Return to Transcripts main page
Quest Means Business
Biden Meets With Macron After Clumsy Submarine Deal; G20 Summit In Rome Will Be Followed Sunday By The COP 26 Climate Summit In Glasgow; Apple And Amazon Earnings Hurt By Labor And Supply Issues; U.S. FDA Authorizes Pfizer Vaccine For Ages Five To 11; Biden And Pope Francis Discuss Global Crisis And Faith; Russian, Chinese Presidents Attending G20 Summit Via Video. Aired 3-4p ET
Aired October 29, 2021 - 15:00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[15:00:23]
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS HOST: After a rough start to the day, it could be still a day of records on Wall Street. The Dow has come right back from
its session lows. Those are the markets and these are the main events.
Joe Biden admits it was clumsy how he handled the submarine fallout with France.
Apple and Amazon shares take a hit from more supply chain chaos.
And Chevron tell CNN don't expect high oil prices to last too long.
Live from New York, it's Friday, October the 29th. I'm Alison Kosik and this is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
Good evening. Tonight, U.S. President Joe Biden admits a submarine deal that left France out in the cold was clumsy. Mr. Biden and French President
Emmanuel Macron finished their bilateral meeting a short time ago at the French Embassy in Rome. It was their first face-to-face meetings since the
diplomatic dustup over a U.S. submarine deal with Australia.
That agreement cost France billions of dollars in defense contracts, and prompted Paris to recall its ambassador. Biden said he regrets how it was
handled.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The answer is, I think that what happened was -- to use an English phrase -- what we did was clumsy. It
was not done with a lot of grace. I was under the impression that France had been informed long before the fact that the deal was not going through.
Honest to God, I did not know you did not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSIK: Nic Robertson is covering Mr. Biden's visit from Rome and Jim Bittermann is reporting from Gilles, France. Nic, let me come to you first.
You know, this is the first meeting following the spat and Biden is having his first in person meeting with Macron. He had it, trying to mend fences
there. Talk to us about how the French President responded to what Biden said which kind of was an apology, and what's the perception from the
global community?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: You know, I think this was seen certainly from the French side, because it was being held at the
French Embassy, it was a clear diplomatic measure to please the French. The language that President Biden used would no doubt have hopefully pleased
Emmanuel Macron.
Emmanuel Macron himself said that the sort of groundwork over the past couple of weeks to get to this moment, there had been concrete steps. He
said it was important that this sort of situation could never happen again, that the two nations were in the process, if you like, of rebuilding the
trust, but he said what was really important are the steps that the countries take together now, in the coming weeks, in the coming months, and
over the coming years.
So I think both of them are trying to repair this, which was very, very public, because the French pulled their ambassador from Washington. It
doesn't get much more public than that when you take a measure of that magnitude, particularly with an ally of that long length in history.
So a step has been taken here, a significant step has been taken and I think both the leaders, you know, can bask a little bit that they've got
over this particular hurdle. And of course, with President Macron, with elections coming up within a few months, this will be again significant. He
has invested a lot of effort with not only President Biden, but also you know, with his predecessor, President Trump. He put in a lot of effort to
have a good, strong Franco-American relationship.
So to get that back, that bridge rebuilt is a plus for him.
KOSIK: And you make a good point, and I'll go to Jim, for this question is the outcome of this meeting, how do you think, Jim, that this is going to
play with Macron's base back at home? The French leader is in election mode, a new presidential election coming up in April.
JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Exactly. Alison, in fact, one of the things that I think that Macron needed was to get this
relationship repaired, it certainly bolsters his image back home. You can't go into elections having a dispute with your longest ally on the other side
of the Atlantic.
And in fact, I think that this meeting was -- everybody was trying to make this meeting look good. I mean, this is actually the third in the attempts
that have come along to sort of mend fences. The first was when there was a phone call between the two Presidents back in September that was followed
by a meeting with the American Secretary of State, Tony Blinken who came here.
[15:05:17]
And I think since then, there was this work that Nic was just talking about, the work on the various dossiers that they've got here that they
would like to be able to cooperate on. Things like terrorism, nuclear cooperation, and arms control, that sort of thing that that they can find
common ground on, and almost as a metaphor for what the diplomats would like to see is the relationship between the two countries.
We saw the two First Ladies, Jill Biden and Brigitte Macron going out for - - sharing a glass of wine at a Roman cafe, and Joe Biden said that she felt very much at home and comfortable with Brigitte Macron. Brigitte Macron
said, "We're like two sisters." And I think that's the kind of metaphor that diplomats would like to see in terms of the two countries.
KOSIK: Okay, Jim Bittermann, Nic Robertson, thanks so much.
The G20 Summit in Rome will be followed Sunday by the COP 26 Climate Summit in Glasgow. COP stands for Conference of the Parties and this is the 26th
meeting. It's been called the biggest Summit the U.K. has ever hosted. Attendees will detail how they plan to tackle the climate crisis.
Some 30,000 people are expected to attend the two-week conference including dozens of world leaders. There will be two notable absences though, Russian
President Vladimir Putin and China's Xi Jinping. The U.N. is warning of a climate catastrophe if G20 leaders don't deliver on their commitments.
More now from CNN's Phil Black.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): These are just some of the biblical events the world has seen and experienced in 2021 --
extreme floods, fires, droughts, and record temperatures, across the U.S. and around the world, proof scientists say we are already living in a
climate crisis.
TODD STERN, FORMER U.S. LEAD CLIMATE NEGOTIATOR: It's here. I mean, it's upon us people see that people feel that.
Todd Stern led U.S. climate negotiations through the Obama administration and helped forge 2015's Paris Agreement.
That breakthrough document includes a critical promise, all countries will work to keep the global average temperature increase within 1.5 and two
degrees Celsius.
STERN: We've got a hell of a long way to go.
BLACK (on camera): Because the reality is, at the moment, we are nowhere near to being on track to keep things below two, let alone 1.5.
STERN: We're not near -- we're not near being on track, but we're -- but we're getting better.
BLACK (voice over): Better ultimately isn't good enough. At the Glasgow Climate Conference, each country will be judged on whether it is cutting
emissions sufficiently to ensure that crucial 1.5 degree target is still achievable.
The scientific consensus says the goal is now slipping beyond reach and the consequences will be disastrous.
BOB WARD, GRANTHAM RESEARCH INSTITUTE ON CLIMATE AND THE ENVIRONMENT, LSE: Without action to curb greenhouse gas emissions, we could see temperatures
go well beyond three degrees of warming by the end of the century, something that the Earth has not experienced for three million years long
before humans were on the planet. It would be a very, very different world.
BLACK (voice over): U.S. leadership, through example, is vital at Glasgow to boost other countries' ambitions. The Biden administration's plan is
bold, halve U.S. emissions by 2030, hit net zero carbon by 2050.
WARD: That's fantastic. But it needs to demonstrate that they can deliver that and the lack of agreement at Federal level and indeed, in many states,
to the outside world looks like that will be a major challenge.
BLACK (voice over): Success also depends on big new commitments from China, the world's biggest polluter that is responsible for more than a
quarter of global emissions. China's long term goal is becoming carbon neutral by 2060.
STERN: So it's quite important that China move much more than they have. Again, there's that long term goal that is pretty good. But between now and
2030, they haven't pledged really anything.
BLACK (voice over): The urgent challenge for China and many developing countries is to stop burning coal for electricity while still rapidly
growing their economies and lifting populations out of poverty.
The issue is going to be a key focus at Glasgow, along with finance from rich countries to help poorer countries make the change.
But even before the conference opens, it is clear, there are tensions over some countries unwillingness to offer detailed, ambitious commitments.
JOHN KERRY, U.S. SPECIAL PRESIDENTIAL ENVOY FOR CLIMATE: We're behind and we have to stop the BS that is being thrown at us by a number of countries
that have not been willing to sign up to what Great Britain has signed up to. We've signed up to, Japan, Canada, the E.U. and that is to keep 1.5
degrees alive.
[15:10:19]
BLACK (voice over): It is expected Glasgow will deliver progress, but will it be enough? As frequent extreme events demonstrate the growing dangers of
failure, scientists are sure there is now very little time left to prevent climate change on a devastating scale.
Phil Black, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KOSIK: Later on QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, protests set the stage for the upcoming COP 26 Climate Conference. Their target, the world's financial
institutions. We will explain why.
And Amazon says ongoing labor issues added up to $2 billion in additional operating costs last quarter, nearly half of that due to inflationary
pressure. We'll break down the week's latest tech earnings, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KOSIK: Welcome back. A big week of earnings reports ended with a whimper from two tech giants that had been lifting the markets. Apple and Amazon
both are down on disappointing results and warnings about labor shortages and supply chain issues. The two companies put dollar figures on those
constraints.
Amazon's CFO said labor costs rose $2 billion last quarter. He attributed nearly half of that to inflation. Apple's Tim Cook said supply constraints
in the last quarter cost the company $6 billion in sales.
Dan Ives is the Managing Director of Equity Research at Wedbush Securities, and he joins us from Westfield, New Jersey. Great to see you.
DAN IVES, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF EQUITY RESEARCH, WEDBUSH SECURITIES: Great to be here.
KOSIK: All right, Amazon and Apple, we've got a theme running here. First of all, they're the darlings of Wall Street, but in their earnings, they
are being hit hard by supply chain issues, something they had really escaped in the past. Do you think investors are overreacting?
IVES: Look, these supply chain issues continue to be the black cloud over tech as well as the auto sector. Looking at Apple and Amazon, they've
always been Teflon like, so for them to get hit to the extent that they did that was disappointing, but I continue to view this as transitory in terms
of my view. These are still names you own. I think it is short term sort of headwinds as the demand continues to outstrip the supply.
[15:15:07]
KOSIK: Okay, Amazon badly missing on earnings and revenue, plus its fourth quarter sales guidance below what Wall Street had expected. That did
surprise Wall Street. It does seem a little bit familiar, though. If you remember years ago, there was a disconnect between what Amazon's numbers
were and analysts expectations because the company was in kind of an investment mode. Do you think that's part of what's happening now with
Amazon?
IVES: Well, also, I think the level of expenses, it caught the street by surprise. In terms of labor, everybody knew about freight and supply chain,
but I think overall, the cost that we're seeing now is definitely much more elevated. And you know, you bring up a great point.
When you go back to those few years ago, the street was fine with Amazon investment mode. Now, they want to see those margins continue to increase.
That's the key to the stock moving higher. That's why you're seeing definitely, you know, the stock take a breather here as Amazon is a little
bit proving to me go into Holiday season, it seems like the supply chain could ultimately crash the Holiday party.
KOSIK: Apple -- let's turn to Apple here. The chip shortage, global logistics, all those headwinds costing Apple $6 billion. Talk us through
how Apple gets past this, you know, the supply chain issue, you say is transitory. It is really not going away anytime soon?
IVES: Well, Apple -- remember, Apple always get the front of the line, just given the biggest technology manufacturer out there, especially coming
out of China. But right now, there are about 10 million iPhones short relative to demand. So the average consumer, if they order an iPhone
anywhere after Thanksgiving, they will not be getting that by Christmas or Holiday season.
I think the way Apple gets through this as ultimately it starts to moderate in terms of supply chain into January-February. But right now, demand
continues to be massive and China is up 80 percent year-over-year. That's why the stock is not selling off to the extent that you think it would
because demand continues to outstrip supply and I believe this is a $3 trillion market cap going into next year.
KOSIK: All right, let's switch gears and talk about the big three names in Cloud -- Microsoft, Google, and of course, Amazon, which reported. Do you
think chip shortages could slow growth in this area?
IVES: Well, I think ultimately, that's a little more resilient in terms of Cloud. That's why Microsoft, you saw it overtake Apple as the most valuable
company in the world because it's a Cloud arms race going on right now -- digital transformation. That's a $2 trillion market. I think Microsoft and
Amazon, it is a two-horse race, but Google, IBM and others are benefiting, and that's not really susceptible to the chip shortage because it is
software driven.
So, I think what you're seeing, more and more investors rotate to names like Microsoft, that's almost a safety blanket name going into year end.
KOSIK: Do you see opportunity in the tech area for investors?
IVES: Oh, I believe it's a green light here to own tech. In my view, we're only in the middle innings of a rerating in tech stocks. We think NASDAQ is
up another 15 to 20 percent next year. So, I view this breather to own some of our favorite names, the likes of an Apple and Microsoft, cybersecurity
names, you know, despite chip shortage because it's our view that's just transitory and on the other side, you can see pent up demand, and I think
that's the sort of the one-two punch that drives these stocks higher.
KOSIK: Okay, Dan Ives with Wedbush Securities, thanks so much for your time.
IVES: Thank you.
KOSIK: The U.S. Treasury Secretary says companies will face labor and supply shortages for a while longer. Janet Yellen is in Rome for the G20
meetings and spoke with Wolf Blitzer. She predicted more shortages in semiconductors in cars. Still, she expressed confidence that inflation will
settle down next year.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JANET YELLEN, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: As people get back to work, as we defeat the pandemic, and as demand shifts back to surfaces, and this supply
has a chance to adjust, I believe that price increases will normalize and we'll see lower monthly inflation rates, I think by the second half of the
year. Annual inflation rates will begin to decline toward their more normal level of around two percent.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: As you know, Madam Secretary, inflation for all practical purposes, is like a tax on working class people. The middle class
people are spending a lot more on gas, food, Thanksgiving meals coming up, the Holidays coming up. Is this going to get worse before it gets better?
YELLEN: Well, there will be some continued shortages. Semiconductors are in very short supply that's caused the prices of both new and used vehicles
to surge. Energy prices have gone up, but I believe energy prices will begin to moderate in the months ahead. That's what market signals and
fundamentals suggest.
[15:20:08]
And let's remember, the rescue package that was put into effect quickly when the President was elected has meant that people have jobs. They find
it easy to find work, they are confident about the job market. Compare this with what happened in 2008 after the financial crisis, when it took years
to get employment back to normal levels.
The unemployment rate has declined from a peak of almost 20 percent now to just 4.8 percent and will fall further in the months ahead. So, prices have
increased somewhat. As I say, I believe those price increases will subside, but income growth has been very, very strong, and wages are going up,
especially for low skilled workers in the service sector.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSIK: It was a wild week for Facebook, and it's come out the other side as a changed company -- sort of.
The week started with the release of the Facebook Papers, leaked documents that showed the company's inability or unwillingness to tackle
misinformation and other problems. Facebook whistleblower, Frances Haugen testified before British Parliament.
On Tuesday, its shares fell sharply on disappointing earnings. Then on Thursday, Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg announced a new name for the
company, Meta, and a new focus, the Metaverse. He insists his company has to keep pushing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK ZUCKERBERG, CEO AND CHAIRMAN, META: With all the scrutiny and public debate, some of you might be wondering why we're doing this right now. The
answer is that I believe that we're put on this earth to create. I believe that technology can make our lives better, and I believe that the future
won't be built on its own.
We live for what we're building, and while we make mistakes, we keep learning and building and moving forward.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSIK: Palmer Group's CEO Shelly Palmer joins us live now. Shelley, great to see you.
SHELLY PALMER, CEO, THE PALMER GROUP: Nice to see you, too. How are you?
KOSIK: I'm doing well. Facebook? How is it doing? The timing, and now -- you know of this announcement of this name change, this sort of facelift to
Meta, kind of curious. Just as Facebook was curiously embroiled in this crisis, what do you think of the company's art of distraction? Did it work?
PALMER: Okay, first of all, Mark Zuckerberg is still the Chairman, still the CEO, the company still does $86 billion a year. Three out of four
people living on the earth on the internet are still Facebook, or WhatsApp, or Instagram users. And there's been not one senior leadership change or
any kind of restructuring of the organization. So Meta and Facebook, same- same.
You like the name, you don't like the name. It's prestidigitation at its very best, or at its very worst, you decide, but it is a meaningless
conversation.
They're going to get to the Metaverse when they get to it as is everyone else and they'll be pivoting a hundred times. We don't know what augmented
reality is going to actually look like when it manifests. We already know virtual reality is a really, really hard hill to climb.
This is sort of like much ado about nothing as opposed to what's going on with the Facebook Papers, which is much ado about something.
KOSIK: Yes, but come on. Mark Zuckerberg is telling us, the Metaverse is the digital future. You know, despite the hurdles that this could go
through, do you see Facebook succeeding? And are you concerned about the length maybe the company will actually go to, to make it a success after
hearing what the whistleblower and the Facebook Papers had to say?
PALMER: No, I'm not worried about any of that, actually. I think if any company in the world has the opportunity or the ability to make a quote --
and in big quotes -- "Meta versus success." Facebook is right there. They have unlimited resources and amazing engineering.
This is uncharted territory. We've seen some games, we've seen some vocational tools. We've seen some training tools in VR. We know that Apple
has got a bunch of patents for eyewear. Look, it's all possible.
With respect to whether they are ruthless or not ruthless, I think Facebook is probably guilty of most of the things they are being accused of. What
everybody needs to realize -- and I'm not defending Facebook in any way, and they've been good sponsors of some of our stuff in the past, they are
not current clients, but they've been very good sponsors of some of stuff in the past -- look, it's giant. It is 3.7 billion people that are
interacting with custom newsfeeds, where they are seeing something built just for them based on their engagement over time.
There's never been anything like this ever built on Earth. They're likely to make mistakes. And remember, they're privately held, and they do
everything to be accretive to their stakeholders and shareholders.
So they are built to make money. They're not built to serve the public. You may hope that they would.
And I think we're learning that social media is really bad for like humanity. It's just bad.
It builds echo chambers. It causes all kinds of bad things to happen, and as we find that out, we'd like to blame just Facebook, but no social media
company does any better on balance because they all try to feed you what you want to see when you want to see it.
There is no human involved. These are automated processes. They're algorithmic processes that basically you feed back to us. I like this, I
like this, and it feeds you more of it.
[15:25:21]
So all social media, not just Facebook, it's a reflection of who we are, and if we don't like what we see, or if we think it's not kind enough or
not good enough, try posting some nicer stuff. You'll get nicer stuff in return.
KOSIK: Yes, there's a little hypocrisy going on here between the consumers' outrage with Facebook and then their amount of use of social
media, right?
PALMER: It hasn't changed, like people -- their earnings are down because mostly because of Apple's ATT, Apple's transparency policy, Apple's privacy
policy with respect to apps and the way that it has impaired Facebook from doing a part of its advertising business that is directly related to their
earnings call.
It's probably just to switch gears for a second, Apple's ATT policy -- privacy policy is probably a $50 billion tax on app developers. It's about
10 times more expensive to launch an app right now than it was before Apple got all privacy on you, and Facebook felt it in this earnings call.
But everybody is still using Facebook, and by the way advertisers are, too. Like there is no replacement, let's be very honest. There isn't a
replacement from an advertiser's perspective for Facebook. If the right person, right place, right time, right message delivered at the right
price. Wow. There is nothing else like that.
So while advertisers are complaining and consumers are complaining, everybody is using it, and that is what is happening.
So we have to be a little careful about you know, who is protesting where and yes, Facebook has to answer for some stuff for sure. Let's hold their
feet to the fire and see what we get.
KOSIK: One last question for you, Facebook changing its stock ticker symbol from FB to MVRS, Metaverse. That's happening December 1st. So what's
going to happen here to the acronym FAANG? Does it just go away?
PALMER: Isn't that awful? Like I don't know what it's going to be now.
KOSIK: What are we going to call it?
PALMER: There are a couple of funny memes out on the internet. But by the way, you've got Google is Alphabet. So the G has been gone for a while. So
is it AGMNT? I don't know. It's going to be Amazon, Apple, Google or Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, Netflix and Tesla. Make one up.
KOSIK: We should have like a word.
PALMER: It would be good for us if you can make one up.
KOSIK: We should have a letter game that turns into words. I think I'm going to work on that on over the weekend, Shelly.
PALMER: Absolutely.
KOSIK: Shelly Palmer, thanks so much for your perspective today.
PALMER: My pleasure. We'll see you soon.
KOSIK: Okay. When Facebook announced its corporate name would become Meta, it led to some instant unexpected winners and losers. On the winning side,
the Canadian company Meta Materials whose stock surged as much as 25 percent late on Thursday presumably, traders mistook the name.
But the Twitterverse shed a tear for anyone sporting an infinity tattoo given its resemblance to the Meta corporate logo, and plenty of critics see
the name change as diversion, as one person clearly illustrated here.
Coming up on QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, the U.N. Secretary General's dire warning about climate change, and what he wants world leaders to do ahead
of the COP 26 conference. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KOSIK: Hello. I'm Alison Kosik. There's more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS in a moment when we'll look at how a global supply crunch is slowing down the
transition to green energy. And we're learning new details about the tragic death on the set of the movie Rust. The gun supervisor speaks out about the
film's fatal shooting. Before that the headlines this hour.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has given the green light for children as young as five to receive the Pfizer vaccine. Plans to give
children one-third of a normal dose were backed earlier this week by the FDA's vaccine advisors. The Centers for Disease Control will decide on the
final authorization next week.
U.S. President Joe Biden and Pope Francis have met for lengthy talks on global emergencies and their Catholic faith. Mr. Biden says they discussed
issues like climate change and agreed leaders should do more about it. He also said the pope encouraged him to keep receiving union, even though some
U.S. bishops want to deny the right to pro-abortion rights politicians like him.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping are set to attend the G20 Summit by video conference. Moscow has shut down as the
country suffers its deadliest COVID outbreak. President Xi hasn't left China since the start of the pandemic. He is scheduled to deliver a speech
at the summit this weekend.
Britain's Queen Elizabeth has been advised by her doctors to rest for at least -- for the next two weeks. This comes days after the 95-year-old
monarch spent one night in a hospital. Doctor say the Queen can continue like desk base duties but should not carry out any official visits.
Saudi Arabia says it will expel Lebanon's ambassador to the kingdom and ban on all Lebanese imports after contentious comments from the Lebanese
official. George Kordahi made critical remarks of the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen back in August. He said Houthi has had the right to
defend themselves from external aggression.
U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres says there's a serious risk that the COP26 Climate Conference will be a failure unless world leaders step up
their efforts. Guterres says this weekend's G20 Summit is an opportunity for them to put things on track ahead of COP26 and warns that the situation
is dire.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTONIO GUTERRES, U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL: Even if recent pledges were clear and credible, and there are serious questions about some of them. We are
still careening towards climate catastrophe. And the best case scenario, temperatures will still rise well above two degrees, and that is a
disaster.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSIK: Greta Thunberg and other climate activists are expected to be on hand in Glasgow during the COP26 conference. They staged a protest at the
London offices of Standard Chartered Bank on Friday. Thunberg and others are demanding that financial institutions stop funding the extraction of
fossil fuels.
Joining me now for more on all of this is Scott McLean live for us in London. Scott, I understand this is one of several protests that are
happening in financial hubs around the world.
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right. Alison, though, to be honest, if this is a sign of what's to come during the two weeks COP26, the
protests are likely to be disappointing for a lot of climate activist.
[15:35:05]
That's because today's demonstration at least the one in London as you mentioned that was outside the headquarters of Standard Chartered Bank was
a pretty small one. Despite the fact that this mega climate celebrity, the teenager, Greta Thunberg was there. There were no speeches, she didn't
speak --she didn't speak over a megaphone. She didn't speak to the press. And at one point, it seemed like there were actually more cameras, more
photographers, more journalists there, than there were actual protesters.
The point of this day of action that's organized by Greta Thunberg's organizations Fridays For Future was to try to get financial institutions
like Standard Chartered to divest their investments and stop actually financing, fossil fuel development and fossil fuel companies. Standard
Chartered, though for its -- from its perspective, though, did put out a statement yesterday saying that it does have a plan to reduce its
investments in fossil fuels, though it's not going to happen overnight by any stretch of the imagination.
Long term by 2050 they want all of the investments that it's making. All of the things that it's -- companies that its financing to be carbon neutral.
It also says that by 2030, it will not deal with any clients that are more than five percent on coal for their revenue. That is not nearly enough,
though, for Greta Thunberg and the protesters that we spoke to earlier today. Their issue with coal in particular is that it burns a lot of
methane.
And methane released into the atmosphere has a -- sort of magnifying impact on global warming much more so than carbon despite the fact that it stays
in the atmosphere for less time. And so, because of that, the European Union is trying to round up countries to try to get them on board with a
new pledge to cut methane emissions by 30 percent by 2030. It says that 60 countries have already shown up.
But as Greta Thunberg and all of her supporters will tell you, it's not about what you pledge. It's what you actually do. And right now, there's a
lot of frustration, especially amongst young people, especially amongst climate action -- climate campaigners that there's a lot of pledges,
there's a lot of promises. And while people would like companies and would like governments to do more at the end of the day, they actually have to
take action once they make those promises, Alison.
KOSIK: Yes, exactly. We can all have our meetings. But let's go ahead and commit and actually take action. Of course, we can understand at least
where they're coming from. At least I can. Scott McLean, thanks so much.
World leaders have a number of tough questions and challenges to tackle at COP26. Chief among them how the global energy crisis could make the
transition to green energy more difficult. Richard Quest has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Whether it's emerging markets, the Middle East or the European Union, it's the same story, energy prices are
rising and with that so is public anger. As the global economy rebounds, much stronger than perhaps expected following the COVID 19 shutdowns,
energy producers can't keep up. If prices continue to go up business leaders say the results could be devastating.
STEPHEN A. SCHWARZMAN, CHAIRMAN AND CEO, BLACKSTONE: You're going to get very unhappy people around the world on the emerging markets in particular
but in the developed world.
QUEST: We're seeing it at the moment in Europe.
SCHWARZMAN: That what happens then Richard, is you've got real unrest. And this challenge is the political system. And it's all utterly unnecessary.
QUEST: In many places, this crisis is already here. The cost of natural gas used for cooking and heating homes is spiraling upwards. China's facing a
serious coal shortage and oil prices are at multiyear highs. Despite this energy crunch, public pressure continues over ditching fossil fuels. And
that means investment is in short supply.
SCHWARZMAN: If you try and raise money to drill holes, it's almost impossible to get that money.
LARRY FINK, CHAIRMAN AND CEO, BLACKROCK: The short term policies related to environmentalism in terms of restricting supply of hydrocarbons, has
created energy inflation and we're going to be living with that for some time.
QUEST: This all creates great headaches for the global leaders at the future investment initiative in Saudi Arabia. The chief executives told me
it could put a major strain on the global economy.
DAVID SOLOMON, CHAIRMAN AND CEO, GOLDMAN SACHS: We need good public policy and a plan across the world to move this transition forward.
FINK: We don't have long term planning by most governments to effectuate these long term problems. We're not focusing on long-term solutions.
[15:40:09]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're not trying to change the world in a granular basis. We have these visions, we could go from a brown world and we could
wake up tomorrow to be a green world, that is not going to happen.
QUEST: Warnings like this won't shake the resolve of climate activists as we head into COP26. Nor will they change the science of climate change, and
the need for countries to decarbonize. It's up to global leaders to walk that tightrope, as they try to reach a deal in Glasgow. Richard Quest, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KOSIK: Oil companies are posting strong revenue just before the COP26 meeting, highlighting the challenge of switching to clean energy.
ExxonMobil and Chevron both reported their best quarters since the pandemic started. A barrel of West Texas crude topping $80.00 again, this month for
the first time in nearly seven years. Chevron CEO, has said his company won't invest in solar or wind, because it won't be more profitable than
their current business.
Last month, he suggested that Chevron investors could plant trees with all the money they're making from his company. Matt Egan is here with us now.
You know, that comment, it just makes you go oh, my gosh, does this guy get it? You know, and also you look at what European energy companies, they're
raking in the cash. And they say they're going to continue to use more of that money to fund renewable energy projects instead of growing oil and gas
production. Why not U.S. companies?
MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Well, Alison, that was a question that came up during the hearing yesterday where the big oil executives were hauled
before Congress for the first time ever. They were asked about their role in the climate crisis. And Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna, he asked the
U.S. oil companies, why is it that the European big oil companies like B.P. and Shell, why are they cutting their production promising to do that,
while you're either keeping it flat or growing, even ask the chevron CEO, you know, are you embarrassed by this?
And listen, I think the numbers out today show why they're not embarrassed that oil prices are up. And the big oil companies United States, they're
making a lot of money. You know, a year ago, Exxon in this same quarter, they lost nearly $700 million. This past quarter, they actually made nearly
$7 billion. They made so much money that they actually surprised investors with this $10 billion buyback program.
Chevron, they posted their best quarterly profit in eight years. All-time high for free cash flow. And I asked the Chevron CFO Pierre Breber, you
know, where he thinks all prices are going. And he sounded pretty cautious. He's skeptical of the idea that we're going to see oil prices at 80 $90.00,
$100 for a long period of time. Let me read you a key quote from the chevron CFO. He said, "This feels more cyclical than structural. We view
these prices as above mid cycle, and above what our price assumptions would be.
And, you know, I asked him, what would you say to everyday Americans who are struggling right now with the high cost of energy? And he said he has a
lot of empathy, especially for low income families. But he said, listen, Chevron is investing. They're increasing their output. And he said, this is
really a matter for policymakers and for governments. And Alison, I think that kind of brings us to the tension of the moment, which is that right
now we have high energy costs.
In the United States that is hurting President Biden's poll numbers. And he's in Glasgow or going to Glasgow to, you know, try to reach this global
agreement on how to wean the world off of fossil fuels. And it's hard to do both of those things. It's hard to cut the supply while at the same time,
not cause prices to go up.
KOSIK: Yes. I hear you. All right, Matt Egan. Thanks so much. Still to come tonight. The gun supervisor for the movie Rust is speaking out about the
film's fatal shooting. What she says about the live ammo found onset.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:46:53]]
KOSIK: The global GITEX conference just wrapped up in Dubai. One hot topic, the future of remote working. Eleni Giokos sat down with Abe Smith, Zoom's
Head of International to discuss how video conferencing is now a part of our daily lives and how we can expect it to evolve moving forward.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sustainable transportation, advanced exoskeletons, and smart robots. This is what's on display at
Dubai's GITEX Technology Conference.
The pandemic changed our lives and amplified the use of technology. And leaders are here to discuss the new trends that will transform our future.
One topic, getting a lot of attention is the future of work, whether at home, in the office, or possibly in virtual reality.
Video conferencing platform, Zoom helped lead the way in providing work from home solutions. I asked Abe Smith, the Head of International about the
next big idea and where the company is headed.
ABE SMITH, HEAD OF INTERNATIONAL FOR ZOOM VIDEO COMMUNICATION: So the big idea is actually to become your communication system, your video and your
communication operating system for life. So what we mean by that is everything that you do requires communication, whether it's a simple
birthday party, to the largest, most important presentation you make at the boardroom. That that platform, that layer should be powered by Zoom.
GIOKOS: Let's talk about the competitive environments, because you know, you've got other players that are also thinking the way you are, and, you
know, Zoom had an issue where you saw, you know, the firewalls weren't strong enough, and then you obviously rectified that. Tell me about your
competitive space and your how you're thinking you're going to stay ahead of the curve.
SMITH: The way we improve is real simple. You know, we continue to be agile, we continue to be creative in how we develop products, like our Zoom
phone, product or events products, how we create new features that delight and create an amazing experience. We want the video experience to feel as
if you're sitting face to face, side by side as close to that experience as possible.
And we think is as long as we continue to advance that kind of discipline in our approach to developing product, we'll do great.
GIOKOS: OK. So let's talk about that. When you say you want me to feel like I'm with that person. So you're talking about virtual reality experiences.
I mean, why don't you just video? How you going to take that forward?
SMITH: Well, it's a great -- it's a great question. You know, we want to be as cutting edge as technology allows for today. You know, we recently
announced the partnership with Oculus and how we look at things like A.R., V.R. but at the same time, what that means is delighting the experience so
that every meeting is perfect. High quality, H.D. quality, it's secure, it's safe, it's easy to use.
And then as we continue to advance maybe one day it's shaking a hand through the video, maybe it's one day it's smelling the coffee, you know
that's to come. When technology is there, we'll be there with it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KOSIK: Up next on QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. The armor from the movie Rust is defending her role in the onset shooting tragedy. Her attorney is saying
she had no idea how live ammo got on the set.
[15:50:02]
More on that after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KOSIK: Welcome back. Attorneys for the armor of the film Rusty say she has no idea "Where the live rounds came from," in connection with the fatal
shooting of a crew member on set. Gun supervisor Hannah Gutierrez's attorneys also said the guns on set were locked up every night and at
lunch, and that Gutierrez never witnessed anyone shooting live rounds. Josh Campbell joins me now from Santa Fe, New Mexico for more on this.
Josh thing that comes to mind here when I hear her quote is that this was directly in her purview. It's her responsibility or is it not to know --
she said she knew the guns were locked up. So is it -- is it -- is it her responsibility to know whether the ammunition is live or not?
JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN REPORTER: Yes. Good to see you. my friend. That is the key question here. And that is why she is one of the key focuses of this
investigation. The person who was responsible for the safety of firearms on this set. We're told by authorities that they are looking at her as well as
the assistant director on the set. Those are the two people who reportedly handle that firearm before it was handed to Alec Baldwin.
So a lot of questions for them. But as you mentioned, she is now breaking her silence in the statement for murder attorneys denying that she is
somehow responsible for what happened. I'll read you part of that statement, her attorney says, safety is Hannah's number one priority on
set. Ultimately, the set would never have been compromised if live ammo were not introduced. And it has no idea where the live rounds came from.
And that statement also went on to note that there had been issues on the set regarding the number of hours that they worked and that she had brought
these concerns up and other employees had as well. But again, it gets to that question. If you are the person that is responsible for safety, why
didn't you escalate it? Why didn't you point that out? And of course now investigators are trying to determine how those live rounds got on the set.
She remains a key focus. We're also learning based on court records that she told detectives during an interview that live rounds are never on a set
which has obviously been refuted by the sheriff. He spoke with CNN about that issue and he was also asked whether he thinks that these witnesses are
actually being truthful. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ADAN MENDOZA, SANTA FE COUNTY SHERIFF: I think it's clear that a light brown was discharged by the firearm based on the fact that it did kill Miss
Hutchins and it wounded Mr. Souza. That round, that projectile has been recovered before.
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Do you believe people are cooperating fully and truthfully to this point?
[15:55:06]
MENDOZA: Well, the focus individuals have given initial statements, but again, we'd like to get these people back and have some follow up
questions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMPBELL: Now, Alison, I spoke with a law enforcement official familiar with this investigation a short time ago, they said that they had still
have not received a response from her lawyers. Again, the sheriff wants her to come back in for additional questions. In their words, they want her to
clarify some of her previous comments to authorities, they have not yet received a response.
We're also finally learning new information about evidence that investigators have seized according to a new search warrant affidavit,
investigators went through a truck that was next to the scene of that shooting. This was the prop shock truck and sees the number of items
including revolver -- revolvers rifles, as well as a significant amount of ammunition. I spoke to law enforcement sources said that officials don't
yet know if that was also live ammo, because again, they're trying to get to just how widespread was this? Where was the ammo?
Where did it begin? How did it arrive on the set? How did it get into the gun? They searched this truck they found ammo, we're told that that is
being sent to the laboratory at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia to try to determine whether it is actual live round. But a lot going on here.
A lot of different investigative angles, witnesses they want to talk to and a lot of forensic examination that they still have to do at the scene and
on -- regarding this evidence, again to try to get to that key question that officials say will be the decision in whether charges are brought.
And that is who brought that live round to set that ultimately killed cinematographer Alyna Hutchins. Alison?
KOSIK: Certainly a complex investigation. Thanks for walking us through all the details. Josh Campbell, great to see you. And there are just moments
left to trade on Wall Street. We'll have the final numbers and the closing bell right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KOSIK: There are just moments left to trade on Wall Street. The Dow has overcome an afternoon slump. It's flirting with a fresh record close.
Checking the numbers here the Dow up 105 points. Let's look at the Dow components. Intel and Merck are in the lead after posting earnings
yesterday. Microsoft is up there too. They reported earlier in the week. At the bottom is Apple which missed on earnings expectations for the first
time since 2016.
Boeing and the chemical company Dow are also -- they were -- they're lower there in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. And that's QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
Thanks for watching. Be sure to connect with me on Instagram and Twitter. You can find me @AlisonKosik.
END
