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Quest Means Business
Harris And Trump Face Off In Crucial Debate At 9PM ET; Economy; Abortion, Immigration Expected To Be Top Debate Topics; EU's Top Court Orders Apple To Pay $14.4 Billion In Back Taxes; Israeli Strike On Designated Humanitarian Zone; Ukraine Targets Moscow In Its Biggest Drone Attack Yet; Interview With StockX CEO Scott Cutler About Partnering With Walmart; Crucial Debate Between Harris And Trump Tonight. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired September 10, 2024 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:15]
ISA SOARES, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: The closing bell is ringing, that wraps up this Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs are leading the Dow
lower tonight after executives of both warned about the outlook for earnings. Stock market, as you could see the Dow down just a quarter of one
percent. Those are the markets. Let me bring up to date with the main events today.
We are just five hours away from the first presidential debate between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.
The EU's top court orders apple to pay Ireland more than $14 billion in taxes says, and Australia wants to set a minimum age for using social
media.
Live from London, it is Tuesday, September 10. I am Isa Soares, and of course, I too mean business.
Good evening, everyone. A very warm welcome to the show.
Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are five hours away from what's for now, their one and only presidential debate. The event in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania it reshape a deadlocked race for the White House.
For many people, it is their first real look at Harris as a potential president and it comes just eight weeks before election day. That gives her
an unusual challenge. She will be introducing herself to some voters while making a closing argument to others.
Without another debate on their schedule, the two candidates will be looking tonight to create some memorable moments like these.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: -- continue to move until we get to a total ban -- the total initiative relative to what we are going to do
with more Border Patrol and more asylum officers.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: President Trump?
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I really don't know what he said at the end of their sentence, I don't think he knows what he
said either.
KAMALA HARRIS (D), VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Joe Biden has been very clear, he will not raise taxes on anybody who makes less than
$400,000.00 a year --
MIKE PENCE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He said he is going to appeal the Trump tax cuts.
HARRIS: Mr. Vice President, I'm speaking --
PENCE: Well --
HARRIS: I'm speaking.
This is not -- this is important. And I want to add --
PENCE: Susan, I have to get in here --
HARRIS: Mr. Vice President, I am speaking.
PENCE: I have to weigh in.
HARRIS: I'm speaking.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Kamala Harris has been preparing for this debate for weeks. Donald Trump's team says he is more than ready after months of campaigning.
Jeff Zeleny is also ready, ready for the debate. He is at Philadelphia and he joins me now.
Jeff, good to see you. Talk to us then about the vice president's mindset today and the strategy going into this crucial debate.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: So, those debates that you were just playing there, Donald Trump has taken part in six
general election presidential debates, tonight will be his seventh. That is more than any other presidential candidate in modern American history.
Certainly since the televised age of debates for more than a half-century here in America.
So there is a lot of debate film for Vice President Harris to watch. I am told she has been studying all of those. She has been having conversations
with Hillary Clinton, with Joe Biden and of course, just asking what it is like to be on stage with Donald Trump.
She is asking that because she never has been even in the same room at close range with Donald Trump. They've been barring, of course, from long
distance, but we certainly know if the outlines of this fight are going to be.
She, of course, I am told talking to her advisors is trying to present herself as the candidate of change, someone who would turn the page into a
new era. She talks about the way forward. That is her objective.
But Donald Trump's objective, his advisers tell me, is to try and just remind Americans that she is part of the Biden-Harris administration. Her
name is literally on the record that has been front and center on the economy, on inflation, on immigration.
So those two competing moments there -- can she be seen as the candidate of change or is she part of the status quo, that is going to be one of the
underlying factors in the entire debate -- Isa.
SOARES: Yes, it will be interesting to see how she navigates that, Jeff. And on Trump, I mean, I've heard from our reporters for the past 24 hours
or so them saying that he doesn't like to say that he is preparing. So it seems he doesn't prepare, so they say.
So talk to us about the priorities for Trump for tonight's debate.
ZELENY: Well, he has been preparing for this moment since 2016. I mean, he has been on six general election debate stages then of course, he prepares.
His aides say, he does not call it to debate practice, they call it policy sessions. The reality is, I am told he too has been watching some of those
old videos of Vice President Harris, but what he is trying to do, of course, is talk about the issues of the Biden-Harris administration, the
record of the border crossings, of inflation and essentially initially going to ask American voters, are you better off now than you were four
years ago?
[16:05:03]
But that is a very difficult question to answer because four years ago of course, the United States as well as the world was in the middle of a
global pandemic, so there is not a clean answer to that age-old debate question, but clearly, he is going to try and paint her as out of step as a
San Francisco liberal, if you will. But it may be more complicated than that because she of course, has the endorsements from Dick Cheney, the
former vice president of the United States.
So all those things happening before were designed for this moment. So look for Vice President Harris to push back on these claims that he will make
that she as liberal and out of touch.
But for all of the fact, there is a global audience for this. The fact that we are talking about this underscores that. Perhaps the most important
audience could be right here in Pennsylvania. This is the biggest swing state of them all with the biggest electoral prize of 19 electoral votes.
That of course is at the heart of both strategies of the candidates here.
They will be talking directly to those undecided voters right here in Pennsylvania -- Isa.
SOARES: Jeff Zeleny, breaking it all down for us there in Philadelphia. Thanks very much, Jeff, looking forward to this debate tonight. Thank you.
ZELENY: My pleasure.
SOARES: Well, let's get more on all of this. I am joined now by Jay Inslee, the Democratic governor of the state of Washington.
Governor, welcome to the show.
As Jeff was just saying there, this is going to be a crucial night for Kamala Harris. In fact, it made me the most important 90 minutes of their
campaign. What does Kamala Harris need to do tonight to move the needle, you think, Governor?
GOV. JAY INSLEE (D-WA): Be yourself, and I am excited about this. I am more excited than the last time the Seattle Seahawks were in the Super Bowl
because what she needs is to share her vision and she has such a powerful one to reduce energy costs for middle-class Americans, to create jobs by
the hundreds of thousands, to bring more equity, to restore -- and you want to talk about a change, she wants to have change where women actually have
reproductive liberty in our country.
So she has such a powerful message as opposed to her opponent who really wants to go back and just take care of his political buddies in the oil
industry, who is looking out for himself and his political friends rather than the individual American people.
So I am very confident in her ability to do those things. She has a strong message. She has been a great leader and I can't wait for tonight.
SOARES: And governor, I mean, you would have seen the latest polls that show that both of them pretty much neck and neck, and it also shows that
about 28 percent, about a third of Americans want to learn more about her, so if we focus on policy, is it more character you think the Americans want
to know more, is it more policy-wise that you think she should be focusing on? How do you think she will understand, she will read those through that
polling?
INSLEE: Well, I am confident tonight she will demonstrate the character for her to be such a successful leader. When she stood up against the oil
industry as an attorney general in California, unlike her opponent who wants to lay down and roll over and give your millions of dollars away.
When she has been very effective on the stage of building consensus in her vice presidential role. And if you recall, when she was a senator, nobody
got away with any bunk when she was a senator and she will display that tonight.
I am confident she will tame this weird narcissist that she is up against, so I am confident of those character issues.
But listen, these policy issues are very important, too. She is the candidate who wants to build clean energy jobs, which we are doing clean.
Energy jobs are growing twice as fast as the rest of the economy. They represent eight times more jobs, for instance, in Pennsylvania than the gas
industry.
And now she wants to understand reducing costs as well by working on the new sources of energy rather than the ones that are becoming more
expensive.
Look, the guy she is running against has said wind turbines cause cancer. They cause jobs and she is creating them all over the country.
Look in my state, I've got so many companies where electricians and plumbers, and pipefitters are getting work and here is something I really
like about her, she wants all of our kids to have careers, not just those who get a four-year colleges and she has a plan through the development of
these clean energy jobs to make sure that you get a great family wage job even though you didn't go to a four-year college, that is a vision that I
really appreciate.
SOARES: And we know that the economy, we know from this polling, the immigration, one of the most -- two of the most important issues for
Americans. I suspect climate policy, an important issue to you and to so many people around the world may not get that much space into a nice
debate.
How do you think do you move that higher in the agenda?
[16:10:06]
INSLEE: Well, she will raise it by talking about it through the lens of job creation. Look the best job creating policy in America today is one that
will help clean energy jobs be created, because they are growing twice as fast as the rest of the economy and she is the person who recognizes this.
Unlike Donald Trump, who literally went begging for a billion dollars from the oil industry with an agreement to protect their hides.
That is a starkly different approach to a person who understands job creation associated with clean energy, but simultaneously reduces climate
change gases, creates jobs up and down the spectrum across the United States and somebody who wants to be wedded just to the special interests.
That is a big difference, that will be clear tonight and she is going to come out on top.
SOARES: And Governor, if you don't mind me saying so. I mean, we have heard very little from her on the issue of climate. She mentioned it in passing
and she has offered no specifics, though she has spoken on fracking and has been accused of flip-flopping on the issue. Let me just play this and we
can talk after that. Have a listen to this governor.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: I believe it is very important that we take seriously what we must do to guard against what is a clear crisis in terms of the climate. And to
do that, we can do what we have accomplished thus far.
The Inflation Reduction Act, what we have done to invest by my calculation over probably a trillion over the next 10 years, investing in a clean
energy economy.
What we've already done, creating over 300,000 new clean energy jobs. That tells me from my experience as vice president, we can do it without banning
fracking.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: So Governor, what do you make of her argument and her position in particular on fracking?
INSLEE: Well, look, she has she has been a realistic and pragmatic leader and that is one of the reasons I respect her. What Vladimir Putin invaded
Ukraine, and by the way, her opponent will not stand up for democracy because he likes autocrats, when that happened, she recognized that we need
to have some transition gas and she has the right approach, I think now to make sure that we have the right safety so that we don't have spills and
the like.
I think that is the right approach and it is succeeding in Pennsylvania. I just looked at some stats where I mentioned this, where there are eight
times more people working in clean energy today in Pennsylvania than in the gas industry. These jobs are growing faster than the rest of the economy in
Pennsylvania.
This is a growth-oriented strategy that is simultaneously going to reduce pollution that we know is causing climate change.
And you're right, this is a really important issue. My state is on fire, California is on fire because of climate change. But she is doing it in a
way that will recognize the reality.
By the way, how does anybody in this world expect to be president of the United States and call climate change a hoax and windmills cause cancer,
that person shouldn't be allowed within a quarter mile of the White House and that's Donald Trump.
So I am very confident of her economic growth strategy and again, one of the things that I really like about it is not just for the rocket science,
it is not just for the CEO, it is for the people who actually do the work, the electricians, the plumbers, the sheet metal workers, the truck drivers.
She has a plan to bring those people into these clean energy careers, like we are doing in the state of Washington. We have already created 330,000
jobs just from the Inflation Reduction Act and she cast the deciding vote on that, so I am very confident going forward, both on jobs and climate.
She is the person for the job.
SOARES: Yes, we shall see what she says, of course, and makes a point on the economy because we know as we were just talking of it.
He is more trusted than Harris on the economy by eight points on average. So it would be interesting to see how she presses that, how she changes
perhaps people's minds.
Governor Jay Inslee, really appreciate you taking the time to speak to us. Thank you, sir.
INSLEE: Good luck. Enjoy the evening. I am going to.
SOARES: We will. We will, indeed. Thank you, sir.
Now, Apple has been ordered to pay back taxes in Ireland. We will look at the $14 billion court ruling and how it relates to the EU's effort to rein
in Big Tech.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:17:04]
SOARES: Well, the EU's top court says, Apple must pay more than $14 billion in back taxes to Ireland. Apple shares closed slightly lower, as you can
see there, just only a tiny bit after losing this legal fight with the EU, and it dates back to 2016. Remember that? When brussels accused Apple of
getting illegal tax benefits. I remember covering that.
After the ruling, Apple says the European Commission is trying to retroactively change the rules and that the company's income was already
taxed in the United States. You can see there in that statement.
In a separate case, the court upheld the EU's $2.6 billion antitrust fine against Google.
Hanna Ziady is with me to make sense of all of this.
I mean, this is, Hanna, is a pretty big win for the EU and a pretty expense knock on the teeth for the tech giant at a time when of course, you've got
other competitors nipping at their heels, right?
So, first, more importantly, all this money, what's going to happen, do we know?
HANNA ZIADY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: We don't know yet. We may get some clues because Ireland has a budget in a few weeks' time on 1st October. So we may
-- they may tell us what they're going to do with it then, but we don't know at this stage.
But as you rightly point out, it is a lot of money. Apple just yesterday unveiled a whole host of product upgrades to try and boost sales of the
company, we know consumers have not been upgrading their Apple devices as much as they used to.
But yes, it will now have to forego that 14.5 odd billion dollars which had been sitting in the count pending this decision, which also as you pointed
out, is a big win for the European Union. EU regulators have really tried to take a tough stance on Big Tech, to rein in Big Tech, enacting sweeping
regulations in the last few years to do that. And earlier today, Margrethe Vestager who is the now outgoing Competition Chief, but she was really
instrumental.
SOARES: She worked everything, yes. I remember.
ZIADY: You'll remember in bringing these --
SOARES: She was the one that set this in motion.
ZIADY: Exactly. All those years ago. She is saying, this ruling is a win for European citizens, it is a win for tax justice in Europe and a win for
this kind of single playing field in the single -- level playing field, rather, in the single market.
So we could see the ruling I guess for multinationals and EU member states to think about how they book profits, how they allocate profits --
SOARES: Is this something that you started to hear about? I mean, is this causing -- raising alarm bells already?
ZIADY: I think, I mean, having --
SOARES: Or the potential to?
ZIADY: I think it does, and we have seen in other cases, courts find against Brussels in some of these texts that matter, last year regarding
Amazon is one example. So it is not clear cut and Ireland continue can used to have a much lower corporate tax rate than other countries. Its 12.5
percent on very large companies lower than the US at 21, lower than the UK at 25 percent.
And then there is this flat tax rate on slightly smaller companies at 15 percent that relates to an OECD agreement earlier this year.
But it does kind of put a highlight this issue, put a finer point on this issue, and I think for Ireland, Ireland is very reliant on these taxes.
[16:20:01]
SOARES: Yes, that was going to be my next question. I mean, yes, they are getting all of this money, which is fantastic, although we don't know what
they're going to do with it at this stage, Hanna, but how damaging or potentially damage is this for Ireland and slow tax business economy, which
is so reliant on that.
ZIADY: It really is and I think Ireland has come out with a statement saying that it does make sure that companies pay fair taxes. It is going to
study the ruling, of course.
I think it does just put a kind of a real spotlight on the fact that Ireland is so heavily dependent on these taxes and that although the
country has a budget surplus, which is kind of unique, it is rare, it is sort of an outlier in Europe for having that, its own fiscal watchdog said
just last week that that's kind of misleading for this exact reason because it is dependent on so few foreign multinationals for that income.
And actually that the government needs to rein in spending. It can't sort of rely on this budget surplus for larges, so we could get some clues in a
few weeks' time and Ireland also has elections next year in March, but the budget is on October 1st, so perhaps they will tell us what they plan to do
with the funds.
SOARES: I am looking forward to seeing that, to see what comes out.
Hanna, really appreciate it. Thank you very much.
ZIADY: Thank you.
SOARES: Now Australia is the latest country to try and rein in the social media use of children. It plans to introduce a minimum age limit for
children likely between 14 and 16 years old.
Before that goes into effect though, Australia says it will work on technology to verify the age of users. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says
he wants to see kids outside. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTHONY ALBANESE, AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER: Well, we are listening to parents and listening to the community and I want to see kids off their
devices, and out in the footie fields and the swimming pools and the tennis courts. We want them to have real experiences with real people because we
know that social media is causing social harm.
So what we've done is put money in the budget in May for a trial.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Well, let's get more on all this.
Jo Hickman Dunne is a research fellow in social media and adolescent mental health and well-being at the Manchester Institute of Education. And she
joins me now from Manchester.
Jo, really appreciate you taking the time to speak to us this evening. You, from what I understand from my team, you are currently gathering data
around the use of social media with young people between the ages of 11 to 22, just correct me if I am wrong at any stage.
You are perfectly then positioned to talk about this initiative. Would it work in your view from the research you've done thus far?
JO HICKMAN DUNNE, RESEARCH FELLOW IN SOCIAL MEDIA AND ADOLESCENT MENTAL HEALTH AND WELL-BEING, MANCHESTER INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION: Hi, Isa. Nice to
talk to you.
Yes. Yes, we are currently been with people, we work, I think with people up to older than 20, but were really interested in young people's
experiences. That's the age of 15 to understand exactly what those experiences are in social media and the positives and negatives around its
relationship to their mental health.
In terms of banning social media of young people, whatever that is, 14 to 16, I guess my first point would be that the question about whether it
would be successful or how it will be successful needs to kind of be backed up by actually why we are creating these policy and the real challenges
that we don't actually have a lot of evidence around the negative effects of social media.
We hear a lot of scary stories and we know there are risks. For example, around harmful content and we know there are challenges, but there are also
lots of positives and a lot of those kind of negative stories circulate in the media more widely than the benefits.
So we assume there are lots of negatives, but actually the evidence that we have is not very consistent, so it is quite difficult I think to bring in
policies like this without really grounding them.
SOARES: So, Jo, I mean, have you asked young people about how they would feel about a ban and I wonder what they said. How would they work around
it? They will find ways, they would work around it. At this stage, it is important to clarify. We do not know what exactly the Australian government
with this legislation, how they would restrict, how they are going about restricting social media.
But what are the young people you've been speaking to, what are they telling you about a ban?
HICKMAN DUNNE: Yes, that's a really, good question. So there are kind of different messages from young people. But generally, social media is quite
important to them. They know -- they experience the negatives and they experience the positives. And I don't think any of the young people that
I've spoken to would think that banning is the way forward because as we've said, it has been tried in areas and it is not quite clear how it might
happen in Australia, but we do know if we speak to young people that they generally find ways around restrictions.
It is a little bit like telling somebody not to push the red button. If you ask them not to do it, they will find ways to do it, so it hasn't been
successful, certainly in other areas in other countries.
SOARES: Yes, I mean, the criticism I suspect could be that this can't have -- it can't be a one-size-fits-all is I am guessing something that you
probably have seen, too, and there is a lot we don't know as you just said, Jo.
Is there a better strategy for the government, I wonder? What do you recommend?
[16:25:17]
HICKMAN DUNNE: Yes, I think in our experience speaking to young people and also seeing what exists certainly in the UK actually how we support young
people to use social media for good and in better ways, and in ways that is positive for them, would be much more beneficial than an outright ban and
also speaking to young people about that.
So understanding from them what it is that they need and what would be most useful for them. I think that is also a really important part of the
solution, it is in bringing new people into this conversation and hearing their voices on this issue.
I don't think we can really understand how they experience and use social media without talking to them. And I don't think that any young person
would say yes, on it, absolutely outright.
SOARES: Yes, this is the part where I think it is crucial to bring them into the conversation because these decisions, whenever or whoever they're
made by will be for them.
Jo Hickman Dunne, really appreciate you taking the time to speak to us, Jo. Appreciate it.
HICKMAN DUNN: Thanks, so much.
SOARES: Thank you.
Now, the political countdown is on with just hours to go before Donald Trump and Kamala Harris meet in their first and likely only debate. A look
of what we might see and what's at stake right here on QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOARES: Our top story this hour, the highly anticipated presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump is just 4.5 hours away with the
polls showing the race in a dead heat right now. It is a critical moment, of course, for both candidates.
Harris will be looking to define herself on the world stage as Trump works to draw the support of undecided voters. The showdown is the first ever,
believe it or not, between the two and the Trump campaign says Harris will struggle.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
JASON MILLER, TRUMP CAMPAIGN SENIOR ADVISER: She owns every failure of the Harris-Biden administration. You can't talk about turning the page when
you're the one who created our current nightmare. You just can't.
You can't prepare for President Trump, there's just no way to do it. Imagine like a boxer trying to prepare for Floyd Mayweather or Muhammad
Ali.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[16:30:27]
SOARES: Well, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg agrees that Harris has a lot to deal with tonight, but offers a very different perspective on
why. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETE BUTTIGIEG, U.S. TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: It will take almost superhuman focus and discipline to deal with Donald Trump in a debate. It's
no ordinary proposition. Not because Donald Trump is a master of explaining policy ideas and how they're going to make people better off. It's because
he's a master of taking any form or format that is on television and turning it into a show that is all about him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Well, joining me now to talk all about tonight, Trent Duffy served as White House deputy press secretary under Republican president George W.
Bush, and Mike Morey is a former communications director for Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer and a partner at the SKDK political consulting firm.
Gentlemen, welcome to the show.
Mike, let me start with you because there's plenty for us to get our teeth into. We heard Democrats I think said yesterday or earlier this week that
Kamala Harris is an underdog. We've seen the polling. I think we just showed the polling before we came to you. That shows about a third of
Americans want to know more about Kamala Harris.
Given this, what does she need to do today in your view?
MIKE MOREY, FORMER COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR FOR SENATE DEMOCRAT CHUCK SCHUMER: Yes, look, the reality is she is an underdog. President Trump,
former president Trump has debated many, many times in Republican primaries when he first ran against Joe Biden, against Hillary Clinton. But what she
needs to do is this is an opportunity for her to move beyond the chaos, move beyond Donald Trump, talk about the future and give Americans an
explanation of who she is and what she stands for directly from her mouth, directly to the people.
Look, it's been a short campaign for her so far. She had a good convention. She had an opportunity at the convention to speak directly to Americans,
explain what she stands for, where she comes from. This is also a huge opportunity for her to ignore Donald Trump and speak directly to voters,
explain to them her positions, define herself, and not allow the chaos candidate to try to define her for herself.
SOARES: And Trent, I mean, for Donald Trump, I think this is his seventh presidential general election debate. I mean a record. And voters, of
course, already known him, know him as a known entity. So for those on the fence, those undecided, what does he need to say to them?
TRENT DUFFY, FORMER WHITE HOUSE DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY UNDER GEORGE W. BUSH: I think, he needs to say to them that a new term for him would be
different than the last one. And that's pretty difficult for him to do that.
SOARES: Yes.
DUFFY: I mean, there's things that he should do and there's things that he will do. And I agree with the previous comments that he often descends into
chaos. So in many ways, the two candidates have competed. Kamala Harris needs to show strength and that she's ready to answer that phone call at
2:00 a.m. as Hillary Clinton put before the American electorate eight years ago. And Trump needs to show that, you know, he can act presidential, too.
And that's probably going to be a tougher trick for him, but both candidates are going to be trying to define each other. I think Harris has
a bigger task, but it's no surprise that both sides are trying to lower expectations, taking a page from the Bush White House.
SOARES: And Mike, ahead of the debate, I mean, we just played a little clip there, but Trump's campaign spokesperson, Jason Miller, said on CNN it was
Harris not Biden in charge of the country over the last three and a half years.
How do you think -- and this is something we've heard repeatedly, right. How do you think she will respond to that criticism? How hard will it be
for her to kind of dislodge herself from some of those popular and least popular policies of the Biden administration?
MOREY: Look, I think they're actually going to have a very hard time. I think Donald Trump will have a very hard time anchoring her to Joe Biden.
Joe Biden is the president. The vice president is not the president. The vice president doesn't set policy. But most importantly, what Kamala Harris
is likely to do tonight and what she should do is say it's time to turn the page, turn the page on the type of politics that Americans have
unfortunately gotten used to over the last eight years before Joe Biden were president and Donald Trump was barking from the sidelines and the four
years before that while Donald Trump was the president.
Her job tonight, and no matter how often Donald Trump attempts to sort of anchor her to any unpopular aspects of the Biden presidency, is to talk
about the future, not the past. Donald Trump is going to talk about the past. He's going to talk about Joe Biden's presidency, which is now
increasingly becoming the past. He's going to talk about how it wasn't his first term, which is the past.
[16:35:04]
Americans vote prospectively. They like to know what is it you are bringing to the table, where is the hope, what is it that you plan to do for us
today, tomorrow. That's her job. And so long as she continues to anchor the debate towards what could come, how we can move beyond the chaos of the
last four and eight years, she's going to do really well.
SOARES: Do you agree with that, Trent?
DUFFY: Well, I think so, but I think she's going to have a tougher time just disyoking herself from the Biden administration. She has been there.
That's very difficult because she's got to say, well, what would I do different and she's got to master the specific details to show that she can
be the president of the United States, the toughest job in the world. She's got to demonstrate that she can handle Israel, Gaza, and Russia, and
Ukraine, and some of these other really difficult foreign policy challenges the country faces and do so in a way that gives Americans comfort.
I mean, look, the people in the middle, the independents, are going to decide this election. They're not voting for a husband or a boyfriend or
whatever. They're voting for president, and they know what they're going to get with Trump. They really don't know really what Kamala Harris has to
offer yet. She's got an opportunity to do that as has been said, but she's got to start convincing people and her flip-flopping on so many issues is
really a difficult handicap for her.
SOARES: Let's stay, Trent, I mean -- go ahead. Go ahead, Mike.
MOREY: No, no, look. I hear that. But what I would say to you is this. That the American public at this point has seen Donald Trump move from position
to position over the course of eight years. Just the last couple of months alone, no one knows where he stands on the issue of reproductive rights,
abortion and choice. So, I mean, I'd be less concerned about that and more concerned -- Kamala Harris needs to ignore Donald Trump and talk directly
to Americans so they get to know her more.
So they're not listening to who kamala Harris is through the voice of Donald Trump or the lens of the Republican Party. Instead, she just looked
straight into that camera. She needs to talk to Americans. She needs to explain what her worldview is, what her record is, and what she intends to
do as president. I think at the end of the day, Americans have said and what we saw when Joe Biden was still in the race was people did not like
their choices. They wanted another choice. She set the table now offering Americans a different choice. That's what she needs to stick to.
SOARES: OK. Final question then, and let's try and keep this short and snappy. What do you think will be their biggest weaknesses, challenge
tonight?
Trent, you go first.
DUFFY: Trump being Trump is his biggest weakness. If he can show restraint, and maybe even use a little humor, say, look, people don't like me, but,
you know who I am, you know what you're going to get, and for Harris, her biggest weakness is the last four years. People are really anxious about
where the economy is heading. And, you know, Morey is right. She's got to be the future candidate.
SOARES: Mike, your take?
MOREY: Yes. Look, I agree. Donald Trump's biggest weakness is Donald Trump. There's reason why his campaign wants the microphones muted when he's not
speaking. They're afraid of how he could implode. That is his biggest weakness.
Her biggest weakness tonight will be the biggest mistake she could make is getting drawn into a barrage of insults with Donald Trump. Be snappy, be
funny, but just talk to Americans and tell them what you plan to do.
SOARES: Mike Morey and Trent Duffy, really appreciate you gentlemen taking the time to speak to me tonight. Thank you, sir.
Now, officials in Gaza say rescuers are struggling to retrieve victims buried under rubble after an Israeli airstrike on a designated humanitarian
zone.
We have the very latest for you after this short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:41:20]
SOARES: Humanitarian, groups are condemning an Israeli airstrike within a so-called safe zone in Southern Gaza. Eyewitnesses say at least five
missiles hit Al-Mawasi region where tens of thousands of people are living in tents. Israel says it was targeting Hamas fighters. The Hamas-run
Ministry of Health says at least 19 people were killed and the death toll could be higher.
Our Matthew Chance has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As rescue workers scramble for survivors, eyewitnesses say the Israeli strikes
targeted what was meant to be a safe zone in the Southern Gaza Strip, ripping through tents and makeshift shelters, leaving deep craters and
dozens of killed and injured.
They told us this area was safe, says this man. I swear the people here were just normal, he says, not fighters.
By daylight, you can see the extent of the destruction. Israel's military says it conducted a precise strike on Hamas terrorists operating a command
and control center inside this humanitarian zone. An IDF statement says prior to the strike numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of
harming civilians.
But this was a heavily populated area and civilians were caught up in the powerful blasts.
This man says his two daughters were completely buried under the sand. Only one survived, he says. And he says he found the body parts of his neighbors
strewn around.
This 12-year-old girl is nursing a broken shoulder, suffered when her tent collapsed, she says, trapping her and her mother inside. I was scared
because the strikes were so close, she says.
Israel accuses Hamas of using civilians as human shields and insists the Israeli military takes extensive measures to enable civilians in Gaza to
avoid combat zones. But there's little real security in this brutal war.
Matthew Chance, CNN, Tel Aviv.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOARES: To Ukraine now, which has carried out its biggest drone attacks so far on Moscow. Have a look at this.
Russian authorities say at least one person was killed and dozens of homes were destroyed. Around 50 flights had to be diverted and three airports
were shot down around Moscow.
I spoke to our Fred Pleitgen earlier who had this update from Kyiv.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely impossible for the Russians to ignore the fact that large parts of Moscow
were at least threatened by long distance Ukrainian drones. And I think the Ukrainians definitely showed two things. First of all, that they have
pretty substantial long distance strike drone capabilities, but also that they seem to have quite a lot of these strike drones to actually hit Russia
with.
And if you look at some of the places that were targeted by these Ukrainian strike drones, some of them are in the border area between Russia and
Ukraine, but a lot of it also was centered around Moscow. You were talking about the fact that the Russians say that 20 of these drones were shot down
in the Moscow region. And that one person actually was killed on the ground. And that area where that person was killed is a suburb of Moscow.
It's called Ramenskoye.
And that is also the area where there is a large international airport in Moscow. And certainly from what we've been seeing, it appears as though
possibly one of the things that the Ukrainians had been maybe trying to do is disrupt air traffic in the Moscow area, which of course affects hundreds
of thousands of people every day who fly from airports in the Moscow region.
[16:45:02]
From what we heard, three airports in that region had to stop or cancel flights for several hours. There's one major airport in the north of the
city, Sheremetyevo, that apparently continued the flight operations. Nevertheless, this was a very big disruption that the Russians or that the
citizens of Moscow were facing.
Now, all of this, of course, comes in the middle of a massive Russian aerial campaign against Ukrainian cities, against Ukrainian infrastructure,
of course also against Ukrainian frontline troops as well. And the Ukrainians now showing that they are very capable of punching back. And one
of the things that the Ukrainians have said that they want to focus on, this was a big point for them, is more of these unmanned aerial vehicles,
not just in the tactical areas where they use them on the frontlines, but also especially these long distance strike capabilities to hit some of
Russia's critical infrastructure, like for instance, oil and gas installations, to hit airfields.
But then also apparently to also threaten Russia's cities like for instance the capital city Moscow after in the past weeks Kyiv, the Ukrainian
capital, has again and again been targeted by Russian drones, and of course also by Russian cruise and ballistic missiles as well -- Isa.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOARES: Fred Pleitgen in Kyiv.
And Walmart is banking on sneaker heads to be their newest part of their customer base. I have the CEO of the sneaker company StockX with me. We'll
talk about its new partnership with Walmart. You don't want to miss that conversation. That is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOARES: Welcome back, everyone.
Walmart's latest attempt to expand its online marketplace is sneakers or we call it in the U.K. trainers. Starting today, the retail giant is
partnering with StockX. The sneakers and collectibles company is the latest in Walmart's roster of outside sellers. It will offer up brands like
Jordan, Nike, as well as New Balance. It's part of Walmart's push to keep growing their e-commerce business. One of the first listings from the
partnership, these, as you can see that, retro Jordans, very nice, which can be yours for the cool price of $339.
Scott Cutler is the CEO of StockX. He joins me now.
Scott, great to have you on the show. So just talk then about this new venture and what, you know, StockX or Walmart gets out of this partnership.
SCOTT CUTLER, CEO, STOCKX: Sure. Well, StockX is a global marketplace and we love to be able to reflect current culture. And when you look at
Walmart, which is one of the largest retailers and e-commerce brands in the world, they're making a big strategic move into marketplaces. And we're
partnering with them to power this marketplace experience by providing into their catalog access to products that they couldn't otherwise get access to
and that consumers love.
[16:50:08]
SOARES: And on your side, you grow your client base as well. You grow also the base, don't you?
CUTLER; Absolutely. Well, I mean, we're hoping the hundreds of millions of customers that are Walmart customers in the Walmart marketplace will be
exposed to StockX and the StockX experience and our brand which stands for trust and verification, as they think about now getting access to these
things.
SOARES: Just for our viewers just around the world watching, who is your traditional, you know, buyer? What does your audience look like?
CUTLER: So the marketplace for resale particularly in sneakers has been around since 1985.
SOARES: Yes.
CUTLER: So this is not a new marketplace. When you think about our marketplace today still the demographic of our customer skews younger, so
60 percent of our customers are under the age of 35. But sneakers is really converged with fashion, not only just performance on the pitch or on the
field. Now, it's really a fashion statement, and the younger consumer is inspired by what they see out there. And this represents one of the things,
maybe not all of the things, but one of the things that they are able to express their own personalities.
SOARES: So it's still the younger consumers who are buying these sort of items at this roughly level that we were shown.
CUTLER: Yes, or those of us that are parents buying for our kids.
SOARES: Oh, don't. Don't get me started. I just say no way, hundred dollars a pair. You can't buy sneakers for that amount of money now. Look, but you
do a smaller, and correct me if I'm wrong here, smaller part of your business is collectibles. So talk about that. I mean, there was action
figures, I was told. There's also baseball cards and even art. Do you see yourself expanding these offerings at all?
CUTLER: Absolutely. I mean, even when you think about sneakers, it's not just a performance item, it is also a collectible or something that has a
real asset value, and you think about the other things that trade on our platform, even apparel, accessories, electronics, collectible items that
could be toys or trading cards.
SOARES: What is the quirkiest thing that is in terms of a collectible that are sold?
CUTLER: Stanley mug.
SOARES: Really?
CUTLER: Yes. Stanley mug now.
SOARES: Are you serious?
CUTLER: A huge sensation that started this year and now trading at, you know, a real resale prices where if you can find them in certain colors
become very hot, tradable items. And that's true almost in every category. Brands create great products.
SOARES: Yes.
CUTLER: They leverage scarcity. Consumers want them, and those are typically the products that will trade voraciously on StockX.
SOARES: And, you know, you're here in London. You're clearly looking to expand your business in Europe and beyond. Where do you have your eyes on
next?
CUTLER: Well, Europe is, outside of the U.S., our largest market, and obviously it's the U.K., it's France, it's Germany. We have a global supply
base from all around the world. And you think about it, brands are placing products to consumers all around the world. And we have hundreds of
thousands of sellers that leverage our platform to buy product. And then our job is to reach the consumers around the world.
So I'm here this week. We're expanding our fulfillment network here in Europe, reaching this key demographic with faster shipping, better
services, but still highly sought-after items.
SOARES: And can I just ask that we saw those trainers, those sneakers there. Is there one item that you would buy? What's your favorite sneakers
that you're seeing right now?
CUTLER: Well, I bet you wouldn't guess the top selling shoe or sneaker in the U.K. is the Lightning McQueen Crocs.
SOARES: Oh, my god. I love those.
CUTLER: It's not the Jordan One. It's not the Asics. It's the Lightning McQueen Crocs, but it's also --
SOARES: You can't go wrong with Lightning McQueen. Right?
CUTLER: Absolutely.
SOARES: Scott, great to see you. Thanks very much.
CUTLER: Thanks so much.
SOARES: Thanks for coming in.
Well, as we've been discussing here in the show in the last 53 minutes or so, we are a little more than, what, four hours away from the big debate
between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. And there's a lot at stake as you all know in what might be the only time voters get to see both candidates
on the stage.
CNN asked Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, what do you think Mr. Trump should focus on. This is what he said, have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): I talked with the president a lot, President Trump, and that has always been my advice that we run this race on policy,
on record, not rhetoric. On policy, not personality.
Kamala Harris was the most liberal member of the Senate in the modern era. She was to the left of Bernie Sanders. She has a lifelong record that is
far left. She's a San Francisco radical. But they're engaging in a campaign of fantasy over fact right now. And what we have to do is make sure the
American people know the truth about who Kamala Harris is and what her values and her philosophy are.
She's going to try to convince the American people tonight, for example, that she's great on the economy. She'll solve the problem. She was the head
cheerleader of Bidenomics. I mean, she's going to try to convince everyone that she can solve all these problems in their lives. She's been in the
administration for three and a half years and hasn't done a single bit of it.
[16:55:02]
She has a big task ahead of her tonight. And I don't think she's going to - - I don't think she's going to perform well because that record is hard to run from.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Let's get more on all of this. Kristen Holmes is at the debate site of the Delta, Pennsylvania, and she joins me now.
And, you know, we know that the former president is a well-known entity. He's done plenty of these debates. I think it was seven I heard Jeff Zeleny
say earlier in the hour. So what kind of strategy are we likely to see from the Trump camp here, Kristen?
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Speaker Mike Johnson is not the only adviser to former president Donald Trump, who has insisted that he
stay away from personal attacks. He has had allies, advisers, all warn him that he should not go after her. He should not participate in any jabs and
he should not let Kamala Harris get underneath his skin.
Donald Trump is notoriously reactive. Everyone around him knows that. They are hoping that he does not react to Kamala Harris. Now, in terms of actual
debate prep, when it comes to policy, he has been holding what they call policy sessions. This means it's not your traditional debate prep. There's
no one filling in for Kamala Harris. There's no one filling in for the moderators. Instead it is conversations held by senior advisers as well as
lawmakers, former lawmakers, who sit down with him and go over various policies, go over potential questions as well as go over how to pivot away
from topics that he doesn't want to talk about.
They don't believe that abortion is strong for him politically. So one of the things they've gone over is how to pivot away from talking about
reproductive rights to talking about immigration or the economy or crime. These are all the things that his team believes are most important. They
also believe these are the things that are going to help him get across the finish line and win back the White House in November.
But even with all of this, even with all of this preparation and talking about policy, the big question of course is how Donald Trump will present
when he gets on that stage. Donald Trump is a volatile person. He is somebody who again is incredibly reactive. If Kamala Harris gets under his
skin, will he respond? And one of the things that I've heard from ally after ally is this warning to Donald Trump, not issue any kind of verbal
response.
If he feels like he needs to react to do it in a facial expression. They do not want him lashing out at her, do not want him attacking her, but it's
still Donald Trump. And whoever comes on that stage, whichever version of Donald Trump, it's going to be up to him later tonight.
SOARES: I can't wait to see the facial expressions. Kristen Holmes there, appreciate it. Thanks, Kristen.
And the presidential debate will begin at 7:00 p.m. New York time. That is 2:00 a.m. here in London. And if you're not a night owl, well, don't you
worry. CNN will replay the debate Wednesday on Max and there'll be plenty more opportunities for you to watch tomorrow.
And that is it for us this evening. Thanks very much for your company. You've been watching QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. I'm Isa Soares. Do stay right
here for more live coverage of tonight's debate. I'll see you tomorrow. Bye-bye.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
