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Quest Means Business

Suspect Arrested in UnitedHealthcare CEO Killing; Syrian Rebels Capture Prison Dubbed Human Slaughterhouse; Russia State Media: Assad Family Granted Asylum in Moscow; CNN Obtains Images Of Fake I.D., Gun Found On Suspect; Major Economic Challenges Await Syria's Next Leaders; Assad's Palace Ransacked, Videos Shows Luxurious Lifestyle. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired December 09, 2024 - 16:00   ET

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

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN BUSINESS HOST: Stocks are lower to start the week, the Dow closing lower about half a percent or 230 points as investors look

ahead to inflation data on Wednesday and of course, the next Federal Reserve meeting next week.

Those are the markets, and these are the main events.

Police arrest the suspect in the killing of the UnitedHealthcare CEO.

Syria enters a new era as rebel groups take power.

And China escalates the global chip war as it opens an antitrust investigation into NVIDIA.

Live from New York. It is Monday, December 9th. I am Rahel Solomon in today for Richard Quest, and this is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.

Good evening.

We want to begin with some breaking news this hour. The suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO, Brian Thompson is now in custody. Police

arrested 26-year-old Luigi Mangione in a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania on a gun charge. His capture came after an employee recognized

him from police images.

Now according to officials, Mangione had multiple fake IDs and an untraceable ghost gun on him. NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch spoke earlier

and gave more details on how police went about the days' long manhunt. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JESSICA TISCH, NYPD COMMISSIONER: For just over five days, our NYPD investigators combed through thousands of hours of video, followed up on

hundreds of tips and processed every bit of forensic evidence -- DNA, fingerprints, IP addresses, and so much more to tighten the net.

This combination of old school detective work and new age technology is what led to this result today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: I want to welcome into the conversation Charles Ramsey, who is a former Philadelphia Police Commissioner, among other roles, and a CNN

senior law enforcement analyst.

Commissioner, always good to have you.

First, let me just get your reaction to the news of his apprehension, but also what appears to be a lot of material that police also found on him.

CHARLES RAMSEY, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, first of all, this is a huge development in this case. And my hats off to the McDonald's

employee that called police to begin with. That just shows the value of putting as much information out as you can, photographs and so forth to

make people alert, to make them aware and even though it wasn't in New York, it was in Altoona, this individual was aware, saw someone who looked

suspicious and gave the call.

And this could be the very person, in fact, I believe it probably is that committed this horrendous crime. So yes, it is just good. Now they

recovered a lot of evidence. They got a gun, they got a suppressor, they have some document with some writings that really show some displeasure

toward corporate America, insurance industry in particular.

And of course, at the crime scene, they gathered an awful lot of forensic evidence. They got DNA, they got fingerprints, they got a lot of evidence

that now they can match against the suspect who is in custody.

And so I think they're going to have a pretty, pretty doggone tight case for this.

SOLOMON: And what do you make of that handwritten document? Does that give you any indication of whether he assumed that he might have been arrested

and he wanted to make sure that his motivations are clear? What do you make of that?

RAMSEY: Well, I mean, who knows? I mean, when you look at the Unabomber, I mean, you know the manifesto that he left behind, I mean, there is a way of

them expressing their own frustrations and so forth. I haven't read it, I haven't seen it. I don't know what's in it.

But the Chief of Detectives from New York mentioned that, you know, this is something that really did show that this person had a great deal of

hostility toward corporate America and the insurance industry in particular. I don't know what was on his mind, but to still be carrying a

gun and the silencer with him, for an example, and the fake IDs, I mean, you would think that that would be some of the first things you would get

rid of because he was clearly shedding evidence as he was going through.

He got rid of the backpack. They still haven't found the e-bike. We assume that he had tossed the gun somewhere, but apparently he still had it on

him. So you know who knows what's going through his mind. But that that is not -- it wasn't very smart to keep that on his person.

SOLOMON: As we learn more, Commissioner about this person, I am curious if there is even a profile for someone who is allegedly committing a crime

like this, but do you find anything that we have learned about him surprising, whether it be that he was valedictorian of his school?

I mean anything about his background that we've learned thus far come as a surprise to you?

RAMSEY: Well, I mean not so much. Again, I go back to the Unabomber, who was, you know, a genius in a lot of ways. And yet he was responsible for

all of those murders that took place.

And so that by itself is not a determining factor, but I'm sure that the behavioral science unit down at the FBI and Quantico will be taking a lot

of time with this individual to really do an in-depth psychological profile of this individual and that's really what is needed.

[16:05:11]

Everything at this point right now is just speculation. The good news is, he is in custody, and that's really what matters right now and they've got

to build the case because they still have a trial and hopefully this brings some level of relief to the family, although you can never replace someone

who you lose like this in such a horrific manner.

SOLOMON: Yes, and such a public manner as well. Charles Ramsey, appreciate your insights today. Thank you.

RAMSEY: Thank you.

SOLOMON: Now to our other major story.

Serious uncertain future after the fall of President Bashar al-Assad. The prime minister under Assad has agreed to hand over power to the rebels. The

ousted prime minister met with Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, that's the leader of the main rebel group, HTS. The rebels say that the meeting was to

coordinate the transfer of power. Now, HTS does not have full control of Syria, it split between multiple groups with different interests and we

don't know what Syria's next government will look like.

Foreign powers, meanwhile, are conducting military operations inside Syria. Israel says that it struck chemical weapons sites, while the US says that

it bombed dozens of ISIS targets.

Meanwhile, the rebels have captured a prison that Amnesty International dubs a human slaughterhouse.

CNN's Clarissa Ward reports on the desperate search for those trapped inside.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The stream of families never stops, climbing towards Syria's most notorious

Saydnaya Prison pushed on by reports that thousands of people imprisoned by the regime of Bashar al-Assad are still trapped alive in a section

underground.

(MAYSOON NABU speaking in foreign language.)

WARD: "The Red Section of the prison, they've been trying for days to reach it," Maysoon Nabu (ph) tells us. "There's no oxygen because the ventilation

went out. And so they all may die."

"For the sake of Allah, help them."

Is someone from your family in the prison?

(CLARISSA WARD speaking in foreign language.)

(MAYSOON NABU speaking in foreign language.)

WARD: "My three brothers and my son-in-law." She says.

The roads are choked with cars full of people looking for loved ones. As soon as they see our camera, they approach holding lists of names of those

who vanished inside Assad's dungeons, never to be seen again.

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE speaking in foreign language.)

WARD: "We have to get them out before tomorrow," this man says. "They don't have food. They don't have water."

WARD (on camera): Everybody has just started running. It is not clear if they have managed to get into this part of the prison.

(UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE speaking in foreign language.)

WARD (voice over): "My God, My God," the woman prays. "My God," as the crowd surges towards the prison.

WARD (on camera): So it looks like they think that they have managed to get access. A lot of celebratory gunfire. People now just flooding in.

WARD (voice over): After the initial jubilation, an agonizing wait for confirmation from the rescue workers. Many here have been waiting for

decades. Hope was something they didn't let themselves feel until now.

Rescue workers with Syria's White Helmets break through the concrete, looking for a way in. No one is certain where this Red Section is, or if it

even exists.

Inside the prison, family members are searching, too.

WARD (on camera): You can see people everywhere just combing through all the papers and records they can find, looking for names, seeing if maybe

their loved ones are there.

WARD (voice over): Tens of thousands of Syrians were forcibly disappeared in Saydnaya, lost in the abyss of a prison that was known as a

slaughterhouse, industrial scale, arbitrary detention and torture, all to keep one man in power.

WARD (on camera): They call this the white area of the prison because they say the conditions here are much better than in other areas, but you can

see its still miserable.

WARD (voice over): In the center of the prison, another frantic rush. Someone thinks they have found a tunnel. They desperately try to get a look

inside.

Others look on helpless, not knowing is agony.

Assad may be gone, but the legacy of his cruelty remains.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: And the US is warning that ISIS could take advantage of the instability in Syria. The US. says that it struck dozens of ISIS targets

there in an effort to prevent that. CNN spoke to White House official, John Kirby earlier and he says that The Pentagon believes that those strikes

were a success.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADM. JOHN KIRBY (RET), COORDINATOR FOR STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS AT THE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL: The pentagon is doing what they call a battle

damage assessment of that, John.

[16:10:01]

We don't have a firm indication of the assessment of each and every one of those strikes. They do believe, preliminarily, that there were very, very

successful in hitting legitimate ISIS targets and further degrading their capabilities.

We have kept the pressure up on ISIS. Now through the entire four years of this administration, through these kinds of strikes, we will continue to do

that as we see valid threats. So I am certainly not going to rule anything off the table in terms of additional strikes on ISIS.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: All right, let's get to Natasha Bertrand, who is live at the Pentagon.

Natasha, yesterday, Biden called the fall of the regime a moment of historic opportunity and a moment of risk. Does the US reaction in the last

24 hours give us any sense of whether it is more one or the other?

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: We don't know for sure just how the US is thinking about this, because I don't think they

know for sure just how things are going to play out with this rebel group.

You'll recall that HTS, it is a designated terrorist organization by the United States and so while the rebels appear to be saying all the right

things and the leader of that rebel group, al-Jolani appears to be saying all the right things, appealing, you know, to the group's kind of softer

elements here, the real test is going to be actually what they do as they govern, and whether there is going to be this peaceful transition, whether

or not there is going to be repression of minorities, whether there will be retribution against civilians.

Those are the things that the US is watching to see, and of course, one of the major aspects of this is what happens to those weapons caches that

Syria's Bashar al-Assad left behind, the chemical weapons stockpiles. Do the rebels take those and start to use them in very dangerous ways, or are

there going to be efforts to destroy those weapons stockpiles and hopefully transition Syria into a more peaceful future? That is something the US is

obviously concerned about and watching.

But as of right now you know, they're not overly concerned by what they have seen. They are optimistic for the most part. But again, how this plays

out is going to be very closely watched.

And the biggest question as well is what happens to the US forces that are in Syria? As of right now, it does not appear that they're going to be

pulled out because the US wants them to continue that anti-ISIS mission, wants to caution these terrorist groups against even thinking about trying

to reconstitute in a major way.

And so the US right now, staying put but, of course, if the rebels start to pose some kind of a threat to US forces, then that could change very

quickly -- Rahel.

SOLOMON: Natasha, Jake Sullivan also saying that the US will work with all groups, but there is a lot of competing interest. I mean, is that even

possible for the US?

BERTRAND: Yes, I mean, right now, obviously the US works very closely with the Kurdish-led Syrian democratic forces. That is who they have partnered

with the most on these anti-ISIS operations in Northwest Syria, in Northeastern Syria, excuse me, but at the same time, you know the Turks who

are obviously are a NATO ally, they oppose the SDF.

Meanwhile, the rebel groups, you know, it is unclear what kind of relationship they are going to have with the Kurds moving forward.

Previously, it had been very antagonistic.

So there are so many competing interests here and the challenge is going to be able to get them to work together peacefully, if that is even possible.

But the main goal of the US right now, and they are trying to partner with really whoever they can, is keeping ISIS and other extremist terrorist

organizations, including al-Qaeda from making a comeback.

SOLOMON: Natasha Bertrand, live for us there at the Pentagon. Natasha, thank you.

Britain's Foreign Secretary says that the West should be wary of Syria's main rebel group. The UK considers HTS a terrorist organization. Coming up,

I will speak to the former British Ambassador to Syria after this quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:16:23]

SOLOMON: Welcome back.

Israel's prime minister says that the fall of Bashar al-Assad opens a new chapter in the Middle East. Benjamin Netanyahu claimed partial credit,

saying that Israel's attacks on Hezbollah weakened Assad's hold on power.

He also insisted that Israel will maintain control of the Golan Heights, which were captured from Syria in 1967.

Jeremy Diamond visited the Golan Heights and has more on the reaction there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What you are hearing behind me are the chants of celebration of the Syrian Druze community here in the Golan

Heights, celebrating the fall of the Assad regime. You can see that people, young and old have come out here in the town of Majdal Shams to celebrate

the fall of the Assad regime.

Many people in this community have family inside of Syria as well. Some of whom have been political prisoners of the Assad regime. You can see here

this woman, Hawda al-Awda Tale (ph), her nephew, was imprisoned 14 years ago by the Assad regime. He was a political prisoner.

She and her family were told that he died in prison, but they don't know for sure and they are holding out hope that as these prisons are being --

political prisoners are being liberated that perhaps there is a chance that her nephew is still alive.

But without a doubt, as you can hear the chants here, this is certainly a moment of hope and optimism for the future that Syria could potentially

hold for the people in this community who are Syrian Druze, who have family inside of Syria and who are hopeful that perhaps this rebel victory can

result in a new Syria, a free Syria at that.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Majdal Shams, Golan Heights.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: And Bashar al-Assad and his family are now in Russia after being granted asylum in Moscow. The Kremlin remains silent on Assad's exact

whereabouts. A spokesperson says that right now, there are no meetings scheduled between Assad and Russian President Vladimir Putin, a longtime

staunch supporter of the regime.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen has more now from Moscow.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): The Russians admit that they were surprised by the events quickly unfolding

inside Syria. Spokesman for the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov saying he believes the whole world was surprised how quickly Bashar al-Assad was ousted from

power and forced to leave Syria and come here to Russia.

The Russians also saying that it was Vladimir Putin himself who signed on Bashar al-Assad and members of his family being able to come here and being

granted asylum inside Russia as the Russians say, for humanitarian reasons.

Now, of course, for the Russians, all of this could have very big repercussions. At the same time, the Russians do understand that there is a

new reality on the ground in Syria.

As of this morning, the flag of the Syrian opposition flies above the embassy here in Moscow and we asked here at the embassy and folks here told

us that the embassy is actually working as normally, even though the transition in Syria is already very much taking place.

For the Russians, however, they were one of the biggest backers of the Assad regime and of course, still have major military assets inside Syria

as well. They have an air base in Khmeimim close to Latakia, which is very important for them, not just for air operations in Syria, but also to

project power into the Mediterranean and even all the way into Africa, and of course, they have a major naval base in Tartus and just last week

conducted a big naval exercises, firing some high powered missiles from ships inside the Mediterranean Sea.

The Russians admitting that for them, it is unclear what the future of those military bases will be.

[16:20:09 ]

They say a lot of that depends on who will have power in Syria in the future. The Russians say that their forces inside Syria are on high alert,

but at the same time, also say that it is calm outside their bases.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: I want to welcome in now, Peter Ford, who is a former British ambassador to Syria. Ambassador, great to have you today. Thank you for

being here.

PETER FORD, FORMER BRITISH AMBASSADOR TO SYRIA: A pleasure.

SOLOMON: Youve called this moment a geopolitical earthquake. Talk to us about who the biggest losers are from your vantage point.

FORD: Well, the biggest losers are the Syrian people.

Your pictures showed apparent rejoicing in one area of Syria, but it is a pity those cameras were not in some other areas where there is weeping and

gnashing of teeth.

In the Christian areas, the Alawite areas, the Kurdish areas, among secular Sunnis, there is despair because they are now in the hands of ferocious

jihadi hard-core terrorists. Do not be deceived. The groups which have taken power in Damascus are ex, they say ex, but really, just yesterday

they were al-Qaeda. ISIS, they have been springing terrorists from the prisons.

You may have seen pictures of the prison doors being thrown open. They've released murderers, rapists, looters and ISIS terrorists. Just today, a

shame you didn't have cameras in the big Central Umayyad Mosque, you would have seen jihadis swearing to march on to Jerusalem.

No, do not be deceived by some of the rejoicing, the genuine rejoicing taking place among the cities. But they are only half of Syria. There is

another Syria, which is in despair.

SOLOMON: So, what does the US and what do western allies of the US now do? I mean, Biden has called this a historic opportunity. What now for them?

FORD: Well, the opportunity, the main advantage has already been pocketed. Assad has gone. The Russians are discomfited, the Iranians are discomfited.

The West should pocket those gains and do what they can now to protect the Syrian people from its new rulers and they should do that by not -- by not

rushing to normalize with these people.

These are jihadis. Their leader has a $10 million bounty on his head. The group he leads is on the US list of designated terrorist groups and the

United Nations list. You have to sop with these people with a very, very long spoon and must condition any the slightest step towards normalization

upon them first of all behaving gently with the minorities -- the Christians, the Druze, the Kurds, the Alawites, the Shia, the many, many

minorities in the mosaic of Syrian society.

And secondly, by walking back their threats to move on next to Beirut and Jerusalem.

SOLOMON: Al-Jolani for, for his part, has said that his views have moderated in the last 15 years or so, to that you say what, Ambassador?

FORD: Phooey. I say phooey. He is trying to pull the wool over our eyes because he is now desperate to get concessions from the West, especially

the lifting of sanctions. The sanctions that the West have applied to Syria over more than a decade have brought the country to its knees.

The country only has a couple of hours of electricity a day, and barely any fuel for generators. And this basically is why the Assad government fell.

The jihadi government will also fall when there is rapid disillusionment because it is not improving the economic situation.

[16:25:05]

So the West has an important lever on the jihadis here. They must transition to a genuinely civilian government and respect the safety of

minorities before there is any move at all towards lifting sanctions.

And we don't need these people now. They have achieved what the West wanted, getting rid of Assad, striking a blow at Iran, discomfiting the

Russians. We don't need these people, but we do need to protect the people inside Syria and stop any adventures across the Lebanese border or any talk

about attacking Jerusalem.

SOLOMON: Yes, you certainly think about the Syrian people who have clearly suffered so much.

Ambassador Peter Ford, we appreciate your time tonight. Thank you.

FORD: It's been a pleasure. Thank you.

SOLOMON: Okay, and when we come back, we are going to have more on the arrest of a 26-year-old suspect in the shooting of a health insurance

executive, including a report from the town where police found him.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOLOMON: Welcome back.

Returning to our top story, a suspect in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO, Brian Thompson is under arrest on gun charges. New York City Police

have identified the suspect now as 26-year-old, Luigi Mangione. He was taken into custody at a McDonald's restaurant in Altoona, Pennsylvania,

which is roughly four hours away from New York City.

Law enforcement officials say that a McDonald's worker recognized him from pictures like these. Now police found multiple fake IDs on the suspect, and

CNN obtained the image of one of them.

So you can see in this picture what appears to be a New Jersey driver's license and it does appear to have Mangione's picture on it, but the name

printed is Mark Rosario.

Police also found a firearm when they searched the suspect. We have obtained this photo of it. Now during a press conference, the NYPD said

that the gun was a ghost gun that had the capability of firing a nine- millimeter round, and it may have been 3D printed.

Let's go now to Altoona, Pennsylvania where Danny Freeman is. Danny, you are at that McDonald's. Take us through how it all happened.

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Rahela, I'll just start here that one of the things that's striking about arriving here in Altoona,

which I did just a little while ago, is not only is this literally very far from midtown Manhattan, but it really just feels far from where that crime

occurred in New York City just six days ago. Like you said, we're now tuna Pennsylvania at this McDonald's where Luigi Mangione was apprehended

earlier this morning.

This is a pretty rural part of Pennsylvania, which you know, well, I know we're in between, really western and central Pennsylvania, in between

Pittsburgh and Harrisburg. As of this moment, we don't know of any connection that Mangione would have had to this specific area, or really,

to Pennsylvania, despite he went to college here a couple of years back. But nevertheless, again, this is McDonald's where he was apprehended

earlier this morning.

So, we learned from the Altoona Police Department that around 9:14 this morning, they got a phone call from an employee here at this McDonald's

that someone inside of the restaurant matched the description of the United Healthcare CEO murder suspect. At that point, Altoona police, they arrived

here on the scene, and they found Mangione who was just sitting here and eating.

That was according to the New York Police Department. They spoke with him at the restaurant here. They ultimately apprehended him on unrelated

charges, but ultimately, they found in his bag around his person a ghost gun, a suppressor or a silencers, like you noted, Rahel, because you just

showed the picture of that gun. They also found a number of fake I.D.'s, and of course, this manifesto that we've heard from so much about from CNN

John Miller and others as well.

Now importantly, Rahel, like I said, he was arrested here on other unrelated gun charges, not for the ultimate murder yet, of Brian Thompson,

UnitedHealthcare CEO. And that's important, because right now he's being held by Altoona police and New York Police Department detectives have

actually just in the past hour or so arrived here on the ground in Pennsylvania. They're going to then take a shot at interviewing him,

crossing their T's and dotting their I's before they hope that New York officials, the New York D.A.'s office comes with a -- an arrest warrant and

a process then can begin to potentially extradite this suspect from Pennsylvania to New York.

But again, we still have a number of questions. Like I said, why, predominantly, was he ultimately here in Altoona. And also, and this has

been spoken about a lot over the past couple of hours, why when he was caught here, five hours away from New York City, did he still have so much

evidence on his person for police to find? Is it because he was not anticipating being caught or maybe he was anticipating being caught whether

here or somewhere else down the line?

So that's the latest here. Again, an incredible story, all resulting in the end of this manhunt. Thanks to a McDonald's employee who made a phone call

right behind me. Rahel?

SOLOMON: Yes. Very observant McDonald's employee. Danny, talk to us about - - I mean, clearly multiple law enforcement groups were involved in this. Talk to us about the collective effort that went into finding the suspect.

FREEMAN: Listen, Rahel, this has been a multi-day, multi-law enforcement process. Of course, it started predominantly in New York City. We -- but

that has gone on for a number of days. We reported that law enforcement officials from New York went down to Atlanta because at one point, there

was this question of if he arrived, the suspect arrived on a bus from Atlanta to New York City ahead of this shooting and killing of this health

care CEO.

Then there were also divers as early as the past 48 hours in Central Park looking for other evidence items in there. We heard from the NYPD in a

press conference earlier that there were federal, state, local law enforcement partners all out there searching for this suspect. And again,

what's amazing is that it wasn't Pennsylvania State Police. It wasn't the FBI, it was the Altoona Police Department in this small city in rural

Pennsylvania who ultimately apprehended this suspect.

This person of interest that New York City officials seem pretty clear is the person they've been looking for the better part of a week, Rahel.

SOLOMON: You know, Danny, it's such an interesting point you made at the top there, that Altoona is not only pretty far from midtown Manhattan, but

it's a pretty rural, small city, as you said, between central and western Pennsylvania, which really makes you wonder why Altoona? Danny Freeman,

we'll let you go. Great to see you, though. Thank you.

All right. Serious next generation of leaders will inherit an economy in shambles. Coming up, we're going to discuss challenges that while on the

other side of the celebration.

[16:35:01]

We'll be right

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOLOMON: Welcome back. Now, back to Syria, and whomever takes control in Syria will face a monumental task of rebuilding its economy. U.N. officials

estimate that nine out of 10 Syrians are living in poverty. Its economy has shrank by 85 percent since civil war broke out more than a decade ago.

And millions have fled the country, which has also endured shocks like last year's devastating earthquake. I want to welcome to the conversation,

Khalid Al Terkawi, who is an economic consultant at the Jusoor Studies Center. And he joins me from France. Khalid, great to have you today. We

appreciate your insights. We just sort of laid out some of the really stark stats in terms of Syria's economy. What needs to happen now in terms of

rebuilding?

KHALID AL TERKAWI, ECONOMIC CONSULTANT, JUSOOR STUDIES CENTER: Thanks for having me, first of all. And I think we have three stages, three levels for

the Syrian economy. The first one is the next day of the revolution on the next few days and weeks, I mean, will be focused on the surface, mean

surfaces. We are talking about the bread production. We are talking about the providing with the heat -- with the fuel of heating and with the fuel

for cooking, with the fuel for electricity.

The country is damaged. The infrastructure for everything is not working as well as good. So, the next few days will focus on the main surfaces, and

after that we are talking about months, weeks to months. We are talking maybe three months. This stage will focus on the small businesses. The name

of the game in in Syria. We have more than one million small business in Syria.

So, if we can empowerment these businesses, we can -- we can make a good push for the Syrian economy.

[16:40:03]

In addition to that, we have to help the vulnerable groups, like the detainees, like the women, without any person for making money to realize

it them from the past, providing support to them to build their small businesses, to engage this business and production. The next three years,

I'm talking about the third stage. We expected that the focus will be on the reconstruction.

Reconstruction for the infrastructure that destroyed by the war, and also exactly the -- I'm talking about, the school, hospitals and everything in

the city and village which damaged. So, this is my opinion for the next year.

SOLOMON: But where do you see the greatest source of funding coming from, realistically, whether it's wealthy Syrian expats? I mean, where do you see

the most optimism, at least in the short term?

TERKAWI: It's very good question because the -- as you mentioned before, the poverty rate is about 80 percent of the population. And also, the

resources, the foreign reserve has been depleted. It being finished. So, we are talking about now for very poor resources for the person who are in the

authority. So, the next days -- the next three or four days from the -- from now, we are talking about the civilian society organization and NGOs

and everybody can help us to push or to provide the people with the services.

But after that, we can manage with everything with the -- with many of resources, like the gas, like the airport resources we have at Syria. We

have many, many places we can take or generate resources from it. Like also, we have more than six million person in -- out of Syria, and they are

sending money now for the people. We are talking about a big or huge amount of dollars and Euro every month for it.

So, it will be good for the people but for the government will be -- in the authority, in the next month, maybe it will be very difficult mission for

making a revenue. We are without any balance for the next year. We don't have any budget also for the next year. And as you know, the only -- the

main, the main resources for the Syrian economy is not with the authority of the Damascus now. It's out of them, so it will be a very bad situation.

SOLOMON: Yes, it is certainly a tenuous time. Celebrations aside, at least economically for the country. Khalid Al Terkawi, great to have you today.

Thank you.

And while everyday Syrians lived in poverty, their leader surrounded himself in luxury, looters ransacked the homes of Bashar al-Assad after he

fled the country, Salma Abdelaziz shows us what they found.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You are looking at the extravagant car collection of the now deposed President Bashar al-Assad. A

red Ferrari, a 50 worth at least $3 million, a Lamborghini, a Rolls Royce, a Bentley, among 40 luxury vehicles stored in this warehouse in western

Damascus. Proving to Syrians, but they already believed to be true that while Assad bombed and brutalized his people, his family reveled in vast

wealth.

Inside the presidential palace, more signs of luxury. A massive kitchen equipped with an industrial freezer, a pizza oven and piles of food in a

country where moose go hungry every day.

The woman behind the camera reads from what appears to be a draft menu for the former First Lady. The Madam's food, she says, she hates spinach.

Tomorrow we will make her salmon or Latakia fish.

Vogue Magazine infamously dubbed Asmal Assad a rose in the desert. Mere months before her husband used brute and barbaric force to crush a revolt

against his dictatorship.

[16:45:04]

But as rebels swiftly advanced on the capital, the Assads were finally dislodged fleeing to Moscow where they received asylum. Overjoyed Syrians

celebrated in the streets and ransacked the regime's residences and offices, taking chairs, plates, clothes, whatever they could carry. Is this

stealing? One person jokes. No, no, no, it's not another laughs.

Syrians have long accused the generational autocracy of pocketing hundreds of millions from the state. Festering corruption was one of the key

grievances of the 2011 uprising. The Assad family is estimated to be worth one to $2 billion. Epic wealth maintained and cultivated while the regime

killed, maimed, disappeared and displaced millions. Syrians were plunged into a living nightmare. Some 90 percent of the population lives in

poverty, according to the U.N.

I came to see what Assad forbade us from seeing, this woman says. We were only allowed to know poverty, deprivation and suffering. Now clear for all

to see, the grandiosity of the Presidential Palace, the callousness of his reign and the joy that Assad is finally gone.

Salma Abdelaziz, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: All right. And coming up for ups. Rupert Murdoch has reportedly lost his appeal to put his favorite son in charge of his media empire. And

have more on that story coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOLOMON: Welcome back. China is launching an antitrust investigation against the U.S. chipmaker Nvidia. It's the latest chapter in the tit for

tat tech war between the U.S. and China. Nvidia shares close lower, more than two percent, about 2.5 percent or trade shares trading at 138 a share.

On the news, China's state-run media says that investigators are looking into Nvidia's purchase of an Israeli networking company. Report did not

specify how the merger might violate Chinese law.

Let's bring in Clare Duffy who is in New York. So, Clare, how significant is this for Nvidia?

CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: Yes. Rahel, I mean, I think we can look at this as a much bigger sort of hit on the U.S. government in this bigger

trade war than something that's going to have real long-term implications for Nvidia. The Chinese government approved this acquisition of Mellanox

back in 2020. We haven't heard what they think could have potentially violated the law as part of this merger.

[16:50:07]

And more broadly, China is a big and important market for Nvidia, but the company has already been restricted in terms of its ability to sell its

most advanced A.I. chips there. And as the company has grown in the past few years, we've seen the share that China contributes to its total sales

shrinking. So, you know, while this is not great for the company, I do think this is a company that is growing like gangbusters overall.

And so, I don't expect this will have a really significant long-term impact for Nvidia.

SOLOMON: What about how this fits into the broader context of the competition between China and the U.S. over advanced ships?

DUFFY: Yes. I think that's really the way to look at this move. We've seen the Biden administration and the Chinese government, as you said, trade

these sort of tit for tat actions in this escalating trade war. Just last week, the Biden administration implemented its third restrictions on these

chip sales related to these high-tech memory chips. The U.S. government is concerned that China could use advanced A.I. to get ahead militarily.

So, it's trying to get ahead of that and the Chinese government is fighting back again. Last week, we saw the Chinese government restricting some sales

of chip making materials to the U.S. at a time when we know the U.S. is trying to boost chip manufacturing. So, it makes sense that China would go

after Nvidia. This is kind of the Golden Child of the U.S. tech industry at this point.

And we'll see how this progresses, if it escalates. But China also needs Nvidia. Like the rest of the world, Nvidia is so far ahead of competitors.

While it can't sell its most advanced A.I. chips to China, it does sell an approved version, and you have to imagine that China isn't going to want to

lose that opportunity to continue to buy this technology.

SOLOMON: Yes, it's an interesting point. All right. Clare Duffy, live for us in New York. Clare, thank you.

And the New York Times is reporting that Rupert Murdoch has lost his bid to alter his family trust. He was looking to give his son Laughlin full

control over his media assets, which includes Fox News. The current trust divides control of Murdoch companies equally between his four oldest

children. But Nevada Commissioner Edmund Gorman ruled that. Ruled against Murdoch, saying that he and his son acted in bad faith.

Let's bring in Hadas Gold. Hadas, it was a pretty scathing ruling. What does this mean for Rupert Murdoch's plans to concentrate control of his

companies in the hands of Lachlan?

HADAS GOLD, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, it means that the future of Fox News and of Rupert Murdoch's companies in their directions is still

potentially up in the air. But this is not the end of the road for Rupert Murdoch and for Lackland Murdoch and things can still change. And their

lawyers have indicated to the New York Times they do plan to appeal this ruling.

Now, this battle was taking place in Nevada over the what's called irrevocable family trust that Rupert Murdoch had put into place years ago

that, as you noted, divided up equal shares of votes to his four eldest children. But sometime in the last year or two years or so, Rupert Murdoch

sought to change the terms of that trust and concentrate power in the hands of Lachlan Murdoch who is his chosen successor to run these companies.

Now, according to The New York Times, this is because he believed that Lachlan Murdoch will continue with the political bent of his companies,

that conservative bent of outlets like Fox News, saying that this is in the best financial interest for the company. Now, the other three children, we

know that at least two of them do not necessarily share the same political views as Rupert Murdoch and Lachlan.

And so essentially, the argument being that they could hurt the financial interest of the company if they had power voting shares power, and would

change the direction of the company. And so, when they tried to change this air biblical family trust, which Rupert Murdoch could do if it was in the

financial interest of all the heirs, the three other children, objected in court, and that's when they found themselves behind closed doors.

This was a sealed proceedings in the Nevada courtroom just a few months ago, arguing this out in court. As you noted, the Commissioner issued a

very scathing denial of this attempt to change the irrevocable family trust. I'll read you some of these quotes. This is according to The New

York Times, they're stunning. He says "he called it a carefully crafted charade to permanently cement Lachlan Murdoch's executive roles, regardless

of the impact such controls would have over the companies or the beneficiaries of the family trust."

He also went after Lachlan and his rep -- Lachlan's representative saying that they demonstrated a dishonesty of purpose and motive in abetting their

plan. And there's even a more sort of fun bit in this. If you're a fan of the show succession, which is, of course, based partly on the Murdoch

family, that -- it was a sort of a situation of potentially art -- of art influencing reality because, according to The New York Times, The Murdoch

children had started secretly discussing the P.R. plans around the eventual death of their father.

And what set off these discussions was actually an episode of succession where that happened and the company was thrown into chaos because of the

patriarch's death, and it was essentially, really a succession memo. Now, again, this has all been done in secret, behind closed doors. CNN is part

of a group of media companies that have petitioned the court. They've issued a lawsuit to try and open up these proceedings because of the public

interest, but this is again not the end of the road.

[16:55:07]

Rupert Murdoch's attorney has indicated to the New York Times that they do plan to appeal the swing so that could all change on further appeals. But

for right now, what we know is that the commissioner has denied Rupert Murdoch and Lachlan Murdoch's attempt to change his irrevocable family

trust. That means that the current family trust stays in place, and that means that if Rupert Murdoch were to pass away tomorrow, then his four

elder (INAUDIBLE) would get those equal votes and power of the company.

SOLOMON: Yes, it does feel like, Hadas, sometimes when you're -- when you're following these stories, is it succession, sort of imitating life or

is it life imitating succession for those of us who have watched it?

Last question, you know, I think for those who may be Fox viewers, the idea of Fox not being right leaning is perhaps a surprise. I mean, any

indication, actually -- I'm hearing that we are out of time. Hadas Gold, lots of interest in this.

GOLD: I just got a comment. I just got a comment right now from representatives for the three children. They say we welcome Commissioner

Gorman's decision and hope that we can move beyond this litigation to focus on strengthening and rebuilding relationships among all family members.

That just came in just this very second.

SOLOMON: Hadas Gold, appreciate you. Thank you. We're going to take a quick break and we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOLOMON: Welcome back. U.S. stocks pulled back to start the week. The Dow Jones continued its losing streak, closing off about half a percent or 240

points. The S5&P 100 and NASDAQ also retreating from last week's record highs, both off about six-tenths of a percent. Rivian Shares meantime,

well, they soared. That was on the back of an analyst upgrade closing more than 11 percent higher.

The analysts who initiated the buy rating said that. Rivian in is well positioned to gain a significant share of the growing E.V. market over the

next decade. That's it for today. That is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. I'm Rahel Solomon. Great to be with you.

"THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper start right now.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper. We're going to start this hour with the breaking news. CNN's has just obtained a

photograph of the gun found on the suspect in the shooting of the CEO of United Healthcare. Take a look at this new photo obtained by CNN's John

Miller. It's the weapon recovered by police earlier today when they detained 26-year-old Luigi Mangione.

New York police officials say this is a ghost gun, meaning a handmade weapon that could have been 3D printed.

[17:00:06]

It's not the only potential evidence police said they found in Mangione today --

END