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Quest Means Business

Strong Tech Earnings Boost Investor Confidence; U.S. Senate Democrats Propose Billionaire's Income Tax; Hertz To Make Its Future Tesla Fleet Available To Uber; Update On "Rust" Investigation; Enes Kanter's Shoes Protest Uyghur Treatment; Dash To The Bell. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired October 27, 2021 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:25]

PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: All right, we could see new records on the NASDAQ and the S&P this hour. The Dow was the only major index in

the red right now. Those are the markets and these are the main events.

As Big Tech piles up the profits, U.S. Democrats are planning a billionaire tax.

Uber hails down a big order from Hertz. You'll hear from the Chief Executives of both companies.

And a basketball star makes a plea to Nike's CEO over human rights in China.

Live from the CNN Center in Atlanta, it is Wednesday, the 27th of October. I'm Paula Newton and this is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.

Good evening. Tonight, strong tech earnings are giving the NASDAQ its chance to close in record territory. Now, the Dow has turned negative, but

that's after three consecutive record closes, remember and the S&P has been down most of the day, but take a look at there, it could still close at a

record.

It has been climbing in the last hour toward that new one, only the NASDAQ has been up all day. It is about I'd say 30 points short of a record close.

Obviously, that exuberance over tech taking hold.

Microsoft and Google have been up big all day on earnings beats after yesterday's closing bell. Microsoft -- get this -- posted its highest

quarterly revenue growth since 2014.

The two combined for $110 billion in revenue, up 33 percent year-over-year.

Paul La Monica is here. I'm not even sure how many stats I can rifle off. It is just so impressive. The earnings have been nothing but astounding.

And plenty of analysts -- this is what surprises me, Paul, plenty of analysts saying that look, this profit party is not over.

PAUL LA MONICA, CNN BUSINESS REPORTER: No, I think particularly when you look at those Big Tech companies that you mentioned, Paula, Microsoft has a

lot of momentum with its Cloud business that is doing extremely well. Fifty percent of revenue growth year-over-year. Google, Alphabet also still

dominates search YouTube revenue surging as well. It wasn't as strong as maybe some analysts had hoped for, but I think investors are brushing those

concerns aside.

You've got Alphabet now trading at an all-time high and its stock is now valued at nearly $2 trillion. So, it's on the precipice of joining Apple

and Microsoft in that exclusive club of forget about one trillion dollars, sorry, Elon Musk, $2 trillion. That's what's pretty impressive.

NEWTON: Yes, yesterday's milestone. Yes. He has got a new one to try and cross there, and the other thing that you know, is kind of interesting

here. This isn't just tech when you look at earnings, earnings margins held up at companies like McDonald's and Coke, and that was despite the labor

and supply chain issues.

LA MONICA: Exactly. McDonald's and Coca-Cola both reporting sales at top forecasts and stronger profits as well. And as you aptly note, Paula, there

are legitimate worries for all consumer companies and retailers about the supply chain problems that we've been hearing about pretty much nonstop in

the news for the past few weeks.

But what is interesting with both Coca-Cola and McDonald's, we saw this from Kraft-Heinz as well today in their earnings, companies seem to have

enough power to raise prices and consumers aren't necessarily balking at that, so you have a healthier consumer that is maybe not willing or happy

to pay higher prices, but they are doing it for some of these staple products like soda, like burgers at McDonald's, and catsup from Kraft-

Heinz. So, that is a good -- you know, good news for the profit margins of these companies even as they face higher costs due to shipping and labor as

well because remember, people are getting more money in their paychecks, too. We're definitely seeing that in the job market.

NEWTON: Yes, and a lingering story there is margins held up this quarter, we will see how much of an inflationary effect all of this will have. Paul,

thanks for getting us started here today.

Meantime, soaring tech stocks have helped mint a lot of new billionaires, as Paul was just talking about, with a lot of power.

Now, some U.S. lawmakers are proposing a new way to tax those gains, the so-called billionaires income tax would apply to people with at least a

billion dollars in assets. It's a select club, let me tell you, and a few other high earners. It would charge a capital gains tax or allow a

deduction on tradable assets like stocks whether or not they are sold and that is the key difference. It would allow some loopholes to help people

who founded a successful company to keep control of it.

Now, American billionaire investor, Ray Dalio told our own Richard Quest at the Future Investment Initiative Conference in Riyadh that he was in fact

willing to pay any amount in taxes, if it was spent productively. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAY DALIO, CO-CHAIRMAN, BRIDGEWATER ASSOCIATES: I would support anything that is going to have the effect of being spent on increasing creating

equal opportunity and greater productivity.

My concern about things has to do with the productivity. If we -- if there is a means by which that there is money that is just giving away, that

won't be sustainable. So, if it raises productivity and creates equal opportunity that we can't just talk about the raising of money, we have to

talk about the usage of money and how that is employed.

So, that's part of that picture. But yes, if it accomplishes those things, I would support it. I'm not sure that it does.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Ray Dalio there weighing in an on age-old debate, right?

Catherine Rampell, CNN economics commentator and "Washington Post" columnist is here. That is an age-old debate, Catherine. By the way, nice

to see you -- and you've got the debate also on the Hill, right?

Democrats in Congress on two sides of that billionaire's tax, Senator Elizabeth Warren saying it shouldn't be done and it can be done. But Joe

Manchin, even just in the last few hours, the senator holdout, remember, he is a centrist. He says he doesn't like the fact that you're targeting

billionaires. I don't know why, but that's what he is saying.

What's your take Catherine? Do you think at this point, does it have any chance of passing and would it even be effective?

CATHERINE RAMPELL, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think certainly, most Americans would agree that billionaires can afford to pay more in taxes.

The real question is, will this be an effective way to get more money out of them -- an effective, fair, and constitutional way for that matter.

And there are a number of lingering questions for this particular measure. One, of course, as I just hinted at is would the Supreme Court hold it up

as constitutional? There is some ambiguity there and given the makeup of this Supreme Court, I wouldn't necessarily bet on it, but there is also the

question of how would it be administered?

What happens if, for example, a billionaire's assets go down in value from one year to another? Would you market to market and essentially, cut a big

check to Elon Musk or Mark Zuckerberg or various other people? What do you do about assets that are really hard to value like an art collection or a

closely held business?

So there are a lot of reasons why administratively, this may not be the most workable proposal as opposed to something like a more straightforward

income tax or repealing the stepped-up basis so that these kinds of assets are taxed at death. There are other measures that I think would be more

likely to be effective, it is just Democrats seem to have ruled them out already.

NEWTON: Yes, and let's get to it. We can get to though to the minimum corporate tax in a second, but before, if we go back to this issue of the

billionaires, you know, Ray, Dalio was really bringing up an age-old debate there, right? Elon Musk has echoed this as well, saying, look, we,

entrepreneurs, we know how to allocate capital. I don't want to give any money to the government, because I don't believe they can do a good job of

spending it.

And then the other issue will put constitutionality aside for a minute, but you know, at this point in time, you know, there are going to be a battery

of lawyers, accountants, even the U.S. Chamber of Commerce saying they are against this.

If you want to get to actually taxing even billionaires, do you think a year from now, we're going to see any difference?

RAMPELL: I don't know how optimistic to be about all of that to be honest. I think, no matter what the I.R.S. is pretty much always outgunned. Because

if you are a billionaire, you have the armies of tax attorneys and accountants at your disposal, right?

And if you have a tax that's put together in a way that again, it has some constitutionality problems may have some other some provisions -- some

aspects to it that are easy to be gamed. I do worry that the billionaires in question may not end up paying anything.

I mean, as to Ray Dalio, his point about well, he doesn't want to, you know, pay money -- pay money to the government because he doesn't like how

it's being used. Well, you know, unfortunately, none of us have that option. We live in a society. Taxes are the price we pay for living in

civilization.

You can vote and try to change the policies that, you know, affect how your tax dollars are spent, but you don't have the option, I'm just saying. I'm

not going to participate, that's just not how a civilized society works, unfortunately.

[15:10:08]

Well, in my view, fortunately -- but unfortunately for someone like Ray Dalio.

NEWTON: Yes. And that's been the crux of the matter all the time, right? Is that those people at the top are not paying their fair share. And

famously, Warren Buffett made the point, right, his secretary had a higher tax bracket than he does.

Let's get though, to that minimum corporate tax, okay. It's been gaining traction globally. I think it is well over 130 countries and counting. So,

that was going to be at about 15 percent. Is there not a good argument that this can be done -- it should be done, and when you even start to measure

the level of cash buybacks right now, share buybacks with these companies, does that not make an argument that look, they could start to generate

revenue, not just in the United States, but around the world if they could actually make that 15 percent stick?

RAMPELL: So to clarify, there are two separate 15 percent corporate minimum tax issues on the table here. One is the negotiation that the

Treasury Secretary, Janet Yellen came to with other developed countries. The other is a proposal that's within this or that's on the table, I should

say within this reconciliation bill that has to do with an alternative minimum tax system that says, you know, if you're a company that has taken

a whole lot of deductions and credits, and as a result, you're not paying any tax revenue to the Federal government, we're going to calculate your

tax liabilities a different way.

So they are -- they are related proposals, but they're different, and there has been a lot of conflation between the two that I think has confused the

issue. The question with the proposal that Democrats are considering right now is, this is sort of an almost like a revival of an alternative minimum

tax that existed before 2017. It's just calculated a little bit differently and there are a lot of details that we still don't know yet.

For example, the lawmakers who are putting forward this proposal say, well, we would still allow tax credits for R&D, for green energy, for affordable

housing, and other things we think are valuable. If so, you still may end up having some of these enormous corporations paying zero dollars in taxes.

It really depends on how the bill is written.

So we don't know in effect what this proposal would look like yet. But yes, I could imagine this having a lot of political support, given that there

are these high profile companies that haven't been paying taxes.

NEWTON: Yes, and as you so rightly note, so much of it caught up really in the debate on Capitol Hill right now and where this is going to go down.

Catherine, I'll be willing to bet, you won't bet on whether or not we'll get either of these passed in the next few weeks.

RAMPELL: It depends. It depends. From hour to hour, the odds change, I think.

NEWTON: So good reason to check back with CNN, because I know they are following this very closely on Capitol Hill, as are you, Catherine. Thanks

so much, as always, appreciate it.

Now, the world's richest man -- yes, he got a little bit richer today -- Elon Musk at Tesla is a much richer man now and that's why his stock now up

one and a half percent.

Shares rise again after Hertz announced its big car order is looping in Uber as well. Tesla stocks, you see, they are more than 20 percent up over

the last week. As we reported a couple of days ago, Hertz has announced an order of 100,000 Teslas for its rental car fleet. Now, we're learning that

Uber drivers will have access to half of those cars by 2023. It's an interesting concept.

The Chief Executives of both Hertz and Uber spoke with Julia Chatterley on "First Move" this morning, They said the deal was good for both companies

for drivers, and of course for the planet. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK FIELDS, INTERIM CEO, HERTZ: Listen, there are benefits on both sides for each company and that is so key for any partnership and we love this

exclusive partnership with Uber and Dara's team. But there's equal benefits obviously, from a driver standpoint, from a company standpoint, from Uber's

standpoint, and from Hertz's standpoint in terms of it allows us to use our fleet utilization more.

It's good economics for us, and it positions as well, ultimately for an autonomous world.

JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN BUSINESS ANCHOR, FIRST MOVE: I think it's so important that we understand --

DARA KHOSROWSHAHI, CEO, UBER: Julia --

CHATTERLEY: Yes, come in, Dara, please.

KHOSROWSHAHI: If -- anytime, listen, renting a car on a weekly basis is always going to be more expensive than a single car. It's less of a

commitment.

The rental with Hertz, the program with Hertz actually includes insurance. It includes maintenance.

So for us, it's also a really easy way for a driver to try out driving, maybe try out a Tesla, see what it's like, what are the bonuses in terms of

the dollars that you're bringing in worthwhile. Is it easy to get charged up et cetera?

One of the biggest bridges that we see in terms of people making the jump to electric vehicles is it is a big jump. What's going to be like? So this

is an open doorway for our driver community to try it and I think, you know, if you've been in a Tesla, I have, once you try it, you want to buy

it, and that's what this is all about.

[15:15:16]

CHATTERLEY: Hey, is that a problem, though, Mark. If you it and then you want to buy it, assuming that you're going to rent this thing on a long

term basis, then the economics of leasing, come back into play surely?

FIELDS: Well, you know, we're in the business of renting vehicles at the end of its life, we sell them. But I think, you know, Dara makes a really

important point, when you think of it from a driver's perspective, as you mentioned, this includes basic service, it includes insurance. And you

know, as the other piece of this is also, you know, the higher order piece of trying to make sure that we accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles

across the globe, and you have many products coming -- electric vehicle products coming in the marketplace, not only from Tesla.

And as Dara mentioned, when you get in one, and when you drive one, you're three times more likely to buy one. So I think that'll be good for our

respective businesses, but importantly, I think it would be good for the planet.

CHATTERLEY: And Dara, you'd be giving away secrets if you told me how many drivers you currently have in the United States, but how confident are you

-- but feel free to tell me if you want to -- how confident are you that you have 50,000 drivers in the United States that will be using these cars

when all are available in 2023?

KHOSROWSHAHI: Oh, we're quite confident. We actually have other electric cars on the network, and consistently, we see significant demand for these

kinds of cars.

I think, listen, people want to help. I've always said that climate change is a team sports, and our drivers want help.

So we do think that based on the demand that we've seen for electric vehicles on our network, and Tesla, obviously is a great brand. It's a

great product. I think if we put -- make Teslas available, there will be plenty of takers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Yes, fascinating conversation there, thanks to Julia Chatterley.

And to make a point, it's not all green for tech. Trading platform, Robinhood missed widely on revenue and earnings after the bell yesterday.

It's down 10 percent today. To note, that is below its IPO price of $38.00 a share. Anna Stewart tells us more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: It had a blockbuster start to the year and IPO'ed just three months ago. But Tuesday, Robinhood's share price fell

below its listing price following a dismal earnings report and a worrying outlook.

Compared to the second quarter, monthly active users were down 11 percent. Average revenue per user was down around 40 percent and all that was

largely driven by a sharp drop in crypto trading down 78 percent.

The company expects many of the headwinds that impacted the third quarter to persist into the fourth, which will be disappointing for investors. But

the CFO says the focus right now isn't on profitability. He says it's about investing in the future in their teams, their services, and their products.

And one product they're excited about launching is a crypto wallet, which it says it already has a waitlist for of one million users and will be

launched in full in the first quarter of next year.

The most voted for question, though from investors on the earnings call was whether or not Robinhood will add new coins to its platform such as Shiba

Inu, to which the CEO said the regulatory environment is uncertain and evolving, so there are no plans to add new coins right now.

Anna Stewart, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Still ahead here on QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, political and economic turmoil in Sudan days after a military takeover. As protests continue,

citizens ask what could possibly be next?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:21:26]

NEWTON: Calls for civil disobedience are growing louder in Sudan, that's days after a military takeover. As demonstrations continue after Monday's

coup. Now, oil workers and doctors are joining a nationwide strike. Meantime, international pressure is building.

The African Union says it is suspending Sudan's membership, and the World Bank has paused its aid operations there. CNN's Nima Elbagir has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Paula, there had been some small glimmer of hope when Sudan announced it would be allowing

international flights to land at its airport in Khartoum.

There also had been a sense that perhaps the Generals were stepping back from the precipice when they announced that the Prime Minister Abdalla

Hamdok and his wife would be allowed to return to their home. But what we're hearing from the ground, what we're finally beginning to see in these

videos that we're showing our audience from on the ground is that the standoff between pro-democracy protesters and the military in Sudan

continues.

In these videos, we see some small instances of violence, but what we're hearing from those on the ground who are attempting to circumnavigate the

obstructions placed on communication and the internet by Sudan's Generals is that it is far, far worse.

There have been new calls for continuation of the civil disobedience strikes and new calls for further demonstrations as the African Union, the

regional body finally calls what's happening in Sudan a coup and the World Bank says it will withhold millions in promised assistance.

So really, a sense that this impasse continues and a sense that this impasse could get far worse before we see it getting better -- Paula.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Our thanks to Nima there. Now, Italian officials say two people are dead and one is missing after heavy rains and flash flooding struck the

island of Sicily, and the extreme rainfall flooded hundreds of homes turning roads into streams and country sides into lakes.

The Mayor of Catania says the city got a year's worth of rain in just two days. Rescuers there have already carried out hundreds of rescue

operations. The region is under a state of emergency with more severe weather in the forecast.

Now, business leaders say climate change is already forcing them to make changes and they are calling on governments to do the same. A new survey by

the U.N. Global Compact and Accenture spoke to 1,200 CEOs worldwide. Nearly half of them said they see supply chain interruptions due to extreme

weather as a top risk, 71 percent say they are actively working to develop a net zero emissions target for their company.

And yet this is key here, only two percent of them have had a formal target validated by an independent group of scientific advisors. And this comes of

course, just days before the COP 26 meeting in Glasgow, Scotland.

At that meeting, world leaders are set to explain how they plan to turn their priorities into reality.

Sanda Ojiambo is the CEO and Executive Director of the United Nations Global Compact which conducted the survey, and thanks so much for being

with us on what are really some important days in the lead up to this Summit.

Let's get to these key findings, and what is the call to action coming from these global companies?

SANDA OJIAMBO, CEO AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, UNITED NATIONS GLOBAL COMPACT: Thanks. Thank you so much for having me at this really important time

before we go into the COP 26.

Our survey looked at close to 1,000 leaders, actually 1,200 leaders, and the key call to action here really is that private sector is asking for

clear policy guidance from policymakers. They want more, they want to raise their ambition. They want to stick to these science based targets and the

1.5 degree trajectory.

So, they are calling for increased cooperation. They are calling for clear policy guidance. And they're really calling for a united front, you know,

to address the climate crisis as we go into COP.

The world is at a very important tipping point in terms of climate, and I think it is really time for inflection and for recommitment to this 1.5

degree trajectory.

[15:25:27]

NEWTON: And that is coming, of course, from private companies. These are private companies that, as you know, Sanda, have plenty of cash on hand. We

talk about it all the time on this show. Why is it necessary that governments lead? Now, some might conclude that they're looking -- these

companies are looking for government subsidies or handouts, or is it just that they are looking for a level playing field and policy guidance?

OJIAMBO: I think it is about that level playing field. You know, when the Paris Agreement was signed, there was what was called commitments towards

nationally determined contributions, and these are truly driven forward by governments.

So we need governments to commit to these NDCs, as we call them, and then we need private sector to then step up and collaboratively work towards

these national targets. For private sector, I think our clear call to action is a commitment needed to be grounded in science, and hence why we

advocate and co-founded for, co-founded the science based targets initiative, the calls for any targets to be scientifically validated, that

we are truly able to track progress from here until all of the milestones that we've set for the future.

So it is important, not just for commitments, but for those commitments to be grounded in science and to be able to, you know, align with the

timelines that have been set.

NEWTON: Yes, understanding that again, only two percent had those grounded in any kind of scientific evidence.

In terms of tracking though what business leaders and companies importantly, can do, is there any sense that we should be moving towards

that in the coming months and years?

OJIAMBO: I think tracking is important, and that's why frameworks such as the Paris Agreement, setting these nationally determined contributions. And

of course, the science based targets are important. It's about accountability.

Look, we are at the cusp of an existential crisis, and what matters now is accountability. We need that long term vision that pushes us to 2030 and

2050. But we also need to be sure that we're taking credible short-term actions that lead us to the goals.

So this is truly not a time for greenwashing. It is truly a time for, as I say, short term actions that are scientifically determined that will lead

the private sector to push forward on their commitment.

NEWTON: And before we let you go, Sanda, you know, one thing that stood out for me in this report was the issue of how climate change was affecting

companies already. You know, half of them saying they're seeing it, you know, so much sooner that they thought this was something that they had

until you know, 2025 or 2030 to deal with.

They are dealing with it right now. I mean, we show it all the time in the United States and Europe, at this hour, they are dealing with extreme

weather.

What do you think companies are doing? And how much do you think it is impacting them day in and day out?

OJIAMBO: That is truly an important factor. Because, you know, in this discourse, we do talk about 2030 and 2050. But our CEOs did say that they

are feeling the impact of the climate crisis right now.

Many of them have experienced disruptions in their supply chains. And as you said, between floods and wildfires and other, you know, climate crises,

life and business is being interrupted.

So, you know, CEOs are taking urgent action around setting in place early warning systems, trying to future proof their business, and their business

resiliency. But as the survey shows certainly, there are a lot more that needs to be done.

I think overall, the message here would be the climate crisis is one that really requires, you know, multi-stakeholder collaboration. Private sector

cannot do this alone. We need government to set the enabling environment to hold the accountability around nationally determined contributions, and

certainly, that commitment to the 1.5 degree trajectory.

And I think COP -- the COP 26 presents that unique moment to galvanize us globally around how we can provide solutions for this crisis.

NEWTON: Sanda, I thank you for articulating all of that so well as we, you know, lean on governments and corporations in the coming days. Appreciate

it.

OJIAMBO: Thank you.

NEWTON: Now still ahead here in QMB, new details about the tragic shooting on a movie set. Authorities not ruling out criminal charges.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:30:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

NEWTON (voice-over): Now to the tragic movie set shooting last week involving actor Alec Baldwin. A New Mexico sheriff says investigators

believe the projectile that killed a cinematographer and injured a director was indeed a suspected live round and that there could have been other live

rounds on the set.

Authorities also say no one has been ruled out for criminal charges in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: The man who pulled the trigger and, as a producer on the movie, does Alec Baldwin himself face the potential of criminal charges?

MARY CARMACK-ALTWIES, FIRST JUDICIAL DISTRICT ATTORNEY: All options are on the table at this point. I'm not commenting on charges, whether they will

be filed or not. Or on whom. No one has been ruled out at this point.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Again, they're investigating the death of Halyna Hutchins.

Also today, two crew members told CNN that the lead armorer on the set of the film mishandled weapons on a previous movie project. Lucy Kafanov is in

Santa Fe with the latest.

You've been following all of this. I know a just-released search warrant reveals new details of how guns were handled on the set.

What more are we learning?

LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Paula. We know from this press conference and from court documents that at least three people

handled the gun that was used in that accidental shooting.

They are Alec Baldwin, the actor who was rehearsing with the weapon when it went off, killing Halyna Hutchins; they were also Hannah Gutierrez, the

head armorer, the person in charge of prop guns on movie sets; and assistant director Dave Halls, who, according to previous court documents,

handed the gun to Baldwin, shouting "cold gun," which should have meant that it was safe.

Now this newly released search warrant, in it, Halls acknowledges to investigators he actually did not check all of the rounds loaded in that

weapon prior to the lethal shooting. I'm going to read you what the detective wrote in this search warrant.

She wrote, quote, "During an interview with Dave Halls, when [detective] asked David, about the safety protocol on set in regard to firearms, he

advised, quote, 'I checked the barrel for obstructions. Most of the time, there's no live fire.'

"'She [Hannah] opens the hatch and spins the drum and I say "cold gun" on set.' David advised when Hannah showed him the firearm before continuing

rehearsal, he could only remember seeing three rounds.

[15:35:00]

"He said he should have checked all of them but didn't and couldn't recall whether she spun the drum."

The detective also interviewed the armorer, Gutierrez, who told the detective, on the day of the incident, she actually checked for, quote,

"dummies," meaning blank bullets, and ensured they were not hot rounds, meaning live real bullets.

When asked about live ammo on set, Hannah responded, "No live ammo is ever kept on set."

Now in today's press conference as you alluded to, the sheriff did reveal that investigators extracted a live round, which he believes is what killed

Hutchins. That's up -- in for an FBI lab for additional investigation. They recovered it from the shoulder of the director of the film, Joel Souza, who

is recovering from his injuries.

And as I said, they sent it off to a crime lab with the FBI in Quantico, Virginia, for analysis. So a lot of questions about whether live bullets

were on set and, if so, how and why they got there. This is very much against protocol in the industry.

The other point you referenced, the new reporting about previous concerns about Hannah Gutierrez's conduct on another movie she worked on, this was a

film with actor Nicolas Cage, called "The Old Way."

And two sources told CNN that they felt she mishandled weapons on that production. In fact, the key grip on "The Old Way" told CNN that she

handled them in a reckless manner. He even urged the assistant director on that production to fire her.

He said, quote, "There's a universal way to handle weapons on set and immediately red flags went up when I worked with Hannah. That's why I asked

for her dismissal."

Again, no charges have been filed. Authorities are continuing to interview witnesses. We know Mr. Baldwin himself was interviewed multiple times. We

know that both Hannah Gutierrez, Dave Halls and Baldwin and everyone in the production are cooperating with the investigation.

It's going to be quite a while before we have the answers we're looking for.

NEWTON: Lucy, thanks for the latest there. Appreciate it.

Now a U.S. basketball star is stepping up his full-court press on China. Enes Kanter of the Boston Celtics said Nike is scared to speak out about

human rights abuses in China even though it has no qualms about doing so in the United States.

He challenged Nike founder Phil Knight for staying silent about the oppression of Uyghur minorities. He wants Nike to go with him to China to

see the, quote, "slave labor camps with your own eyes." Nike says it's committed to ethical manufacturing and doesn't source products from the

Xinjiang Uyghur region.

China says Kanter is trying to get attention and that his remarks are not worth refuting. CNN's Don Riddell is here with more.

This is really interesting and, frankly, I have trouble making sense of it. I mean, Kanter's comments are incredibly pointed and incredibly strong.

How much trouble are they causing, not just for Nike but for the NBA?

DON RIDDELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's the big talk. The timing is interesting. The NBA season has only just begun. Perhaps the reason he's

targeting China at this particular moment is because we have just passed the 100 days to go until the next Winter Olympics in Beijing, starting in

February.

So China and the Chinese government is very much in the spotlight right now. We perhaps shouldn't be surprised that it's Enes Kanter in particular

who is picking this fight. He is one of the most outspoken NBA players when it comes to issues of human rights.

He, of course, is a Turkish player. He's already stood up to the Turkish government and left them in no doubt about how he feels about their

governance of the country where he hails from. So this is going to be a really interesting situation.

And Enes Kanter not at all backing down. We saw the shoes he wore on Monday night in the NBA, with the phrases you see there, "Free China," calling

them hypocrites, Nike hypocrites.

And it's interesting also that he's invited other NBA legends to join him in this campaign. You just showed the tweet, where he basically said,

LeBron James and Michael Jordan, you're welcome to come along, too. Of course, he was extending an invitation to Nike's owner, Phil Knight, to go

to China to see what's going on, on the ground.

I only have about a minute left. For Adam Silver and the NBA itself, it's been two years since they played in China. A lot is because of the

pandemic. But a lot is because it had relations in the NBA's second largest market.

RIDDELL: Yes, earlier this year, the NBA commissioner, Adam Silver, was asked about China and their relationship.

And he said it's complicated, which would be I think an understatement. You have touched upon the situation we saw a couple years ago when the Houston

Rockets' general manager Daryl Morey tweeted in support of the pro- democracy movement in Hong Kong.

And that came on the eve of some games that were being played in China. And that caused an absolutely monumental stink. Morey eventually stepped down

from his position about a year later. But that was a very, very awkward position for the NBA to find themselves in.

[15:40:00]

And it's interesting because, as Kanter has pointed out, you know, Nike is very outspoken and very supportive of human rights issues in the United

States. They're very silent on China.

NBA players famously are very outspoken on issues regarding human rights. It will be interesting to see who, if anybody, comes out to support him on

this.

NEWTON: Yes, and you pointed out at the top, we are just a few month away from the Winter Olympics in Beijing, so we'll be hearing a lot more about

these issues. Again, thanks for coming on set and explaining that to us, Don. Appreciate it.

And that is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. I'll be back at the top of the hour as we dash for the closing bell. Up next, "MARKETPLACE EUROPE."

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[15:58:15]

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NEWTON: Hello, I'm Paula Newton and this is the dash to the closing bell. We're just two minutes away.

That exuberance over tech earnings had been lifting the Nasdaq but look at the Dow. It's seeing profit taking and that has been picking up, down about

a half a percent, more than that now. That's after three straight record closes.

U.S. major averages are losing steam at the close. You see there, it's not even clear that the Nasdaq will eke out a gain. It's lost a lot of ground

in the last hour. And the SNP off its record close.

Now Tesla is one of the businesses lifting that Nasdaq today. Hertz's order with the electric vehicle company now involves Uber as well. Uber's CEO

told Julia Chatterley the deal will help drivers make the jump to electric vehicles. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DARA KHOSROWSHAHI, CEO, UBER: One of the biggest bridges that we see in terms of people making the jump to electric vehicles is it's a big jump.

What's it going to be like?

So this is an open doorway for our driver community to try it. And I think, you know, if you have been in a Tesla -- I have -- once you try it, you

want to buy it. And that's what this is all about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Interesting there.

Now we want to take a look at the Dow components to see what's shaking out this market today. Just a handful of names, as you can see in the green.

Microsoft a standout, up about 5 percent on the back of yesterday's strong earnings.

Investors also liked what they saw from McDonald's and Coca-Cola. Home Depot on the board as well. Visa and the chemical company, Dow, are sitting

at the bottom of the list as you see.

And that is your dash to the bell. I'm Paula Newton at the CNN Center. The closing bell is ringing and right after that, we'll bring you to "THE LEAD

WITH JAKE TAPPER"

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