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Quest Means Business
Travelers Brace for U.S. Flight Reductions Starting Friday; Tesla Shareholders Voting on $1 Trillion Pay Package for CEO Musk; Trump Announces Deal to Lower Price of GLP-1 Medications; E.L.F. Beauty Stock Slumps as Tariff Costs Hit; "Call to Earth: Guard Your Green Space" Initiative Underway; Mexico's "Bat Man" on Saving Endangered Animals; Defining "Enshittification" of Digital Platforms; Qatar Builds on Its Recent Successes. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired November 06, 2025 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:22]
PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: So this is a bit of a market cleanse, I would call it. I mean, standby for tomorrow to see what happens, but
maybe a bit of a healthy pullback there for the Dow.
Good evening. Tonight, airlines and travelers are scrambling as the U.S. prepares to cut air traffic right across the country. Transportation
Secretary Sean Duffy has ordered flights to be reduced at 40 major airports beginning Friday. The Trump administration is now considering a four
percent cut tomorrow, that's according to one airline official. That number, though, would steadily increase each day the shutdown drags on.
Duffy says it is a matter of safety as airports deal with air traffic controlling staffing shortages. The U.S. President echoed that sentiment
just a little while ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: Are you at all concerned that it might not be safe to fly right now? And what do you tell people who are gearing up for Thanksgiving?
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: No, that's why they are cutting. Yes, it is a fair question. Sean Duffy announced they are
cutting in certain areas, 10 percent, and they want to make sure it is a hundred percent safe. That's why they are doing it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: Now, because of the government shutdown, air traffic controllers are not getting paid. I mean, think about that. The union president says
workers are resigning every day and warns delays could ripple into the holidays.
Danny Freeman is at Newark Liberty International Airport. That is right outside of New York and is a crucial airport for the New York area. Can you
walk us through the effect on travelers here, and why the government, you know, really says it had to take this extraordinary action?
DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, of course, Paula.
I mean, let's start here with what we've been learning about the impact to travelers, because really, all day, it has kind of been a bit of a waiting
game. We've been waiting to see what airlines were going to do in reaction to this mandate, to start reducing flights, starting tomorrow and we are
starting to get the trickle of information of what some of these airlines are going to do.
Delta just telling CNN's Pete Muntean that they have canceled around 170 flights scheduled for tomorrow. Those flights are mainly regional flights,
as we understand it so far, but that's basically the start of what we are expecting to see other airlines as well, announcing some cancellations.
And I will just take a personal privilege, Paula. I am someone who has a flight tomorrow myself, and it has been a weird moment where I've been
refreshing my app to see if my flight will be one of the ones who will be on the chopping block. So far it seems okay, but that's the kind of
experience that a lot of travelers are really going through at this moment.
Now, just take a step back in terms of your second question, why we've arrived at this particular point. Well, the Department of Transportation
has been essentially saying for weeks since the shutdown began that air traffic control facilities and air traffic controllers have been under a
tremendous amount of strain. They have not been getting paychecks. They've missed now two paychecks cycles and some of them are calling out sick,
others are trying to actively find other jobs to do.
The total of that means that a lot of these air traffic facilities have been experiencing staffing shortages, which is why the Secretary of
Transportation said ultimately, now they have to start reducing the amount of flights that come enroute because they just don't have the staff to make
sure that the air is safe.
I want you to take a listen to how Secretary Duffy explained this phenomenon, what's happening on another cable network earlier today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEAN DUFFY, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: They missed a partial payment in early October. They missed a full payment a week and a
half ago. This morning they're getting their pay stubs that they're going to get another big fat zero, no paycheck for the second time.
They've all told me it is really hard, really hard to navigate a full month of no pay, missing two pay periods. So I think you're going to have more
significant disruptions in the airspace. And as we come into Thanksgiving, if we are still in the shutdown posture, it is going to be rough out there,
really rough.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FREEMAN: And I will tell you, Paula, that's something that we've actually heard from some of the passengers that we've been speaking with today. It
has been very odd because a lot of the passengers here who are flying out today, they actually feel relieved because they got out before these
impending delays and cancellations coming tomorrow and through the weekend.
But still, you heard Secretary Duffy right there saying if the shutdown continues to last this long, holiday travel may be impacted. And at least
one couple told us, listen, we've been waiting for this shutdown to wind down, to get resolved, to get fixed before booking holiday travel, but they
were not hopeful because of course, the shutdown has still been going on and the situation when it comes to air travel at least continues to get
worse.
So a lot of moving parts, Paula, but make no mistake, travelers are likely to get impacted quite a lot over the course of the next few days.
NEWTON: Yes, a lot of anxieties and worries about getting stranded for people who have to get somewhere, but also get back home.
[16:05:10]
Danny, we will keep our fingers crossed for your flight. Thanks for giving us the update there from Newark. Appreciate it.
FREEMAN: Thank you.
NEWTON: Now, the big question, and you just heard Danny talk about it, right? Will my flight be cut? Now, this is a map from FlightRadar24 showing
U.S. air traffic earlier. If the shutdown lingers, one in 10 of those flights you see right there could be taken away. The largest airports will
be impacted, and of course, that includes the ones in and around New York. Look how many flights are over the area at any given moment. It is a busy,
busy airspace.
Same deal with Los Angeles, Los Angeles International Airport serves more than 200,000 passengers each and every day. Chicago O'Hare also has been
ordered to reduce flights. It is a major hub in the Midwest.
Henry Harteveldt is President of the Atmosphere Research Group, and he joins us now to really give us some insight into how bad this could
actually be.
I mean, what's the snapshot you would give us on impact, especially if this goes on for days or I hate to say it, weeks longer.
HENRY HARTEVELDT, PRESIDENT, ATMOSPHERE RESEARCH GROUP: Well, you know, we talked about a 10 percent cut in flights if this drags on longer than that,
and we see even more staffing shortages in air traffic control towers and air traffic control centers, we could see that cut extend further. It could
go to 11 percent, maybe 12 or 15. We don't know how high is up.
Look, cutting one in 10 flights is an enormous cut to the air transportation system. Cutting more than that could be devastating.
NEWTON: And when you say devastating, could it be paralyzing for some of the airlines because they need to get crews in certain areas, planes in
certain areas. This is still a hub system in the United States. What are we looking at?
HARTEVELDT: Right, look, the airline schedules are precisely engineered. They are developed months in advance and fine-tuned along the way and as
you said, its airplanes, it is the pilots, it is the flight attendants, gates, maintenance cycles, all of that goes into developing the schedules.
And of course, they match those schedules to demand.
So if this continues and if airlines have to cut even 10 percent, it is going to be chaotic. If we go to more than 10 percent, it is not going to
paralyze the airlines they are going to move, it is going to paralyze the country because it is not just passenger flights that are affected. UPS,
FedEx and other cargo carriers are affected as well, so it is going to paralyze the shipments of goods and other items that the freight airlines
carry.
NEWTON: Yes, and you make such a good point. This is also about the economy. If you are a traveler, though, is there a way to gauge which
flights are more likely to be impacted? Do they prioritize larger planes, international flights?
HARTEVELDT: Right. So international flights have been exempted from the cuts. They do not want to get into a tit-for-tat with foreign countries
about telling them that their airlines can't fly or have to cut their flights to the U.S. especially since so many foreign airlines may operate
just a handful of flights a day.
So international flights, whether on a U.S. or foreign airline are exempted from this. That puts more pressure on the U.S. domestic network and so all
the U.S. airlines are going to be affected. What they're going to do is the airlines that have regional affiliates, that includes Alaska and American,
Delta, United, they are going to cut their regional flights first because those are smaller planes. It disrupts fewer people, better to cut a flight
with 76 seats than a plane with 176 seats.
But after that, they're going to have to start cutting from what they call their mainline operations and that's where the cutting gets tricky. They
will likely start with high frequency routes, where they have eight or more flights a day, and then go from there. What they're going to try to do is
minimize the inconvenience to the best of their abilities.
NEWTON: Given the burden already on the air traffic control system in the United States and I mean, look, we've covered it here, right? It needs
modernizing, it needs more investment. So from your perspective, is this a necessary move for safety?
HARTEVELDT: I mean, in terms of cutting the flights? Absolutely.
NEWTON: Exactly.
HARTEVELDT: Because this isn't a technology issue, it is related to the staffing shortages in in the control towers and traffic control centers.
You don't want to put more planes through the system than can safely be managed, and we can't acknowledge this.
Pulling this lever, having airlines reduce flights is certainly going to probably have an effect on the Senate and House of Representatives trying
to get those people back together to start negotiating some kind of solution.
NEWTON: Yes, and let's hope that they actually keep them in Washington, because it was rumored that the Senate might even -- I mean, if any one of
these people ends up on the other side of the country, I am not sure any of the senators will even be able to get back.
[16:10:10]
We will leave it there for now, but we've learned a lot, and we will continue to hope that the shutdown comes to an end very, very quickly.
Appreciate your time.
Now continuing on, on news on the shutdown here, just in to CNN, the Trump administration has been ordered by a U.S. district judge to fully cover
food stamp benefits in November. Now, tens of millions of Americans rely on those SNAP payments for food.
This is notable. The White House had earlier said it would only provide partial benefits in November. The government shutdown has forced the Trump
administration to use contingency funds for that program, and now it will have to be fully funded to a hundred percent for November.
Now, Tesla shareholders are voting this hour on a pay package that could make Elon Musk the world's first -- drum roll, please -- trillionaire.
The deal would require Tesla's market value to reach $8.5 trillion within ten years. If it does, Musk would be entitled to more than 420 million
Tesla shares worth roughly $1 trillion. Tesla's chair told shareholders that Musk could quit as CEO if the plan is rejected.
Clare Duffy is following this, and you know, the argument from the board has been that, look, this is -- he is indispensable to Tesla. I am just
wondering what you've heard, when we can expect to learn the news from this vote?
CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: Yes, Paula, I just shut my computer off. I was waiting for this shareholder meeting to begin. It was supposed to
start at 4:00, so we will be keeping a close eye as this moves forward.
But, yeah, it is a big question about Tesla's future, about Elon Musk's future. Obviously, this could make the world's richest man even richer. He
is already worth about $470 billion and the board has said this is necessary to keep him focused on his role leading the carmaker, despite his
many other companies, the political involvement we've seen him engage in this year and as you said, Musk has actually threatened to leave tesla if
this pay package is not approved, although I do think there is some question about whether he is bluffing there.
I mean, if he leaves Tesla, the share price is almost certain to go down, and much of his current net worth is tied up in Tesla shares, so that could
take a hit to his personal wealth if he does decide to leave. But, you know, look, the board has said this obviously is not going to be a one-time
$1 trillion payment.
As you said, this is going to be 423 million Tesla shares that are paid out in tranches over ten years if he meets these very ambitious, both financial
and operational goals, including that goal of reaching an $8.5 trillion valuation.
Tesla's current valuation is around $1.4 trillion, so that would be raising Tesla's share price by 466 percent at a time when the company is struggling
with its sales, struggling with increased competition, although Elon Musk and Tesla have said that they believe the company's investments in things
like robotaxis and humanoid robots will help them reach that goal.
And we have actually heard from some prominent shareholder groups who have said they plan to vote no on this pay package because they don't think it
is reasonable. They think it will do too much to devalue their own stakes in the company, so it is going to be really interesting to watch how this
plays out whenever this meeting starts, hopefully within the next few minutes -- Paula.
NEWTON: Yes, likely one of the most consequential shareholder meetings in corporate history. Clare Duffy will be on it for us in the hour, and we
will get back to you as soon as we have more news on that. Appreciate it, Clare.
Now the CEO of Maersk, tells CNN it will take years for global trade, I said years for global trade to adjust to President Trump's tariffs, that
after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:16:18 ]
NEWTON: Shares of Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk were mixed after the drugmakers struck a deal with the Trump administration to cut the price of
their weight loss drugs. Eli Lilly closed one percent higher. Novo Nordisk finished four percent higher, you see it there. Pardon me, four percent
lower. You see it there. The close is indeed mixed results.
Their agreement is expected to slash the price of Mounjaro, Wegovy, Ozempic and Zepbound for many Americans. The White House says the discount will
apply to people insured through Medicare and Medicaid programs. The head of Novo Nordisk says the agreement will make these drugs more accessible.
Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE DOUSTDAR, CEO, NOVO NORDISK: Today, a lot of those patients are trying to go out there and take the knock off versions of these medications,
mainly because they are cheaper than our medication.
With the reduction of the price, hopefully many of these patients don't need to choose their safety over their wallet and now are able to find the
real thing at a very decent price.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: Kristen Holmes joins us now. I am wondering, this is something certainly that the President wanted to get done, but why was it such a
priority for him and his health team?
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, this is part of an overarching theme that we've seen from President Trump, which is
this Most Favored Nation Initiative. Donald Trump getting people or getting these drug companies to lower the prices of pharmaceuticals all around, and
when it comes to these GLPs, these weight loss drugs, obesity and diabetes, these are really out of reach for a lot of Americans.
They have shown and they have become widely popular, they have shown results for a number of Americans. But for some people, this could cost
more than a thousand dollars a month, which again, is out of reach for people. So this is one that they could cut the price on, and they did,
presenting several different options here and a Medicare option.
So essentially what this would do, and this is going to start at the beginning of next year, is a direct to consumer purchasing of these drugs
directly. If they buy the oral pills, that could be as low as $150.00 a month; if they use the injections, which is what most people use now, that
would be about $350.00 a month, although the companies have signed off on lowering that to $250.00 a month by the next two years.
So again, $350.00 is still high, but when you're looking at that, compared to over a thousand dollars for many people, that is a significant cut. All
of this, again, would be drugs that would be purchased through Trump RX, which is going to basically serve as a website where all of these companies
can go and then the purchaser can go to it directly and buy from the companies instead of having to go through various agencies and doctors.
One of the points on this that was very interesting is this Medicare option, which essentially would have Medicare cover parts of these GLP-1s,
including a $50.00 co-pay per month for people who had -- who needed these medications.
So this is going to be a game changer once it is implemented for a number of Americans who have tried these drugs but couldn't sustain it because of
the cost. And this is probably the most high profile one of these drug deals that President Trump has done. You know, we've seen him, he has
announced different deals with Pfizer and with AstraZeneca, as well as with in-vitro fertilization companies.
But this one is -- what we've seen -- you know, with the drug that we've seen really become part of a large swath of people using it and has had
positive results, so it will be interesting to see how this plays out. I will tell you, there are still some questions from experts as to what
exactly this is going to look like. One expert in particular, raising questions with me about what the cost was after the starting dose.
[16:20:03]
For example, if you talk about those oral tablets, the $150.00 is for the lowest dose, but most Americans who take these GLP-1s, they actually would
take a higher dose. The lowest dose doesn't work for most Americans. So then does the price go up? And that's not something we have answers to
right now. But again, this is the start of this announcement, this partnership between these drug companies and the Trump administration to
try and lower these prices.
NEWTON: Yes, but certainly, you know, significant price reduction for Americans that are really helped by this drug in many, many ways.
Kristen Holmes for us, thanks for those details. Appreciate it. Thank you.
Now, the CEO of Maersk says that supply chains are going to have to change fundamentally in response to President Trumps tariffs. He spoke with Anna
Cooban about this "new normal" and why he feels optimistic about reentry into the Red Sea.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VINCENT CIERC, CEO, MAERSK: We don't really know where the next disruption is going to come. It might be related to tariffs, it might be related to
other disruptions. I think the fact that we have modularized our network, that we are able to react so quickly to the shifts in demand, that gives me
great comfort that whatever is going to come at us, we are going to be able to react with it with a lot of agility and very quick responses.
ANNA COOBAN, CNN BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS REPORTER: Has all this chaos, Trump's trade barriers, have they actually created any opportunities for
Maersk?
CIERC: I think there is a lot of opportunities because despite the waves and the uncertainty that there is, I think a lot of our customers are
acknowledging that over time, the global supply chain is fundamentally going to change, it is going to have to be more resilient, it is going to
have to be more diversified. It is going to have to be more digitized. It is going to have more redundancies in it. And that creates a lot of
opportunities for us to support our customers through these transitions.
What is important to remember, though, is that despite the speed at which policies have been deployed, the supply chain itself is an infrastructure
that is quite entrenched and will take not weeks, months or even quarters to react to the changes in policy and rearrangement of world order, but it
will actually take years or decades to get itself into its new normal, just like it did when it became very Asia-centric some decades ago and that
opens a lot of opportunity for Maersk and for the logistics field, I think, to play a more important role in the global economy and with our customers.
COOBAN: The Red Sea, you've been avoiding it for the best part of two years now. When do you see yourself getting back into it? Have the conditions
materially changed from a safety perspective?
CIERC: I think the big thing that has changed, obviously, is the ceasefire in Gaza, because the two situations have been intrinsically linked since
the beginning and we are very positive that this has been a big step in the right direction for the reopening of Suez.
Now, what we need to see is we need to see that this becomes entrenched and that we are seeing a process of reconstruction so that we don't risk
lapsing back into a new phase of the conflict.
When this starts to gain momentum, then I think that we will need to reassess the safety situation. I think it is pretty clear that things have
improved significantly on the ground. What is very important for us is a full redeployment to go through Suez again needs to be something that is
durable and not subject to having Gaza lapse back into conflict, and therefore we are following very closely these positive developments in Gaza
and look forward to being able to reassess the situation when these criteria are met.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: Now, President Trump's tariffs are also hitting the price of cosmetics. We speak with the CEO of E.L.F. Beauty about how the company is
handling the new costs.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:26:48]
NEWTON: Hello, I'm Paula Newton and there is more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS in a moment when the CEO of E.L.F. Beauty will discuss tariffs and how their
billion dollar deal with Hailey Bieber is playing out and is enshittification coming for A.I.? I will be speaking with the author who
coined the term, and yes, we will explain.
Before that, though, the headlines this hour.
Beginning Friday, thousands of flights in the U.S. could be delayed or canceled at the 40 busiest airports nationwide. A source tells CNN the
Trump administration is proposing a four percent reduction in air traffic, with those cuts increasing by one percent each day if the government
shutdown drags on.
A former Virginia school teacher shot by her student has now won a $10 million judgment in her civil trial. Abby Zwerner sued the school's ex-
assistant principal, Ebony Parker. Her complaint argued that Parker failed to act on concerns that the student had brought a gun to school. This case
could set a legal precedent for who shoulders the blame when children carry out school shootings.
A new report reveals enormous security lapses at The Louvre Museum. It reveals that 61 percent of the museum's galleries did not have cameras last
year, and that the password to a server had at one point just been the word "louvre." The report criticizes museum officials for prioritizing high
profile purchases over security.
Shares of E.L.F. Beauty took an absolute beating after the cosmetics firm reported disappointing quarterly sales. Now they closed 35 percent lower in
reaction to both results, but also key here the forward guidance on sales and profit.
Now, E.L.F. is a brand known for its affordability and popular lip oils. Earlier this year, it paid a billion dollars for the skincare brand Rhode,
created by Hailey Bieber.
Now, the company is grappling with cautious shoppers and the sudden cost of U.S. tariffs.
Tarang Amin is the chairman and CEO of E.L.F. Beauty. He joins us now. Good to see you. I know it has been a disappointing day, perhaps for your stock,
but we are really looking for some insights here, not just on what happened with your company, also, in terms of guidance going forward.
But what are you seeing in terms of consumer trends and costs, like what are the challenges?
TARANG AMIN, CHAIRMAN AND CEO, E.L.F. BEAUTY: Well, thanks, first of all, for having me. Obviously, it is a challenging macro, but I am very proud of
the team. We just reported our 27th consecutive quarter of net sales growth, averaging over 20 percent growth over that period. We are also the
only cosmetics brand in the U.S. out of a thousand that's grown market share for 27 consecutive quarters.
So overall, while the consumer is, given our value proposition, innovation and marketing engine, we've been able to continue to build, share and
deliver very strong results.
NEWTON: I hear you, but when we talk about the challenges, let's start then with the tariffs. I mean, clearly they've hit you. How? And do you expect
it to blow over at some point?
AMIN: Well, certainly we are subject to tariffs, like many companies are. In fact, on average this year, our tariff rate will be about 60 percent
relative to about 25 percent last year. So it is a major headwind, 3,500 basis points. Now, the way we've been able to overcome tariffs is through a
combination of pricing, supply chain diversification and business diversification.
And so you know, I think we are going through it just like everyone else is, and I am proud of the team of how we are navigating it.
NEWTON: I mean, your stock is taking more of a hit, though, than others. I am curious, you are -- you do have a lot of exposure to China here. Do you
plan to move out of China? Have you already moved some production outside of China? And, you know, the president just signed this kind of trade
truce, I would call it. Is that helping you at all?
AMIN: So I'd say we have been diversifying our supply chain. Not necessarily because of tariffs but because of the rapidly growing
international business we have and the strength of our entire brand portfolio, including road, which we recently acquired. And so I'd say, you
know, five years ago, 100 percent of our production was in China. Today it's about 75 percent. I think it'll continue to go down mainly because the
diversification that we're doing.
NEWTON: And when you say diversification, where is that production? Where are you taking it?
AMIN: So we have production now in Thailand, the U.S., Italy, South Korea, and so a pretty wide footprint that we have depending on which of our
brands.
NEWTON: I will get to your products in a second, but I am intrigued. Did you repatriate some production there and do you expect to have more
production in the United States because of the tariffs?
AMIN: Well, we had more production in the U.S. based on our brand portfolio and what we have probably less to do with tariffs. You know, it's not easy
moving supply chains. We have the best combination of cost, quality and speed for a reason. We've built up the supply chain over 21 years,
particularly over the last 12 years. And so we want to do it thoughtfully to make sure we're able to deliver the prestige quality we're known for at
the affordable prices.
NEWTON: You know, the affordable prices are key there. I know I've been buying the products for a while for my daughter. She absolutely loves them.
And I've certainly given them a try. And yet now we have Hailey Biebers' cosmetics line rhode. How does that fit into your forward guidance? Is it
for a completely different customer? And why did your stock get punished so much even though I know that the Hailey Bieber brand is huge?
AMIN: Well, first of all, I couldn't be happier to -- than to invite Hailey and the Rhode family into the e.l.f. Beauty family. The reason we did the
acquisition is they absolutely fit our vision of creating a different kind of beauty company by building brands that disrupt norms, shape culture, and
connect communities. They absolutely do that.
We closed the transaction in August, and in September we launched on all Sephora stores in North America. And it was the best launch Sephora has
ever seen. In fact, it was two and a half times the previous record. So the brand is really resonating. We're very excited about it.
In terms of the reaction today, I think it was a factor of, because of the uncertainty around tariffs, we haven't been able to give guidance. So I
think consensus got away from us. And so we finally gave guidance. And that guidance was really strong. We're guiding 18 percent to 20 percent net
sales growth this year which in this environment I think is really quite something and of course, based on the strength across our brand portfolio.
So this is just I think a little bit of an overreaction. But we're very confident about the long term decisions we've delivered.
NEWTON: Yes. You did lose, you know, there was reason investors are pretty much punishing you in the sense that you lost a lot of your market gain
this year. I note here that in your call you mentioned the Rhode brand and Hailey Bieber like dozens of times. How much is riding on the success of
this brand for you in terms of giving that forward guidance?
AMIN: Well, I think we're really pleased with the momentum we have on Rhode. But, you know, I'd tell you in our fiscal '25, every one of our
brands grew. So we've real strength in incredible white space in color cosmetics, skincare and international. So we have multiple levers of
growth.
NEWTON: Tarang Amin, please come back. We've learned a lot about tariffs and how businesses like yours are adapting to the tariffs and the market in
general. Appreciate your time.
AMIN: Thank you.
NEWTON: Now just in, video game maker Rockstar Games is delaying the release of Grand Theft Auto VI until November of next year. That's six
months later than the release date last announced for the highly anticipated game. It was initially supposed to come out right about now,
obviously before the holidays. Shares of parent company Take-Two have fallen nearly 10 percent in after-hours trading.
OK, celebrating the beauty of our natural earth, a closer look at how each one of us can make a difference when we go live to a school in Los Angeles.
You're going to want to see this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:38:15]
NEWTON: It is indeed a very special day here at CNN. We're celebrating the fifth annual "Call to Earth" day, showcasing how people are coming together
to protect our planet.
Now we have a team of correspondents right across the globe in Los Angeles, Atlanta, London, all the way to Nairobi, Beijing, Hong Kong and Tokyo.
Now this year's theme is "Guard Your Green Space," encouraging us to take action towards a more sustainable future by nurturing our parks, forests
and gardens.
And our Stephanie Elam is at the Carmenita Middle School near Los Angeles, where students are working on their garden program. And, you know, in this
kind of a program, they've created their own green space. And it is quite productive.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's very productive, Paula. It's impressive to see what they're doing here. I'm going to walk you through a
process that they are doing here. In fact, I'm not going to do it. I'm going to let the kids do it because really it may be, you know, all about
"Call to Earth" day, but sometimes, I mean, you got to get your hands a little dirty, and that's what we're going to do right now. I'm going to
introduce you to Adam.
Adam, you've got food waste in front of you here in this bucket. Why do you have that food waste?
ADAM SMITH, STUDENT, 7TH GRADE: So this is all food waste from students from lunch. We -- people just waste all their food and just throw it away.
So we take all the food waste and we put it into a bucket so we can do like a process called bokashi composting. We put this food waste into this and
we sprinkle a bit like a handful of bokashi onto the food waste, and we smash it down so we can get the air particles out so it's easier for
fermentation.
ELAM: OK. So are you going to start doing that now? Let me see you do some of that now. Can you do that? While you do that I'm going to talk to our
friend here Logan.
Logan, why is it so important to do this?
LOGAN RUIZ, STUDENT, 8TH GRADE: So we get -- we don't want to waste since these are earth's resources.
[16:40:07]
So we use earth's resources to basically turn this into some sort of compost that we can use to grow more food. It's just a really resourceful
way to use food waste.
ELAM: Yes. It's amazing. And I love the way that you explained that. That's a really great way.
Now, Joel, you're going to explain to me what these buckets are doing and why you have so many woodchips. Explain that to me.
JOAL MORENO, STUDENT, 8TH GRADE: OK, so it's important to the bokashi compost process. So what we do is you have two parts of mulch or wood
chips, whatever you want to call them. Two parts of soil. We mix it together with one part of compost. We will mix it together, and then we
will let it sit out for five weeks.
ELAM: So this is five weeks, and this may be further along. This is along the process, right? This is the timeline here. And so eventually you get
this, right down here, which is the sifted, right?
MORENO: Yes. It's wood -- after it's ready we sift it and then we could use it as a side dressing on to the plants or use it for --
ELAM: So Adam is busy. (INAUDIBLE) Is that fun?
SMITH: Yes.
ELAM: I can kind of tell. You're kind of into that. You're having a good time.
So you can see this entire process here. I'm going to back up and introduce you --
NEWTON: Unfortunately, we're having technical difficulties with Stephanie Elam, but you can see there the kids are having fun learning a lot. And I
did have a question as to whether or not that compost was actually smelling. But anyway, those kids doing their part for "Call to Earth."
Now we move on to Mexico and Mexican ecologist Rodrigo Medellin. He devoted his life to debunking myths about bats and showing their vital role in
ecosystems as part of the Rolex Perpetual Planet Initiative.
CNN Espanol's Gabriela Frias sits down with the "Bat Man of Mexico" in the Panorama Mundial Studio.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GABRIELA FRIAS, CNN ESPANOL BUSINESS ANCHOR: Rodrigo, welcome. It's a pleasure to meet you.
RODRIGO MEDELLIN, LEAD RESEARCHER, NATIONAL AUTONOMOUS UNIVERSITY OF MEXICO: Thank you very much, Gabriela.
FRIAS: What are the most common negative ideas some people have around bats, and why is it so important to change that perception?
MEDELLIN: You know, bats are the most unfairly treated animals on earth. There's many animals that have a negative public image. You can think of
spiders and snakes and scorpions and sharks and bats, and nobody likes them. However, bats do more for your everyday well-being than any other
group of animals.
FRIAS: Why? In what way?
MEDELLIN: They provide us with incredible ecosystem services. But I'm going to summarize three. The first one is that they are the most effective pest
controllers for any crop that you can think of, corn, rice, beans, chili peppers, you name it, coffee, chocolate, whatever. So that means that your
life has been already touched by bats today and benefited.
FRIAS: What do you think then is the role of parents when it comes to promoting that curiosity and desire to get to know our planet better and to
take care of it?
MEDELLIN: Every human being, when we are born, we are born as scientists. We have an inquisitive mind. We have a lot of curiosity. We start by
dropping things and identifying and learning about gravity and about pill bugs that you can pick up and eat them, or a piece of dirt that you put in
your mouth, and it's part of learning. What we do as adults is to squash that scientific instinct that every human being is born with.
What I'm asking parents today is to allow the children to investigate their surroundings, to learn from the natural world by being in the natural
world. We are part of nature. We're just one more segment in nature. Let us be together with nature in this day.
FRIAS: Children are listening to you today, Rodrigo. So what message would you like to give them on a special day like today?
MEDELLIN: Children are the future. Children are the owners of the world. We're just having it on loan from them. What happens now is that that
generation of children is the one that is going to change the conditions. My generation is the one that destroyed the world. Their generation has the
best conditions to improve the way we live. They have the science. They know what needs to be done to protect the world.
[16:45:01]
They have the technology. We know how to do all of these changes from clean energy to producing food in a better way. And they have the willpower. They
know that it's their turn. They have everything in their favor. We're not going to disappear. We're going to continue helping them, supporting them,
pushing them from behind. But it's their world.
FRIAS: Rodrigo Medellin, thank you very much.
MEDELLIN: Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: And you can join CNN chief climate correspondent Bill Weir for an exclusive conversation with legendary oceanographer Sylvia Earle. "No Blue,
No Green" starts at 5:00 p.m. in New York or 10:00 p.m. in London, right here on CNN. And we will have more news after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NEWTON: Enshittification. It is a noun. Definition, when a digital platform is made worse for users in order to increase profits.
Now, look, we all know it when we see it, right? But now someone has defined it, written a whole book about it. "Enshittification" typically
follows a three step process. Stay with me here. One, companies attract users by providing a good product or maybe a service. Two, it locks those
users in. Three, it prioritizes their own profits over the user's experience.
Now, the term was coined a few years back by Cory Doctorow. Since then, it's just taken off. It's entered dictionaries. Even had -- was the Word of
the Year. Doctorow's book now that has just released is called "Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About
It." And he joins me now.
Thank you for being with us because we have a lot of questions. Now, look, you've done a brilliant job of distilling a problem that we all know we
have. We know it when we see it. And yes, our frustrations do usually require expletives. But what really hit me was what you noted, which was
clear here. And that's the fact that the digital is merging with the physical. Right? It's wrecking homes, cars, places where we work, places
where we shop.
How? Please tell us, how and why has this happened?
CORY DOCTOROW, AUTHOR, "ENSHITTIFICATION: WHY EVERYTHING SUDDENLY GOT WORSE AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT": Well, I think that there's a kind of simplistic
explanation for this, which is that, oh, well, it's because you and I failed to shop with sufficient care and because we didn't choose the right
vendors, we got locked in and we were unrealistic.
[16:50:08]
I don't think that's true. I think the idea that if you shop hard enough, you can solve monopolies is like the idea that if you recycle hard enough,
there won't be a wildfire at your door. It's just not how these problems work. There's also another possibility, which is that it's these kind of
Zucker musky and ketamine addled failures who've taken over all these platforms, who have run them since the beginning. And there's something to
that.
They are kind of tangibly volubly terrible people. But I like to think that this is the acidogenic policy environment. This is the environment that
says that the worst people will always win the argument. And it doesn't matter if we get rid of them. You know, if Elon Musk overdoses on ketamine
tonight, there'll be a succession battle among 10 big balls. And whoever emerges victorious tomorrow will be indistinguishable from him unless we
fix the policy environment.
NEWTON: So we talk about the policy environment, and I will get there. And the reason we want to talk about this is you actually describe this as a
disease. It has symptoms, a mechanism, an epidemiology. But you kind of lost me at the cure because I wasn't, I have to say, all that optimistic
when I read about the cure. So please explain because a lot of it has to do with, as you said, systems and policies.
DOCTOROW: Well, it would sure be nice if we could solve this problem just as individuals by voting with our wallets. But voting with your wallet
doesn't work. I mean, the reason billionaires would like you to vote with your wallet is their wallets are bigger than yours, so they're going to win
that vote every time. Really, to solve monopolies, we have to do something on the policy front. And we got some of that under Trump one. There were
these cases against Google and Facebook.
Under Biden, there were really muscular antitrust action, more than we've seen in 40 years. In just four years. But antitrust isn't the only way that
we constrain these companies. We also constrain them with our labor power. One of the things that historically held tech back from being worse was
that tech workers were so valuable. You know, the National Bureau of Economic Research says that the average tech worker adds $1 million a year
to their boss's bottom line.
And when tech workers were in short supply, losing a worker was losing a million bucks a year. And so if the worker refused to enshittify something,
they miss their mother's funeral to ship on time, that was kind of the end of the story. But of course, now we've got a surplus of tech workers.
There's been half a million layoffs. When your power comes from scarcity, it goes away when supply catches up with demand. You sure would have been
good if they'd use those years to unionize.
But, you know, it's not too late. Americans are more in favor of unions now than they have been at any time since the Carter administration. And look,
we know what it's like to work for a tech company if the boss isn't afraid of you.
NEWTON: Right, but you --
DOCTOROW: Right? I mean, that's the people at the iPhone factory who've got the suicide nets around their job.
NEWTON: Right. But you're talking about a movement that has yet to materialize so far. And yet we're in the middle of this A.I., we'll call it
a boom or a bust. We don't know which. So question, will A.I. further entrench enshittification, or will it cure it -- potential to cure it?
DOCTOROW: Well, you can -- there are a lot of enshittificatory gambits you can pull off with A.I. After all, it's a black box. It makes these terrible
mistakes. They call them hallucinations because they're trying to be cute. And, you know, you can never really tell if the reason the A.I. bot decided
to solve your problem in a way that used 50 tokens instead of five, which cost you 10 times as much, is because that was the best way to do it, or
because it had an error, or because the company wanted to make money from you. You'll never be able to tell if the reason the A.I. bot told you to
buy a product that was the one that the -- that the A.I.'s maker gets the most money from in affiliate fees, if that was a mistake, or if it was the
best option or whatever.
But, you know, really the problem with A.I. is they've spent $700 billion in capital expenditures. If you take them at their word, they're making $60
billion a year. That's grossly inflated. Their assets depreciate over two years, although they say it's five. And of course, there are seven
companies that make up a third of the stock market passing around the same $100 billion IOU over and over again and pretending that it's revenue.
So really, the problem is that we're about to vaporize a third of the stock market. And all these questions about whether A.I. gets better or worse are
going to be kind of moot. What's going to happen is we're going to fire a lot of workers whose work we rely on. We're going to replace them with
chatbots that can't do their job and then --
NEWTON: Cory, that doesn't -- we have to get out. This doesn't sound like a cure. So A.I. is definitely not a cure, Cory, you're telling me. Definitely
not.
DOCTOROW: No, A.I. is not the cure. No. No, no, no.
NEWTON: All right, we --
DOCTOROW: No. No. The cure is a movement against corporate power.
NEWTON: All right, we got to go. We will continue, though, to explore this topic.
DOCTOROW: Thank you.
NEWTON: As we're all dealing with, as you say, enshittification.
DOCTOROW: Thank you very much.
NEWTON: Appreciate you. Thanks so much.
Now, the chairman of Qatar Tourism says the country is working to capitalize on its recent successes, most notably Qatar hosted the 2022
World Cup. Saad bin Ali Al Kharji told Richard Quest that Qatar has a lot more to offer.
[16:55:01]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SAAD BIN ALI AL KHARJI, CHAIRMAN, QATAR TOURISM: Now we have to be smart how to build on this success and by hosting a big event now Doha become a
favorite destination for FIFA, for example, to do their football tournaments. We are hosting for the first time the UFC Fight Night in Doha.
The F1 become one of the greatest experience for everyone visiting Doha about what we are doing. So using that very successful organizational team
we have in Doha by producing or organizing big events, it's the momentum we do and we keep going.
RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: You have a very successful airline. You know, a Sixth Freedom carrier that brings an enormous amount
of traffic. The Doha stopover and adding Doha into a journey. I think, I mean, it's important and crucial, isn't it?
AL KHARJI: Of course. You know, we have this great airline going to more than 177 destinations. With this huge airport we have 55 million passengers
a year. So it's a great opportunity for us to target those passengers and activating the stopover program we are doing now in collaboration between
Qatar Tourism and Qatar Airways. And I can see how it's like growing up month after month.
We had -- we successed to get these people out of the airport and to have a tour in the city, spend the two nights in the city. It's a great program.
You can have like two nights in Doha by stopping over with 40 bucks in these two nights. It's a great offer, especially for people who traveling
long hauls from London to Sydney. Why not stop in Doha for two nights?
QUEST: The other interesting thing is how you position yourself within the GCC with the other countries, and, you know, I mean, obviously you've got
Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Saudi now. Where are you positioning yourself?
AL KHARJI: Look, I'm very happy about this growing business, especially in tourism, and how the leadership now in GCC looking to tourism as a great
factor for diversifying our economy and this keeps everyone on top of their things and working very hard to promote their cities and promote their
countries and trying to attract as much as they can from tourists into their countries.
But what we are doing in Doha, we're trying to use or utilize all assets we have, you know. By hosting these big events, we have this great airlines
and we have this unique cultural experience in the city, which have this Qatari identity, the welcoming people of Qatar, the great sense of
hospitality we have among everybody, not only the Qataris, even everybody live in Qatar showing this great hospitality.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: Just in, Tesla shareholders have overwhelmingly approved $1 trillion pay package for Elon Musk.
And that is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. I'm Paula Newton. "THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER" is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
