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Quest Means Business

Five Americans Freed After Years of Prison in Iran; Threat of Expanded Strike Looms Over US Automakers; CNN Investigates Hijacked Buildings in Johannesburg; Clorox Warns Hack Will Hit Results; Instacart Raises IPO Target After Arm's Success; Apple Leads Dow 30 In Choppy Session. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired September 18, 2023 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:24]

ZAIN ASHER, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: All right, let's take a look and see how the big board is doing. US stocks, mostly in the green face. It appears

to be flat, it certainly had a difficult couple of weeks. The markets are essentially in a holding pattern as we await results from the Fed meeting

later on this week.

Those are the markets and these are the main events: Iran releases five Americans after they spend years under detention.

Comedian, Russell Brand, is facing allegations of sexual assault. He is denying those claims.

And Clorox is warning on product shortages after a cyberattack last month. We'll explain.

Coming to you live from New York. It is Monday, September 18th. I'm Zain Asher, in for my colleague, Richard Quest and I too mean business.

Tonight, five Americans are on their way home from Iran where the US says they were wrongfully imprisoned for years. Their release is the culmination

of strained talks between the Islamic Republic and the United States, which has freed five Iranian prisoners and unfrozen $6 billion of Iranian funds.

Here's our Becky Anderson with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR (voice over): Smiles, hugs and tears, as five Americans detained inside Iran for years are finally freed

and on their way home.

Among them, Siamak Namazi. He was arrested in 2015 while on a business trip to Iran, and charged with having relations with a hostile state. After

nearly eight years in prison, Namazi was Iran's longest held American prisoner.

Feeling abandoned by the US earlier this year, he appealed directly to President Biden in an unprecedented interview with CNN from inside the

notorious Evin Prison.

SIAMAK NAMAZI, AMERICAN HELD PRISONER IN EVIN PRISON: Honestly, the other hostages and I desperately need President Biden to finally hear us out to

finally hear our cry for help bring us home.

ANDERSON (voice over): Also freed, dual Iranian-American citizens Morad Tahbaz and Emad Shargi. Tahbaz, an environmentalist was arrested while on a

trip to Iran in 2018. Shargi, a businessman who moved with his wife to Iran from the US in 2017 was also detained in 2018 on similar charges to that of

Namazi.

ANDERSON (on camera): For years their fate tied to tensions between the two countries, but with the help of a common friend in Qatar, breakthrough

diplomacy brought us to this very moment.

ANDERSON (voice over): Iran freed the dual citizens in a deal to release five Iranians held in US prisons, and to unblock $6 billion in frozen

Iranian funds from South Korea. That cash moving from Seoul to Switzerland before being transferred to Doha, after the Biden administration last week

issued a sanctions waiver clearing the way for the money to move.

The role of Qatar now changing from mediator to guarantor ensuring Washington's demands that Iran's billions are strictly controlled, and

spent only on humanitarian goods, like food and medicine.

But critics worry even with Doha's oversight, the moneys could be spent however Tehran decides. There is also concern this latest deal enables what

many critics have dubbed Tehran's hostage diplomacy.

But for the freed Americans today at least, politics will likely be a secondary concern, as they finally get to go home after years of mental and

physical anguish.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ASHER: Joining us live now is Nic Robertson in London, Becky Anderson in Doha.

Becky, let me start with you because this is monumental. For those five Americans, this is a monumental day for them and their families. And of

course, how could any of us forget that unprecedented interview that Siamak Namazi gave to our Christiane Amanpour.

Just walk us through what the feeling is like on the ground right now -- Becky.

ANDERSON: Well, it's the day that these US detainees probably imagined would never come because this has been years in the making, this deal.

[15:05:08]

ANDERSON: But they have, Siamak, for example, have been inside that notorious Evin Prison for nearly eight years. The other two identified

today are both incarcerated for five. Siamak was the longest held American in an Iranian prison.

So when they came off that Qatar flight today, around sort of late afternoon, Qatar time it landed, just on the tarmac behind me here to Doha

International Airport, the emotion was absolutely palpable.

This was a tough, complicated, complex deal involving many of America's partners and Joe Biden thanked those countries -- Switzerland and Seoul,

Qatar specifically, and Oman. Qatar, went through eight rounds of negotiations. Of course, the US and Iran aren't in direct talks, they are

not in direct negotiations. They have no direct contact.

So between Oman and Qatar, these rounds of negotiations, which sort of culminated in real momentum over the last sort of six or seven months,

resulted in what we had today. And really, it's an example on a day, and we should applaud this for its success, a day way, you can see that diplomacy

can still work.

Does this mean that the US will start re-engaging with Iran anytime soon? No, absolutely not, and they've made that point. And they've said that

today, they say they still consider Tehran an adversary, they still consider that Iran is a sponsor of state terrorism.

So you know, this is a small part. This deal started off as very ranging. It included the nuclear talks, et cetera, but this deal ended up just being

about US detainees wrongfully detained in Iran, which this Biden administration has said alongside those who are wrongly detained in other

countries, including Russia, they've made it an absolute priority, that they will get these people home.

And today, Zain, we saw the results of that. Those detainees have now left Doha, they are on their way home. They will be in Washington, in the hours

to come. And there, they will, once again, get to hug their family and their friends -- Zain.

ASHER: I mean, it's just an incredible day, isn't it, Becky?

Nic, let me bring you in because the terms of this deal and Becky sort of intimated at this, she touched on this, the terms of this deal has

generated quite a bit of criticism. Obviously, $6 billion freed up from Seoul traveling to essentially, transfer to rather Switzerland and of

course, Qatar.

We know that the Americans are basically saying, listen, this money is only going to be used for humanitarian purposes, but it's not exactly that

simple, isn't it?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: No, it isn't, and I think there are a couple of things to unpack here, and one Becky tells us

very precisely here that there were real efforts to try to bring the negotiations, these conversations that began so long ago, to involve the

Iran nuclear deal back from 2015. They weren't able to do that, so that tells you how troubled the relationship is, that the only thing that they

could work on was this point.

And this is, I think re-emphasized earlier today, when we heard from the White House saying they were putting more sanctions on Iran's Intelligence

Ministry and its former president. Just last week, they put more sanctions on Iranian officials, 25 from the law enforcement, the Head of Prisons,

from the IRCG.

So sanctions going on, and then in the last few minutes, we've heard a joint statement coming from the British, the French, the Germans, and the

United States, saying that what Iran is doing with the International Atomic Energy Agency's inspectors who are supposed to have access by the terms of

that deal in Iran, and under Iran is stopping about a third of them getting in is an intention to undermine the efforts of the IAEA and must absolutely

be reversed. So that's one part of the equation here that this in no way resets the relationship that those deep areas of mistrust exist.

So how does a deal like this work? Both sides have to walk away feeling like they get something. President Biden needs to have something that he

can explain and feels very strongly confident that the US Department of Treasury can have oversight that these funds that Iran -- Iran's own money

that had been paid to South Korea before sanctions for oil, those accounts are now -- those finances has now moved to Qatar.

[15:10:00]

Qatar and Iran now having a financial mechanism to get that money to Iran, but it will be under the watchful eye of the Qataris and the US Department

of Treasury.

And on the Iranian side, they say, well, we can spend this on what we want to spend it on, on whatever the necessities of the government are. And the

reality is, the Iranians can spend $6 billion on humanitarian aid, and they can take therefore have $6 billion left less that they need to take out of

their own pockets, and they can spend that on other things.

Any deal is full of ambiguity, it is full of things for both sides and there are also potential pitfalls of it.

ASHER: All right, Nic Robertson and Becky Anderson, thank you both so much.

All right, turning out the US, a historic US auto workers strike is now in its fourth day with simply no sign at this point of progress on contract

talks.

The union is taking on Ford, they are taking on Stellantis, and GM, all of those three at the same time. Some Democratic lawmakers like House Minority

Leader, Hakeem Jeffries have joined the picket line in solidarity. The workers are targeting just one plant from each company. They're threatening

to expand if this talks drag on.

The action is already affecting suppliers. Shares of Australia's BlueScope Steel closed sharply lower on fears about its US business.

Gabe Cohen is outside a Stellantis plant in Toledo, Ohio.

Gabe, just give us the latest though. I mean, obviously you're on the ground there, you're speaking to people who are striking, but just give us

the latest in terms of negotiations. Where are we now?

GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, the workers here in Toledo as we're standing outside this Stellantis Jeep factory, they are waiting

anxiously today because we understand that officials from the Auto Workers Union are meeting with officials from Stellantis right now.

They have been meeting today. No word yet on whether or not there has been any progress. But look, we know in recent days, there has been a really

steep divide between the sides with very little progress between the union and really any of the Big 3 automakers -- Ford, General Motors, and

Stellantis.

With the head of the Auto Workers Union saying that additional facilities could go on strike in the days ahead, depending on if there's progress, and

you can hear that energy behind me. Look, there are roughly 5,800 UAW workers on strike here in Toledo close to 13,000 across the country, and

many of them there, they're on strike pay, $500.00 a week, not making much money. They don't have a salary right now. That's paid by the Union.

But so many of them have told me they are ready to strike, Zain, for as long as it takes, because they believe there is corporate greed here, that

companies like Stellantis , Ford, and General Motors have enjoyed record profits and compensated their CEOs with 20-plus million dollars a year, and

yet they have been fighting for pay raises even close to that, in terms of cost of living adjustments, trying to make more money.

They've asked her a 40 percent hike. So far, the automaker is not offering anywhere near that. But again, we're waiting to see if there's any progress

today or in the coming days.

As of now though, these picket lines are going to continue to happen 24/7 until there's a deal.

ASHER: And Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic House Minority Leader showing up at the picket line, essentially just showing solidarity. Are people there

encouraged by some of the political support that they've gotten? President Biden gave a speech on Friday in which he really showed that you know, his

heart was with those who are striking.

COHEN: Well, look, the tone that we have heard from workers is really that they feel like it's their fight right now, that the union is fighting for -

- and they will take support, of course from the president, from political leaders, but they really trust in the union leadership that feels like they

are out here and this is their fight.

You know, they want credit for taking this fight to the three big automakers. But again, these auto workers, there is certainly a sense of

solidarity here that it is these people on the frontlines who are leading the fight, not political leaders, as much as they will take that support.

They feel it is their hard work here on the picket line that deserves the credit.

ASHER: All right, Gabe Cohen live for us there, thank you so much.

All right, British media unleashed a massive investigation into sexual assault allegations made against comedian, Russell Brand. The London Police

suggests they're looking into new claims against him.

We'll have more details on that after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:17:11]

ASHER: In a meeting aimed to address criticism on several issues, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke today with Elon Musk. Netanyahu

asked must to rein in antisemitism on X, which is of course the platform formerly known as Twitter. Musk replied that he is against attacking any

group no matter who it is. Musk has been blamed for tolerating a rise in hate speech on X. He's even threatened to sue the Anti-Defamation League

for pointing it out, actually.

The head of the ADL spoke with us earlier this month about how Musk's actions have made its work more difficult.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JONATHAN GREENBLATT, CEO AND NATIONAL DIRECTOR, ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE: We've seen attacks for years, and this #BanTheADL, it was started by a

White supremacist. It was reinforced by other White nationalist anti- Semites and bigots. Oh and Elon started engaging with the people in this, when he started amplifying and retweeting their posts, it exploded on a

global basis.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: Our Hadas Gold has more just in terms of details on that meeting where Mr. Netanyahu goes from here.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu kicking off his week-long visit to the United States with a visit to

California to meet with Elon Musk for a live discussion about artificial intelligence and technology. But he did address Elon Musk on allegations

that he has allowed antisemitism to flourish on the platform formerly known as Twitter, now known as X

Take a listen to what Benjamin Netanyahu had to say.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: I also know your opposition to antisemitism. You've spoken about it, tweeted about it, and all I can say

is, I hope you find within the confines of the First Amendment the ability to stop not only antisemitism or roll it back as best you can, but any

collective hatred of a people that, you know, antisemitism represents and I know you're committed to that.

I hope -- I hope you succeed, and it is not an easy task, but I encourage you and urge you to find the balance. It's a tough one.

GOLD: Now, Elon Musk responded by saying he is against antisemitism, saying he's against anti anything talking about the difficulties of trying to

balance freedom of expression without letting these types of things flourish on the platform. Even mentioning that that is one of the reasons

why he wants to charge everyone for use of the platform believing that that will help combat bots.

It was also interesting to hear Elon Musk tell Benjamin Netanyahu that never before had he received so much pushback about an event being held at

Tesla where this conversation was held than over this event with Benjamin Netanyahu, and that is connected to the judicial overhaul that Netanyahu's

government is trying to push through back here in Israel.

Elon Musk, even mentioning the protesters that had lined the streets leading up to the Tesla factory protesting against Benjamin Netanyahu's

presence there, and against the overhaul.

[15:20:01]

In essence, Netanyahu responded by saying he was trying to rebalance the branches of government and promising that there would be some sort of

consensus middle ground found and saying that Israel will remain a democracy even saying that Israel will become an even stronger democracy

after this overhaul has passed.

That is, obviously something that the protesters here in Israel and the opposition parties here in Israel feel very strongly on the opposite end

of.

Now, later on in this week, Benjamin Netanyahu will make his way to New York for the United Nations General Assembly and where he will also meet

with US President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the Assembly on Wednesday.

Now, this is instead of a big White House meeting. There will be no Oval Office photo op for Benjamin Netanyahu, something he likely was hoping for,

that is a reflection of sort of the sour relations between President Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu over the actions of this right-wing government,

especially over the judicial overhaul that President Biden has been very vocal about asking a Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to pump the brakes

and to find a broad consensus before pushing this through.

Benjamin Netanyahu after meeting with President Biden will then address the UN General Assembly on Friday.

Hadas Gold, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ASHER: All right, so called hijacked buildings are a growing concern in South Africa after a fire in one such building killed more than 70 people

last month in Johannesburg.

The South African president says the authorities must crack down on these illegally occupied dwellings, but for the people who don't have much

income, these unsafe overcrowded buildings are among the few places that they really can afford to call home.

David McKenzie gives us a look at what life is like inside a hijacked building.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Siyabonga Mahlangu takes us inside a notorious target. In a city infamous

for crime, hijackers often steal cars, they also steal entire buildings. When that happens, the victims call Mahlangu first.

SIYABONGA MAHLANGU, INNER CITY FEDERATION: You can see the situation of the property.

MCKENZIE (voice over): But this is the only home they have.

MCKENZIE (on camera): What is a hijacked building?

MAHLANGU: A hijacked building, it's where someone will come in and claim to be the owner of the property and start collecting rentals from the resident

of that particular building.

MCKENZIE: Like a gangster.

MAHLANGU: Yes. That's a hijacking -- a hijacked property.

MCKENZIE (voice over): And Mahlangu says hijackers with fake papers have targeted the building four times. In one case, even having these women

arrested and evicted until his organization beat the hijackers in court.

MCKENZIE (on camera): Are people afraid of the hijackers?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are afraid.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are afraid of hijackers, because what they do? They put their security during the night or during the day.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Their threatening. It is not easy. They were threatening us, beating us.

MCKENZIE (voice over): Stolen buildings in Johannesburg aren't new. As the city crumbled, building owners abandoned their properties.

Gangs have taken other apartments or hijacked entire buildings like this one.

In the world's most unequal country, that desperate will live wherever and however they can.

MCKENZIE (on camera): If you look how tightly packed this is, and each one of these little partitions, houses a family it's like an informal

settlement squashed inside a building.

How many people would live in a building like this?

MAHLANGU: Close to 500 people in this building.

MCKENZIE (voice over): Five hundred people like Nqobile Zulu share just one tap.

She lives in this tiny space, but she says she can't afford anywhere else.

NQOBILE ZULU, TENANT: I'm scared.

MCKENZIE (on camera): Why are you scared?

ZULU: Because I am staying with my children, and if here is making fire, I don't know where we are going to, because I don't have money to pay rent.

MCKENZIE (voice over): It is a building just like this one that was consumed by an inferno late last month, 77 people died, many of them burnt

beyond recognition.

It's provoked a reckoning in this country, a reminder of democracy's broken promises.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When they find that the building is weak, then that one is gone. Ours they find that every time they come here, we are so

strong.

MCKENZIE (voice over): The women of this building fought back. They say their secret weapon is Elsie Mafu (ph).

"I tell the hijackers that this building belongs to us," she says but they still face a constant threat, still feel abandoned.

MAHLANGU: We'll all die without seeing the change. We'll all die. I can assure you that and promise that.

MCKENZIE (voice over): David McKenzie, CNN Johannesburg.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ASHER: All right, the Wagner Group, the mercenary group is still active and operating Africa even after the death of its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin who

was killed in a plane crash after leading a failed coup against Russia's military leaders.

[15:25:08]

CNN's Clarissa Ward went to the Central African Republic to show how Wagner's grip there remains unbroken.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This is one of the last places that Prigozhin was seen alive during his final tour

across Africa. It's called the Russian Cultural Center, only it has no connection to Russia's official cultural agency and was run until recently

by Prigozhin's closest associate here.

Photographs taken on that visit show a new face, a woman known as Nafisa Kiryanova.

After days of asking for permission to visit, we decided to film covertly.

WARD (on camera): You were here then when Yevgeny Prigozhin when he was here in the photographs.

There are the photographs of you with Prigozhin together here.

NAFISA KIRYANOVA: Oh my god. Can you show me that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

WARD: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it was just over in that corner.

WARD: yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There you are.

KIRYANOVA: Okay. Okay. That's good.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: And you can watch the full report in just a few hours right here on CNN. Tune in at eight o'clock in the evening Eastern Time, and it will air

throughout the day on Wednesday, too.

Comedian, Russell Brand has apparently postponed his upcoming UK shows as he faces allegations of sexual assault. Four women made those allegations

to "The Sunday Times" and Channel 4's dispatchers in a report this weekend citing that report. London's Metropolitan Police said that they are

investigating a separate allegation without naming Brand specifically. He has denied the accusations.

Anna Stewart is following the story for us from London.

Anna, just walk us through what more we know about these very serious allegations.

ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: So four women, and this is between 2006 and 2013 made very serious allegations in his joint investigation from Channel

4 and "The Sunday Times," allegations of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse.

The allegations take place, both in Los Angeles and also in the UK. And that's because this was very much at the height of Russell Brand's fame.

He was a famous comedian and a presenter here in the UK. He was also very much a rising star in Hollywood at the time. We're going to play some sound

from one of the accounts made by the women in the documentary. She is called "Alice" in the documentary, it's not her real name.

She met Russell Brand back in 2006 in London. She started a relationship with him, which she describes as controlling. She alleges there was sexual

assaults by Russell Brand, and all this when she was just 16 years old. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALICE, COMPLAINANT: Russell engaged in the behaviors of a groomer, looking back now, and I didn't even know what that was then or what that looked

like.

He would try to drive a wedge between me and my parents, taught me to lie to them. I was at my dad's house and it was 11 o'clock at night. Russell

was texting me, he's like, please come over. I need to see you. I'm really upset, like I need to see you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEWART: CNN cannot independently confirm the allegations made there. I think it's important to note that even before the documentary was aired on

Saturday night, Russell Brand, published this video where he firmly denies all of the allegations that were made against him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUSSELL BRAND, COMEDIAN AND ACTOR: But amidst this litany of astonishing, rather, baroque attacks are some very serious allegations that I absolutely

refute.

These allegations pertain to the time when I was working in the mainstream, when I was in the newspapers all the time, when I was in the movies, and as

I've written about extensively in my books, I was very, very promiscuous.

Now during that time of promiscuity, the relationships that I had were absolutely always consensual. I was always transparent about that then,

almost too transparent and I'm being transparent about it now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEWART: There are two very key issues in addition to the allegations made directly against Russell Brand. One is of course, the police, and these are

criminal allegations of rape and sexual assault. What did the police know? Well, no reports were made from the allegations that emerged through this

investigation.

The Met Police in London have contacted both "The Sunday Times" and Channel 4. They want to make sure that all sources involved know how to report

these crimes to the police.

And in the meantime, while they don't name Russell Brand, they have told CNN that they received a call over the weekend a report of sexual assault,

which was alleged to have taken place in Central London in 2003. So that's actually three years prior to the allegations made in this joint

investigation. So they are in contact with that woman and they are investigating that report right now.

The other big issue I think, Zain, is the culture with which this all happened. Russell Rand works for big media companies over multiple years in

very high profile roles. He was actually fired twice before working for the BBC for inappropriate behavior.

He resigned from the BBC again from inappropriate behavior when he was a radio presenter. The BBC are investigating all the claims made, they said

today, and they also say that the way they deal with complaints and with talent has evolved over the years.

Channel 4 has taken off all of the Russell Brand content on their online platform and are also investigating this because there comes a point where

you have to question, what did everybody know? Were complaints made and ignored? Were people looking the other way? Because there are so many

allegations here spanning such a long time -- Zain.

ASHER: I mean, if they knew about it and did not do anything about it, that is a big problem for a lot of these media companies, too.

Anna Stewart live for us, thank you so much.

All right, Clorox issues a warning that could lead to empty shelves, dirty worktops, and investor disappointment. How an audacious cyberattack is

still causing chaos, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:34:14]

ASHER: Clorox says last month's cyberattack is still impacting operations and that it will have a material impact on its first quarter results as

well. The stock is down on the announcements. Down about two percent or so. The cleaning product giant says the hack disrupted production and forced it

to scale back order processing. Meaning that it's struggling to meet demand and put products on shelves.

Michael Coates is the Chief Information Security Officer at CoinList. And also, he's the former cybersecurity expert at Twitter. Joins us live now

from San Francisco. Michael, of course, you are the perfect person to talk to about this. So, we've seen a string of these sorts of data breaches from

companies like MGM, Caesars, now Clorox. Just walk us through what's going on here. Talk to us about these sort of these social engineering hacks and

how they work.

[15:35:02]

And whether or not you think the problem is actually getting worse at this point in time.

MICHALES COATES, CHIEF INFORMATION SECURITY OFFICER, COINLIST: Sure. Yes. We're right in the middle of it right now in Las Vegas with what's happened

with Caesars and what's ongoing with MGM Resorts. And, you know, we have some information now. Caesars has filed an 8k and announced that social

engineering attack did breach their systems, did result in a database with user information being disclosed.

And ultimately that they paid a ransom. Ransomware was involved here. On the other side, we're continuing to get the details for the MGM Resorts

breach. Their systems are offline as they brought them down to defend against what's going on. And it's impacting customers in the hotels and

around the world as key cards for rooms aren't working, reservation sites are offline. And even to the extent that some of the slot machines are

getting almost handwritten notes for payouts.

What this is coming back to, the root cause is this continued rise in social engineering as a means of attack. And what's happened is that the

cybercriminal is an industry. They are a machine that is there for a profit. And they have optimized how to attack these corporations using both

advanced techniques and also relatively simple things that involve the human element.

And so, as we're seeing here in these attacks, the social engineering. What they're actually doing is the attacker groups are searching widely

available information that's on the web, like on LinkedIn. They're identifying employees that worked for the company, their names, previous

employment, maybe their location in the world. And they're using all that information then to call parts of the company such as the help desk and

say, hey, maybe, I'm on vacation, I need to urgently gets access. I don't have access. Help me reset my password.

And those types of attacks which we might have heard about for years are on the rise. And what happens after the attackers compromised these accounts

is they move laterally throughout the internal networks. They install software known as ransomware. And ultimately hold the company hostage

demanding payments in the millions of dollars.

ASHER: You know, I find the social engineering attacks that you just laid out particularly scary, because they're just so sophisticated. And I

consider myself to be somewhat savvy. I know most of the time not to click on certain things. But I have found myself come very, very close to

clicking on some of -- some of these links that I shouldn't be clicking on. Luckily, I never do. But I've found myself very close to in the past.

Just walk us through because you obviously heard of cybersecurity at Twitter. Are companies investing enough in having the right sort of

infrastructure to throw and defend themselves from these sorts of attacks?

COATES: I think unfortunately, as much as companies are trying, they are not investing enough. And they're not necessarily investing in the right

defenses as this attack evolves. The fact of the matter is, is that every day we are diligently at our jobs, you know, doing our work, responding to

emergencies in the day to day of business. And we do try our best, all of us to not click on that wrong link, to not answer that wrong phone call or

to interrogate who might be calling us.

But it only takes one slip up to make a mistake. And the problem is, is that as an industry, we're relying entirely on the humans who have so many

other things to be doing to be perfect 100 percent of the time. What we need to do is move to technology and defenses that takes the human out of

the loop or even if the human makes a mistake, they're not actually giving up, "the keys to the kingdom."

One example of this is we've continued to tell people use strong passwords, use random passwords you've heard again and again. But now we've been

saying for many years, use two factor and you get a code that gets texted to you or maybe it's on your phone. But unfortunately, the human is still

in the loop. And they might put the code in the wrong spot, which could be the phisher's Web site.

Some of the more advanced technology is taking the human out of the loop. Use a Fido defense key. F-I-D-O. It's one of those physical tokens where

you're actually clicking on that token. And that is taking the human out of the loop where the phishers try as they might cannot actually leverage that

information even if they fool you. That type of approach is what we need to be migrating to across the board for companies.

It varies in each situation. But we need to take the human out of the loop because the human will eventually fall no matter how good they try.

ASHER: It's only a matter of time. I mean, yes, your last line of defense cannot be an employee who is overworked and underpaid and, you know, you're

relying on just not to click on a link. You know, that's not going to end well. Sooner or later, they will click on that link. Michael Coates. We

have to leave it there. Thank you so much.

All right. Instacart could go public on the NASDAQ as soon as tomorrow with share -- shares priced between 28 and $30.00. The grocery app is set to

make its Wall Street debut following the successful IPO of the chip designer Arm. Arm shares pop 25 percent on their first day of trading.

They've come back to us but are still well above the initial price of $51.00. Instacart raised its own price target on the back of Arm's success.

It's still worth only a quarter of what it was valued at a couple of years ago.

[15:40:03]

Clare Duffy is in New York for us. So, here's the thing. When you think about Instacart during the pandemic, I mean, that was when Instacart's

business was -- I mean, I think that their business increased I think like 500 percent. Everybody, nobody was going to the grocery stores, right? So,

everybody relied on these sorts of grocery apps. That was then. That was three years ago. This is now. It's a very different financial climate that

they're going into. That they're going to be launching their IPO. And Clare, walk us through that.

CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: Yes, Zain. It is really interesting timing because you -- as you say, you know, so many fewer people are

relying on online grocery delivery. It's a much different time for this company. And I think you'll see that reflected in this $10 billion

valuation target. Again, lower than the peak of almost $40 billion valuation a few years ago. But what this company does have going for it now

is it so profitable.

Instacart in the first half of 2023 reported profit of $242 million. That's above a $74 million loss in the same time last year. And part of this is

because the company has started to lean into some different areas, including advertising. You see Instacart using all of that customer data

that it has from people ordering groceries and using that to offer advertising say to grocery stores.

And so, I think this is sort of an interesting transition as this IPO market starts to heat up again. We may start to see fewer of these tech

companies going public at sky high valuations while they're bleeding money in the days of a company like Uber, for example. Now, you might see

companies like Instacart starting to wait until they're actually profitable in order to take this move, Zain.

ASHER: Right. Clare Duffy, we have to leave it there. We are out of time. But thank you so much. And that is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. I'm going to be

back at the top of the hour as you make a dash for the closing bell. Up next is Living Golf.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:59:18]

ASHER: Hello. I'm Zain Asher. It is the dash to the closing bell and we are literally just one minute away. U.S. markets are set to finish flat. The

Dow has given up its gains on the day. There you see it. just in the green episode slightly but again it is pretty much flat as we await Fed meeting

on Wednesday. The SP 500 and the NASDAQ are a few points from where they started also flat as well.

Looking at Dow components. Apple is leading. Major banks say there's high demand for its new iPhone. Visa and travelers are both over a percent

higher. And a few held stocks in the green as well. Nike is down. Wells Fargo slashed its price target for the stock. It cited weak data in China

and Nikes lack of motivation. Amex is at the bottom.

[16:00:09]

ASHER: All right. That is your dash to the bell. I'm Zain Asher. The closing bell, there you hear it. It is ringing. "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper

starts right now.

END