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Quest Means Business
Trump Promises To Push For Tax Cuts; Weinstein Co. In Sale Talks With Colony Capital; Kaepernick Files Grievance Against NFL; Atlanta United's Debut Season. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired October 16, 2017 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:07] RICHARD QUEST, CNN ANCHOR: Robert Shiller of the Shiller Index. Bringing the closing bell on Wall Street, trading is over. We have records
for all three of the major indices. The Dow, the Nasdaq, and the S&P 500. When it comes to Bob Shiller, it doesn't matter how heavy he hits the
gavel, it's a strong gavel.
Trading is over on Monday, October 16th.
Tonight records all around in the stock market as Donald Trump says he can still pass tax cuts this year. Atlanta's Fed president says not everyone
is feeling the recovery. An exclU.S.ive interview with President Raphael Bostic of the Atlanta Fed.
And lights, camera, earnings. Netflix results are due out any minute. We will bring them to you. The stock is up on in the exchange.
I'm Richard Quest, today live from the CNN Center where of course I mean business.
Good evening. The market records are tumbling even as the head of the Atlanta Fed is warning that many people are not sharing the benefits.
Tonight the three major U.S. averages close out records. As you can see the Dow is inching ever closer to the 23,000 market, may well happen this
week. It's only 40 points over.
And looming over it all President Donald Trump. This afternoon the president touted the market gains. Some 5.7 trillion since election day as
strong business confidence and GDP growth. Remember GDP growth in the second quarter was 3 percent.
Meanwhile the Atlanta Fed president says he's not focused on Washington or presidential tweets. Raphael Bostic is listening to the people in his
district and their fears, and chief among them is the power of automation and driverless cars and the sharing economy.
All of that to destroy the jobs. The Atlanta Fed president, Mr. Bostic, is one of the newest presidents and he says the record high share prices that
we're seeing in the market mask a bleak economic reality for many Americans.
The Atlanta Fed district covers a huge part of the American southeast. It's a diverse area and the Atlanta Fed says that diversity goes to the
heart of the mission.
Raphael Bostic is the first black governor of one of the Fed's regional banks in the institutions, 140-year history. At the moment he isn't a
voting member of the Interest Rate Setting Committee. That changes in January. It's only like the rest of the Fed is looking at the data to make
policy decisions. And I suggested data is ambiguous.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RAPHAEL BOSTIC, ATLANTA FED PRESIDENT: I think there are really two to things going on. On one hand, there are many measures that are telling us
that the labor markets are tight, growth is happening at a robust phase, and businesses are really starting to invest in ways that suggest there's
going to be upward pressure on prices.
So I think that that's all in the strong economy. We should be trying to make sure that we navigate that space so things don't get too out of hand.
But then you have, on the other hand, this inflation issue, and the inflation has been stubbornly low. Lower than I think most people on the
on the board would expect, and so we are anticipating, we're continually waiting for the tightness and the strength of the economy to reflect itself
on market prices. And that's not happening as robustly as one might expect.
QUEST: And in that environment, are you in the camp that believes there should be more wait-and-see or let's move, albeit incrementally and slowly,
sooner rather than later? Are you a wait-and-seer or sooner-rather-than- later?
BOSTIC: I think I'm actually partly in between those two. I'm taking away this attitude because I definitely am concerned that the weakness in
inflation is a sign that labor markets might be -- have more slack than you might expect. It may even be weakening to some extent. Absent that I'm
comfortable with an incremental growth, so -- but I'm not so wedded to it that if I didn't see a lot of times that that the labor markets were
continuing on their path I wouldn't say let's just hold up.
QUEST: So if you take the numbers and you take the anecdotal evidence, and you take the reporting from your various brunches, does that shift your
position?
BOSTIC: I think it has informed my position to a place where I feel the economy is performing well, that labor markets are tight, and they are
tightening significantly.
[16:05:10] In that environment I am expecting that there will be signs of inflation that start to appear. And in that case I think the course that
the Fed has been on is a prudent one. And --
QUEST: So when the doc plots suggests one more before the end of the year, you'd go along with that?
BOSTIC: At this point I'm comfortable with that but to start where you started, you know, I'm going to wait and let the data show me that that
trajectory is one that works.
QUEST: The idea that you get these comments from the White House, let's firstly, you know, cutting -- that the rising stock market will cut
government debt and that cut in the corporation tax will boost the economy for everybody.
These trained economists seem to be non-sequiturs.
BOSTIC: Well, what I will say is this, I let Washington be Washington. You know, one of things I try to do in my job is really talk clearly to the
businesses in my district to the consumers in my district about what we're seeing on the ground and on how the economy appears to be working. I --
the people don't ask -- people do ask me a lot about, so what do you think about this tweet or that tweet, I don't spend a lot of time going tweet to
tweet.
I know the media does a lot of that. To me that's somewhat of a distraction. Really where I'm trying to get to is a place where, you know,
we talk in a clear voice about how the economy is evolving in real times and one of the things I'm trying to do for us as an institution is really
help people see how they might have a role in this evolving account.
There's been a lot of change that's happened. And I think that there's a lot of fear in the marketplace that we all need to be mindful of so that
the American household, the consumer is comfortable, and starts to make productive investments in our economy.
QUEST: What's that fear?
BOSTIC: I think the fear is really that frankly their job today may not be here in two years. We've seen a lot of disruption that's occurred in
positions and sectors of the economy such as everyone goes to the grocery store now, you see automated checkout. We hear about driverless cars on
automated vehicles. That is a threat to a significant portion of the driving economy, truck drivers and the like. You have Airbnb and Uber that
have put at risk other sectors of the economy and I think people --
QUEST: And we haven't even started yet in terms of artificial intelligence and all the things that people say are coming down the road.
BOSTIC: And these are all things people know, right, and so the fear is that, you know, their position today or my position today may not be there
tomorrow, and I don't know what to do about it. And I don't know what my options are and I think frankly they're not hearing a lot of conversation
in that space and I think that's where we need to get to. And much more take where we are today and before looking and trying to give people
guidance on how they might position themselves best to take advantage of opportunities.
QUEST: OK. So I'm glad you took me to this area because I said you wanted to raise it. Are today's policymakers both on the monetary -- on the
Central Bank side and on the administration side, and we can take any country, all you all prepared and equipped to deal with what we are told is
going to be the biggest -- tsunami workplace changes since the Industrial Revolution? Are you even thinking grand thoughts at this point?
BOSTIC: We -- all I can talk about is our bank. And we definitely are -- just two weeks ago we started a new initiative that we would call a new
center, the Center on Workforce and Economic Opportunity, and the whole goal there is to try to get our institutions to orient themselves in a way
that serves Americans so that they can get the skills of tomorrow's economy. So to answer your question, I think there's more that needs to be
done. I think that the scale that we're talking about is going to require a massive investment and tremendous focus and energy, and we're trying to
start that in our bank now to move forward and try to move forward as effectively as possible.
QUEST: The stock market rises, and continues to rise, and indeed the tweet de jure from the president's talks about a $5.7 trillion increase in value
and how this is good for economic growth. He does create a wealth effect, economists will agree. Are you concerned that the stock market has gotten
out of kilter with the real economy now?
[16:10:02] BOSTIC: So let me go in two ways on this. So, one, it does create a wealth effect and we also know, though, that for many Americans,
they're not in the stock market. So as a wealth effect that is really focused in a certain (INAUDIBLE) and a lot of folks are left out. There
have been reports in the last couple of months about how many American families can't handle a $400 or $500 shot to their balance sheet, their
emergency came up they would be in a really difficult place.
So I think -- I think that we need to first be mindful that, you know, the stock market is reflective of an experience for some parts, but many folks
really don't enjoy and benefit in that.
QUEST: Do you worry about the politicization of Fed?
BOSTIC: It is vital that our institution be viewed as an independent arbitrator of policy in the monetary space. The long run in this country
operates most beneficially when policymakers don't worry about the headlines from day-to-day because that kind of approach will lead policy to
swing in pretty dramatic ways and that doesn't serve our economy or the businesses that rely on making long-term investments.
So to me, I worry about the appointments aside anything that we do that we make sure that it's couched in terms of our view and I'll tell you from my
perspective that I was an Obama appointee, but right now I'm in the Federal Reserve and even if I had been a Trump appointee, I would be approaching
this in exactly the same way.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: President Bostic talking to me earlier.
Now being a Fed president I didn't -- of course they distribute dollar bills to all the south east of the United States. I not surprisingly asked
if they had any free samples of these that they were able to give me. After all free samples, you know, giveaways, dollar bills. And imagine my
surprise when the president said, oh yes, we have some free samples of dollars that we can give you. And then this is what he gave me.
Yes, real dollar bills that have been shredded because that's the other thing that they do at the Fed. They take old one of these and turn them
into these.
No more samples for me.
To Wall Street now where they pick a sample of all was the way the Dow Jones Industrials rose. Look at that. That's 85, record on the Dow, the
Nasdaq, the S&P 500.
Peter Tuchman at Quattro Securities joins me now.
No samples of dollar bills for you, shredded or otherwise. But this market shredded its way to a record.
PETER TUCHMAN, QUATTRO SECURITIES: Yes, it absolutely did. First of all, Richard, that was a great interview with the Fed representative. That was
just so informative for me. Watching the market the way I do and talking to you regularly.
We are at record highs here, Richard, and it feels like we're going to just keep going higher. You know, I know that gentleman was talking about the
state of the economy and that not everybody in this population benefits from this market.
But the bottom line is we're talking about the market. Those who are in it, and those who are in it are benefiting in a big way and the market is
going higher, inching its way to a record. Today was a record, tomorrow will be 23,000, Richard.
QUEST: But how much of this is a few stocks leading the way? We look at the S&P which causes a more representative. How much of it is that is the
-- not just the big tech, the Apple, the Alphabet, the Netflix, rather than a broad based with construction, with mining, with industrials following
on?
TUCHMAN: OK. So there's always going to be some sectors that do not follow the market. Right? We're always good to see that. But this market
-- we're talking about a market at 23,000, Richard. We see the S&P up five handle today. The Dow up 90 so you're seeing a broad-based rally, you
know. The S&P was upsetting the Dow. The Dow can be off on a couple of stocks like a contractor like a Boeing or a Pfizer or something.
QUEST: Right.
TUCHMAN: But if you've got the S&P up as big as it is over the last number on months.
QUEST: Right.
TUCHMAN: And you're seeing -- I mean, the only thing that suffered today I think were the transports, and I think that was a little consolidation from
that huge week and that record we had last week.
QUEST: Got it.
TUCHMAN: On the transports for the airlines and the car companies going higher. But this market is very real. It's real money.
QUEST: It's up.
TUCHMAN: It's up, up and away, I don't know. I don't think it's really wanted to socks. I think it's the tech stocks, that's for sure.
QUEST: All right.
TUCHMAN: I think it's the S&P , it's the Dow, it's the market. This is real money --
QUEST: That's real money.
[16:15:02] TUCHMAN: This is real money, Richard. It's shredded dollar bills.
QUEST: Yes, well, let's --
TUCHMAN: These are hundreds, buddy.
QUEST: Let's see the real money out of your wallet when I get back.
Peter Tuchman, thank you, sir.
TUCHMAN: Come and visit me soon, Richard. Good to see you.
QUEST: Across the European bosses it was a mix and they haven't really seen the best Spanish stocks, but again on uncertainty over Catalonia,
you'll see in a moment or two why. The Ibex is up three quarters of 1 percent. Otherwise (INAUDIBLE) was down, but Papyrus and Frankfurt, those
markets were both up.
Now two tense political standoffs in Europe are set to shape the future of the continent. I want you to watch very closely as I go to look at them in
some detail. First of all Catalonian leaders still won't confirm whether they officially declared independence. Madrid is demanding clarification.
The government says it's new deadline is now Thursday. It was Saturday.
The Spanish prime minister has asked Catalonia in his words to go back to legality in his words. Spain could impose direct roll into Article 155
from Madrid suspending Catalonia's autonomy if Puigdemont, the Catalonia authorities don't given an answer.
And then the other one, Brussels, Europe's big confrontation between the UK and the EU. The British prime minister is now agreeing to try to
accelerate Brexit talks. The European Commission head, Jean Claude Junker. Downing Street denies that the trip to Brussels is a panic reaction as,
say, after Brexit talk deadlocked. The former deputy prime minister Nick Clegg, told CNN, foreign investment in the UK is collapsing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICK CLEGG, FORMER BRITISH DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER: The United Kingdom rely, as an economy, on foreign direct investments more than any other mature
economy in the developed world. And we are basically saying to investors in board rooms in Tokyo, in Washington, elsewhere, you know what, we're so
at sixes and sevens ourselves, you shouldn't put our money here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: So Bianca Nobilo is in Brussels for us tonight.
Bianca, this idea of deadlock from last week's press conference, is there a tangible shift in UK policy and movement?
BIANCA NOBILO, CNN PRODUCER: What is different at the moment is this flurry of activity. The UK has never tried harder to try and make sure
that there's progress in these Brexit negotiations. Today before Theresa May flew to Brussels to have dinner her with Michelle Bonnier and Junker in
the building behind me, she made calls to Macron. She made calls to the Irish leader.
On Sunday Boris Johnson was meeting with all of his EU foreign minister counterparts, trying to drum up some goodwill, trying to get them to want
to be at that next stage where they can talk about transition and they can talk about trade deal. So there is a bit of a shift.
QUEST: But there's still the problem of the Brexit bill, the divorce bill. There's still the issue of citizens rights, which the prime minister said
last week they were very close to settling. And there's still Northern Island which is not believed to be the ultimate stocking block.
On the bill the amount of money, where do we stand?
NOBILO: There's definitely an impasse when it comes to the bill and in fact I was a bit disappointed that this dinner happened in this building
behind me, not at a restaurant, because I think it would have been quite interesting to look at. He was paying the bill in that group of four
people that were meeting tonight. But on the UK side there's definitely a reticence to pay the numbers that the EU have been talking about which is
up to 90 billion.
Theresa May and her government haven been talking at about 20 billion and also that they'll continue to honor that commitment to the EU. But the EU
doesn't look likely to budge on that. Bearing in mind also that there has been a ramping up in the UK of discussions about preparing for a new
scenario. Brexiteers and members of Theresa May's own government want to see those preparations in place. So that if that bill is too high, it's
possible for the UK to crash out of the EU.
So it's at a very difficult stage at the moment, the people in the EU wanting that 90 billion figure with people in the UK wanting to prepare for
pay nothing and to crash out.
QUEST: All right. Bianca Nobilo, thank you in Brussels.
When we come back, a new release from Netflix tonight. Critics are expecting a blockbuster. If they don't have a blockbuster with earnings,
the market will tank. All these Netflix stocks, but that doesn't seem to be the way it's going at the moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:21:38] QUEST: Netflix has just delivered a stunning performance in the last few moments. Its third quarter earnings that handily beat Wall Street
expectations on revenue and subscriber growth. It comes with the details in just a moment. Let's look at the biggest hit so far. There's a bit of
a glow around the company. As you might say, JPMorgan raised its target price for the stock on Friday and that's driven shares to a record level.
Just looking at the price of Netflix at the moment. Over $202 a share at the moment. A gain of 2 percent just on any after-hours trading.
It's encouraged ethics to say (INAUDIBLE) back off, as you might say. Disney is already planning to steal the crown. However, Disney share price
is down while Netflix is up. And Disney's best plan is to take shows away from Netflix and open its own streaming in its own right.
Paul La Monica, good old La Monica is with me from New York, and the numbers on Netflix you had about 10 minutes to digest what struck out for
you at most?
PAUL LA MONICA, CNN MONEY CORRESPONDENT: The subscriber growth continues to really impress, Richard. They now have over 109 million subscribers
worldwide and that was better than expected. The company says they think they'll add more than six million in the current quarter, that will bring
them to more than 115 million worldwide.
So I think that really is the key thing despite a lot of competition is Netflix just continues to show that they have the content that people want
to, you know, talk about one of the show titles, "Black is the New Black." It's a very profitable company and that's why Wall Street loves it right
now.
QUEST: And the issue of course is -- or not the issue, I mean, the point people keep making is, let's take Facebook with its $2 billion however many
users it's got. And then you look at Netflix Netflix as it grows into nationally and it's only 115 million. It hasn't really got going in many
European countries, Asian countries as well. Everything I hear is that even at these levels the risk is low. But the upside is great.
LA MONICA: I think that might be the case. There clearly are some who wonder whether or not Netflix as a stock is overvalued but I think a lot of
people do feel that there is room for growth internationally. I'd be cautious about drawing around the comparison between Facebook and Netflix
with users because let's be honest here, it's one thing to subscribe for free to Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp. It's quite another to spend your
couple of bucks a month for a subscription service like Netflix, so it is very impressive that you have 109 million paying customers. Because not
really sure, though, that many people out there paying for Facebook.
QUEST: No. But if you take Facebook's PE at about 37 and you take Netflix at 248, I can see the argument that says Netflix is unduly frothy
particularly when you take for example an Amazon, a 253. So there we are.
Thank you, Paul La Monica.
LA MONICA: Thank you very much, sir.
QUEST: I told because they're about making money and they're not really showing proper profits, or these substantial profits for the size of the
company.
Paul, thank you.
BlackBerry executive says the company now has a purpose as a major player in cyber security.
[16:25:08] The company that once led the way into smartphones demonstrates its new ambition. It rang the Opening Bell at the New York Stock Exchange
and transferred its stock listing from the Nasdaq. BlackBerry is at the NYSE. Shares tumbled on the first day. It's around one and three-quarter
percent down but just not price of $11.37. $11 and change is so dramatically higher than when it was languishing in the low digits.
Maggie Lake asked chief executive John Chen what the switch to the big board says about the brand.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN CHEN, CEO, BLACKBERRY: I feel the company now has a purpose. And I think that's the most -- you know, we now know what we want to do. We want
to be a major player in cyber security, especially one that's related to mobile, not only mobile but especially on any related mobile. So we bought
ourselves time to execute our strategy and so I think the brand is now much stronger. Moving here to -- stock exchange time is also an attempt and one
of the effort to kind of re-launch the bread.
MAGGIE LAKE, CNN ANCHOR: What part of the world do you see the best opportunity? And we talk a lot about the political risks, a lot of
uncertainty there, a lot of regulation worrying, a lot of tech companies. It seems these phases you've chosen are a little bit away from that worry.
Where do you see the biggest potential? Are you big in Asia, you're pushing in Asia? Is it still North America?
CHEN: Interesting enough, so far the business have been going well in Europe.
LAKE: And that is not a place people would say is leading the global economic recovery.
CHEN: But they are leading the needs for security. And so --
LAKE: Pushed by the government?
CHEN: Pushed by the government, pushed by policy that -- like the GDRP but the -- you know, the UK government's policy on privacy on data sharing and
all that.
LAKE: Which tells me you're still pragmatic. When you took this job on when everyone thought you were dead, and you've been very consistent and
calm and pragmatic. Not making big promises and really making that pivot. Investors are paying attention. Your shares have been on fire. Your
profitable. People are taking notice.
What's the biggest challenge? I've got to think when you're facing that kind of growth, it's got to be a war for talent? Can you retract people
that you need to kind of engineer as you need to say, oh no, don't got work for Google, don't go work for Microsoft, come work for BlackBerry. Do you
have that brand restoration back to be able to do that?
CHEN: Great question, work in progress but it's getting better every day and because like you said, the story is catching on. Our stock prices are
still low. You know they don't come in with a stock option of $198 a share.
LAKE: Yes.
CHEN: They come in with a stock option of $11 a share. There's a lot of reliever that say, hey, I think we could go places. It's easy to see $11
shares stumble than $198 stumble. You know, I'm not suggesting --
(CROSSTALK)
CHEN: Is that a good --
LAKE: No promise --
CHEN: Yes, so. But I think we can attract a lot of time. Being a Canadian company and have operation around the world, actually helps, too.
So a little bit. Not a huge because, you know, we're kind of the anchor in the Waterloo area. And so we were able to do that and also where we were
able to so there's a lot of things that we -- but we still need to work it. We still need to work hard.
LAKE: And you're committed to staying in the role as CEO? A lot of times we see a turnaround, people feel like when they've righted the ship they're
going to give it up to somebody else.
CHEN: Well, that's a tough question to answer. I am very committed to the company. I signed a five-year agreement. This is public news.
LAKE: Yes.
CHEN: I signed a five-year agreement. I'm -- I got one year and --
LAKE: Which is very timely.
CHEN: Right. The question is --
(LAUGHTER)
CHEN: You're the first one to ask in this kind of media setting, so, you know, this is something that the board and I need to work out.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: John Chen. I'm not quite sure whether he did admit to otherwise as is often. It doesn't sound like he is certain with the share price having,
it's a good deal for him.
When we return not long ago Donald Trump blamed Mitch Connell for the failure of the healthcare bill. Now the president says he's closer than
ever before to the Senate leader as they hope for a win on tax reform.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:31:50] RICHARD QUEST, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Richard Quest. There's more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS in a moment from the CNN Center. And one of the
most Trump's closest allies is helping the Weinstein Company get a buy pay lock (ph), and I'll speak to the president of Atlanta United Football Club,
already a hotter (ph) ticket from most European teams. All that at the CNN and don't miss that. The (ph) news always comes first.
A double truck bombing in Mogadishu has now claimed more than 300 lives. It makes it the deadliest attack in Somalia's modern history. The death
toll has been rising as crews pull more bodies from the rubble and the victims die from their injuries.
Al-Shabaab has been blamed for the bloodshed. The organization's not yet admitted the murders.
Officials say wildfires in Portugal and Spain have killed at least 39 people and injured dozens of people. Thousands of firefighters on the
blinds (ph) battling 150 blazes at least. Strong warm winds from home of (ph) Hurricane Ophelia and the flames have now calmed a bit with the second
series of deadly fires in the Iberian Peninsula for this year.
And Ophelia, which has been downgraded to a post tropical storm has battered much of Ireland, but the authorities say at least three storm
related deaths have happened, 360,000 homes and businesses all without power. Storms now dumping heavy rain on parts of the United Kingdom.
Two Peshmerga sources say at least 16 Kurdish fighters are dead as Iraqi forces retake the distribution intensity (ph) of Kirkuk. Iraqi military
operations have plunged (ph) the Kurdish Independence Movement is putting two U.S. allies against each other. The Kurdish flag has now come down
from the governor's building, and then (ph) the Iraqi flag is flying.
President Trump has kicked off a new week trying to get things moving on his tax reform plans, and he did so by criticizing the very senators he
needs to get it passed. He was speaking after a meeting with the Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, President Trump said they were close to
never before earlier in front of his cabinet. The president absolved himself of any blame for the fact that no health care reform is being
passed in his administration.
And instead, he pointed the finger at his own party.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I have -- you know, despite what the press writes, I have great relationships with actually many
senators but, in particular, with most Republican senators. But we're not getting the job done. And I'm not going to blame myself, I'll be honest.
They are not getting the job done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: Phil Mattingly joins me from Capitol Hill. Phil, so, he's not taking the blame for maybe he's -- not what he did or not doing to health
care. How accurate is this idea that he and Mitch McConnell are NBFs (ph)?
[16:35:03] PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Look, what's interesting is almost the whiplash mystery solver (ph), but of course, mystery hour period
where he came out and said that he blamed not himself but several Republican senators for the failure of health care. And then a couple
hours later, he's standing side by side with the Senate Majority Leader who he's sparred with over the course of the last couple of weeks, repeatedly
behind closed doors I'm told, mocked Mr. McConnell's physical appearance, how he operates and had kind of a kumbaya moment with him.
And I think that is kind of a great way of encapsulating the actual overall relationship between the president and the Republican Senate Conference.
Senators don't know where he's going to be on any given day. There are a lot of people to blame for why health care failed, the president is
certainly among them, no question about that.
And as they move on to a huge agenda item like tax reform, something that's going to really take a concerted, united effort kind of every single day
for the next couple of months, there's no question that unity is the way to go about it, not pointing fingers.
QUEST: OK. Talk me through, because here on QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, we are going to be watching this tax reform package with an intensity. So talk me
through how this was solved, because there isn't actually a fully-fledged plan on the table yet, is there?
MATTINGLY: Yes, that's exactly right. Look, we have a nine-page framework, that's it. And you think about what a tax reform bill is
actually going to look like particularly if it's a full reform package, which is what's they're still pledging to do, not just tax cuts. It's
going to be hundreds, if not, thousands of pages.
So we have top-lined agreements on the corporate rate, 20%. On the pasture (ph) rate, 25% that they will be shrinking down the brackets from seven to
three or maybe four depending on what they want to do with the upper bracket. That's what we know. What we don't know is the details and
here's why. They still have kind of a multi-step procedural process to go and I won't bore you with the Senate procedure which makes everybody more
or less want to fall asleep.
But the reality is, is the procedure is very important particularly if Republicans want to pass this with just this simple majority vote. They're
going through a similar process they went through on health care, which means they're going to have to pass a budget resolution likely this week,
then they'll have to go through the committee process and actually draft the bill.
Rich, we won't see actual legislative language, probably, for another three or four weeks. And so, the idea that everybody is unified around nine
pages or general frameworks or concepts, that's great for the Republican Party. Certainly, that's a big first step for them.
But as you know as well anybody, better than anybody, tax reform is in the details, its specific provisions that have specific impacts on specific
companies that reside in specific backyards of specific senators, and specific members of the House. And until we see those details, we won't
really know how harder heavy of a lift this is going --
QUEST: OK.
MATTINGLY: -- to be. The reality is, they haven't done this for 31 years for a reason.
QUEST: And, how difficult -- let's put aside the individual, you know, bit of the policy, the pork barrel politics of it, on a matter of philosophy,
how difficult will it be for the right wing and the center ground of the Republican Party to remain unified in the Senate.
MATTINGLY: It's complicated, no question about it. I think -- look, when you talk to leaders of the Republican Party, they say, hey, unlike health
care, at least we're more unified on general conservative concepts going into tax reform. We all believe in tax cuts. We all believe the tax cuts
create growth at least to some degree. But there's differences on how much they believe tax cuts do create growth. There's differences on how many
senators believe that you should be able to have a tax cut and not pay for it at all and accept -- or expect that economic growth will try and fill in
that gap and others who remain deficit hoaxed (ph) to this day.
I think the idea on the general concept that people agree, Richard, that's accurate. But as you dig into the details, as you dig in --
QUEST: Right.
MATTINGLY: -- to even the pork barrel, things like that, that's where splits come to pass and that's those splits you're going to see in the next
couple of weeks, which will be extremely important.
QUEST: I look forward to the final bail and you and I can pass it (ph) line by line over a drink. Phil Mattingly, I think it'd be very long
drink. Thank you, Phil, good to see you.
One of President Trump's closest friends is giving a lifeline to the Weinstein Company, Tom Barrack, founder of Colony Capital says he's pleased
to invest in the embattled Hollywood studio, how much Colony is putting in hasn't been discussed.
Colony is also in talk about possibly buying all or most of the company. And a short time ago, the board of Producers Guild voted to expel Harvey
Weinstein from the guild.
CNN Reporter Hadas Gold joins me from New York. So, we've got here two elements, you got the Producers Guild which is really falling after (ph)
and the academy and you got the company itself, which is now up for sale, which is I want to extend (ph) Bob Weinstein said just a matter of 72 hours
ago. On Friday, he specifically said, we're not selling the company.
When you get that sort of -- I was going to say, lying but hypocrisy (ph), the discrepancy, it's difficult to plead (ph) anything that comes out from
them.
[16:40:02] HADAS GOLD, CNN REPORTER: Exactly. I mean, there -- he isn't really in talk position right now. It's Bob Weinstein that's been doing
interviews where he's saying that he had no idea that Harvey Weinstein, his own brother, was doing any of these inappropriate actions but he knew he
was cheating on his wife.
But yes, this investment from Colony Capital, it's sort of the strange melding of stories and of world. Tom Barrack was one of the president's of
the United States closest friends, rumored to be a possible next chief of staff and his company have thrown this financial lifeline to the Weinstein
Company and this is really what's saving them because they are getting content and other partners dropped left and right and this is hopefully
going to stabilize them. They're going to change the name of it. And they're going to hopefully keep this company afloat in some way because of
this investment.
QUEST: Now, obviously, Bob Weinstein himself is, you know, a top producer in his own right. In fact --
GOLD: Right.
QUEST: -- the two of them from Miramax. So, I mean, we're sort of making it seem as if the Weinstein Company was all Harvey and no one else.
GOLD: Right (ph).
QUEST: And, yes, put me right on that, please.
GOLD: So, Harvey Weinstein was known for all of these big movies that won the Oscars and these were the series movies. But, Bob points that his
brother was actually in charge of a lot of the movies that made a lot of money, including a lot of those sort of campy, scary movies that really
helped infuse a lot of cash into this company. So he's an equally important part of this company and clearly right now, he is the one
stirring the ship, one of the few remaining people on the board as most of them have actually resigned.
QUEST: Good to see you, Hadas. Thank you.
GOLD: Thank you.
QUEST: We'll talk more about this, obviously, in the days (INAUDIBLE). Thank you.
The NFL star Colin Kaepernick has made headlines last summer when he knelt during the national anthem. Now, the quarterback says he's being punished
for his actions.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: The American football star, Colin Kaepernick of the NFL team known as (ph), have colluded strong word there to keep them out of work has filed
a grievance against the National Football League, NFL. He says he's being punished for protesting against the treatment of Black Americans
particularly by police last summer, you remember, having initially sat during the national anthem. Then he started kneeling during the star's
instruct (ph) registering his protest. A few moments ago, President Trump said the wave of protester (ph) on the anthem is hurting the NFL.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: The people of our country are very angry at the NFL. All you have to do is look at their ratings and look at their stadiums. You see empty
seats where you never saw them before.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: Now, Hines Ward is the CNN sports contributor and a two-time Super Bowl champion. He joins me now.
HINES WARD, CNN SPORTS CONTRIBUTOR: How are you doing, Rich?
QUEST: Take us through quickly with the president's --
WARD: Yes.
QUEST: -- the president's comments (INAUDIBLE). Is it true, all the more empty seats, all people rebelling, is there a feeling that they are against
what's happening?
WARD: No, I don't think so. I mean, fans are still coming out to the game but I feel like there is division amongst fans because some fans finds it
disrespectful for players to kneel during a national anthem.
[16:45:03] While other fans, they just want to go and watch a football, right, and leave politics out of it. So there's division within the
stadium, what's going on with the anthem protest.
QUEST: Colin Kaepernick with his grievance, does he have merit?
WARD: I don't think so. I just -- you know, I think it's all because his skills has diminished. It's not that the fact that the owners got together
and say, hey, we don't want this player because of this and that, because players are still kneeling today. You know, I just think for Colin
Kaepernick, you know, it's only a handful of teams that can really bring him on to a system because you have to have an offense to cater around his
skill set.
So if that's not the case --
QUEST: But there was -- god (ph), the guy was good, maybe not brilliant.
WARD: Yes, but it's --
QUEST: But there must be somebody who would take further down the lead, further down the rankings who would say, OK, so I think we can pick up
(INAUDIBLE).
WARD: No, no, no.
QUEST: We can get them shaped.
WARD: That would --
(CROSSTALK)
WARD: -- but American football, you can't just plug a guy in the quarterback position and expect him to have success. And I think for a lot
of owners, is it worth the distraction if he's not going to be your stars in quarterback. And I think for Colin Kaepernick, there's only a couple
teams that he possibly could star for and that will be Seattle Seahawks and Tennessee Titans because they run similar style of offense that he's
accustomed to running.
QUEST: He must have reasons to believe that there is this collusion, even though he pulled himself out of his last team.
WARD: Exactly.
QUEST: I mean, you know, he is the author of his own misfortune in the sense if he decided to leave.
WARD: Exactly. And I think for Colin, it's a tough place because, you know, as owners, you want to know, is he committed to playing football, or
is it all in about, you know, improving the ratio and just as the (ph) social equality. So --
QUEST: Oh, you just dug out (ph), now hang on a second.
WARD: I'm just saying from my owners' perspective, that's what I'm saying. But for the quality --
QUEST: You probably (ph) have both.
WARD: No, I don't think so. I think if you're good enough to start and you're good enough to play in the league, you'll be in a league. The
league -- there's many cases out there, there are players who's got off the field issues but yet they're great players and they probably some way
somehow to still be playing football.
QUEST: So, in this case, is there a risk of this grievance, for lack of a better phrase, blows the issue sky high and the dirty laundry of the NFL in
all its magnificent glory gets washed in public?
WARD: I don't think so. I mean, it's a privilege to play in NFL, it really is. And I think right now, the league is just trying to find, you
know, how do you come together with the players, unions, the owners, to try to solve the issue with the players and the national anthem. And that's
where the league is right now. They're trying to do what's best for the players and for the league without stepping on each other's toes, and
that's, you know, the league -- the NFL meetings are tomorrow up in New York and I think that's something that they're going to really sit down and
try to hash out.
And they're bringing in the players union something that they haven't done before to sit there and discuss the topics of what's going on in NFL.
QUEST: Brilliant. Thank you --
WARD: Anytime.
QUEST: Good to see you, sir.
WARD: Pleasure, pleasure, pleasure.
QUEST: Thank you very much indeed. We'll have you back.
WARD: Yes, anytime.
QUEST: Absolutely. You know, you can even have that done. One of them out (ph). Oh.
WARD: Yes.
QUEST: As we continue tonight on QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, it's a lot bigger than we (INAUDIBLE). But then I'm looking at the vouch (ph). Atlanta's
best transporting areas and the Falcons of the NFL or the braves at baseball (ph) to the game. What about Atlanta United? The local soccer
team, football team players (ph), which is making its debut in MLS in a moment.
Watch these pictures and you'll see similarities to any European team but infinitely much more successful. The president of the United (INAUDIBLE)
way.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:51:01] QUEST: There has been a spectacular takeover of the QUEST MEANS BUSINESS studio. Atlanta United is stealing with the chance of grabbing
second place in the MLS Eastern Conference in their first major league soccer season. The team will finish with the regular season this weekend
and a sold-out Mercedes-Benz Stadium. It's already gained a reputation as a fortress.
The club set a league record for a match attendance, more than 70,000 for the game in -- with Orlando City in September the 4th, biggest crowd for
any match in the world that weekend.
Darren Eales is the president of Atlanta United who must have certain skills of reserve because he's managed to catch doom (ph) the QUEST MEANS
BUSINESS sect, a completely takeover, sir.
First of all, the failure -- and let's go with the nasty a bit first.
DARREN EALES, PRESIDENT, ATLANTA UNITED FC: Yes.
QUEST: The failure of the United States to qualify for the world champ. How much of a blow was that?
EALES: It was a real missed opportunity, I think less (ph) soccer is going from strength to strength, we've seen that with major league soccer and
even our attendance for launching Arthur this year. And the league average is about 21,600 which puts it seven in global world soccer. So that's
going well but this chance every four years, we also bring that thank- sitting (ph) fan into the fold as a missed opportunity. That's --
QUEST: Was it a one-off in the sense or is there something systemically wrong with U.S. soccer that will need to be fixed? Was it a bad team, bad
choices, bad management or is there some -- you know, there could be replacement with the coach (INAUDIBLE), the managerial or whatever? Or
does that something -- need to be something completely radically changed?
EALES: I think there's a danger in this sort of call for radical change.
QUEST: Right.
EALES: Because there's a danger of throwing the bagel out with about quarter (ph). And again, all this, my experience come from top and hot
spear (ph) in England with one of the best academies in the world. When I came to Georgia in Atlanta United, the level of talent there is amazing.
We hire actually three players playing to the under 17 U.S. national team who won today five males (ph) against Paraguay to get in the quarter
finals.
So, things have happened over the last 10 years and are bearing fruit now and you can't expect it to happen instantly.
So, yes, though, I think there's some changes that can be made, but I do think there's a danger of saying panic stations that change everything.
QUEST: Why -- I mean, your team has been remarkably successful. And I don't say that with surprise but I say it wanting to understand why. And I
don't just mean because we're business program on the beach, I'm talking about the marketing, the fan reaction, the sizes. Is it because you have
modeled yourself conceptually on an English team?
EALES: Not necessarily --
QUEST: The fan base.
EALES: Yes, not model or anything to see (ph) but I think what we did do with our own Arthur Blank who started up from Depot. So, he's been there
as a starter. He knew that by hiring lead two and a half years before he kicks a ball, you only get one chance to make a first impression. So we
spent a lot of time focusing on the grassroots, focusing on our albeit trends (ph) and letting them be our evangelist. Let them be the people
that told our stories to others and brought them into the fold. And that became this sort of snowballing momentum that got us defense that we have.
QUEST: But that's classic football club circle (ph) last century in the U.K., isn't it, in England?
EALES: Yes, (INAUDIBLE).
QUEST: You know, the old terraces what people would -- you know, I'm going up, there's (INAUDIBLE).
EALES: No, I think that's what we're seeing, is then carry (ph) the passion of the fan base here in America, this idea that unlike other
sports, they own the game. So they had the people doing the singing and the cheering.
QUEST: But you also have cheap bit (ph), cheap hotdogs or cheap burberry (ph), cheap barrel (ph) hotdogs, you've decided to go for that as a
strategy.
EALES: Yes. Look, to be honest, it's a pretty simple process, three things. We want to be competitive on the beach. We want to have the best
fan engagement and we want to be in the heart of the community. And the hotdogs and to bear that pricing, it's all about trying to treat the fan
fairly. So when they got this loving new stadium, we don't want to gauge (ph) them with prices like you did at the cinema, when you can't believe
the price you're paying for a popcorn.
So that was part of the bigger philosophy that we run through the Falcons as well as the Atlanta United, thinking about the fan first.
[16:55:00] QUEST: What's next for Atlanta United?
EALES: Well, we're trying to get a team to the playoffs as high as we can. So the white works in America (ph) is we have a playoff system, and the
high we finish, the more likely we also play a home.
QUEST: FC, says FC, that stands for Football Club.
EALES: That's right, yes.
QUEST: Is --
EALES: Interesting, so when we talk to our fans, it's one of those things where they were absolutely unanimous that they wanted FC nor SC (ph). And
it depends on the fan base. The art of it is, they're trying to sort of have that tradition of footballers around the world. And I think with
Atlanta United, you see it now. We look and feel like a club that's been around for ages even though it's off season.
QUEST: I think tonight, I'm feeling, you know, a very expansive and generous mood, and Hines got one. I think queue (ph) since I'm visiting
Atlanta. You can have one on the bell.
EALES: Oh, thanks, Rich. Oh, no, I failed it. There we go. Second time lucky. Thank you.
QUEST: Thank you. (INAUDIBLE) responsibility. We'll have a Profitable Moment after the break. Can I keep this hat?
EALES: Of course, you can.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Tonight's Profitable Moment. On this program, you heard the president of the fed, Raphael Bostic, say that, yes, the stock market has
been rising sharply, but that not all Americans have been enjoying the benefits. And that goes to the heart in many ways of the disquiet and
discord that exist in this country and elsewhere.
And yet to that same time, you have a president here that points out that the $5.7 trillion increase in volume, that is increased economic growth.
It's an interesting conundrum that currently exist and one that certainly threatens economic growth in the future.
And that's QUEST MEANS BUSINESS for tonight. I'm Richard Quest at the CNN Center. Whatever you're up to in the hours ahead, I hope it's profitable.
[17:00:03] We're back (ph) in Washington tomorrow.
END
