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Quest Means Business

Harris: We Will Win Again; Secret Service Head Resigns In Wake Of Trump Rally Shooting; Delta Cancels Hundreds More Flights As Other Airlines Recover; Kamala Harris Previews Economic Policy At First Presidential Rally; The "Magical Fruit" Helping To Protect The Amazon; Brat Summer Takes Over Pop Culture; Tesla Earnings Plunge Compared To Last Year.

Aired July 23, 2024 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:09]

RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST, "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS": Closing bell ringing on Wall Street. You can see there, the Dow has been moving all over

the place with a small force as we get to the closing bell, and the final gavel. Who is doing the gavel? Well, one-two-three strong gavels to bring

trading to a close. It is down 57 points on the Dow. Those are the main market and these are the headlines of the day.

Kamala Harris takes aim at Donald Trump's economic policies, saying America has tried them before and they have failed.

The head of the Secret Service resigns after her damaging testimony on Capitol Hill.

And investors want details on Tesla's robotaxi. The company's earnings are out any moment from now.

Live from London on Tuesday, July the 23rd, I am Richard Quest and I mean business.

Good evening.

Tonight, Kamala Harris says Democrats will win again as she looks to build on her momentum. The vice president was in Milwaukee, Wisconsin for her

first official campaign trip as the presumptive Democratic nominee. She now has, it is believed more than enough delegates to get the nomination.

The Democratic congressional leaders, Hakeem Jeffries and Senator Chuck Schumer have officially endorsed her. The day's events come as Reuters -

IPSOS poll finds no clear leader between Harris and Donald Trump. Her lead at the moment is within the origin of error of the poll.

The vice president previewed her message at her event in Milwaukee.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I took on perpetrators of all kinds, predators who abused women, fraudsters who ripped off

consumers, cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain.

So hear me when I say I know Donald Trump's type.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: Now, Edward-Isaac Dovere is with me.

We are getting a very good glimpse because I heard her speech now with that that first public speech, but it was very similar to what she has done

yesterday and we are getting an idea of what the stump speech looks like for Harris.

It starts off with this, I know Donald Trump's type, the fraudster, the sexual offender, et cetera, et cetera. Then she goes into two visions of

America for the future and then what she is actually going to do. That seems to be the way she portrays it now.

EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: That's right. It is defining herself. Obviously, she has been vice president for the last three years,

three-plus years, but what polls find again and again as people don't know that much about her and her own team has found that when more people --

when people find out more about her, they tend to like her more.

So she is introducing herself, her prosecutorial background, giving a sense of a fight against Donald Trump and a contrast to Donald Trump, that

prosecutor versus convicted felon and saying that she knows his type, but also then trying to talk about the future saying this is not just about

Donald Trump.

And the truth is, that that is something that Biden aides knew that the president was not able to do credibly because of his age to talk to people

about what the future he saw was. He kept saying he wanted to finish the job and that was his slogan. Kamala Harris, obviously a younger candidate

starting out as president, if she were to win, is talking about what she wants to do in the future and that flips it around from the way it was

where Donald Trump was the one who is maybe thinking more about how things would be different going forward.

QUEST: The contrast is now quite striking between the candidates. You've got this lively, if you will, energetic, younger woman who is extremely

experienced and Donald Trump, he is now the older candidate.

Democrats trying to make hay in a sense on the fact that Donald Trump is the older candidate. It doesn't rip -- it is somewhat hypocritical them to

do so having said that age wasn't an issue when it was their own chap.

DOVERE: That is true, although at this point, Donald Trump is the oldest candidate for president ever and he is older than Joe Biden was in 2020 and

so now, we will see how it works and whether Trump, of course, he is not just talking, he is not just older himself, he is 78, but he is talking

about going back to what he did in his first term and his whole slogan from the beginning was Make America Great Again, now it is Make America Great

Once Again.

[16:05:10]

So, it is all about in returning to a past that he says was a good past.

QUEST: Right.

DOVERE: Kamala Harris is saying, we want to build toward a future and that is kind of the contrast that we will see play out in a lot of ways between

now and November.

QUEST: So on that point, this idea of which again, I heard in the vice president's speech, which we will hear again and again, that she is pushing

forward to the future. He is looking back. Is that a fair analysis?

DOVERE: Well, again, Donald Trump says that he can make the future better by returning to what was good about America and what has been lost under

Joe Biden.

Kamala Harris and Democrats overall, would say that Donald Trump is talking about an era in America that was good for some people, but not good for

everybody and was not nearly as good as people remember it and that the Trump presidency itself, over those four years was a time where things were

not good and they are saying don't return to that, go to something else here.

Not only think about what they did when Joe Biden was in the White House and obviously remains in the White House, but what Kamala Harris would like

to do to build on that.

Of course, it has only been two days since she has been running for president.

QUEST: You're right.

DOVERE: So she is trying to figure out what this all is.

QUEST: Early days, early doors.

Thank you, sir. Great to be with you.

DOVERE: Thank you.

QUEST: The vice president will have to sell the administration's economic record. She is likely to celebrate investments in domestic chip

manufacturing and green energy. She would also have to reckon with the current economic reality.

A new CNN poll shows many Americans remain worried about the high cost of living. Nearly 40 percent say they are worried about being able to pay

their bills.

CNN's Matt Egan reports.

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Richard, listen, money is tight right now for many Americans. Car insurance, groceries, daycare -- life is very expensive.

Thirty-nine percent of US adults in this new CNN poll say that they worry most or all of the time that their family's income won't be enough to meet

expenses, 39 percent. That is up significantly from late 2021 and it is basically right in line with what people were saying in mid-2008, just

before the Great Recession really started to get bad.

And this is just another reminder of how despite those national economic statistics that show unemployment is low and inflation is cooling, millions

of Americans are hurting from years of rising prices, and this really is the number one financial headache for families right now.

Sixty-five percent of adults in this CNN poll say that expenses and the cost of living is the top economic challenge facing their families. That is

down a bit from two years ago, but it remains well above the levels of late 2021.

And I spoke to a woman in Ohio who works for the CDC and she told me, it is just outrageous what she is paying at the grocery store. She said it is not

just food prices. She said, it is really astronomical everywhere from insurance to the cost to get clothes, and it is really these concerns that

the presidential candidates are going to have to address.

I mean, former President Trump is already hitting Vice President Harris on the cost of living, but he is going to have to offer solutions of his own

and some mainstream economists they fear that the Trump economic agenda, the tax cuts, tariffs and immigration crackdowns are going to make

inflation even worse and Vice President Harris, she is going to have to acknowledge these real cost of living fears that people have and offer

solutions of her own -- Richard.

QUEST: Matt Egan.

Now Kamala Harris has seen a wave of donations. Think of it as who voters are betting on in a sense and bearing in mind that so much of the US

electoral process, in fact, most of it is driven by large donations and vast, vast amounts of money. Just think about how much money.

Now for most of the campaigns so far, the Democrats, they are the blues have held a strong advantage particularly as Donald Trump has had so much

money tied up, paying his legal fees.

The donations have been coming in greater and President Biden's war chest has been larger. Then of course, arrive donations from people like Elon

Musk in to the red sides and the banking heir, Timothy Mellon also gave money. Blackstone's CEO, Stephen Schwarzman gave, and it wasn't long before

the Republicans had caught up essentially to where the Democrats were.

Now the real big money is flowing in, more than a hundred million has come in for Kamala Harris in the last 48 hours. A lot of that money is coming

from small donors. Think of it as being maybe a chip at a time. Never mind the big money that has been coming in on this side, but it has been smaller

donations.

And the Republicans are once again facing an uphill battle on fundraising.

[16:10:17]

QUEST: Dan Eberhart is the CEO of energy company, Canary and a Republican donor. Dan joins me now.

I realize it is in fairly simplistic terms, but you know as well as anybody, it is money that drives these campaigns and the necessity to have

that money is ever more crucial now. How do you see the fundraising coming along?

DAN EBERHART, CEO, CANARY: Sure, so I always say with these campaigns, you need money momentum and messaging, so it is only part of the equation,

Richard, but you definitely need money to finance these all our battles that are going to happen, but I can tell you the Trump campaign has been

set, you know, has planned to be outspent this entire cycle.

So the fact that we pulled even for a while and are getting these big donations from people like Musk and others I think is really just a

tailwind for us.

And Kamala Harris has had a good 48 hours, but I think that it is really going to peter out for her and switching Biden for Harris to me is the

distinction without a difference.

QUEST: The ability to raise money. I mean, there is still that the role that the seems to be the view that she will be able to inherit the money

within the Biden-Harris Campaign funds so far.

But the whole thing is so fueled with cash and it does, to a large extent distort -- yes, I mean, I agree there is no solution. The Supreme Court

ruled on super PAC, the PACs are here to stay and the money just flows backwards and forwards.

EBERHART: Yes, look, there is money sloshing all around the system, Richard, but I will tell you, look, the most important dollars are hard

dollars. The super PAC money is really less important, but really at the end of the day, I think that both these candidates are going to be able to

get their messaging out.

You know, Donald Trump has got to a hundred percent name ID and Kamala Harris is close, so I really think it is going to come down to messaging

and you know, and what voters prefer. And I think that remember this switch was made because Trump was defeating Biden. And I think that he will defeat

Harris, who really inherits the same policies as Biden.

QUEST: Let's talk about these economic policies that they are inheriting if you will. What do you see is as the big difference? I mean, to a certain

extent, both sides, both candidates are saying that they are going -- they want to make more permanent the tax cuts.

Trade is a big one where Donald Trump is looking at 10 percent across the board tariffs, the but still Biden-Harris left a lot of the tariffs in

place and have put targeted tariffs themselves.

So what do you see as the core difference between them on economic fronts?

EBERHART: I think the core difference is Donald Trump a businessman and Kamala Harris is not. Trump wants to have lower taxes. He wants to have

lower interest rates and he is much more concerned with inflation.

If inflation was a big deal, it never would have -- you know, the Biden administration would have never unleashed it with their infrastructure

bill, with their $1.9 trillion stimulus bill and with the Build Back Better bill, which failed, all of these things were massively inflationary and

they just didn't care.

Also, another key distinction is Trump is concerned about energy costs and believes that keeping energy costs low is central to having middle-class

consumers be able to prosper and the Biden-Harris administration is just focused on a virtue signaling to the progressive left and not concerned

with energy prices.

QUEST: When I listen to the two candidates and we are early days in a sense, there does seem to be -- certainly, listening to Harris today, a

more optimistic tone, a more -- there is a future and it is a bright one versus the rather curmudgeonly message, which comes from Donald Trump,

which is, we are all going to have another handbasket and if we don't do something soon, it will be a nightmare.

EBERHART: Well, I disagree with that. I think they both have optimism. Trumps just says -- Trump's optimism is look at how good the economy was

when I was in charge. I am going to take us back to the future and do that again. And Kamala Harris is saying, look, you know, forgive the inflation

that we've got, forgive the economic growth numbers stalling, forget the price of your mortgage -- interest rate in the mortgage has gone high

during our term. I am going to do better than what Biden and I have done, status quo. That to me is the difference, Richard.

QUEST: Is it -- I just want to -- I know, you talked about inflation and obviously as a business program, we spend far too long talking about

inflation certainly.

But, but it is not entirely the fault of the administration with their stimulus package, which many agree with you, was overly done.

[16:15:10]

If I look at the UK, the EU, you look at Australia, you look at Canada -- every major economy had very high inflation and they didn't all have the

Inflation Reduction Act and all of those other things that you talk about.

EBERHART: Sure, well, I think every country has got different circumstances and different macroeconomic, things pushing and pulling. But Richard, look,

the fact is, you know, Biden-Harris were in charge of this country and in charge of this country's economy and I think their record is their record

and it is highly inflationary.

They've unleashed inflation and they didn't really have a plan to put it back in the model, and here we are with the days where three percent

mortgage are gone in America and people -- you know, people can't move because their mortgage is too good where they are at.

People are struggling to buy a new car because the interest rate in a new car is too high and meanwhile, you have prices at the grocery store --

diapers, car insurance, the price of mattresses I've learned is up about 50 percent and these are real things that have real consequences to people.

And the Biden-Harris administration just hasn't paid attention.

QUEST: Dan, you weren't there for a second, now, I will say thank you, sir. It is good to have your back and we will talk more as the election

progresses.

As a friend of QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, we look forward to talking to you again. Thank you, sir.

Now, when we return, a dismal site at the baggage claim in Atlanta. The amount of stranded luggage, vast amounts and Delta Air Lines is canceling

hundreds of more flights.

Now, the US government is investigating. In a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: The head of the US Secret Service has resigned. It comes a day after lawmakers grilled Kimberly Cheatle over the attempted assassination of

Donald Trump. The hearing ended with a rare show of bipartisanship, Democrats and Republicans alike calling for the director to resign.

Cheatle said in her letter that she doesn't want those calls to distract from the work of the Secret Service. The Deputy Director Ronald Rowe will

now act -- serve as acting director.

Jessica Schneider is in Washington, DC.

I am guessing somewhere after yesterday, she realized that she was the story and that could no longer continue.

[16:20:08]

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, and we heard from Democrats and Republicans alike in Congress calling for her

resignation and then right around 10 o'clock this morning, she did just that.

So, Ronald Rowe is now the acting director. He was most recently the deputy director. He has been at the Secret Service for more than two decades, but

really, this appointment of an acting director after Director Cheatle's resignation this morning, it is really unlikely to quell this groundswell

of criticism the agency has faced in those 10 days since the assassination attempt of former President Trump.

Right now, in fact, there are numerous inquiries into the Secret Service response, as well as their potential lack of proper preparation.

You know, the most biting criticism we've heard so far is likely from House Oversight Chairman James Comer. He is a Republican. He released this

statement after Director Cheatle's resignation this morning saying: ". there will be more accountability to come. The Secret Service has a no fail

mission, yet it failed historically on Director Cheatle's watch. While Director Cheatle's resignation is a step toward accountability, we need a

full accounting of how these security failures happened so we can prevent them from going forward."

And Richard to that at end, we are seeing numerous inquiries already taking shape both at the congressional level, also, the inspector general. So

there will be a lot of -- a lot more questions despite the fact that she resigned today.

QUEST: There is a very fine line though, isn't there between, if you will, revenge politics and a proper investigation designed to find out what

happened, in a sense the investigation versus the blame game. Yes, clearly something screwed up, Otherwise this would never have happened. But the

blame game doesn't necessarily take you very far.

SCHNEIDER: And that could be part of the reason why Director Cheatle just realize that all of the criticism was just too much and she needed to step

down to really maybe begin to clear the air here so there wouldn't be so much of a blame game on her and they could actually look to figure out what

went wrong and what they can do better because of course, Richard, we are entering a period that could be particularly fraught for the Secret

Service.

We have now a sitting president and we have a presumptive Democratic nominee in Kamala Harris and we have a former president, all of whom will

need a lot of protection moving forward as we enter these final days of the campaign leading up to the November election.

QUEST: I am grateful for you. Thank you for joining us.

SCHNEIDER: Thank you.

QUEST: The US Department of Transportation is now investigating Delta Air Lines after it canceled hundreds of flights for the fifth day. Now, Delta

is the only carrier that is still facing massive issues after last week's global tech outage. No other airline has canceled even a tenth of the

flights of Delta.

As you'd expect, stranded passengers are non-too-pleased.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are not being picky. I am just -- we will go anywhere in North Carolina, but he booked us some tickets and before we got

out of the airport, they had canceled them five minutes later.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are just waiting in line, like probably every five minutes, we are moving like five feet, so that's very slow.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are just kind of, you know the guinea pigs to something that was pretty catastrophic.

I am going to get compensated for it because this is out of control.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: Now to make matters worse, the meltdown will probably extend to the end of the week. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says his agency's

investigation will make sure Delta is following the law and treating passengers fairly.

Isabel Rosales is at Hartsfield.

Oh, Good Lord. I can see the baggage all around you.

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, hey, Richard, it is surely a mess.

We are on day five of this thing. Now on day one, it was clearly an issue, this Microsoft outage for most of the airlines. But by day five, this is

now clearly a Delta problem.

Four hundred flights so far in the US have been canceled by Delta, the most of any single airline. And in fact, two out of three canceled flights in

the US right now are Delta flights or Delta connecting flights.

So this is what passengers are facing at the world's busiest airport here at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, just this maze of luggage.

This is luggage that made it to the final destination of Atlanta, but whose owners, the passengers have not made it here through delay or cancellation.

And once they do, they have to navigate the system essentially looking for lost keys, just mazing about trying to find their belongings.

And in fact, up there on the second floor where my photographer is at right now, Steve, you'll see even more luggage up on the second floor, so it just

goes on and on and on.

Now, Delta is saying that the crux of the problem here is a crew tracking system, so a software that they use deeply intertwined with Microsoft. This

is a software that lets them know where pilots are, where flight attendants are. Well, that is not working.

[16:25:10]

They haven't been able to fix that yet. It requires a manual repairing and manual rebooting of all those impacted systems. So this is going to take a

couple of days, Delta says, possibly till the end of the week.

Understandably passengers, they are fuming about this. Listen.

QUEST: Isabel, most of that luggage will eventually get back to their owners in some shape or form. Compensation will eventually be paid. The

reputational damage to Delta though probably will take a bit longer to repair itself, won't it?

ROSALES: Right, and I've spoken with several passengers today including a couple who just got married on Saturday. They were supposed to be in Saint

Lucia today, having fun on their honeymoon, well, they've abandoned Delta, they've jumped ship, planes to Spirit because they can no longer rely on

Delta to get them to their spot.

Now Delta, by the way, the Department of Transportation here in the US has opened an investigation into Delta making sure that passenger rights here

are upheld.

We did get a video statement from the CEO, Ed Bastian of Delta, saying that, hey, we are deeply sorry about what happened here. We will work to

make it right, that they are working around the clock here to make this right. They are offering vouchers. They are offering refunds, they are

offering SkyMiles and you might see behind me here some people in blue vests, those are actual Delta employees from other departments, other

roles, not usually customer forward who are stepping in volunteering to help.

So organizing this luggage, talking to passengers and trying to make it right -- Richard.

QUEST: Isabel, I am grateful for you. Thank you very much. Kind of you.

Brat Summer is taking over here on QMB. This green and black lettering is the pop culture image of the summer. It is so popular, the Paris political

campaign is on board.

We will explain what all of this means when we return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:31:11]

QUEST: Hello, I'm Richard Quest. Together, we're going to have a lot more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS by digesting blockbuster earnings from Tesla and

Alphabet. They were just released a moment or two ago. And Kamala Harris is embracing internet in jokes and pop culture references in a bid to lure Gen

Z voters.

We'll get to it after the news, because this is CNN and on this network, the news always comes first.

Former president Trump will meet the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday. Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for president,

says the meeting will take place at Mar-a-Lago in Florida. The U.S. president Joe Biden is set to meet the prime minister on Thursday. The

prime minister is also expected to meet with Democratic presidential nominee, Kamala Harris.

The prime minister of Israel is due to address Congress as well. That'll take place on Wednesday. And the group Jewish Voices for Peace has launched

a sit-in protest at the Cannon House Office rotunda. They're calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and an end to arms sales to Israel. Images show people

being detained by police. This is Congress, the Cannon House.

Jewish Voices for Peace is a self-proclaimed, anti-Zionist group, and they organized a similar event in October.

U.S. Senator Bob Menendez will resign his seat on August 20th. He was convicted this month on all 16 counts in a federal bribery scheme. A jury

convicted him of accepting gold bars, cash, and a Mercedes convertible from Egyptian and Qatari officials all in exchange for his influence on Capitol

Hill.

Several Greek islands have declared a state of emergency due to water shortages. It follows a busy summer tourist season. The authorities are

scrambling for solutions such as turning seawater into drinking water. The mayor of the Greek island Naxos says climate change is to blame for the

water crisis.

So the Vice President Kamala Harris is off to the races after becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee, and she's previewed her economic message

very clearly in her first presidential rally.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: A future where no child has to grow up in poverty. Where every worker has the freedom to join a union. Where every

person has affordable healthcare, affordable childcare, and paid family leave.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: The ideas sound a lot like Bidenomics. It includes the emphasis on public investment and pro-worker policies. The Biden administration has

also been strict on antitrust enforcement. The president describes Bidenomics as the opposite of trickle-down economics, which we had talked

about earlier in the program. Former president Donald Trump has campaigned on lower taxes, higher tariffs, and deregulation.

CNN's economics and political commentator Catherine Rampell is with me.

I mean, it's too late really for Kamala Harris to run on anything else besides Bidenomics because she's tied to it by dint of the fact she was

there throughout it.

CATHERINE RAMPELL, CNN ECONOMICS AND POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Absolutely. She owns this record in the past few years just as much as Biden does. And she

has been a champion of it. And I'm not frankly so sure that her views are that far off from President Biden's when it comes to the level of

government intervention that is appropriate in regulation, for example, in various kinds of markets, the size of the safety net, how robust the safety

net should be.

[16:35:17]

And you heard her talking about that in those remarks you just played.

QUEST: Now, if we have to distill the difference between her views and Donald Trump's economic views, there are some big ones like tariffs and

across-the-board tariffs and the tax reforms, and -- but what to you is the big difference between the two?

RAMPELL: Well, to be clear on tariffs, I'm not really sure that the two candidates are that far off. Kamala Harris and Joe Biden were very critical

of Trump's tariff policy back in 2020 when they were both running for president and then vice president, in Harris' case, but then Biden has

chosen to keep most of Trump's tariffs in place. So I think that Harris' views on trade and protectionism are somewhat murky.

On other kinds of things like tax policy, I think that there is a more clear cut difference in that Harris like Biden has embraced raising

corporate taxes, raising taxes on higher earners, whereas if you look at Trump's policy agenda, it includes tax cuts basically across the board,

including for corporations and the wealthiest Americans. So some things, you know, there's more of a stark contrast.

QUEST: Right.

RAMPELL: But other things like antitrust, you know, I think Trump, it has somewhat gone away from Republican orthodoxy and has embraced more

intervention in antitrust and other kinds of markets than his predecessors.

QUEST: Will it be easy for Donald Trump to paint Kamala Harris as a traditional tax-and-spend Democrat?

RAMPELL: He'll certainly try, I'm sure, in part because Harris has talked about raising taxes at least on higher earners and has talked about

expanding the social safety net. A lot of those programs involve government spending. But again it's not the most credible line of attack coming from

Donald Trump, in part because unlike many other Republicans, he was also a pretty overt spit fan of additional government spending.

In fact, even before COVID, he signed into law something like $4.7 trillion of additional new debt. You know, again, through the policies that he

embraced. About half of that debt was due to tax cuts, but about half of it was due to more spending.

QUEST: When you --

RAMPELL: So he can criticize Kamala Harris as a big spender, but he was the same.

QUEST: When you hear Kamala Harris talking about childcare, affordable childcare, affordable healthcare, and all of these social policies, but

we're not going to hear the Republicans saying, no, we won't unaffordable. I mean, they're going to put forward a similar range of options but I

suppose the difference is in the nuance.

RAMPELL: I don't know. If you look at Trump's record when he was president, he did not particularly push things like childcare or paid family leave,

even though when he came into office there was a lot of hope that there might be a bipartisan space for expanding or creating new programs along

those lines in part because his daughter, Ivanka Trump, was in the White House, but none of that materialized.

And if you look at things like Project 2025, which is widely viewed as the blueprint of a Trump of a second Trump presidency, that pares back social

programs quite a bit. The safety net, more broadly. So, you know, I don't know that he's going to emphasize those planned cuts or anticipated cuts

because they are quite unpopular.

QUEST: Right.

RAMPELL: But I would think it's reasonable to assume that would be on the agenda if he returns to the White House.

QUEST: It is good to see you. Thank you for talking us through it. We will talk again in the details. It's all in the detail. I'm grateful. Thank you.

It's QUEST MEANS BUSINESS tonight from London. In a moment CNN visits a jungle metropolis. We're in Peru to learn how a magical fruit is helping

children learn to protect the Amazon rainforest.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:42:11]

QUEST: The Amazon rainforest covers nearly 60 percent of the South American country of Peru. It makes it the second largest expanse after Brazil.

On "Call to Earth" today, we traveled to one Peruvian city where a conservation group is inspiring the next generation of planet protectors.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR (voice-over): Iquitos, Peru, a city surrounded by rivers and engulfed by the Amazon rainforest, is

considered the largest city in the world that can only be reached by air or by water. And yet for many of its citizens, it can feel as if all that

natural splendor doesn't really exist.

CRISTIAN VELEZ, ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION COORDINATOR, AMAZON FOREVER: I could describe it as metropolis in the heart of the Amazon but something

particular about the city that in spite of being in this -- in the middle of the jungle local people here don't have access to green areas.

CHATTERLEY: According to the non-profit Amazon Forever, 80 percent of the youth who live here have no contact with the forest.

VELEZ: That means that 80 percent of the Amazonian children in Iquitos have nature deficit disorder. That's a big challenge because in a couple of

years they are going to be the decision-makers here in the Amazon.

CHATTERLEY: And that statistic led to the creation of this.

(MUSIC)

CHATTERLEY: Huayo, which means fruit in the indigenous language of Quechua, is just that, a magical fruit brought to life and given a mission to unite

kids across the world to help save nature.

Javier Velazquez created and writes Huayo's eco tales which were inspired by his own upbringing.

JAVIER VELASQUEZ, DIRECTOR, AMAZON FOREVER: When I was a child, I have the opportunity to visit a lot of places in the Amazon with my grandfather. He

gave me the opportunity to know how beautiful is the Amazon rainforest. In that moment, when I was a child, I decided in my heart to care the Amazon.

CHATTERLEY: The stories can be found in books and in an online video series, and there's also a larger than life version in a patch of woodland

less than an hour south of Iquitos.

VELASQUEZ: Here at the Forest of Huayo, we want children to have a memorable experience by visiting and exploring forest. So basically, we

have children come here, they feel like they are inside a wild story, like visit a living book.

CHATTERLEY: There's even a movie in the works. But Huayo is more than a cartoon character.

[16:45:08]

It's grown into entire learning method that forms the core of an educational program run by Amazon Forever. Through theaters, storytelling,

and songs, the aim is to provide children with an understanding of their natural environment and empower them to engage in the conservation of the

Amazon.

VELASQUEZ: The children are the most important partners for the conservation. The connection of the children with the forest is deeper the

younger they are.

CHATTERLEY: The program extends beyond city limits as well to other Amazonian communities where access to outside resources is limited.

VELEZ: They have access to the nature but they are not familiar with the sustainable practices regarding to the forest conservation.

CHATTERLEY: Amazon forever says that since launching back in 2016, they've reached more than 45,000 children with the Huayo method.

VELEZ: If you work with a child, and if they have a memorable experience, probably you're going to inspire that children.

They are going to be park rangers. They are going to be someone who respect the Amazon, someone who respect the nature. That's why this method works in

this emotional level. We believe that and we think it's very important.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: And I'd like to know what you're doing to answer the call with the hashtag, CalltoEarth.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: I have a feeling that I'm about to age myself, and it's not going to be pleasant.

Summer is normally defined by florals and soft shades of pastels groundbreaking, but this year slime green has taken over, even here at

QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. What it all mean, it's the color of the album "Brat" by the artist Charli XCX, and it's birthed a movement the internet is

calling "Brat Summer." It becomes so popular even Kamala Harris' campaign has adopted it for its X page.

So if you're somewhat lost about what Brat Summer was all about, and you need a bit of help and explanation, CNN's Anna Stewart explains.

[16:50:06]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Last summer, the world went pink. Buses, shop fronts and billboards. This year, pink is out and lime

green is in.

From cosmetics retailers, this now TikTok famous deli in Charleston, even London Zoo got in on the action. Charli XCX born this trend with the launch

of her Brat album in June. Slime green, basic fonts, it's irreverent.

Am I surprised that it's inspired a whole summer trend? Well, then.

(Voice-over): You can look to music videos like 360 for inspiration, or get that definition from the artist herself.

CHARLI XCX, BRITISH POP STAR: But it can also be like show, like trashy, just like a pack of cigs and like a bit lighter.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right.

CHARLI XCX: And like a strappy white top.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

CHARLI XCX: With no bra.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

CHARLI XCX: That's kind of all you need.

STEWART: Beyond that, it's hard to really nail down what Brat girl summer looks like.

Do you know the answer to this question?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Charli XCX.

STEWART: Yes. He knows. He knows.

(Voice-over): Stumbling upon film director Edgar Wright was worth further investigation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Charli XCX. There we go.

STEWART: Are you Brat girl summer?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I hope so. Not today. I don't think I am today, but the boots kind of were.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: SPF and your girlies.

STEWART: What? What does that even mean?

(Voice-over): This is just the latest microtrend. Recent ones include gorpcore, coastal grandma, and last year's tomato girl summer.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it has a bit of that, if you know, you know, angle, like if you understand it, you want to buy into it. It doesn't

guarantee viral success, but it's just very easy to hop on and people will enjoy it.

STEWART: With engagement that easy even politicians are having a Brat girl summer. It was a bratty election campaign for the U.K. Green Party and now

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris is hoping slime green will appeal. And Charli approves.

Go enjoy your Brat girl summer.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you. You too. Have a Brat girl summer.

STEWART: Bye.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bye.

STEWART: I like Brat girl summer.

(Voice-over): Anna Stewart, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: I felt somewhat Methuselah until I realized just about nobody else in this room, or indeed the control room knew an earth about it. So I don't

feel quite so bad. What's it like in pinstripes?

Tesla's second quarter earnings were down more than 40 percent compared to last year. A steeper drop than expected for the carmaker. Tough

environment, the stocks off about 3 percent after trade.

Clare Duffy is in New York.

Why? What happened?

CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: Well, Richard, look, I mean, it's the same sort of story that we've been talking about with Tesla. You had

deliveries of vehicles falling about 5 percent in this quarter. It's kind of a surprise. We actually saw revenue tick up about 2 percent year over

year, which is sort of a good result for them given the fact that deliveries were falling. But it's this continued increased competition in

the EV market.

Tesla has been cutting costs, trying to bring consumers back, but it doesn't look like they're buying it. At the same time, I had to notice that

Tesla acknowledged in this report that its operating expenses are increasing because it's investing in AI. And so it's having to continue to

invest in this movement that all of the big cut tech companies are taking at a time that's really tricky for this company.

I think we'll be waiting to hear if Elon Musk talks about things like the self-driving Robotaxi that is supposed to turn things around. But right

now, things are not looking great.

QUEST: Well, I look at the earnings, the revenue, I should say, of Google and Alphabet, $64 billion. This is a bit (INAUDIBLE), and the stock is up

accordingly. And yet YouTube, their ad numbers were not as brilliant as they could have been.

DUFFY: Yes, YouTube's ad numbers were sort of the dark spot on this earnings report. They were not as strong as Wall Street was hoping they

would be. But over all I have to say Google exceeded what were pretty lofty expectations from Wall Street here. You have sales up 14 percent year over

year, profits climbing nearly 29 percent. And that's all because this online ad market, which is Google's core business, is humming along pretty

nicely right now.

You have things like the upcoming election, the upcoming Olympic Games, which are keeping people's eyeballs online, where they can be served ads. I

also noticed that Google's Cloud division posted $10 billion in quarterly revenue for the first time ever. That's a good sign that some of those

investments in artificial intelligence may be starting to pay off for Google.

QUEST: You know, you and I getting all excited by Tesla's earnings and Apple or Alphabet's earnings.

[16:55:01]

A Brat summer, now, come on, have you heard of this? Or was it just me?

DUFFY: I had heard of it. I had heard of it, yes. You know, like I am just loving this trend and it doesn't look like Elon Musk is having a Brat

summer, but Sundar Pichai maybe.

QUEST: You -- I hand it to you. You win the award for managing to Brattify your broadcast. I'm grateful to you. I was going to say, have a Bratty

evening but it's just --

DUFFY: Have a Brat evening.

QUEST: Got to go the hand as well. Thank you very much. Clare Duffy in New York. Looks like a rather unpleasant sort of day in New York, but thank you

for joining us.

Now, let me show you quickly where the markets ended just so before I love you and leave you. The markets, the Dow Jones was just off slightly. It was

all over the place during the course of the session. A small loss, nothing that we need to get too excited about. We will take a "Profitable Moment"

after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: Tonight's "Profitable Moment," it is a well-known trend in the United Kingdom. The silly summer season. It is that time of the year where

everything just falls apart in a sense, and reputable news organizations decide to report on things that they wouldn't otherwise do. Arguably Brat

summers and things like that.

And so the summer season is well and truly underway as we report tonight with Anna Stewart's lovingly reporting on Brat summer, although there's a

very strong argument, a strong one, that says Brat summer is now actually over and done with, because as Rick Bastian points out, our supervising

producer, when the officials get involved, when the grown-ups get onboard, then it's all over by the shouting.

So Kamala Harris using Brat as part of her color scheme and messaging, well, that could be the kiss of death to the Brat worldwide. After all,

remember the old adage? Who wants to go somewhere where your parents are? MySpace, Facebook, all of those places which started so trendy and ended up

with grandma or uncle, auntie also being there as well.

Well, I don't think that's going to happen to Brat. Brat is here today and Brat is gone tomorrow.

END