CONNELL: WE SAW TOUGH
QUESTIONING TODAY FOR TIM COOK,
THE CEO OF APPLE, WHO WAS TAKING
QUESTIONS FROM INVESTORS ABOUT
PRIVACY AND ALSO ABOUT POLITICS
AT THE ANNUAL SHAREHOLDERS
MEETING OUT WEST.
TO FOX BUSINESS NETWORK SUSAN LI
THERE IN CUPERTINO.
WE'RE ALSO JOINED BY DAVID
McCABE, COVERS TECHNOLOGY FOR
"AXIOS."
IT IS ALWAYS INTERESTING, SUSAN,
I WILL START WITH YOU ON THIS,
TO SEE IN YOUR REPORTING FROM
THE SCENE THERE THAT, YOU KNOW,
POLITICS AND SOME OF THE ISSUES
WE TALKED ABOUT A LOT CAME UP AT
THE MEETING IN REGARDS TO HOW
MUCH DIVERSITY IN TERMS OF
IDEOLOGY ON THE APPLE BOARD OF
DIRECTORS.
TELL US HOW IT ALL HAPPENED.
>> IT WAS A 100 MINUTE
PRESENTATION, Q&A WITH TIM COOK
AS WELL AND THERE WERE A LOT OF
PROPOSALS ON THE TABLE.
THAT INCLUDE APPROVING THE BOARD
AT APPLE, ALSO THE EXECUTIVE
COMPENSATION.
TWO SHAREHOLDER PROPOSALS.
ONE OF THEM VERY CONTROVERSIAL.
IT WAS PART OF IDEALOGICAL
DIVERSITY THAT CONSERVATIVE
SHAREHOLDER ACTIVISM GROUP
BROUGHT UP TO THE TABLE TO
APPLE.
WHAT THEY WANTED TO DO WAS TO
HAVE ALL THE BOARD MEMBERS
EXPRESS THEIR POLITICAL
LEANINGS.
NOT SURPRISINGLY OVERWHELMINGLY
THIS WAS REJECTED BY THE VOTES,
BY SHAREHOLDERS BUT IT LED INTO
A VERY LONG DISCUSSION, IN FACT
PROBABLY TOOK UP MOST OF THAT
100 MINUTES THAT PRESENTATION,
AND PEOPLE WERE JUST ASKING HIM
COOK, ONCE AGAIN, WHERE DO YOU
STAND IN TERMS OF HEARING
DIFFERENT VIEWS IN SILICON
VALLEY?
TIM COOK SAYS WE ARE NOT FOR A
POLARIZED WORLD AND WE WANT TO
HEAR DIVESTTY.
CONNELL: INTERESTING, DAVID, IT
CAME UP AT APPLE'S SHAREHOLDER
MEETING.
AL GORE IS ON THE BOARD.
REASONS YOU COULD TALK ABOUT IT
AT APPLE THIS ISSUE, WE HEARD IT
FROM CONSERVATIVES CLAIMING THEY
ARE CENSORED, WHATEVER THE CASE
MAY BE, APPLIES TO COMPANIES
MORE LIKE A FACEBOOK OR
ESPECIALLY TWITTER.
YOU HEAR A LOT ABOUT THAT.
>> THAT IS ABSOLUTELY RIGHT.
THE PEOPLE WHO BORE THE BRUNT I
WOULD SAY AT THIS POINT A
CONCERTED PRESSURE CAMPAIGN FROM
THE RIGHT AGAINST THESE
COMPANIES HAVE BEEN INTERNET
COMPANIES SEEN AS VEHICLES FOR
SPEECH ONE WAY OR THE OTHER.
THE CLAIM OF COURSE, AS YOU SAID
PEOPLE ARE BEING CENSORED.
THIS SHOWS THERE ARE BROADER
APPREHENSIONS ON THE RIGHT OR
FEELING THEY CAN PREY ON BROADER
APPREHENSIONS.
PEOPLE THAT MAKE THE PRODUCTS,
THE TECH PRODUCTS THAT
TRANSFORMED OUR LIVES.
THEY CAN ATTACK THE COMPANIES
BEING TOO LIBERAL.
ONE THING CAME UP IN THE MEETING
DONATION APPLE MADE TO THE
SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER
WHICH CONSERVATIVES HAVE OFTEN
CRITICIZED THIS IS CIVIL RIGHTS
FOCUSED GROUP.
YOU KNOW, AS COMPANIES DO
EXPRESS THEIR VALUES IN CERTAIN
WAYS, CLEARLY THE RIGHT TAKEN AN
OPPORTUNITY TO ATTACK BUT I
THINK THE RESOUNDING DEFEAT OF
THIS PROPOSAL SUGGESTS THAT IN
TERMS OF SHAREHOLDERS, THEY'RE
LOOKING MORE BOTTOM LINE THAN
POLITICS.
CONNELL: THAT IS THE INTERESTING
THING, SUSAN.
YOU SAID IT WASN'T EVEN CLOSE TO
BEING APPROVED.
98%?
>> 98% REJECTED THIS SHAREHOLDER
PROPOSAL BUT THEN AN INTERESTING
QUESTION CAME IN THE Q&A TO
TIM COOK, A WOMAN STOOD UP, I
HAVE A FRIEND THAT WORKS AT
APPLE.
HE FEELS BECAUSE HE HAS A
CONSERVATIVE, HE IS A
CONSERVATIVE, HE DOESN'T FEEL
LIKE HE HAS THE RIGHT OR
ACCEPTANCE TO VOICE HIS OPINION.
WHAT SHOULD HE DO?
TIM COOK SAID ASK HIM TO COME TO
ME, TALK TO ME ABOUT THIS HE
TALKED ABOUT DONATIONS AS WELL.
WE'RE NOT A POLITICAL COMPANY.
WE DON'T HAVE A PAC.
WE HAVEN'T DONATED ONE PENNY TO
ANY POLITICAL CAMPAIGN.
CONNELL: DAVID, FINAL POINT, THE
ISSUE, WE HEARD ABOUT IT IN THE
PAST, DO YOU THINK THIS ISSUE
COMPANIES WILL HAVE TO DEAL WITH
MORE AND MORE IN A MORE
PROACTIVE FASHION THAN THEY
HAVE?
>> I'LL BE HONEST.
I'M COVERING POLITICS AND
TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES FOR A LONG
TIME.
THESE SORT OF CYCLES HAPPEN
EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE.
WE SAW IT WITH FACEBOOK YEARS
AGO AND WE'RE SEEING IT WITH
FACEBOOK NOW.
THE INTERNET COMPANIES HAVE
TAKEN STEPS TO BUILD
RELATIONSHIPS ON THE RIGHT.
IT DOESN'T ALWAYS DIFFUSE THE
TENSIONS.
THE COMPLAINTS KEEP COMING.
AT SOME POINT THESE COMPANIES