Return to Transcripts main page
Quest Means Business
Harris, Trump Target Battleground States with 15 Days to Go; Experts: Elon Musk's $1 Million Giveaway to Voters May Be Illegal; Moldova Backs Joining European Union by Razor-Thin Margin; Cuba's Power Crisis; Lloyd Austin Meets With Zelenskyy In Ukraine; Sean "Diddy" Combs Named In Seven New Lawsuits. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired October 21, 2024 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:10]
RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST, "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS": Closing bell ringing on Wall Street. We are going to have a gavel there, any second now,
this is as the market comes to a close. The market is down quite sharply, has been most of the session. We are down nearly 300 and something change.
The market has never really perked all session.
Those are the markets and these are the main events of the day: Elon Musk wants to give a million dollars a day to registered voters and that may be
a problem. It is possibly not legal.
Accusations of unprecedented Russian interference in Moldova's vote to join the European Union.
And a shakeup of a Disney, a new chair of the board and the fourth in just over three years, and a new CEO 18 months away.
We are live in New York, I'm back. It is Monday, October 21st. I am Richard Quest and this QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
Good evening.
We begin today with Kamala Harris, who is shortly to land in Michigan. She is having a fight to leaning voters on the multi-battleground tour with Liz
Cheney. The former Republican Congresswoman, joined the vice president starting the day in Pennsylvania, now in Michigan. And they will finish the
day in Wisconsin. Donald Trump is in the swing state of North Carolina, where more than a million votes have already been cast in early voting.
Back with the vice president and Liz Cheney, her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, have both endorsed Harris and she explained his
support for Harris earlier.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LIZ CHENEY, FORMER US REPRESENTATIVE: Vice President Harris is going to defend our Constitution. We are not always going to agree, but I know Vice
President Harris will always do what she believes is right for this country.
She has a sincere heart, and that's why I am honored to be here and support her in this race.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: Priscilla is with me. It is an interesting one.
The more we see of these two women campaigning, I suppose the more the issues become very clear as to whether this is about democracy and how
somebody is respected in some circles as Liz Cheney views Donald Trump as a risk and a danger.
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, certainly the message from the vice president and Liz Cheney is choosing country over
party, that's what you'll see in the signs behind them during each of these events.
Now, what the campaign is trying to do here is to target a small, but potentially decisive group of voters and that is Republicans who are turned
off by former President Donald Trump and they are taking this message to suburban areas in these key swing states. As you mentioned there,
Pennsylvania, crucial state, that's where this began in what is a series of moderated conversations.
But let's fast forward to when the vice president will be here with Cheney later this afternoon, and this is Waukesha County. It is a long longtime
GOP stronghold. It is also an area though that President Biden did slightly better in 2020, even if he lost, he performed better than any Democrat in
decades.
So it is these types of areas that the Harris campaign is now seizing on, hoping that they can try to reach those disaffected Republicans. Now of
course, this is not a new strategy. This has been deployed since August of course, during the Democratic National Convention, Democrats also had a
part of their programming specifically focused on Republicans who are going to vote for the vice president, crossing party lines because again, they
were putting democracy first, that according to their words.
So this is a broadening out of that strategy, but it is also telling, Richard, because this is the part of the strategy that they are going to
use in the closing weeks of this election. What that tells you is that they know, this is a race that is very tight, exceedingly tight and they are
going to have to reach those Republicans and bring them to the vice president's column to try to eke out that win in November.
QUEST: Right, but is there any indication in the polls that this strategy is working? In a sense, they are going for the shy voter, aren't they? They
are going for that Republican -- previous Republican voter that is maybe not wanting to admit that they are going to go for Kamala Harris. Do we
have any evidence of its success?
ALVAREZ: The polls remain deadlocked, but I will tell you what the campaign is looking at from my conversations with them. They are looking at the
results in the Republican primary. Who voted, for example, for Nikki Haley?
[16:05:01]
Take Pennsylvania where they saw in some counties that she did exceedingly well, even though she was no longer part of the presidential race. Those
are the voters that they are targeting.
So even if the polls don't really move very much over the last several weeks, they know that some of these counties had those Nikki Haley voters
that didn't not one of over former President Donald Trump, even when she was already out of the race. And so those are the voters that they're
trying to appeal to. Of course, at the same time that Donald Trump himself is trying to get Nikki Haley to campaign with him.
So all sort of coming to a head here, but the Harris campaign, remaining confident, at least projecting confidence in this strategy, which in
talking to Republican strategists is still a risky one.
QUEST: Fascinating the way the electoral map is moving this time around. I am grateful. Thank you, Priscilla joining us there.
Staying with matters on the electoral front, Elon Musk is testing US election law with his plan to increase voter registration, well, as far as
it goes.
Musk announced this weekend speaking in support of Donald Trump, a new and original plan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELON MUSK, CEO, TESLA: Every day from now until the election, we are giving out a million-dollar prize that is -- and all you have to do is sign a
petition in support of the Constitution. It is very straightforward. You don't even have to vote.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: Now, sounds straightforward, doesn't it? The problem is, the petitioners in support of free speech and the right to bear arms. But its
only available, the giveaway, to people in seven swing dates. And you have to be registered to vote to take part and sign the petition.
Now, let's just go through that clearly.
Here you have a petition, but you have to be able to sign the petition -- you to sign the petition, you have to be registered to vote; therefore, if
you want to take part in the petition and sign it and you're not registered, you have to register to vote and that has raised questions on
whether this is against the law, because you have to have taken -- you have to have registered, and election law experts say, because you have to have
registered, it may be illegal.
Here is the law. It is Title 52. It is subsection 103-07. I've got a copy of it here, just in case you want to follow along.
Federal law says it is a crime to pay someone or offer to pay or accept payment for registration to vote or for voting. It is a $10,000.00 fine,
five years in prison, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
Tim Walz has responded, speaking on ABC's "The View." He said, the fact that you have to be registered and it is paying people to register, well,
that makes it almost illegal.
Brendan Fischer is a campaign finance lawyer, deputy executive director of "Documented."
I tried to do my best there. It might have been a poor best to get to the point, but the point is, it is the sine qua non of being registered to take
part in the new petition that you say is illegal.
BRENDAN FISCHER, CAMPAIGN FINANCE LAWYER, DEPUTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, "DOCUMENTED": That's right.
So the law clearly prohibits paying somebody to vote or to register to vote and the reason that Elon Musk's plan is unlawful is because in order for a
swing state voter to be eligible for the $100.00 payment or eligible for the $1 million payout, they have to be registered to vote. Your eligibility
is conditional on registration, and that's what renders the plan illegal.
It would be a different story if any swing-state resident could sign the petition and then become eligible for the pay-off, but it is the
conditioning of that dealing that renders it unlawful.
QUEST: Right. In your view, but there is another view that says no, the condition -- you may have to meet the condition, but you're not getting the
million for meeting the condition or a hundred for meeting the condition, you're getting it for signing the petition and the precursor to that, well,
that's really up to you.
FISCHER: I have heard those arguments. I am not convinced.
I think many of the folks making those arguments are supporters of former President Trump, and I would be curious about what their analysis would be
he if a liberal billionaire were approaching Democratic supporters on college campuses offering them $100.00 for proof of their registration. I
am curious about how they would analyze that situation, which seems very -- which seems very analogous.
I think we have a policy -- a policy debate over whether this particular prohibition as applied to registration is a good idea, but looking at the
black letter of the law that you showed earlier, clearly appear to render this unlawful.
[16:10:05]
QUEST: Who has locus to actually litigate it? I mean, fine, let's assume you're right and it is illegal. Under Title 52, who is the designated in a
sense? Is it the DOJ? Is it states attorneys general? Is there a possibility of individual litigants that can take this?
FISCHER: Primary enforcement will come from the Department of Justice, so they could pursue criminal or civil penalties, but we are sailing in
uncharted waters here. I am aware of no other analogous precedent and there are obvious political considerations with whether DOJ might want to pursue
a prosecution or an investigation at this stage in the election.
But if this is allowed to pass, if Musk is allowed to make these payments, then we've just opened up a new avenue for money in our political system.
You know, billionaires and corporations are already pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into US politics to influence our vote. This will open
up a new avenue where they are directly giving money to voters to register or even to vote.
QUEST: That's really the difficult part you've got here because the nice in a sense, nice legal argument of whether it is illegal or not can properly
be left to judges and appeal gods, but finding somebody who will litigate it and therefore get the issue going, because as you say, if you don't get
it going then -- let's assume you're right and it is illegal. He has won the argument and nobody sues him.
FISCHER: Yes, well, this is certainly how our campaign finance system in the US has effectively fallen apart, because once one side gets away with
the tactic, then the other side uses it as well. And before long, you have a system overrun by billionaires and corporations and dark money and a
variety of tactics that would appear to violate the letter of the law.
QUEST: And that is your problem with two weeks ago, with the issue -- but as you say, sir, the issue is going to rumble on, assuming -- I am grateful
for your time. Thank you. It is one that will play out in the courts.
FISCHER: All right, thank you.
QUEST: And lawyers will get rich. Thank you, sir.
Now, throughout this election cycle, discussions concerning issues like the deficit and childcare, one group keeps coming up again and again.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS (D), VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What the Wharton School has said is Donald Trump's plan would actually explode the deficit.
GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN), 2024 VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: You're not going to pay for it with these tariffs. That's just adding another $4,000.00 on the
family and taking less. So not only do they not get the money to pay for that, there are $4,000.00 in the hole. That's Wharton School, that's his
alma mater.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: Now the Penn Wharton budget, which I've got a copy of it somewhere here, is often cited around Washington and their research is saying both
candidates would balloon the deficit.
If you're going to balloon something, we better balloon it together. So according to the Wharton Law, the Trump would balloon the deficit by about
$5.8 trillion.
Now, that is due to tax cuts, which are unfunded, lower corporate taxes and the like. So he continues to blow it up and in a sense, and I am not going
to be able to do this because I've never been able to tie a balloon -- you just have to pretend you can see that there is the deficit as such.
However, Vice President Harris is also ballooning the deficit. In her case, it is only $1.2 trillion because child tax credit takes part of it, but she
is also going to have higher corporate taxes, which remember, Donald Trump says he is going to cut corporate taxes.
You get the idea.
Well, the models says both candidates are leaving the debt burden for future generations, it is just different from one to the other.
So Kent Smetters is the faculty director of the Penn Wharton Budget Model joins me now.
We did our best, sir, with your numbers.
The reality is that both sides have used your research for their own purposes, which perhaps and arguably confuses the issue.
KENT SMETTERS, FACULTY DIRECTOR, PENN WHARTON BUDGET MODEL: Sure. Yes. I mean, everybody loves to cherry pick our research and decide what part that
they want to talk about, but as you've pointed out, both candidates are increasing the debt on top of already the exploding debt path.
[16:15:01]
And so basically, our fiscal house is burning down and both candidates are just arguing over the furniture, whereas they really need to step back and
really take a much more aggressive stance whether that's tax increases, spending cuts or some combination, something has to be done.
QUEST: But if they did that, to quote that old saying, if we told people the truth, we couldn't get re-elected. I mean, that's also the political
reality.
And also when I look at and I read some of the report, you're stretching out into 2030-2035, thirty years down the road, when there are so many
exogenous events that could happen, is it fruitful to look that far ahead?
SMETTERS: One reason why we do that is because, otherwise, you really invite a lot of gaming that can happen where you make the first five, ten
years look good by really pushing a lot of costs outside of that window. So part of it just to reduce that gaming, but also how did we get here? We got
here with short-term thinking.
And so I agree with you, there is so much that we cannot anticipate -- COVID, things like that, but we still want to do our best guess about the
secular part that we know about.
QUEST: If you take your model and you run it ex post facto against previous elections, does your model show the right result? In other words, if you
take your model, you put in the last election so we know what the result was and we know what the succeeding year was, does the model hold water?
SMETTERS: Right. It certainly did what the tax cuts and JOBS Act, which was the big one in 2017. We did analysis a year-and-a-half later and we show
that in fact, even though short run reaction seemed to tie up very well with the data so much so that even official scoring agencies, CBO and JCT,
they also agreed with our 10-year cost after the legislation was signed, they did revision and they came up to our number.
We said it was $2 trillion at the time, they said $1.5 trillion, and then later they agreed. Having said that, obviously we did not anticipate COVID
and some of the reaction there.
So, do it well, we have to look at these secular trends and it does seem like it fits very well.
QUEST: Now in the sense, deficits, I mean, Donald Trump is a great one for saying deficits. He has been borrowing money, et cetera, et cetera. But you
would agree that deficit per spending per se is not necessarily a bad thing, providing it is done for capital or infrastructure investment rather
than consumption or ongoing consumption. In other words, paying today's bills. Rachel Reeves in the UK is having exactly that issue with the UK
budget next week.
When you look at their spending composition, what do you make of it then?
SMETTERS: Right, yes, I mean, so both candidates are not doing essentially what you're suggesting and that is making these really high rate of return
investments. With deficit dollars, it is who mostly affording current consumption. There are opportunities here, they are not massively scalable,
but there are still some opportunities, for example pre-K education, some public infrastructure, although that tends to get a little inflated, it has
to be very selective.
So there are certainly opportunities that in some instances, pay for themselves that way. But that is not the current plans.
QUEST: Kent, it is a fascinating report that you've written as it always is. I am grateful and thank you for giving us a chance to blow up some
balloons on the program. I am very grateful. Thank you, sir.
SMETTERS: My pleasure.
QUEST: As you and I continue our evening chatter over business and economics, as we continue, Israel's foreign minister says it will continue
striking Hezbollah until the group collapses. The Israeli Defense Forces is now trying to destroy Hezbollah's main financial institution, after the
break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:21:38]
QUEST: Moldova's president today says the nation has won the first battle in a difficult fight after people voted in favor of joining the European
Union. The yes vote, won by the barest of margins, 50.4 percent, the polling suggests it would pass by a far greater margin.
Now, President Maia Sandu says foreign groups tried to undermine the referendum, that she has a point. We've been reporting that a Kremlin-
linked network offered to pay Moldovans to vote against joining the EU.
Anna Stewart is in London.
But Anna, the issue here is the run-up to this referendum that seem to be very clear in favor of joining the EU. So how were the Russians or whoever,
managing to turn this round at such a late stage and in such an obvious fashion?
ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: Well, the incumbent president really thought she would have a strong mandate for acceding the EU at this stage. We
thought this would be an easy vote for yes, wafer-thin majority. I think its 11,000 votes in it.
Allegations of all sorts, including as CNN reported last week, allegations of a Moldovan oligarch with Kremlin-linked organization backing him,
offering to pay people for votes. So as simple really as that.
Now, that was certainly the focus of the incumbent president's reaction to the results. But Richard, we have had some statements from the spokesperson
of the kremlin, Dmitry Peskov who actually says the opposite. He is saying that the opposition forces who wanted to vote no for the EU were deprived
of the opportunity to engage in any campaigning or to engage in the electoral process and he goes on to say that various people were thrown
into prison and interrogated and so on.
QUEST: Right? But was this a free and fair vote? Let's not worry about for a second, who had access to what and where. In terms of voting on the day,
ballots being cast? Do we have allegations of ballot stuffing or irregularities like that?
STEWART: Where there have been allegations that there have been issues over the actual process for more than a week. So I would say, it is almost
certainly this was not a free and fair election.
What happens next? I mean, the EU referendum has happened, whether they decide to do a do-over in the coming months or years, who knows? But their
presidential vote, there will be a second one, so that will come on November 3rd.
QUEST: Now, let's go to the reality of the situation. Is there any real opportunity or possibility that Moldova -- I know, it has had accession and
I know it has been part of chapter talks, but is there any real possibility that Moldova will join the European Union?
STEWART: There are obstacles, there are a lot of obstacles. Yes, I mean, the accession talks are underway. They started in 2020 just as an idea of
just one of the hurdles are the 35 so-called chapters that include things like taxation, economy, rule of law. They require so much screening, it
would take probably a decade or more for Moldova to do that.
And you also have to remember that Moldova, probably much like Ukraine would likely be a net recipient of the EU budget, i.e., all of those other
EU member states would probably have to pay more to add another member in.
So I can see this getting mired in a few issues over the coming years.
QUEST: I am grateful, as always, Anna Stewart, thank you.
[16:25:00]
The US Secretary of State is on his way back to the Middle East for talks with Israel and other allies. The State Department says he will be pushing
to get humanitarian aid into Gaza, as well as to de-escalate the fighting in Lebanon.
Israeli strikes on Beirut took aim overnight at the financial institution linked to Hezbollah. According to Lebanon's news agency, several branches
of Al-Qard al-Hasan were hit. Israel says the goal of these strikes is to weaken Hezbollah's influence inside Lebanon.
Now the organization is a non-profit that offers interest-free loans to the Shia community. Its stated goal, to alleviate poverty based on Islamic
principles of interest-free lending. It is one of the civic roles Hezbollah serves. It also operates health care facilities, schools, and even some
infrastructure.
Jeremy Diamond is in Tel Aviv.
We've heard this before, over the years, have we? Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon -- that these organizations supplant in many ways the role of
traditional governments in the provision of needed social services or financial institutions.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, what's really notable about these strikes, Richard, is the fact that Israel typically claims that Hezbollah,
for example, has its command structures, its weapons depots embedded within civilian infrastructure.
But in this case, it has actually gone after non-military targets with these strikes, going after several branches of this financial institution
that alongside the United States and other countries have accused of being effectively Hezbollah's kind of banking infrastructure that helps finance
its militant activities.
And now Israel carried out these strikes in multiple parts of Lebanon, including in the Lebanese capital of Beirut and some densely populated
areas. We saw some pretty striking images of explosions very close to Beirut's Rafic Hariri International National Airport.
And the reason why Israel says it is going after these targets is to kind of continue with this strategy of using military pressure to put internal
Lebanese pressure on Hezbollah as well, to get them to try and agree to some kind of a ceasefire that would be more favorable to Israel's terms,
meaning not just stopping the fighting, but also moving its forces away, dozens of kilometers away from the Israeli border with Lebanon.
And in this case, a senior Israeli intelligence officials says that the aim of these strikes is to try and sever trust within the Shia community, which
relies on this banking institution, relies on Hezbollah social services, in many cases, to try and sever the trust of the Shia community with
Hezbollah.
And this is just another layer of pressure that the Israelis are attempting to bring on Hezbollah. Not clear whether or not that strategy is going to
be effective, but it comes as the Biden administration's special envoy, Amos Hochstein has now arrived in Lebanon today to try and see if these
ceasefire negotiations can move forward.
He arrived with a new list of demands that Israeli officials have been making, setting out a much, much harder line than they had before for all
of the heavy blows that they have dealt to Hezbollah over the course of the last month -- Richard.
QUEST: So, now, we are at a position here where the fighting is going on in two fronts now. We've had numerous proposals, but none of which have gone
anywhere fast. Let's have a moment of reality tonight: Is there any realistic possibility of a ceasefire in the near future? On either front,
either in Lebanon or down in Gaza?
DIAMOND: There certainly seems to be no indication of de-escalation, despite the fact that the United States has said that, for example, in
Gaza, they see a window of opportunity following the killing of Yahya Sinwar. What we are hearing from the Israeli prime minister is more of that
trademark defiance, insisting that the war will continue until Israel reaches victory.
We saw one of the deadliest strikes in Gaza yesterday that killed at least 87 people in quite some time and so -- and Hamas as well, we should note so
far, we don't know who is going to succeed Yahya Sinwar, but they have indicated that they are continuing to stick to their demands of a total end
to the war, the removal of Israeli troops from Gaza before they would agree to any kind of deal that would return the hostages.
So for now, we are continuing to see more escalation and not so much de- escalation in its region -- Richard.
QUEST: Jeremy, I am grateful to you, sir. Thank you.
Jeremy is in Tel Aviv tonight.
Now, here is a question for you. Terms and conditions, well, this is X's or Twitter's terms and conditions. It runs to some 45 pages of single-sided
printing.
Now, there is a new section. It is on Page 5. It will come into effect on November the 15th. It is this one. Actually, we've been very busy with the
printer today. It is about who owns and what they can do with your stuff when it comes to AI, I will explain.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:33:06]
RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello. I'm Richard Quest. Together we have QUEST MEANS BUSINESS and the great deal more. I'm going to tell you
about Disney's hunt for a new chief executive. It now drags on into 26. Bob Iger won't leave until then.
And the lights are still out in Cuba. The power crisis started on Friday and just goes on and on a bit like me tonight, because I'll go on and on,
but only after I've given you the news, because this is CNN, and here the news always comes first.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has met Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Ukraine on Monday. He and the Ukrainian President discussed the country's weapons
needs and how the U.S. can support Ukraine over the next year. Mr. Austin said Ukraine is in a very tough situation against the Russians as the
country heads into a long winter.
Seven new civil lawsuits have been filed against Sean "Diddy" Combs. Two are from accusers who claim they were minors when he allegedly drugged and
assaulted them. The lawsuits also accuse other unnamed celebrities of participating in the alleged assaults. As Combs has pleaded not guilty to
federal sex trafficking charges and is due to stand trial in May of next year.
Heavy rain and flooding in Northern Italy has forced more than 2000 people to leave their homes. The weather is blamed for at least one death near
Bologna. In the south of the country, the downpours created a sinkhole that swallowed a car, extraordinarily passengers reportedly escaped unharmed.
Disney is shaking up the leadership ranks. They are appointing a new board chair. He's the Morgan Stanley veteran James Gorman who will take over the
post at the start of next year.
[16:35:04]
In doing so, he replaces Mark Parker who will leave the job and the board. Parker was the fourth chair in three years. Now, as for the priorities for
the new chairman, it's to find a replacement for Disney's CEO Bob Iger. Disney says it will announce Iger's replacement in early 2026. Sara Fischer
is in Washington with me now. Now let's say this piece by piece by piece. First of all, Parker gets the boot. Gorman comes in.
Gorman's already been leading the succession committee for Iger. So, all change at the top on the board?
SARA FISCHER, CNN MEDIA ANALYST: Yes. Well, one thing to remember is that a lot of that activist pressure that Disney's experienced over the past two
years had to do with these board seats. There was a lot of pressure to push Gorman out, and sorry, not Gorman out, to push ark out and to bring
somebody else in. And so, you can imagine that this is also sort of getting ahead of any sort of activist pressure if it were to ever resurface.
The other thing that is going to be key here is that Bob Iger has extended his tenure five times. So, for the first time that I've covered this
company, you get a really definitive sense that this is the end of the road for him as CEO. Now what I will say, though, is they haven't described to
what extent they might extend his board seat. And if they extend his board seat, we all know he -- that means he could hover. He could continue to be
a very -- play a very active role than Disney.
QUEST: But what is he -- what are they waiting for? I mean, all right, he's got a contract until 2026. He's two years into this latest run. We know the
broad parameters of those who are there, whether it's the studio's head, whether it's the park's head, we know who the candidates are. What are they
waiting for?
FISHER: Possibly interviewing people outside of those four direct reports would be one. So, you mentioned the studio's head, the chairman of ESPN,
Jimmy Pitaro, Alan Bregman, Dana Walden. These are all people who we know are in contention within the company, but outside of the company, this
gives them a lot more time to do a search. It also gives them some time to figure out what their true strategy, their North Star, is going to be,
because then you can add a CEO that's going to hit that accordingly
For example, you'll recall last year, they said they were making a $60 billion investment in parks. If your core focus is going to be parks and in
person experiences, then maybe that might impact the way that you're thinking about it. If you're going to double down on streaming and
international you might want to pick someone else. And so, I can think this gives them time to sort out, one, due diligence, two, outside talent, and
then three, strategy long term.
QUEST: Great points. But dot, dot, dot. When I came back after the Bob fiasco, almost from the get go, the job was, who was going to replace Iger
afterwards? He came back, rewrite the ship arguably, made some, you know, the changes that were necessary. But, you know, ever since then, the goal
has always been succession. And I just wonder again, they're telling us it'll be another 18 months or whatever.
FISHER: Yes. I don't think the street's going to take too kindly to the kicking down the can. But if you're Disney right now, all you have to focus
on is continuing to limit your streaming losses each quarter. That's their biggest focus. I think they can keep investors at bay if they can continue
to post good profitability metrics for Disney's direct to consumer division. If they don't, then Wall Street is going to start to get antsy.
It's going to want a succession plan. It's going to want a strategy. So, what I would imagine you're seeing here is potentially positive earnings in
terms of that DDC profitability number coming up, which gives them the confidence to say, hey, investors, by the way, you're going to have to wait
a little bit longer, but don't worry, we've got some good numbers. Some good numbers for you in the meantime.
QUEST: Well, I'm looking forward to you and me talking much more next year to see, because you'll be telling us how the runners and the riders are
doing in terms of the big four. Thank you. Always grateful. Very kind.
Now, social media side X says it will start using data published on its platform to train A.I. It's buried and it's not buried, to be honest. It's
actually on page six of the terms and conditions of service which go into effect on November the 15th. It says the data will be used for generative
and other types of A.I. So, what's the problem? Well, X has a controversial history. Its chat bot Grok has been criticized for churning out false
information about the election and generating controversial pictures of politicians.
And also, if you now can say your material can be used to improve the bot or to improve the A.I., essentially, you're saying we can make -- we can
make a carbon copy of you, and you give us your permission. Clare Duffy is in New York. And I mean, that's basically it. If you want to play in our
gut, if you want to play in our playground, these are the rules. Yah boo sucks. Get over it.
[16:40:06]
CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: That's exactly right. If you are using X, if you're posting content to the platform after November 15, that content
can be used to train Elon Musk's A.I. system Grok. And many people are unhappy with this, especially you think about artists, comedians, certain
subject matter experts who are worried that their content, both their written posts and images that they shared to the site could be used to
train this A.I. system that could eventually replace them.
Some people are also worried that personal information that they have shared to the platform could start to show up in answers from this A.I.
chat bot Grok. So, we're already seeing people going back and deleting some of their posts on this platform. And it's also notable because this is a
pretty significant change. You said they didn't hide it in their terms of service, but they also didn't come right out and say it.
Previously, X was allowing people to opt out of having their content used to train Grok. It was saying it wouldn't train the A.I. system on private
accounts. But it is not clear whether those carve outs will still be available after these terms of service go into effect.
QUEST: But I've been looking at the terms and conditions of service all 45 pages of it. I really must get a life. The reality is that actually it is
in fairly plain language. I mean, I've read a lot of this nonsense before. You can read this and you know exactly where you stand. For instance, you
retain your rights to any content. What's yours is yours. You own your content, et cetera, but then you give us a license to do what we want with
it. It couldn't be clear. If you don't like it, don't use it.
DUFFY: Well, yes. And in fairness to X, lots of other platforms are also doing this. Meta, for example, trains its A.I. systems on public content
that are posted to Facebook and Instagram. So, X isn't alone here. But I think the other reason why some people might be uncomfortable with this is
that Grok is not just another chat bot. It's really controversial. As you said, this A.I. chat bot has been called out for spreading election
misinformation, also for creating fake, but really realistic A.I. images of political figures and sort of compromising positions.
So, people might be uncomfortable with the idea of their content being used to train this tool.
QUEST: All right. The difference between Meta, I've forgotten the, you know, it's been so unsuccessful, I forget the name of Meta's --
DUFFY: Meta A.I. It's pretty simple.
QUEST: No, no, no, no, no. Their version of Twitter. They're sort of --
DUFFY: Threads.
QUEST: Threads, thank you. Thank you very much. But look, I can understand with Threads. Meta is a publicly traded company. It shares a quota, but
Twitter isn't. I mean, this is Musk's private toy. He can do with it what he wants. If he you want -- and it surely it's up to the users to say,
well, we'll go to Threads or we'll go somewhere else.
DUFFY: Yes. And I think you might see a lot of people deciding that this is the final straw, although there have been so many issues with X, I would be
surprised if there is any one thing that can get the people who remain on that platform to change their minds. But I do think that people are
increasingly sort of aware of the fact that these platforms are using their data to train their A.I. systems.
And they at least want that opt out option, and it's not clear that that's going to be available here.
QUEST: Very grateful for you. As always, we start a new week together. Thank you.
DUFFY: Thank you.
QUEST: Cuba's power grid has collapsed four times since a blackout last week. And people in Havana are running out of patience. We'll be in Havana
assuming the lights stay on in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:46:03]
QUEST: Cuban authorities are working to restore power after a national power grid crash last week. The country's electricity has been intermittent
at best since the outage. For instance, on Sunday, there were four power cuts in just 48 hours. And as the island's been hit by Hurricane Oscar.
Patrick is with me from Havana. This is downright miserable, and from what I understand, this doesn't look like it's going to get much better anytime
soon.
PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, it really depends where you are, Richard. The last couple hours here in Havana, majority of service has
been restored. Of course, you say that holding your breath because over the last few days, you would start seeing the power was coming back and then it
would immediately crash again. You drive up an hour in any direction, it's a very, very different story.
People are now going into their fourth day without power. Millions of Cubans still are in the dark.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OPPMANN (voice-over): Near empty streets in Havana, devoid of light and life. On the third night in an island wide blackout in Cuba, residents of
this neighborhood play dominoes to pass the time and distract them from the worsening situation.
Children are sleeping in the street, she says, because there's no food, no water, no electricity in this country.
Tensions are running high as Cubans increasingly are taking to the streets to beat pots and pans and protest the government's failure to keep the
lights on for more than a few hours.
OPPMANN (on camera): Already, four times the Cuban government has been in the process of restoring power and had it all come crashing down in a
complete loss of power on this island. So, that is what worries people, is that the longer this goes on, we already know that school is going to be
canceled here for several days. Life really can't return to normal until the power gets on.
OPPMANN (voice-over): The Cuban government blames us economic sanctions for the crisis, but has made little investment in the aging, jerry-rigged power
grid that has been fading for years. Officials say more than 52,000 workers are on the job, 24/7 trying to restore power, and that they understand the
growing anger.
Without electricity, there's no water, he says. No medicine production, no food distribution. Electricity affects everything, and it frustrates
everyone.
In 2021, power outages sparked the largest ever protests against Cuba's communist-run government. Hundreds of people were arrested and given
lengthy prison sentences following mass trials.
Cuba's president on Sunday, warned people not to take to the streets.
We're not going to allow acts of vandalism and much less alter the tranquility of our people, he says. That's a conviction, a principle of our
revolution. A stern warning, but one that likely falls on deaf ears for the millions of Cubans still in the dark.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: The problem, Patrick is, if the power failure is a result of poor infrastructure and lack of investment, it's going to happen again and
again, and it's not going to get better until they spend money.
OPPMANN: I know you love a car analogy, Richard and think of Cuba's old cars. Not the pretty ones in the postcards, but the old ones they called
Frankenstein's here. You lift open the hood and has Chinese parts and his Russian parts in it. It has parts that nobody remembers even putting in
there. No one remembers how to get that car running. An engine running when it breaks down.
The power plants are the same way. They've been repaired and put band aids on over the years. They're essentially held together by bailing wire. Power
costs next to nothing in Cuba. So where is the money going to come from to fix up the power plants? Cuba has invested in fancy hotels that are now,
you know, empty. No tourists would want to come to a country where the power is going out all the time.
[16:50:06]
So, you're absolutely right. This is not the last time we talk about this.
QUEST: Patrick, we speak to you in daylight. I hope you have like tonight. Thank you very much, sir. Always good to talk to you.
QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, our good friend John King has been back on the road. This time in Michigan where he spoke to workers about their choice for
president.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Returning to our top story. Vice President Kamala Harris is campaigning in the battleground state of Michigan for events north of Wayne
County, which relies heavily on the car industry. John King spoke to auto workers there about who they support, and crucially why.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Bill Govier is a 30-plus year union worker at Ford, and he has this side business cleaning car under bodies.
When we first visited four months ago, he was a fan of Robert Kennedy, Jr. Now he will cast his third ballot for Trump.
BILL GOVIER, MICHIGAN VOTER: RFK joining Trump effectively. I couldn't script it any better the way I would like it to be. I love the idea of
Donald Trump being the commander-in-chief. I love the idea of how Donald Trump handles the nefarious characters in the
world.
KING (voice-over): Govier believes more than half of UAW members at his Ford plant will vote Trump. He says Harris laughs too much and he can't
take her seriously.
GOVIER: So, what is it? You're the incumbent who wouldn't do anything different or are you the underdog that wants change?
KING (voice-over): And he says critics take Trump too literally.
GOVIER: You know, he does it for effect. I don't believe that Trump really believes someone is eating cats and dogs. I don't believe that he's going
to call the National Guard out and at gunpoint round up every migrant and force them across the border. I don't believe that for a second.
KING (voice-over): Count this early vote in Wayne County for Harris and count Tonya Rincon as a Democrat who long ago lost patience with Ford
coworkers who shrug off Trump attacks on immigrants, on judges, on vote counts, on critics.
TONYA RINCON, MICHIGAN VOTER: There's a lot of people that they just take the crazy with Trump as it's baked in the cake, and we're just willing to
ignore it, whereas if we heard that out of our loved ones, we'd be like, OK, grandpa, it's time to take your keys.
KING (voice-over): Rincon just retired from the Wayne Assembly Plant and is helping the UAW register and turn out voters. She says her June bet that
her local would split 50/50 in a Trump Biden race is still about right with Harris now atop the Democratic ticket.
[16:55:01]
RINCON: There's a little bit more enthusiasm among some of my female co- workers, couple of my male co-workers are pretty ambivalent about Harris. We may have lost a tiny margin of support because sexism is a real thing,
you know, they're just like, you know, I'm not sure she can do it. I don't think the country's ready for a female president.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: John King reporting there. We'll take a profitable moment after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Tonight's profitable moment. I'm conflicted by Twitter's new terms and conditions of service, and particularly the story we told you about
that clause that says that they can take anything you put on there, you still own the copyright, and it's still yours. But by the way, we can use
it for generative A.I. In other words, we can use it to help make a clone version of you that we can sell and use and license ourselves.
Here's the problem. Twitter is a private company. Elon Musk owns it. Twitter is perfectly entitled to put any terms and conditions that it likes
into its operations and you and I can decide if we want to follow through with it. That is basic business. If you don't like them, don't use it. If
you don't want it, don't buy it. But the problem is -- the problem is, has a company become so important in the public discourse?
In the town hall, if you will, in the village square that actually this is more of a utility. That it has to be regulated in more of a way because so
many of us use it in such a way that it really has a greater value than just its terms and conditions. If that is the case, then you're looking at
laws, you're looking at rules, you're looking at regulations. And when you get to that point of view, well, Elon Musk can't have it all its own way.
I don't know. What do you think? That's QUEST MEANS BUSINESS for tonight. I'm Richard Quest in New York. Whatever you're up to in the hours ahead, I
hope it's profitable. Where's my balloons? (INAUDIBLE)
END
