did the -- what did the high court say, and why?
EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS REPORTER: Oh, absolutely. Good morning to you both. Happy Thanksgiving.
This was a big victory for Democrats. They sued for this and won. Republicans had argued two days after the holiday that according to the law, they could not do this. But court after court sided with Democrats.
And this really speaks to a culture I think that the Democrats in Georgia have fostered around early voting, really pushing for this. As I've been out on the campaign trail it wasn't uncommon for Sen. Warnock to sort of suggest that the Georgians that waited until Election Day or the stragglers that had to be pulled over the finish line.
Listen, Republicans argued that this Saturday voting changed the rules in the final hour and would unfairly benefit Democrats. But we know, of course, that both Republicans and Democrats are going to be voting on Saturday.
HARLOW: Brian Kemp -- Kaitlan sat down for that great interview with him -- the governor of Georgia -- just a few weeks ago. So now, he's the latest big-name Republican to put his support officially behind Walker. How important is that for Walker to try to win here? MCKEND: Well, we know that this is something that is important to the campaign, but Gov. Kemp and Herschel Walker did not campaign at all together during the general election. So, I think that voters in Georgia are sophisticated -- and so, I don't know if it will achieve exactly what they hope it will.
Nonetheless, Gov. Kemp is out there on the trail now for Herschel Walker and he's got a new ad up. Let's take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. BRIAN KEMP (R), GEORGIA: Herschel Walker will vote for Georgia, not be another rubber stamp for Joe Biden. That's why I'm backing Herschel and I hope you'll join me in voting for him, too.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCKEND: So, perhaps more consequential, Don and Poppy, is that national Republicans are pumping $2 million into Kemp's "Get Out the Vote" operation --
HARLOW: Yes.
MCKEND: -- that is going to support Herschel Walker. That's really important. When you're talking about a runoff, it's really about turnout. And so, that arguably might do more for Herschel Walker than any ad that Gov. Kemp cuts or any hug he gives Walker on the campaign trail.
LEMON: Look, this campaign down in Georgia has more twists and turns than a Georgia country road because now, CNN's KFILE has uncovered -- has this really interesting reporting that Herschel Walker is going to be getting a tax break on his home in Texas. What is up with that, Eva?
MCKEND: So this is a tax break that is meant for a primary residence. It's a $1,500 homestead exemption tax. He could possibly have run afoul of tax rules in both Georgia and Texas. We're not talking about a whole lot of money here, and we know that political candidates -- their finances are heavily scrutinized, so this is a bit surprising. For their part, though, the campaign staying mum on this.
[07:35:11]
But this really I think brings into focus that Herschel Walker was, up until very recently, a resident of Texas. That's where he was living. He only recently returned to Georgia to mount this Senate run.
HARLOW: Right, because that's a tax break for a primary residence.
LEMON: His primary residence is -- primary residence is in Texas but he's running in --
HARLOW: Georgia.
LEMON: -- Georgia. Hmm, interesting. HARLOW: Thanks, Eva.
LEMON: Thank you. Hey, listen, we got through that and everybody said election.
HARLOW: Oh my gosh. You look beautiful, Eva.
LEMON: Happy Thanks -- happy Thanksgiving.
HARLOW: Happy Thanksgiving.
LEMON: Election. Thank you.
So, there's new reporting this morning that over the past year, Tesla's market value has plunged more than $600 billion -- $600 billion -- more than the current values of Disney, Nike, and Starbucks combined.
(COMMERCIAL)
[07:40:24]
HARLOW: Welcome back to CNN THIS MORNING.
Tesla's market value has taken a huge hit this year. Around this time a year ago, the company's value was around $1.2 trillion. By the end of the day yesterday, it sat at $580 billion. Those numbers are from Forbes. And that's -- you know, do the math -- more than a $600 billion decline.
To put this loss into perspective -- and it's not like a paper loss but you know what we're talking about -- the share price here. Disney is currently worth about $180 billion; Nike, around $167 billion; Starbucks, $114 billion.
Let's bring in our friend, Peter Shankman. He's a futurist at the marketing company BluShark Digital. It's good to have you here.
LEMON: Good morning.
PETER SHANKMAN, FUTURIST, BLUSHARK DIGITAL: It's good to be here.
HARLOW: So obviously, I don't know how I got through that intro without saying Elon Musk.
LEMON: Shouldn't Elon Musk be paying attention to Tesla?
HARLOW: Has he been preoccupied --
LEMON: Yes.
HARLOW: -- with another "T" company?
SHANKMAN: I'm trying to run one company on my own. He's running, what, four right now?
LEMON: Yes.
SHANKMAN: There are several issues at play here.
The first one, from a fiduciary standpoint, is if you are spending all your time creating memes, right, and arguing with politicians publicly you're not running your businesses. So from a Tesla standpoint, yes -- if I were a shareholder I'd be very angry.
HARLOW: They had him on the stand. The shareholders had him on the stand in this trial last week --
SHANKMAN: Right.
HARLOW: -- because they're mad.
SHANKMAN: They are, and they -- look, it's hard to prove that he's not working for Tesla. But what they can say is hey, you stole engineers from Tesla to bring them into Twitter. That's a problem.
If he were -- if he were -- Tesla is way overvalued and it's been way overvalued for a long time. There's no question about that. But if he was smart he'd say OK, it's overvalued. It's going to drop. Let me just be quiet for a while.
LEMON: Yes.
SHANKMAN: And he'd let it go and it would come -- he'd come out on the other side.
He's not doing that. He's doing everything possible to draw more attention to himself.
LEMON: What was your analogy when we talked about this in the break -- you said?
SHANKMAN: So I have a dog. His name is Waffle. He's two years old --
LEMON: Hey, Waffle.
SHANKMAN: -- right? He's the dog I told my daughter I'd never get. So, every time he does something stupid -- he steals a steak off the -- off the -- off the table or whatever -- he goes and eats it and he looks at me. I'm like, who stole the steak? And he's hello, right?
LEMON: Yes.
SHANKMAN: It's like if he didn't look at me and he said oh, don't know, not me, maybe I wouldn't pay attention to it and it would move on.
LEMON: Yes.
SHANKMAN: Same thing with Tesla and Twitter. He's not giving anyone a chance to forget about him for a little bit.
HARLOW: Oh --
LEMON: What is it with these guys? I'm sorry.
HARLOW: No, go, go.
LEMON: What is it with these guys? Why -- they can't help themselves.
SHANKMAN: They've never been told no.
HARLOW: It's always guys, too, by the way.
LEMON: Go on, OK.
SHANKMAN: They've never been told no.
LEMON: Yes.
SHANKMAN: They have never -- they've surrounded themselves with people who have always yessed them. And so all of a sudden, people are arguing with him or making a fool of him. I mean, he is -- he is the number-one joke on Reddit right now, right? So -- and he can't handle that. That's not OK.
So what does he do? He gets back. He had -- let me -- let me buy Twitter and then I can have my platform --
LEMON: Yes.
SHANKMAN: -- to say whatever I want. But he doesn't realize it. This is drastically affecting his other business.
HARLOW: I would --
LEMON: He's also $44 billion not as rich.
SHANKMAN: Exactly.
HARLOW: Oh because -- right.
SHANKMAN: Yes. A billion here, a billion there adds up to real money.
HARLOW: I am hesitant to underestimate Elon Musk just because of what he has done, so we'll see. But right now, it doesn't look good.
However, an interesting point about that. Forty-four billion dollars -- it wasn't all his money. There are --
SHANKMAN: No.
HARLOW: -- a lot of lenders here. And as I understand it, the debt to finance this is backed up by Tesla.
SHANKMAN: Yes.
HARLOW: So Tesla could take an even bigger hit if this goes under? SHANKMAN: Well, his shares, yes -- his shares in Tesla. I mean, he's already sold an additional $3 billion. There's more coming. So yes, it -- everything -- when everything is linked that closely -- I wouldn't want to invest in something linked that closely to other things and to him not being quiet. Because again, it stops being about the company and it starts being about him. And you can't continually have a good company when it's only about one person, regardless of whether they're good or bad.
Something -- he could get hit by a bus, right? It doesn't matter. It has to diversify now.
HARLOW: Let's hope not.
SHANKMAN: Right -- and he's not.
HARLOW: Should we talk about boomerang CEOs?
LEMON: Boomerang meaning Bob Iger -- the Bob Iger --
SHANKMAN: (INAUDIBLE).
LEMON: Is that what they're called now -- boomerang CEOs?
SHANKMAN: Boomerang CEOs.
HARLOW: That's what our producer --
SHANKMAN: Like a helicopter (INAUDIBLE).
LEMON: Shake it on back.
HARLOW: That's what our smart producers told us this morning. Well, yes, the guy is coming back. So, Iger at Disney, then it was Steve Jobs, Howard Schultz at Starbucks. There's -- we have more on the list.
LEMON: Yes.
HARLOW: Are they usually successful when they come back?
SHANKMAN: It depends. I mean, Steve Jobs is obviously a standup story, right? He came back and took Apple from the brink of bankruptcy to what it is today.
LEMON: Yes.
SHANKMAN: But it depends on why they're doing it. I think in Disney's case, they didn't have a choice, right? This was what -- the first thing that he did was put control back into the creatives, right, and that was taken away from them and that was a problem. It clearly hurt them, right? So putting control back into the creatives.
Disney is a creative company. At the end of the day, the things they make are creative. And you give the control back to the creatives. I think that, if nothing else, will help tremendously. LEMON: So -- but listen. I mean, somebody's smart somewhere because on Monday Disney stock rose --
SHANKMAN: Of course.
LEMON: -- nine percent. But it was down roughly 36 percent of its value --
SHANKMAN: Yes.
LEMON: -- this year. So --
[07:45:00]
SHANKMAN: So -- and look, everything is, right? I wouldn't blame it entirely on Disney. The entire market's down. It's not all --
LEMON: It's not all Chapek?
SHANKMAN: No.
So over time, I think what we're going to see is -- nine percent is a nice bump, right, and I think investors are patiently cautiously confident.
LEMON: It speaks about confidence -- right, right, right.
SHANKMAN: It's a confidence bump, yes -- a confidence bump. So let's see what happens. And if we start looking at -- I mean, you're going to take nine to 12 months, 24 months. You're not going to have a new "Toy Story" next week --
LEMON: Yes.
SHANKMAN: -- right? So let's give it a little time.
LEMON: Can I ask you something? What does it take, I mean, for a board to do something like this? Is this -- I mean -- because what I'm hearing --
HARLOW: You mean to oust Iger?
LEMON: To oust Chapek and then bring back --
HARLOW: Oh, sorry.
LEMON: -- the other guy --
HARLOW: That was Chapek -- yes.
LEMON: -- is kind of a --
SHANKMAN: It gets the -- it's a -- it's a frustration panel, right? You have one or two board members -- after the meeting, they're walking out and one goes this is B.S. This is ridiculous. And the other one goes yeah, but what can we do? Well, we can do something. Let's -- come here. Let's talk about -- and all of a sudden, it spreads, right?
LEMON: Yes.
SHANKMAN: And these decisions -- you might say they reach really deeply but I guarantee you this was probably 12 hours.
LEMON: Yes.
SHANKMAN: Twelve hours from start to finish.
LEMON: Real quick.
SHANKMAN: Yes. Because they -- it spreads like wildfire. They all start talking to each other. All of a sudden, you have a conference call. They're back in the -- they're back in the conference room. Twelve hours later -- OK, let's just do this.
LEMON: Do you think Chapek knew?
SHANKMAN: I think he had an idea. You can't -- you can't do this and not have an idea.
LEMON: OK.
SHANKMAN: I think that -- but look, again, he's walking away with quite the package.
LEMON: Yes.
SHANKMAN: He's not too worried.
LEMON: That's fine. That's what my next question is. So this is all about palace intrigue. These guys are all rich. They're going to be fine.
SHANKMAN: Exactly.
LEMON: What does this mean for the average person as it relates to Disney -- you know, the theme park? Maybe they have it in their portfolio. I don't know. What does it mean?
SHANKMAN: On parks --
HARLOW: Also, the employees of Disney.
SHANKMAN: Yes.
LEMON: Right, right.
SHANKMAN: Again, I don't think -- unlike Musk walking into Twitter and axing 75 percent of the staff, I don't think the average employee at Disney is going to feel this. I don't think the theme park people are going to feel this. I don't think the animators are going to feel this.
I think that what's going to happen is he's going to say OK, let's see what's going on. Let's see what's working and what's not. And over the next six to 12 months we'll start to see a difference. But it's not going to happen tomorrow. They're going to have a good Christmas. Nothing like that.
LEMON: What are you looking forward to eating today?
SHANKMAN: I'm going to my parent's house with my daughter. And my mom makes a pumpkin bread -- oh, for the past 20 years.
HARLOW: Is Waffle coming?
LEMON: Oh my God. It's -- it's what I was going to say.
SHANKMAN: We'll bring Waffle some pumpkin bread. But no, Waffle is not -- Waffle is staying home.
LEMON: Why not?
SHANKMAN: Because he ate a steak off my table two nights ago.
LEMON: Waffle -- bring a crate or --
HARLOW: No one puts Waffle in the corner.
SHANKMAN: My parents have a cat named Broadway and Broadway and Waffle do not get along.
HARLOW: Oh my God -- your life, Peter.
LEMON: Poor Waffle.
HARLOW: Thank you. Happy Thanksgiving.
LEMON: Sorry, Waffle.
SHANKMAN: Happy Thanksgiving.
LEMON: Happy Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving to Waffle as well.
So, a significant turn in the criminal investigation of Donald Trump's role in the Capitol attack. Why the Justice Department may soon be talking to the former vice president, Mike Pence.
HARLOW: And as we celebrate Thanksgiving today, let's just all remember and remind our kids that nearly 800 million people around the world are struggling with hunger. Next, we'll be joined by Lauren Bush Lauren on her mission to feed the world.
LEMON: That's probably one of my favorite names -- Lauren Bush Lauren.
HARLOW: She's the best.
Thank you, Peter. That was so much fun.
(COMMERCIAL) [07:51:58]
HARLOW: As people across the country are getting ready to break bread and give thanks this Thanksgiving with their loved ones, we have to remember those that don't have. Nearly 800 million people around the world are struggling with hunger.
Lauren Bush Lauren, granddaughter to President George H.W. Bush and first lady Barbara Bush, has been on a mission to feed them for years. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAUREN BUSH LAUREN, FOUNDER, FEED (voice-over): I really see the power of a meal as more than just that singular meal. It's showing a kid you care about them. It's giving them the strength they need and the nutrition they need, and the energy and the life force they need to go forth in the world and live their best life.
HARLOW: She's a reminder of all that is good in this world and how we can help. We're really happy to have the founder of FEED and a good friend, Lauren Bush Lauren, here. Thanks for coming --
LAUREN: Thank you, Poppy. Thank you, all.
HARLOW: -- on the program.
LAUREN: Appreciate.
LEMON: Thank you, Lauren. So good to see you.
HARLOW: Good morning.
LEMON: Yes.
HARLOW: You call this a movement --
LAUREN: Yes.
HARLOW: -- and now you're 15 years in. You just celebrated 15 years of FEED and the need is greater than ever.
LAUREN: Unfortunately, yes.
HARLOW: Where are we now?
LAUREN: So, I mean, really, because of the pandemic, because of climate change, because of war, the issue of hunger, which in years prior was actually trending better every year -- this is globally and in the U.S. -- it's gotten worse. So, FEED -- yes, 15 years in. I feel like more motivated than ever to help and there's obviously many ways to do that in your backyard, but also around the globe. But it is one of those really said things where, again, hunger was trending better and now it's gotten much, much worse.
HARLOW: Yes. KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: And I think what stood out to me when I was looking at all of this and just the scope of what you've done is that this is a solvable problem.
LAUREN: Yes.
COLLINS: That there is an end to this, potentially, but the question is just are people willing to do what it takes to get there?
LAUREN: It is. I mean, it's obviously a question of disparity and access, but we know how to solve hunger. We know what it -- what people need -- what we need as humans. We need food. And it's really a social justice issue in my opinion, and one of the kind of biggest ones of our time that often goes overlooked.
I mean, statistics are just massive and overwhelming even here in the U.S. Thirty-four million families or people are food insecure. Nine million children live in households that are food insecure.
HARLOW: In the U.S. --
LAUREN: In the U.S.
HARLOW: -- right now.
LAUREN: Right now. Yes, it can be this massive overwhelming problem. So in setting out to start FEED, I really wanted to offer, yes, one way to engage with that problem of hunger and give back in a really tangible and meaningful way.
COLLINS: Yes, and --
LEMON: I'm glad you jumped in -- I'm sorry. But I'm glad you jumped in and said right now in the U.S.
LAUREN: Yes.
LEMON: Because we think about it like, right -- we tend to think about it as something outside of the --
COLLINS: Yes.
LEMON: -- outside of the U.S.
But I want to ask you, you combine fashion -- in order to bring light to this you combine it with fashion.
LAUREN: Yes.
LEMON: I think it's a lesson for everyone. You can combine it with journalism.
HARLOW: Yes.
LEMON: You can combine it if you're --
LAUREN: Totally.
LEMON: -- in finance, if you're in retail. Whatever it is that you do, you can do something --
HARLOW: And a company -- a for-profit company.
LEMON: Yes.
HARLOW: It doesn't all have to be in NGOs and non-profits.
LAUREN: I know. I think there's so many ways to tackle world issues. And for me, I love design and entrepreneurship and fashion, so it's such a natural fit in retrospect to start a company that gives back.
[07:55:07]
So every product we make and sell, there's a donation built in to help feed kids in school. And we really believe that school feeding is like one of those amazing interventions that gets kids not only a guaranteed meal a day but it gets them to go to school and stay in school longer. And with that education, hopefully, have a better chance of breaking out of the poverty cycle that unfortunately so many kids are born into.
COLLINS: Yes, and nothing put hunger in the U.S. on display better than the pandemic --
LAUREN: Yes.
COLLINS: -- when you saw those food lines of people -- something that really struck the White House, I know. It was a big aspect of it.
HARLOW: Of the pandemic.
LAUREN: Yes, right? We all were -- not all, but many of us were at home and watching the news, and the news did a wonderful job in covering the realities that so many Americans were in mile-long lines in their car waiting for just a box of food to take home.
And often, I think the misnomer here is many Americans are working many jobs and it's just hard to make ends meet, especially now. And they just rely --
HARLOW: (INAUDIBLE).
LAUREN: -- with inflation -- with, you know, everything happening around the globe. So it's not that they constantly rely on those services but perhaps it's sort of -- you know, the paycheck cycle and they do need those local services, which are purely donation-based, volunteer-driven, amazing local organizations.
HARLOW: Before you go, for people who don't know, can you just quickly take our viewers back to your first trip overseas for this? It was like 15 years ago. You go to Guatemala.
LAUREN: Yes. HARLOW: This is before you were a mother yourself.
LAUREN: Yes.
HARLOW: And you talk about seeing children with the life from their eyes being gone, and that ignited this whole movement that you've started.
LAUREN: It did, yes. I mean, for me, my journey started when I was a student in college and had that amazing opportunity to travel with the U.N. World Food Program. So, FEED helps fund the sort of best-in-class amazing non-profit partners who are working around the globe as well as here in the U.S. to provide those school meals.
And for me, it was that exposure. We went to a therapeutic feeding center where children were sort of on the verge of starvation. And these kids just literally for lack of something as simple as food were kind of like lifeless and lacked that energy and vitality that you're expecting with kids. And it just -- it just -- like, there's like no way to properly describe that.
And it really is what set me on my journey because the next stop after that therapeutic feeding center where we spent the afternoon was a school. And there, kids were vibrant and curious, and running around and kind of rowdy and rambunctious. And they were there primarily because they were getting a school meal. So, same community less than a mile apart.
And it was just the aha moment of like oh my gosh, school meals. Like, that's such a simple intervention to help get kids not only that guaranteed meal but then, again, the education.
LEMON: We're sorry that you had to witness that but we're glad it was you because you did something about it.
LAUREN: Thank you.
LEMON: Thank you. It's so great.
HARLOW: Thank you, Lauren.
LAUREN: Thank you, all.
HARLOW: Lauren Bush Lauren, founder of FEED.
LAUREN: Happy Thanksgiving.
HARLOW: Thank you so much. Happy Thanksgiving.
LEMON: Happy Thanksgiving.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Good Thursday morning. You know what day it is, right?
You're around the kitchen. You're preparing. You're sitting on the couch getting ready for football. You're just waking up. We're so happy that you could join us this Thanksgiving.
HARLOW: Happy Thanksgiving.
LEMON: Happy Thanksgiving.
HARLOW: I'm grateful for you.
LEMON: You as well.
We had some fun last night. We're going to tell you about it.
HARLOW: And grateful for Miss Kaitlan who has a well-deserved day off.
LEMON: She has a day off --
HARLOW: We did have fun last night -- all of us.
LEMON: -- planned. We had all of us. But her day off as planned.
But we've got to get to some details that are emerging about that mass shooting at Virginia Walmart. A man identified as an overnight team leader opened fire on employees killing six before turning the gun on himself. Investigators are trying to determine why he did it.
HARLOW: Also, the Justice Department asking former Vice President Mike Pence to testify in its criminal investigation of Donald Trump. And the big question this morning is will Pence cooperate and will Trump let him?
LEMON: And there is another major upset to report at the World Cup just as the U.S. prepares to take on England tomorrow. Coming up, we're going to talk to U.S. Women's World Cup champion, Briana Scurry.
HARLOW: And Shaquille O'Neal --
LEMON: Shaq.
HARLOW: -- is on the program talking about a new documentary about his life and his path to the NBA. We will hear Don's great interview with the legend himself.
LEMON: But first, coworkers say the Walmart shooting suspect exhibited odd and sometimes threatening behavior, but they never could have imagined something like this could happen. He killed six people before taking his own life. And this morning, we are hearing from people who witnessed the horror to bring us their stories.
CNN's Dianne Gallagher live for us in Chesapeake, Virginia this morning. Hello to you.
DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Don.
Look, there are state and federal authorities out here on-scene this morning. Police told me today that they're still working to determine a motive.
