In Queens, NY, there's a small conference room that boasts a trophy wall like no other.
It's crammed, end-to-end, with some of the most recognizable trophies in the world -- MTV's Moon Man, a Golden Globe and an Emmy, a Country Music Award, a People's Choice Award, even a trophy from The Voice.
That wall belongs to Society Awards, a small business founded by David Moritz that actually makes all of these awards, and many, many more.
In nine years Moritz, 35, has cornered the market for designing the entertainment industry's top awards.
Recently, his firm made the BET award given to actor Jesse Williams and the trophy Beyonce got from the Council of Fashion Designers of America for being the 2016 Fashion Icon.
In all, Society Awards manufactures trophies for nearly 100 different award shows.
"It's always exciting and an honor to see any of our products on TV," said Moritz. "All our teammates and our families get an extra kick out of award shows with a Society Awards product."
The company generates $5.5 million in annual revenue and has been profitable since its first year. It's one of a trio of startups that Moritz now runs -- he subsequently launched design firm Viceroy Creative and a high-end liquor brand called Ambition Beverages.
The three businesses, which are located in New York and Oklahoma, employ 38 people, many of whom work across the brands.
Related: Britney Spears to perform at MTV VMAs
A decade ago, Moritz had a different vision for himself.
"I thought I was going to be a lawyer," he said. Public service was in his DNA -- his father was an undercover cop and his mother was involved in social work.
Life took an unexpected turn when the 14-year-old relocated from New Jersey to Oklahoma.
"It was a culture shock," he said. "I went through a period of mild depression."
He coasted academically but became somewhat of a rebel. "When I couldn't find a parking spot, I'd pull up my car on the sidewalk and park in front of the school door," he said.
In 1999, Moritz went to NYU and got his first taste of entrepreneurship.
"Some of my friends and I rented out clubs and threw parties and events for the college crowd," he said. Soon he was pocketing $1,500 to $2,000 a week.
He graduated from law school and worked as an entertainment lawyer for two years.
The idea for Society Awards happened almost incidentally. Scrambling for a business idea, Moritz accompanied a friend to a trade show that included award vendors.
"I wasn't impressed with what I saw," he said. "You'd think these beautiful trophies given to celebrities were made by fancy companies. They're made by small manufacturers."
Moritz saw his opening.
"I wanted to reimagine the awards to be mysterious, beautiful and sexy, like high-end jewelry," he said.
It helped that he had a knack for design. Moritz was keen to improve upon the current trophy designs, by using different manufacturing techniques and in some cases even hand-finishing the awards. To complete the luxury feel, Moritz created custom packaging for each trophy.
Today, many of the trophies are made in China and the U.S., but some finishing touches take place in the company's facility in Oklahoma.
Moritz is hungry to keep going. "There are so many industry awards we're still not involved with," he said.
The top of his list? The Oscars and Grammys.

David Moritz is the man behind MTV's Moon Man statue


David Moritz has cornered the market for the entertainment awards. His company Society Awards makes the Moon Man for MTV's VMAs -- along with nearly 100 others.


Investors are drooling over Jimmy Choo shares after the company said sales of men's shoes are spiking and its business in China is booming.
The luxury shoe brand is hugely popular among female fashionistas, and a pair of stilettos can easily sell for over $1,000.
But it's gaining a big following among men too. Nearly half of its stores now sell men's shoes, and they account for 8% of global sales, making it the fastest growing area of its business.
Chinese consumers are also tripping over themselves to buy some Choos, even as some other luxury retailers struggle in the country.
Jimmy Choo sales in Asia (excluding Japan) in the first half of 2016 are up 22% compared to last year. Some of that comes from new store openings but there's organic growth too.
David Roth, a retail marketing expert at WPP, said niche brands like Jimmy Choo have an edge in the tricky Chinese market.
"The ubiquity of the most successful luxury brands in China is causing cutting-edge younger Chinese consumers to look at different luxury and status brands than they have in the past," he told CNNMoney.
Related: Tiffany sales plunge as tourists rein in spending
The company, which was founded in 1996 by designer Jimmy Choo and former Vogue accessories editor Tamara Mellon, is celebrating its 20th birthday this year.
Chairman Peter Harf stated: "The prospects for the business in its 20th year have never looked better."
The London fashion firm is even getting a boost from Brexit. The company has benefited from the sharp fall in the British currency, which makes global sales more valuable when converted into pounds.
Related: $1.3 trillion at stake in Brexit breakup
Jimmy Choo first listed on the London Stock Exchange in October 2014. Its shares surged in the first few weeks but have tanked since, losing half their value and hitting a record low in June.
But the positive earnings news sent the stock up about 6% on Thursday.
The company gained international fame from its prominence in films and TV shows, including "Sex and the City" and "The Devil Wears Prada."
Jimmy Choo accessories are also frequently flaunted by Hollywood stars and royalty, including Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge.

Jimmy Choo's stock is spiking. Here's why


Jimmy Choo stock is surging after the company revealed it's seeing spiking sales of men's products and booming business in China.


Nearly 10,000 workers are suing Chipotle for allegedly cheating them on their pay.
Current and former Chipotle (CMG) employees claim that the company made them work extra hours "off the clock" without paying them. It's a practice known as wage theft, and Chipotle is allegedly doing it all over the United States.
"Chipotle routinely requires hourly-paid restaurant employees to punch out, and then continue working until they are given permission to leave," according to the class action lawsuit known as Turner v. Chipotle. It's named after a former Chipotle manager in Colorado, Leah Turner, who claims she had to work without pay and was told to make workers under her do the same in order to meet budget goals.
Chipotle denies any wrongdoing and says the case has no merit. The company says it has paid all wages it owes employees.
Briana Alexander is one of the nearly 10,000 workers who have joined the lawsuit. She worked at a Chipotle in Miami, Florida for about a year, starting in the fall of 2013.
"Behind the scenes, [Chipotle] is not always what it seems," Alexander told CNNMoney. "I can say I have worked off the clock."
Alexander says she was forced to stay late numerous times at her store. If the workers weren't done by midnight or 12:30am, they were clocked out but told to keep working until the job was finished, even though they were no longer getting paid. Alexander also claims she worked 12-hour shifts on some days, but was clocked out after her shift time ended even though she actually continued to work on busy days.
Related: I'm 35 and living with my mom again to get by
Why this lawsuit is different
Chipotle has faced similar lawsuits before, but this is the first time there has been such a large class action case against the company for wage theft. As of Friday, 9,961 current and former workers have sent in consent forms to join the lawsuit.
They come from about every state that Chipotle operates in, according to lawyer Kent Williams of Williams Law Firm, who is representing the employees in Turner v. Chipotle.
"Chipotle has argued this is a few rogue managers who aren't following policy. Our view, especially given the number of people opting in, is that it's a systematic problem at Chipotle," says Williams.
Related: Chipotle under fire for illegal workplace policies
Problems this summer at Chipotle
Felipe Ricardo believes Chipotle continues to skimp employees on wages. He worked at a Chipotle in Danbury, Connecticut in the summer of 2016.
"I only worked nights because I have a full-time job during the day," Ricardo told CNNMoney. "Normally the schedule says you end at 11:30pm, but it's almost impossible to get out at 11:30pm."
He remembers working until 1 am one time. He told the manager to make sure his hours were adjusted to reflect the extra time. He recalls her saying, "Don't worry about it." But when he got his paycheck, the hours weren't adjusted. He complained, and isn't sure if the hours were ever changed. Working two jobs didn't leave him with a lot of time to scrutinize his hours, he says.
Ricardo has not joined the lawsuit. The 23-year-old has since left Chipotle to go back to school.
All hourly employees who worked at Chipotle from February 2012 onward were mailed a card in April asking if they wanted to join the class action case. Workers had to respond by July.
Related: As wages rise, CEOs are starting to complain
Problems at closing time
CNNMoney has also heard from dozens of Chipotle workers who claim to have personally experienced wage theft at their restaurants or seen it happen to others. Some say they were not paid for five or more hours a week.
The main complaints center around what happens at closing time. Workers are supposed to end their shifts between 11pm and midnight at many restaurants, but workers tell CNNMoney that they almost never leave on time.
Chipotle's system automatically clocks workers out by 12:30am in most places, but workers say they are often asked to stay longer to finish cleaning and preparing for the next day. Managers are supposed to adjust the hours, but workers allege that doesn't always happen.
Chipotle is trying to regain customers since an outbreak of foodborne illnesses (including E. coli and norovirus) made customers in several states sick last year.
Customers have placed "an extraordinary level of trust in us and have come to know that we will do the right thing when it comes to our food, our employees and our approach to running a business," said Steve Ells, Chipotle's founder and CEO, on the company's earnings call in late July.
Chipotle is expected to continue fighting the case.

Nearly 10,000 workers sue Chipotle for unpaid wages


Nearly 10,000 current and former Chipotle workers have joined a class action lawsuit alleging the company forced them to work 'off the clock' without pay.


It's easy to take the modern laptop for granted. Hundreds of millions sell every year. The most affordable models are even less expensive than high-end smartphones. It's near impossible to walk into a coffee shop, workplace or college lecture hall without seeing a laptop.
Yet a generation ago, a computer that opened up to reveal a keyboard and screen was a radical and tremendously expensive idea.
In 1982, British engineer John Ellenby made waves when his company, Grid Systems, released the Compass, a clamshell-like computer. Ellenby died August 17 at the age of 75, according to his son Thomas, who spoke with CNNMoney. The New York Times first reported Ellenby's passing.
Today, the Compass's appearance generates snickers. It was heavy enough to be curled like a dumbbell. It had a foldout leg that propped up the back of the machine and helped prevent it from overheating. The Compass's screen resembled a blurry postage stamp. It cost a fortune -- $8,150 -- which is $20,324 in today's dollars.
Related: Clamshell! The story of the best computing form factor ever
While too expensive for the average person, it was popular with government agencies such as NASA.
Ellenby was ahead of his time. In the early '80s, desktop computers were only just starting to appear, but Ellenby was already on to the next trend. Steve Jobs didn't first unveil Apple's Macintosh -- the block-like desktop computer -- until two years after the Compass first arrived.
And it wasn't until May 2005 that laptops surpassed desktop computers in sales.
Ellenby's visionary nature reemerged later in his life. He cofounded GeoVector in the 1990s, which researched augmented reality, where computers overlay information on top of what our eyes see naturally.
Ellenby lived just long enough to see the breakout success this summer of Pokemon Go, which relies on augmented reality. Once again, Ellenby's instincts were proven right.


John Ellenby was ahead of the game when he sold a bulky laptop in 1982.


Why is the European Union going after Apple for $14 billion in unpaid taxes?
Consider this: In 2014, the corporate giant paid just $50 in tax for every million it made selling iPhones and iPads to most of the world outside America.
That's a tax rate of just 0.005%. Yes, you read that correctly.
So how was that allowed to happen?
Apple has funneled most of its profits from Europe, the Middle East, Africa and India through Ireland for decades. Nothing usual in that. Others do it too.
But under deals the company struck with the Irish government as far back as 1991, it was allowed to split these profits between its Ireland branch and an Apple head office that existed only on paper.
Apple paid the standard Irish tax rate on profits booked to its Ireland branch. Those it allocated to the phantom head office were tax free, because under Irish law it was then considered a "stateless company."
Guess where most of the profits went?
In 2011, Apple Sales International made 16 billion euros in profits. Less than 50 million euros were allocated to the Irish branch. The rest went to the "head office," out of reach of any tax authority.
It was an arrangement that also suited the Irish government.
Ireland has set its corporate tax rate at 12.5%, one of the lowest in Europe, to attract big companies to the country.
Apple (AAPL, Tech30), Google (GOOGL, Tech30), Facebook (FB, Tech30), eBay (EBAY) and Twitter (TWTR, Tech30) have all set up their EU headquarters in Ireland.
And with them came the jobs. Apple employes 6,000 people in Ireland, many of them making iMacs at a factory in Cork -- once a deprived city in the south of Ireland. Apple says it is the biggest private employer in the city.
EU states can set their own rate of tax. But European officials say Ireland's arrangements with Apple gave the company such a huge financial advantage over its competitors that it constituted illegal state aid.
Apple doesn't want to pay the tax even though the $14.6 billion, plus interest, it might have to repay constitutes just 5% of the $231 billion in cash it has on its books.
Ireland doesn't like the ruling either, calling it an "encroachment" into its sovereignty. The country said Apple has paid what it owed in Ireland.

How Apple paid just 0.005% tax on its global profits


Apple's effective tax rate in Ireland was just 0.005% in 2014. That means Apple paid $50 tax for every million it made.


Uber may be the most valuable privately held company in the world, but that doesn't mean it's making money.
The company lost at least $1.27 billion in the first half of this year, according to Bloomberg News. Uber declined to comment on the report, but Bloomberg reported that Uber's head of finance Gautam Gupta shared the losses during a call with shareholders on Friday.
Uber is said to have lost $520 million in the first quarter, and $750 million in the second quarter of 2016.
The vast majority of its second quarter losses were a result of subsidies in China, according to a source familiar with the matter. But those won't continue to show up on Uber's income statement.
Related: Uber tests $2 flat fares to take on public transit
Earlier this month, Uber sold its China operations to rival Didi Chuxing. Uber got nearly an 18% stake in Didi as a result of the deal, becoming its largest shareholder.
Uber launched in China in 2013 and expanded its operations to roughly 60 cities. But while the market was a top priority, it was also an incredibly costly one. In February, CEO Travis Kalanick said that Uber was losing $1 billion a year in China.
"Uber and Didi Chuxing are investing billions of dollars in China and both companies have yet to turn a profit there," Kalanick wrote in an announcement about the Didi deal.
While Uber said it was profitable in the U.S. during the first quarter of this year, Bloomberg reported that it lost roughly $100 million in the U.S. during the second quarter.
That comes as Uber battles its biggest U.S. competitor, Lyft, for market share, each using compelling promotions and deals to persuade customers to ride with them.

Uber bleeds more than $1 billion in six months


The company lost at least $1.27 billion in in the first half of this year, according to Bloomberg.


The EpiPen scandal has transformed Mylan Pharmaceuticals and its CEO Heather Bresch into the newest symbols of corporate greed.
In the span of just a few weeks, they've gone from little-known players in the vast pharmaceutical industry to the targets of national ridicule over a relentless series of EpiPen price hikes.
Since 2009, Mylan has jacked up the price of the lifesaving allergy treatment an incredible 15 times. The list price on a two-pack of EpiPens is $609, up 400% from seven years ago.
The national outrage this month, sparked by a social media campaign by parents, has forced Mylan (MYL) to respond by taking the unusual step of launching a generic version of EpiPen at a 50% discount to its current price, as well as other moves to make the treatment more affordable.
Despite those efforts, Congress is now investigating Mylan. The powerful House Oversight Committee sent a letter to Bresch on Monday requesting a briefing and a trove of documents from the company about EpiPen.
Mylan has sought to pin the blame for the sticker shock on a shadowy health care supply chain. Bresch called the system "broken" and said it was in a "crisis," similar to the financial crisis of 2008 that blew up the economy.
Related: EpiPen CEO: Blame the 'broken' system, not me
Lack of 'empathy'
But Bresch's arguments aren't going over well with some.
The company doesn't understand the "very emotional, very stressful situation" parents are going through this back-to-school season, according to Wells Fargo analyst David Maris.
"No one's expecting Mylan to give away their products. But empathy is the most human emotion. And when you raise price year after year -- by a lot -- for a drug that's lifesaving, it shows a complete lack of empathy," he said.
Maris also points out that no one forced Mylan to dramatically raise EpiPen prices.
"It's outrageous. People shouldn't be fooled by the idea that the system made them do it. Mylan is to blame for the high prices of EpiPen," Maris said.
Broken system or opportunistic?
In fact, the most recent round of price hikes look more opportunistic, rather than the result of problems in the health care system.
In November 2015, Mylan raised EpiPen prices by 15% (for the 14th time since 2009). The hike came just a month after the drug's main rival Auvi-Q was pulled off the market. Six months later, the company jacked up prices again, by another 15%.
"With competitors out of the market, Mylan was in a position to price up EpiPen, which they did," Bernstein analysts wrote in a recent report.
EpiPen CEO made $19 million last year
Bresch, who is the daughter of U.S. Senator Joe Manchin, has sought to push back against these criticisms.
"You can do good and do well, and I think we strike that balance around the globe," Bresch told The New York Times.
However, she added: "I am running a business. I am a for-profit business. I am not hiding from that."
Business has indeed been very good -- for Mylan and Bresch alike -- thanks in part to the increasingly-lucrative EpiPen.
Ever since Mylan started raising EpiPen prices in 2009, the profit margin of the Mylan division that sells the drug has quadrupled, according to Wells Fargo's analysis of corporate filings.
Rising profits are a big reason why Bresch earned nearly $19 million in total compensation last year. And over the past three years, she made $54 million.
Related: Here's what happened to AIDS drug that spiked 5,000%
Mylan's defenders note that the $609 list price of EpiPen may get all of the attention, but most consumers don't actually pay that. Even before Mylan's recent cost-cutting moves, the company has indicated that 80% of its prescriptions translate to $0 out-of-pocket expenses.
Just 4% of EpiPen prescriptions actually led to $600 or more in out-of-pocket expenses, according to an analysis by Evercore analyst Umer Raffat. However, that still translates to a significant 150,000 prescriptions at that high price, Raffat said.

How EpiPen came to symbolize corporate greed


The EpiPen scandal has transformed Mylan Pharmaceuticals and its powerful CEO Heather Bresch into the newest symbols of corporate greed gone bad.


What would Germans be without Berlin?
The answer: Even richer.
New research from the Institute for Economic Research in Cologne said Germany would generate a little more national income per person -- 0.3% more to be precise -- without its capital city.
Berlin produces less GDP per capita than the rest of the economy despite its vibrant tech scene and trendy status.
"Berlin was a bit of a surprise," said Henry Goecke, one of the researchers at the institute. "Economically, Berlin is more or less not important at all, to put it harshly."
He said Berlin suffered by comparison with some of Germany's other regions such as the Rhineland, where much of the country's manufacturing industry is based, and Bavaria, home to automakers such as BMW (BAMXF).
Berlin is not the only capital city that is lagging behind. Canada's per capita GDP -- one measure of national wealth -- would be 0.2% higher if it wasn't for Ottawa, the researchers found.
"This is because of the economic strength of the oil producing region of Alberta, which has 11% of the people, but produces 17% of all GDP," Goecke said.
Related: A third of this city's inhabitants are millionaires
If Berlin and Ottawa are the brakes, then Paris and London are the engines.
France's per capita GDP would be more than 17% lower without its capital city.
That makes the "City of Love" even more important to France than London is to the U.K.
But the British capital, home to the country's all important finance sector, is also vital for prosperity -- the country would see its GDP per head drop by nearly 13% if it wasn't for London.
That contribution is now under threat.
"After the U.K. voted for Brexit, there will likely be consequences for London, and the question is whether the city can remain as connected to the EU financial services industry as it is now," Goecke said.
Related: London pays U.K. bills but for how much longer?
The United States would also be worse off if it wasn't for Washington D.C., although the drop in GDP per capita wouldn't be too dramatic -- just over 1%.
That kind of balance is good for an economy, Goecke said.
"You don't want to put all the eggs into one basket," he added.

These capital cities are a brake on their economies


How would the world's largest economies fare without their capital cities?


Richard Branson says he's happy to be alive after a harrowing bike crash earlier this week.
The outspoken billionaire behind Virgin Group said his life flashed before his eyes as he was launched off his bike while cycling on the British Virgin Islands.
Branson said he was heading down a hill when his bike hit a speed bump, throwing him into the air.
"I really thought I was going to die," he said in an online blog post. "Fortunately my shoulder and cheek took the brunt of the impact, and I was wearing a helmet that saved my life."
He suffered a cracked cheek and some torn ligaments, he said. The British entrepreneur posted photos of his bruised and bloody face.
Branson has a taste for adventure as well as a flair for business. He crossed the Atlantic ocean in a hot air balloon in 1987. He also set a record for the fastest crossing of the English Channel in an amphibious vehicle in 2004.
The cycling trip was part of his training for a month-long Virgin-branded fundraising event.
Branson said he's trying to see the bright side of the accident.
"My attitude has always been, if you fall flat on your face, at least you're moving forward. All you have to do is get back up and try again. At least I'm practicing what I preach -- though a little too literally!"
Branson said the crash happened on the fifth anniversary of a fire in August 2011 that destroyed his Necker Island home in the Caribbean.
-- CNN's Mahatir Pasha contributed to this report.

Richard Branson bike crash: 'I thought I was going to die'


Richard Branson said he's happy to be alive after crashing his bike in the British Virgin Islands.


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This man is the guinea pig for cancer therapy he invented


Serial inventor Yoshiro Nakamatsu is testing out a new cancer-fighting therapy of his own design.


See Domino's inaugural pizza drone delivery test


Domino's is partnering with drone delivery company Flirtey to test out pizza delivery by drone in New Zealand.


Barbra Streisand surprised 'we've not come a little farther' on gender equality


Barbra Streisand talks with Michaela Pereira about stardom and sexism.


Help for parents outraged by skyrocketing EpiPen prices could be coming as soon as next year.
A generic alternative for the lifesaving allergy treatment is being developed by Teva Pharmaceuticals (TEVA). The company has indicated the generic treatment may arrive as early as next year, creating a cheaper alternative to EpiPen, which has cornered an estimated 94% of the market.
In fact, some Wall Street analysts believe the national outcry over the 400% increase in EpiPen prices may ultimately speed up the FDA approval process for an affordable replacement.
"We suspect FDA will be under pressure to enable [a] more competitive market," Bernstein analyst Aaron Gal wrote in a research report on Thursday.
Gal predicted the FDA's review of Teva's alternative may be "accelerated." He added: "Questions of 'what is close enough' may be viewed differently."
The FDA declined to comment specifically on the generic EpiPen approval process, citing agency policy. However, the FDA noted that it automatically speeds up review of first generic drug applications, while ensuring these drugs are as "safe and effective as their brand name counterparts."
Teva's generic drug was delayed after the FDA identified certain "major deficiencies" in February. The exact cause of the agency's concern is unknown.
However, Teva directed CNNMoney inquiries to the company's previous statements that the launch could still come as early as 2017. Teva declined to comment specifically on the controversy.
Related: EpiPen CEO: Blame the 'broken' system, not me
Irina Koffler, an analyst at Mizuho, said the key will be how serious the issue was that delayed Teva's FDA application.
"If it is something easily correctable, then I'm sure FDA can allocate additional internal resources to expedite the review," she said.
On the other hand, a more complex problem may take time. And in the end, the FDA's first priority is safety, not cost.
The national uproar has clearly changed the landscape since the FDA last looked at Teva's generic candidate. Political pressure is building.
Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton this week called on EpiPen maker Mylan (MYL) to immediately cut the "outrageous" price of the treatment. A bipartisan group of five U.S. senators, in a letter to the FDA this week, pressed the agency on whether any "barriers" exist to approving safe alternatives to the EpiPen. The lawmakers also asked the FDA if it has looked into over-the-counter EpiPen alternatives.
"This is a big deal," Evercore analyst Umer Raffat said about the letter to the FDA.
Still, Raffat and some other analysts believe a generic EpiPen may not be approved until early 2018 -- or later. "I think we're some time away from Teva generic," he said in an interview.
Related: AIDS drug that spiked 5,000% is STILL pricey
The EpiPen controversy, fueled by a grassroots social media campaign by parents, centered on how prices have soared to about $600, compared with below $100 in 2009.
EpiPen maker Mylan responded on Thursday by providing savings cards worth $300 to patients who have to pay full price out of pocket. Heather Bresch, the embattled Mylan CEO, attempted to shift the blame to a "broken" health care system she said "incentivizes higher prices."
However, Bernstein's Gal notes that Mylan jacked up prices in November, just a month after Auvi-Q -- EpiPen's main rival -- was pulled off the market. Mylan then raised prices another 15% in May, translating to a roughly 27% year-over-year price hike.
"With competitors out of the market, Mylan was in a position to price up EpiPen, which they did," Gal wrote.

EpiPen outrage may fuel cheap generic in 2017


EpiPen price hike outrage could speed FDA approval of an alternative by Teva as early as 2017.


In her new book, Ann Coulter says there is only one truly mortal sin Donald Trump could commit. As it turns out, he committed it the same day the book was released.
"Until the bleeding has stopped, there's nothing Trump can do that won't be forgiven. Except change his immigration policies," Coulter wrote in her new tome, "In Trump We Trust."
Coulter's Trump hagiography hit shelves on Tuesday -- the same day the Republican nominee told Fox News' Sean Hannity that he is open to "softening" the very immigration proposals that inspired Coulter and legions of other conservatives to support him. His comments have made the rest of the week very awkward for her, forcing her to explain his apparent apostasy when she expected to be taking something close to a victory lap. and very publicly so.
"I'm starting to worry that he's panicking and talking to the wrong people because he's sounding a bit more like the candidates he defeated," Coulter told MSNBC's Chris Matthews on Tuesday.
"It just sounds very consultant to me," she added. "This could be the shortest book tour ever if he's really softening his position on immigration."
Coulter, who did not respond to an interview request from CNNMoney, has been one of Trump's most vocal media boosters. She was also a believer in his candidacy at a time when most were dismissive, asserting last June that Trump's general election prospects were better than any other Republican. In Trump, Coulter gushed last August, "we finally have someone who genuinely loves America and is not beholden to the donors."
And no issue fueled her support for Trump more than immigration. Her 2015 book, "Adios America," was a 400-page diatribe against undocumented immigrants.
Coulter has said Trump requested and received an advance copy of the book. About two weeks after its release, he announced his candidacy with a speech in which he warned that many undocumented immigrants are drug dealers and rapists. But Coulter insisted at the time that Trump "didn't get his ideas from me."
"He had them," she told the Washington Post. "My book supports his ideas."
Coulter is less supportive of what Trump has said this week, although she's made clear that she is not "abandoning" her candidate. She has also given Trump the benefit of the doubt, saying Wednesday that he is only shifting "rhetorically."
"I don't think it is a change in policy," Coulter told the Washington Examiner. "The policy is anyone who's here illegally is here illegally, does not have the right to be here. We'll decide whether it's in our interest to let them stay or not."
But Trump's morphing rhetoric has made it difficult to make sense of his policies. After indicating this week that he may support a pathway to legal status for undocumented immigrants living here, Trump backtracked in an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper.
Related: Trump: No legal status for undocumented immigrants
"There's no path to legalization unless they leave the country," Trump said.
Whether Trump is moderating in style or actual substance, Coulter doesn't approve. She told ABC News that she wants Trump "to dump whomever the moron is who told him Americans are staying up at night worried about how people who broke our laws entering, broke our laws staying here, broke our laws taking jobs, how comfortable they are."
The shift on immigration follows yet another shakeup at the top of Trump's campaign, but Coulter speculated that the culprit might be someone with an unofficial role.
"[Trump] seems to be getting contradictory advice," she said. "I've seen these rumors he's now being advised by Roger Ailes, the former head of the Marco Rubio super PAC known as Fox News."

Trump's immigration pivot a buzzkill for Coulter's book tour


Ann Coulter says in "In Trump We Trust" that there is only one truly mortal sin Donald Trump could commit. He committed it the same day the book was released.


Launching the most popular social network in the world? Done.
Running a mile every day? Easy.
But building a personal assistant from scratch? Apparently that's hard.
Facebook (FB, Tech30) CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on Monday that he hopes to finally demo a butler powered by artificial intelligence next month after making it his New Year's challenge to build the service.
"One of the challenges was to build an AI system to help me control my home and my work, and the other was to run an average of one mile a day. It turns out that one of those challenges was a lot easier than the other," Zuckerberg said in a town hall event in Italy.
Zuckerberg accomplished the year-long running challenge five months early.
The Facebook founder said he has successfully programed his AI butler to open the gate to his house by scanning his face rather than entering a code. Zuckerberg can also control the lights inside and adjust the temperature using his voice, "much to the chagrin of my wife."
Related: Mark Zuckerberg gives Pope Francis a drone
"It's starting to be able to do some pretty fun things," Zuckerberg said, before noting that he is getting some guidance from Facebook engineers on the project.
In his original post announcing the project, Zuckerberg said he wanted to build an assistant "like Jarvis in Iron Man" that would let him control music, lights and temperature in his house using his voice and alert him to anything that might need his attention in his daughter's room.
Throughout the last year, Zuckerberg has held a series of town halls with Facebook users in India, Germany, and Columbia, among other locations.
The Italy town hall took place just days after a 6.2-magnitude earthquake hit the central part of the country, killing hundreds and reducing the town of Amatrice to rubble.
"When I first learned about the earthquake, it just made me incredibly sad," Zuckerberg told the crowd on Monday. "Our first reaction [at Facebook] is we have to do everything we can to help out."
That included activating Facebook's Safety Check feature in the area to let users tell friends and family they're safe, as well as providing the Red Cross with "half a million euros in ad credits" to solicit volunteers and supplies, according to Zuckerberg,
Before taking the stage on Monday, Zuckerberg paid a visit to Italy's Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and Pope Francis, giving the latter a model of Facebook's drone.
Zuckerberg kicked off his visit by attending the wedding of Spotify CEO Daniel Ek, who he described as a "good friend," at Lake Como in northern Italy.

Mark Zuckerberg hopes to demo his AI butler next month


Mark Zuckerberg said on Monday that he hopes to finally demo a personal assistant powered by artificial intelligence next month after making it his New Year's challenge.


Japan's first ever homegrown passenger jet has had a bumpy few days.
The plane was forced to abort two consecutive test flights to the U.S. over the weekend because of problems with the air management system on board.
It's the latest setback for the aircraft, the Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ), which has already suffered repeated delays.
Built by Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp., the MRJ is an effort by Japan to compete in the global plane-making industry. It's the country's first new commercial aircraft in more than 50 years (the last one was powered by turboprop rather than jet technology).
Related: China's big plan to build a world-class aircraft engine
It made its first flight in November, but the company is now trying figure out what went wrong over the weekend.
"We are in the process of finding out the details of the issue we faced during the last two days," Mitsubishi said Monday. "We are inspecting what the cause is first, and then we will consider the next steps."
The MRJ was meant to fly from Japan to the U.S. to carry out a series of flight tests.
The company has pushed back delivery plans for the MRJ four times in the past seven years. Its first customer, Japan's ANA (ALNPY), placed its initial order in 2008, with deliveries scheduled to start in 2013. The airline now isn't expected to receive the first plane until mid-2018.
Related: Boeing could kill production of its iconic 747 jumbo jet
Mitsubishi says the jet, which seats as many as 92 passengers, uses 20% less fuel than other aircraft in its class because of its efficient engines and aerodynamic design.
The MRJ puts Mitsubishi in competition with Brazilian plane maker Embraer (ERJ) and Canada's Bombardier (BDRAF), which dominate the market for passenger jets with fewer than 100 seats.
Delays aren't uncommon in bringing new planes to market. Industry giants Boeing (BA) and Airbus (EADSF) have both endured embarrassing setbacks on high-profile jets like the 787 Dreamliner and the A380.

Japan's first passenger jet had a nightmare weekend


Japan's Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ), which has already suffered repeated delays, was forced to abort test flights to the U.S. not once but twice.


Mark Zuckerberg is getting serious about adding new "friends" in Africa.
The Facebook founder visited Sub-Saharan Africa for the first time on Tuesday, touching down in Lagos, Nigeria. He met with local businesses and developers in an effort to understand how Facebook (FB, Tech30) could "better support tech development and entrepreneurship across Africa," the company said in a statement.
His visit included a trip to a Yaba, known as the Silicon Valley of Nigeria, where he toured a coding camp for kids and met with about 50 local startup founders and developers at CcHub, a local innovation center.
Zuckerberg told CNN: "There's so much energy and so much potential here. I just want to walk around and meet folks."
As Zuckerberg walked down the street, he drew loud cheers from passersby.
Zuckerberg has been increasingly involved in African initiatives this year.
In June, his foundation -- the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative -- made a multi-million dollar investment in Andela, a two-year-old startup that trains African software developers and gives them full-time roles at international companies. Andela works out of headquarters in Lagos and Nairobi, Kenya -- so Zuck paid a visit to the Lagos office too.
Andela's director Seni Sulyman said it was a thrill to welcome Zuckerberg.
"Mark's visit demonstrates to all Nigerian developers and entrepreneurs that they've caught the attention of the tech world, and they are capable of succeeding on a truly global level," Sulyman said in a written statement.
Related: Zuckerberg gives Pope Francis a drone
Zuckerberg has also put his weight behind an initiative called "Free Basics," which provides free Internet access to cellphone users in under-served countries, including Zambia, Tanzania and Kenya.
It runs in more than 20 African countries and recently launched in Nigeria.
The "Free Basics" app -- which is run by Facebook's Internet.org unit -- allows cellphone users to access certain types of information related to areas like health care and employment.
However, the app is not without controversy. India's telecoms regulator blocked the service in February, saying providers must charge the same price for all content.
Critics have also argued that the program violates the central tenets of net neutrality, which stipulate that all Internet content and users should be treated equally. Cherry-picking free content isn't considered fair or right, according to the critics.
Late last year, Zuckerberg and his wife Dr. Priscilla Chan publicly pledged to donate billions of Facebook shares to fund projects and charities that advance human potential and promote equality though their Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.

Mark Zuckerberg makes first-ever visit to Sub-Saharan Africa


Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is getting serious about adding new 'friends' in Africa by visiting Lagos, Nigeria, to meet with local startup founders and developers.


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Amber Rose talks slut shaming at the VMAs


At the MTV Video Music Awards, Amber Rose talked to CNN about her feminist causes, slut shaming and her thoughts on the election.


Why is the European Union going after Apple for $14 billion in unpaid taxes?
Consider this: In 2014, the corporate giant paid just $50 in tax for every million it made selling iPhones and iPads to most of the world outside America.
That's a tax rate of just 0.005%. Yes, you read that correctly.
So how was that allowed to happen?
Apple has funneled most of its profits from Europe, the Middle East, Africa and India through Ireland for decades. Nothing usual in that. Others do it too.
But under deals the company struck with the Irish government as far back as 1991, it was allowed to split these profits between its Ireland branch and an Apple head office that existed only on paper.
Apple paid the standard Irish tax rate on profits booked to its Ireland branch. Those it allocated to the phantom head office were tax free, because under Irish law it was then considered a "stateless company."
Guess where most of the profits went?
In 2011, Apple Sales International made 16 billion euros in profits. Less than 50 million euros were allocated to the Irish branch. The rest went to the "head office," out of reach of any tax authority.
It was an arrangement that also suited the Irish government.
Ireland has set its corporate tax rate at 12.5%, one of the lowest in Europe, to attract big companies to the country.
Apple (AAPL, Tech30), Google (GOOGL, Tech30), Facebook (FB, Tech30), eBay (EBAY) and Twitter (TWTR, Tech30) have all set up their EU headquarters in Ireland.
And with them came the jobs. Apple employes 6,000 people in Ireland, many of them making iMacs at a factory in Cork -- once a deprived city in the south of Ireland. Apple says it is the biggest private employer in the city.
EU states can set their own rate of tax. But European officials say Ireland's arrangements with Apple gave the company such a huge financial advantage over its competitors that it constituted illegal state aid.
Apple doesn't want to pay the tax even though the $14.6 billion, plus interest, it might have to repay constitutes just 5% of the $231 billion in cash it has on its books.
Ireland doesn't like the ruling either, calling it an "encroachment" into its sovereignty. The country said Apple has paid what it owed in Ireland.

How Apple paid just 0.005% tax on its global profits


Apple's effective tax rate in Ireland was just 0.005% in 2014. That means Apple paid $50 tax for every million it made.


The European Commission has ordered Ireland to recover unpaid taxes, plus interest, from Apple dating back to 2003. CNNMoney's Samuel Burke reports.


Imprimis CEO Mark Baum discusses company's plans for a $100 EpiPen compound alternative.


The United States has sent a message to the European Union: Stop your tax crackdown on American companies or be prepared to suffer the consequences.
The EU is probing the tax arrangements of Apple (AAPL, Tech30), Amazon (AMZN, Tech30) and Starbucks (SBUX) in European countries over concerns they were getting a special deal from governments hoping to attract the U.S. companies.
Apple has already warned the investigation could force it to pay a decade's worth of back taxes to Ireland -- estimated by some analysts to be in the billions of dollars.
The U.S. Treasury Department on Wednesday accused the European Commission agency behind the probes of going beyond its remit and acting as "a supra-national tax authority."
"These investigations have major implications for the United States," said Robert Stack, the Treasury's deputy assistant secretary for international tax affairs. He warned U.S. taxpayers "could wind up eventually footing the bill."
That could happen, he said, if the companies are forced to pay extra tax to the EU and then claim that spending as a deduction on their U.S. taxes.
Related: Europe plans to force big firms to come clean on profits and tax
The Treasury published a white paper detailing its objections, including the fear that other countries could follow the EU example and seek large sums retroactively from both U.S. and EU companies.
It urged the EU to give up on its pursuit of the companies, saying it's considering unspecified "potential responses" if Brussels doesn't change course.
In response to the U.S. criticism, the European Commission said its investigations are aimed at ensuring equal treatment for all businesses by tackling "illegal tax advantages" that some enjoy.
"EU law applies indiscriminately to all companies operating in Europe -- there is no bias against U.S. companies," it said in a statement.
Related: Apple's Tim Cook on his mistakes and what the future holds
Apple is still waiting for a ruling in its case. In a recent interview with the Washington Post, CEO Tim Cook said the company would appeal the decision if it doesn't get "a fair hearing."
"It's important for everyone to understand that the allegation made in the EU is that Ireland gave us a special deal," he said. "Ireland denies that. The structure we have was applicable to everybody -- it wasn't something that was done unique to Apple."
In Amazon's case, the Commission has said Luxemburg may have given it an unfair advantage by helping the company slash its tax bill. Both Luxemburg officials and Amazon deny any wrongdoing.
Starbucks is appealing a Commission decision that its tax arrangements in the Netherlands amounted to state aid. Italian-U.S. car maker Fiat Chrysler (FCAM) is appealing a similar ruling over its tax setup in Luxemburg.

U.S. warns EU against hitting Apple with massive tax bill


The U.S. Treasury said American taxpayers could end up footing the bill for back taxes Apple and others may be forced to pay in the EU.


Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg gives Pope Francis a model drone during his tour of Italy.


Internet mogul Kim Dotcom, who's wanted in the U.S. on criminal charges, has won permission for his court battle to be streamed online.
Dotcom is fighting extradition from New Zealand to the U.S., where he's accused of reproducing and distributing copyrighted content on a massive scale.
The New Zealand court hearing his appeal on Tuesday granted his request to have the proceedings live-streamed on YouTube.
"This is breaking new ground," Dotcom tweeted in response to the news. "New Zealand at the forefront of transparent justice!"
Live streaming of my hearing is a milestone. We're breaking new ground. Please treat the court with respect. Let's make this the new normal. — Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) August 30, 2016
Dotcom has hired a cameraman to start filming the hearing from Wednesday onward. The online broadcast will be delayed by roughly 20 minutes in case any sensitive information is disclosed in court.
His lawyer, Ira Rothken, said the streaming will improve transparency in the judicial process. "This is an important public interest case," he told CNN. "It's important for people who can't make it to New Zealand."
Lawyers appearing on behalf the U.S. government had opposed the idea, arguing that material that might appear in the broadcast could prejudice potential jurors for any trial in the U.S., New Zealand media reported.
Dotcom is the millionaire founder of file-sharing site Megaupload, which was shut down by the U.S. government more than four years ago. He and some of his co-workers were arrested by New Zealand police acting in conjunction with U.S. authorities.
Related: New Zealand judge rules Kim Dotcom eligible for extradition
After years of legal wrangling, a court ruled in December that Dotcom and three of his former business associates could be sent to the U.S., where they face charges including conspiracy to commit racketeering and money laundering.
The four men have appealed the decision, and the current hearing is expected to last as long as six weeks.
Born in 1974 as Kim Schmitz in Germany, Dotcom has argued that Megaupload was simply a file-sharing website and that he shouldn't be blamed for what others were uploading to it.
On Tuesday, he appeared to be relishing the prospect of the appeal hearing broadcast.
"Let's have a live streaming party about the live streaming judgment," he tweeted.

Kim Dotcom wins fight to live-stream court hearing on YouTube


Internet mogul Kim Dotcom, who's wanted in the U.S. on criminal charges, has won permission for his court battle to be streamed online.


Martin Shkreli, the controversial ex-drug executive now facing federal criminal charges, nearly doubled his investment in KaloBios, the drug company he briefly controlled and ran last fall.
Shkreli started buying shares of KaloBios (KBIO) last November when it was a penny stock, about a month before he was arrested. At the time, the company was in bad shape, winding down operations and liquidating its assets.
Shkreli paid just over $3.2 million for a controlling stake in the company, according to an SEC filing last fall.
Related: Martin Shkreli's E*Trade account takes a huge hit
The company announced on Monday that Shkreli sold his entire stake in the company a private transaction. He received $3.10 a share, according to a filing, which comes to a total of $5.9 million. That means he made a $2.7 million profit on his initial investment. Shkreli could not be reached for comment.
News of Shkreli's investment back in November briefly gave new life to the stock and the company, lifting its shares 400%. He was named CEO and promised to hire back employees who had been laid off before he bought his controlling stake.
But within weeks federal authorities arrested Shkreli, charging him with running a Ponzi scheme and looting funds from another company he had run. He is still awaiting trial on those charges.
Following his arrest, Shkreli was out as CEO of KaloBios, and also stepped down as CEO of Turing Pharmaceutical, a position he held simultaneously. It was at Turing that he became famous, and reviled, for raising the price of a drug needed by AIDS patients by 5,000%.
Soon after Shkreli's arrest KaloBios filed for bankruptcy. It emerged from bankruptcy earlier in June. Shkreli retained a major stake in the company through the bankruptcy process.

Martin Shkreli scores $2.7 million payday


Martin Shkreli, the reviled drug company CEO who faces federal criminal charges, nearly doubled his $3 million investment in KaloBios.


India wants to ban wannabe parents paying surrogate mothers.
New legislation would lock foreigners out of the country's thriving but mostly unregulated fertility clinics, and limit surrogacy to Indian couples who have been married for more than five years and are unable to have children.
Even in these cases, a family member must serve as the surrogate.
Foreign minister Sushma Swaraj told reporters Wednesday that the proposed law would stop foreigners and gay couples hiring Indian surrogates.
She said there were too many instances of people abusing surrogacy, including couples who had abandoned unwanted children or babies born with disabilities.
India is a top destination for foreign medical tourists seeking surrogates -- often at very cheap prices. According to Swaraj, there are more than 2,000 fertility clinics currently operating in the country.
Related: Secrets of India's ultra stealth submarines revealed in massive leak
Critics say Indian women hired as surrogates are frequently abused, and they describe disreputable clinics as "rent-a-womb" operations. Last year, lawyer Jayashree Wad asked India's Supreme Court to ban commercial surrogacy, saying the practice amounts "to exploitation of women for commercial gains."
"In the process of surrogate motherhood, a commercial element is introduced and Indian women are exploited and substantial benefit is derived by doctors, hospitals and institutions involved in it," Wad told the court.
According to medical journal The Lancet, having a child through surrogacy in India costs roughly $25,000, while the same service can cost up to 10 times as much in the United States.
Indian women hired as surrogate mothers are typically paid $5,000 to $7,000, while their counterparts in the U.S. command up to $25,000. Still, The Lancet notes that this is an "enormous sum" for poor Indian women who might make $300 in a typical year.
Related: India's crazy tax system just got much simpler
Advocates, meanwhile, said the government's decision to ban certain groups from fertility services, rather than implement better regulations, marked a "black day."
"This was a great industry. It has benefited thousands of couples," said Dr. Rita Bakshi, founder of International Fertility Centre and the director of a pro-surrogacy NGO. "If people can come to India for cataract or heart surgery, then what's wrong with this?"
The draft law has been approved by India's cabinet, and is expected to be debated in parliament later this year.

India plans total ban on commercial surrogacy


India's government has unveiled legislation that would ban commercial surrogacy and prevent foreigners from using the country's thriving fertility clinics.


Apple is holding its annual September product launch event on Wednesday, Sept. 7 to likely show off its next-generation iPhone.
The company, which sent out invitations to members of the press on Monday, is expected to unveil the rumored iPhone 7. The affair kicks off at 10:00 a.m. PT at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco.
In addition to a new iPhone, Tim Cook and his parade of executives will likely announce the official release dates for iOS 10, as well as the new macOS Sierra, watchOS 3, and tvOS 10 operating systems.
Related: Apple could be radically redesigning the iPhone
We could also see a new version of the 15-month old Apple Watch and updated MacBook Pros.
Apple's invitation lacks the usual tag line, which usually gives some vague hint as to the topic, or even just a sense of excitement. Instead, it says "See you on the 7th," without so much as an exclamation mark.
The background is black with a smattering of generic blurry lights -- a possible nod to rumors the iPhone may get an improved camera with a dual-lens system.
Other rumors include a missing headphone jack -- you'll need special headphones that plug into the Lightning port -- and a new blue color option.
Related: Steve Wozniak to Apple: Keep the iPhone's headphone jack
Apple typically holds one of its signature events every September, and they follow a predictable script. We will be there sharing the news as it happens, hoping for any exciting departure from the usual, so stay tuned!
(See Apple, it's not that hard to toss in an exclamation mark.)


Apple is expected to announce the latest iPhone at its annual Fall press event in San Francisco next week.


China has set up a new state-owned aviation firm to help meet one its top tech goals: building a world-class aircraft engine.
The new company, the Aero Engine Corp. of China (AECC), will be responsible for the research, development and manufacturing of aircraft engines and gas turbines, according to Chinese state media. The company has 50 billion yuan ($7.5 billion) in registered capital, and already boasts 96,000 employees.
The new firm is part of China's drive to become a global aviation player. Its establishment has been hailed a "strategic move" by President Xi Jinping, according to written remarks published by state media, and will help China's military reduce its reliance on foreign-made engines.
China has long struggled to build its own jet engines, and boosting its capabilities has been a priority as the country seeks to increase its military clout. Beijing's most recent five-year development plan identifies domestic development and production of engines and planes as a major goal.
But it's a difficult area to master, and China has generally relied heavily on technology from abroad. Over the past four years, engines accounted for 30% of all its imports, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
The ARJ21, a Chinese commercial jet that started flying in June, uses engines produced by General Electric (GE).
Even the C919, a commercial airliner that China is developing in the hope of rivaling Boeing (BA), is using engines made by a U.S. and French joint venture.
Related: Why China wants U.S. military jet engines
In June, the U.S. convicted a woman in a Florida court of conspiring to evade export laws by illegally acquiring and sending fighter jet engines and drones to China, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Prosecutors said the woman was working with an associate in China to buy and export engines made by Pratt & Whitney and General Electric, which are found in a range of top U.S. military aircraft, including the F-35, F-22 and F-16 fighter jets.

China's new plan to build a world-class aircraft engine


China has set up a state-owned aircraft engine maker to boost its aerospace industry and support the military.


The president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences wants the public to judge "The Birth of a Nation" as a film and not by its director's personal history.
"People need to see the movie and judge the movie," Cheryl Boone Isaacs told TMZ during an ambush airport interview Thursday.
Asked her thoughts on how the controversy over Parker's past trial and acquittal for rape is impacting the film's reception, Isaacs, who has not seen the movie, said she sees the two as mutually exclusive.
"That's one issue. That's his personal issue and then there's the issue of the movie," she said. "And with the issue of the movie, the important thing is for people to see it and enjoy the film, be impressed by the film, and I think that is what is very important."
Isaacs' statement comes just a few days after the American Film Institute canceled plans to hold a screening of the film and a Q&A with Parker.
Press screenings of the movie began in Los Angeles this week. The test to see whether the film's impact will outweigh Parker's past is now underway.
Parker and his co-writer on the film, Jean Celestin were charged with rape in 1999 while they were students at Penn State University. Parker was acquitted. Celestin was convicted, but it was later overturned on appeal.
Conversation about Parker's personal history hit a fevered pitch in recent weeks following a report from Variety that revealed the woman who accused Parker of rape committed suicide in 2012.
Parker said he was "devastated" by the news in a lengthy note posted to Facebook last week.
"The Birth of a Nation" debuted in January to excellent early reviews at Sundance. The film was quickly picked up for distribution by Fox Searchlight for a record $17.5 million.
Oscar buzz has since taken a back seat to conversations about the allegations Parker once faced, however.
The negative attention now stands to possibly upset the movie's hopes for accolades.
RELATED: Will rape story kill 'Birth of a Nation?'
The studio has said it will move forward with plans to highlight "The Birth of a Nation" at the upcoming Toronto Film Festival and send Parker on a media tour. Sasha Stone, founder of AwardsDaily.com, told CNN last week this move could be a play to earn back its investment.
"I don't think that they're planning on winning any Oscars or even going into the Oscar race at all," she said. "I think it's more about making the film some money more than anything."
The true impact of the controversy on the movie's awards chances will take some time to see, she added.
"They have a movie they have to sell that's a really good movie, that a lot of people say is an important movie, and they're hoping they can find an audience for it of people who won't be protesting outside with signs against the studio or against the film," she said. "And certainly the Oscar voters are not going to want to go anywhere near anything like that."
Academy voters have historically been what Stone called "controversy averse."
"The tiniest bit of controversy will keep a film out," she said.
But why then have Woody Allen and Roman Polanski -- who've both faced allegations of sexual assault -- not been impacted? That's simple, said Stone. Up-and-comer Parker isn't yet established or "in the club."
"A Roman Polanski or a Woody Allen, they were known to these people," she said. "They're willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, but they won't do that with Nate Parker."
"The Birth of a Nation" opens in theaters October 7.

Academy President on 'Birth of a Nation': 'People should see this film'


Cheryl Boone Isaacs encourages moviegoers to make their own judgments after seeing "Birth of a Nation"


If you didn't know better, you might think Yahoo has suddenly gained a second wind. Maybe it has.
In the last month, Yahoo (YHOO, Tech30) has launched a new TV website in partnership with Hulu, introduced ads on all Tumblr blogs to let users make money and expanded its financial news team.
Even Yahoo's (YHOO, Tech30) stock, long punished by Wall Street for the company's ad sales decline, is now trading at its highest level in more than a year.
Then you remember all this activity comes after Yahoo agreed to sell its core assets to Verizon (VZ, Tech30) in late July for $4.8 billion, marking an end to Yahoo's two decades of independence.
For certain teams inside Yahoo, the pending acquisition has created a feeling of cautious optimism and greater momentum after months of uncertainty about who would own the company -- a feeling perhaps last felt when CEO Marissa Mayer was hired in 2012 to revive the aging Internet company.
Those on Yahoo's media team, for example, say morale is decent and the division has been given the go ahead to keep hiring this year.
"There's a strong belief that because web traffic continues to grow for News, Sports and Finance on a month to month basis, Verizon will largely leave the media groups intact," says one member of Yahoo's media group.
Likewise, some on the design team were initially nervous about potential redundancies with Verizon, but have since started to feel more confident in their roles, according to a source within the company.
"We don't have to worry about how we are viewed externally and what do our shareholders think," the source says. "It did breed a new sense of energy and purpose."
"Yahoo's dedicated employees remain focused on executing against our 2016 strategy," Rebecca Neufeld, a Yahoo spokeswoman, said in a statement. "We think it's time for others to shift their attention back to the great work Yahoo teams do to deliver the best content and products to our users and advertisers."
However, a large purple cloud of uncertainty does remain as employees wait to see which divisions Verizon chooses to invest in and which it chooses to reshuffle or kill off after the acquisition closes early next year.
Related: Why Marissa Mayer couldn't save Yahoo
The Tumblr team, for example, has heard very little from Verizon (VZ, Tech30) about what's next, leading some to assume the team is a low priority at best.
"They didn't even send over any Verizon swag, so everyone figures that the phone company doesn't care enough about Tumblr to make any big waves any time soon," says one former Tumblr employee.
Some Yahoo employees are starting to look elsewhere.
Pat Flynn, a partner at executive recruiting firm The Errigo Group, says he has already found Yahoo executives who are ready to leave the company just in the few weeks since the acquisition was announced.
"I recently reached out to a couple of Engineering VPs because I'm on a CTO search and they both returned my call and expressed interest in doing something else," says Flynn.
Yahoo has tried to fight off the possibility of a staff exodus by promising to accelerate employee stock options once the acquisition closes, which offers an incentive to stick around until then, according to a company filing this month with the SEC.
Certain key questions remain unanswered though, including whether Mayer will continue to run Yahoo post-acquisition and whether significant layoffs are coming.
"At this time, Yahoo is not planning any layoffs in anticipation of the transaction closing," Yahoo said in the filing. As for whether Verizon will cut staff, Yahoo said simply, "That is a decision for Verizon."
Related: Marissa Mayer's payday: 4 years, $219 million
Laura Martin, senior analyst at Needham & Co., says if there are layoffs at Yahoo it will probably take 3-6 months after the acquisition closes.
"[Then], Yahoo or Verizon will figure out what businesses they want to focus on and what they don't," Martin says. "I don't expect it to be imminent."
If she's right, Yahoo employees may still have nearly another year of operating in limbo.

One month after acquisition, Yahoo employees unsure about their future


A purple cloud of uncertainty hovers over Yahoo employees as they wait to see which divisions Verizon keeps or kills, but some are finding cause for optimism.


Richard Branson says he's happy to be alive after a harrowing bike crash earlier this week.
The outspoken billionaire behind Virgin Group said his life flashed before his eyes as he was launched off his bike while cycling on the British Virgin Islands.
Branson said he was heading down a hill when his bike hit a speed bump, throwing him into the air.
"I really thought I was going to die," he said in an online blog post. "Fortunately my shoulder and cheek took the brunt of the impact, and I was wearing a helmet that saved my life."
He suffered a cracked cheek and some torn ligaments, he said. The British entrepreneur posted photos of his bruised and bloody face.
Branson has a taste for adventure as well as a flair for business. He crossed the Atlantic ocean in a hot air balloon in 1987. He also set a record for the fastest crossing of the English Channel in an amphibious vehicle in 2004.
The cycling trip was part of his training for a month-long Virgin-branded fundraising event.
Branson said he's trying to see the bright side of the accident.
"My attitude has always been, if you fall flat on your face, at least you're moving forward. All you have to do is get back up and try again. At least I'm practicing what I preach -- though a little too literally!"
Branson said the crash happened on the fifth anniversary of a fire in August 2011 that destroyed his Necker Island home in the Caribbean.
-- CNN's Mahatir Pasha contributed to this report.

Richard Branson bike crash: 'I thought I was going to die'


Richard Branson said he's happy to be alive after crashing his bike in the British Virgin Islands.


In New Zealand, pizzas will soon be dropping from the heavens.
Domino's demonstrated its ability to deliver food via a drone Thursday in New Zealand and plans to test actual deliveries to customers next month.
"It doesn't add up to deliver a two kilogram package in a two-ton vehicle," said Scott Bush, a general manager for Domino's Pizza Enterprises, which is independent of the U.S. chain and operates in seven countries. "In Auckland, we have such massive traffic congestion it just makes sense to take to the airways."
A Domino's customer who requests a drone delivery will receive a notification when their delivery is approaching. After going outside and hitting a button on their smartphone, the drone will lower the food via a tether. Once the package is released, the drone pulls the tether back up and flies back to the Domino's store.
Related: Domino's pizza delivery robot is coming to your door
Initially there may be an extra charge for drone delivery, Bush said, but in the long term he hopes to deliver at no added cost.
Bush said test deliveries to actual customers will begin September 26 out of one Auckland store. The drone flights, powered by American drone company Flirtey, will be automated, but a human will be nearby to supervise. There are limits on how far Domino's will be able to deliver. New Zealand's drone rules don't currently allow a drone to fly farther than the drone's operator can see, but Domino's said it's working with authorities to remove barriers.
"We want to push it as hard as we can and roll it out globally throughout our seven markets," Bush said.
U.S. customers hoping for a pizza to land in their front yard shouldn't get too excited, given that Domino's in New Zealand operates separately from the U.S. chain. The other countries that drone delivery could expand to include Australia, Japan, The Netherlands, France, Belgium and Germany.
The company plans to broaden its New Zealand drone delivery in early 2017, including at night.
Related: Drone helps find man suffering from heart attack
Domino's has previously shown an interest in alternative delivery services. This spring it begin using a robotic cart that wheeled along sidewalks in Australia to make deliveries.
In New Zealand, Domino's only sells pizzas in one size, which simplifies the challenge of a drone trying to fly in windy conditions with a large pizza box. Bush said Domino's would be able to carry loads up to 5.5 pounds.

Domino's delivers pizza by drone in New Zealand


Domino's shows it can deliver pizza to customers with a drone in New Zealand.


A top executive at a South Korean company facing a corruption investigation was found dead early Friday just hours before he was due to be questioned by prosecutors.
Lee In-won, vice president of the conglomerate Lotte Group, was discovered lying on the ground with a necktie around his throat, according to local police.
Police said they suspected he may have hanged himself and fallen to the ground when the necktie broke, but the cause of death hasn't officially been established. A four-page letter was found at the scene in Yangpyeong county, east of Seoul, police said, declining to comment on its contents.
Related: Two Zurich Insurance executives found dead
Lee's death comes amid the ongoing corruption investigation into Lotte, one of South Korea's five biggest conglomerates. The probe has shaken the company, forcing it to shelve plans for an initial public offering of one of its units.
The daughter of Lotte's founder was arrested last month on charges of bribery and embezzlement.
As part of the corruption investigation, Lee was due to meet with prosecutors Friday morning, the company said.
Lee, 69, joined Lotte in 1973 and held numerous positions as he rose up the ranks over the decades.
"It is hard to believe that Vice President Lee In-Won, who sacrificed more than anyone to lay the foundations for Lotte, has passed away," the company said in a statement.
Based in Korea and Japan, Lotte has a wide range of businesses, including candy, hotels, retail and construction.

Top exec at South Korea's Lotte found dead hours before prosecutor questioning


Lee In-won, vice president the conglomerate Lotte, was found dead early Friday just hours before he was due to be questioned by prosecutors.


Janet Yellen is getting closer to raising interest rates.
The Chair of the Federal Reserve signaled that a rate hike this year is still on the table.
"I believe the case for an increase in the federal funds rate has strengthened in recent months," Yellen said in a speech in Jackson, Wyoming.
But Yellen was vague on timing. The Fed's committee next meets in late September. It also has a meeting in early November, however, it's unlikely the Fed would raise rates right before the U.S. elections.
Plus, such ambiguity from Yellen may indicate that the Fed will wait until its meeting in December to raise rates.
After all, Yellen said in May that a rate increase would be appropriate over the summer months. She then changed course when the May jobs report was shockingly weak. Now she's giving no time reference.
But the job market bounced back in June and July, adding over a half million jobs in the that period. Yellen highlighted the job market's improvement and "solid growth" in consumer spending. Experts agree.
"The consumer is actually doing pretty good and there are elements of the labor market doing better," says Phil Orlando, senior portfolio manager at Federated Investors in New York. Orlando believes the Fed is likely to hike next in December.
Related: The U.S. economy's biggest problem: the smartphone?
She spent much of her speech on the Fed's tools that it has used to respond to the Great Recession. The Fed put interest rates at zero in December 2008. Low interest rates made it easier for businesses to borrow money and hire new workers.
But low rates were also a key reason behind the stock market's strong rally over the last seven years. Since investors earn very little interest on safe investments like U.S. treasury bonds, the Fed's policy may have caused investors to take more aggressive risks.
Yellen said if future Fed leaders kept rates near zero "they might inadvertently encourage excessive risk-taking and so undermine financial stability."
Stocks didn't react much to Yellen's comments on Friday. The Dow and S&P 500 remained slightly positive.
Related: Top Fed officials talk up rate hike odds
Even though economic growth has only averaged about 1% this year, Yellen sees the glass half full.
"While economic growth has not been rapid, it has been sufficient to generate further improvement in the labor market," she said.
The Fed raised interest rates last December for the first time in nearly a decade. At the beginning of the year, the Fed projected it would raise rates four times this year.
But falling oil prices, China's slowdown, rocky stock markets and the United Kingdom's vote to leave the European Union -- Brexit -- forced the Fed to revise its plans, not to mention warning signs like the May jobs report.
Currently, the Fed projects it will raise rates twice this year, though Fed officials have only been talking about one increase in recent weeks. Some say Yellen gave enough hints about a rate hike without showing all her cards on Friday.
"Yellen succeeded in leaving the door open to almost anything," says Kathy Jones, chief fixed income strategist at Charles Schwab. "Unless there's a huge rise in jobs in the next jobs report, [a rate hike is] still probably more likely in December than September."

Janet Yellen: Fed rate hike odds have 'strengthened'


Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen signaled in a speech in Jackson, Wyoming, that an interest rate increase could be on the horizon.


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For every dollar a man earns, a woman earns…


There’s a gender pay gap in every U.S. state. But some have much smaller gaps than others. Here’s a state-by-state breakdown of how much full-time working women earn for every dollar full-time working men earn.


Facebook is removing the troublesome humans responsible for manually writing news descriptions and headlines for its Trending box. The company is turning the job over to algorithms that automatically select topics and generate text.
The announcement comes months after Facebook (FB, Tech30) was accused of political bias in in its "trending topics." A Gizmodo article claimed the freelance editors responsible for picking the news and writing headlines were favoring liberal topics over conservative ones.
Related: Facebook finds no evidence of trending bias, but makes changes anyway
Following an inquiry from the Senate Commerce Committee, Facebook conducted an internal investigation in May. The company said it found no evidence of any bias, but still said all employees would have to undergo political bias training. Mark Zuckerberg even invited top conservatives to Facebook to learn more about the process.
The trending box shows a list of popular news topics and is intended to "help people discover interesting and relevant conversations happening on Facebook, about breaking news and events from around the world." The lists are automatically personalized based on an individual's location and interests.
As of this writing, the top trending topics on my page were Go Topless Day, Al Roker, and musician Yung Joc, who recently got a haircut.
As part of the overhaul, the box will now only show key phrases instead of headlines and summaries. Below each name or topic, there will be a number of how many people are discussing it on the social network.
Related: Facebook's 'trending topics' spark debate and distrust
The team of contract journalists that was previously hired to manage the trending feature has been disbanded. However, some people will still be manually involved with the process to "ensure that the topics that appear in trending remain high-quality," according to Facebook's post.
For example, "lunch" trends everyday around lunch time, but will not appear in the box unless there is some news-related reason, like Al Roker and Yung Joc eating lunch topless.
Facebook says switching from people to algorithms will make it easier to scale up the feature and deploy it around the world.
"This is something we always hoped to do but we are making these changes sooner given the feedback we got from the Facebook community earlier this year," said the company.

Facebook ditches humans in favor of algorithms for trending news


The controversial Trending feature will now show articles picked by software instead of people following accusations of political bias.


It's now a lot easier to legally fly drones


On August 29, new FAA regulations took effect making it easier to become a certified drone pilot. Samuel Burke reports.


Vogue Brazil is under fire for altering images of models to make them look like amputees.
It published pictures of Brazilian actors Cleo Pires and Paulo Vilhena under the headline "We are all Paralympians." The magazine said it was trying to boost interest in the upcoming Paralympic Games in Rio.
Just 20% of tickets have sold for the Paralympics so far, even though they only cost $3 each, the magazine said.
The actors' bodies were altered to look like those of two Brazilian Paralympians, table tennis player Bruna Alexandre and sitting volleyball player Renato Leite.
Alexandre had her right arm amputated when she was three months old and Leite has a prosthetic leg.
Related: Slow ticket sales for Rio Paralympics
But many readers criticized the decision to use digitally-altered images of models rather than Paralympians.
"I think that the campaign should have been done with the athletes themselves, showing their strengths and efforts to reach the games," said Andre Santos, one of the thousands of people who took the magazine to task on its website and Instagram profile.
Auction alert: You can buy gear from the Rio Olympics
Vogue Brazil tried to explain its motive in a second article. It said the idea for the campaign came from Pires, an ambassador for the Paralympics.
"We knew it would be a punch in the stomach, but it was for a good cause, after all, almost no one bought tickets to see the Paralympic Games," Clayton Carneiro, art director of Vogue Brazil, said in the statement.
Despite the criticism, Alexandre said she was "proud to be part of the campaign."
Vogue Brazil has a circulation of 62,000 copies, according to the publisher. The magazine's online version has nearly 3 million unique visitors a month.
The magazine is published by Conde Nast international. It declined to comment on the matter.

Vogue Brazil turns models into amputees to promote Paralympics


Vogue Brazil is under fire for photoshopping images of able-bodied models to make them look like amputees for a Paralympics campaign.


Hillary Clinton is surrounded by suggestions of controversy. Terms like "Clinton Foundation," "email server," and "Benghazi" hover around her like a faint smoke that hints at the existence of fire.
But finding the fire -- the lie, the misdeed, the unethical act -- is proving to be rather difficult, as evidenced this week by an inaccurate tweet and arguably misleading story from the Associated Press that were quickly rebutted by the Clinton campaign and dismissed by many media outlets.
Three days later, the Associated Press is still standing by its story and has yet to correct its tweet, despite near unanimous agreement among other journalists that the tweet, at least, was false.
"The AP's social-media take on the story was seriously flawed," David Boardman, the Dean of the School of Media and Communication at Temple University and former editor of the Seattle Times, told CNNMoney. "It's sloppy, click-grabbing shorthand that is a disservice to the reporting to which it refers."
On Tuesday, the AP sent out a breaking news alert: "BREAKING: AP analysis: More than half those who met Clinton as Cabinet secretary gave money to Clinton Foundation."
Not true: As the article stated, what the AP found was that "more than half the people outside the government" who met with Clinton while she was secretary of state "gave money — either personally or through companies or groups — to the Clinton Foundation."
This "extraordinary" finding, as the AP put it, was deemed less extraordinary by other journalists and pundits who noted that Clinton had held thousands of meetings with government employees, foreign representatives, civil leaders, journalists and others while Secretary of State that were not accounted for in the AP's report.
Moreover, the AP only analyzed 154 meetings, based on what has been made available by the State Department, and thus its review only accounts for a fraction of Clinton's meeting schedule during her tenure as secretary of state. (The AP's defenders correctly note that the wire service was only able to examine a limited dataset because of the State Department's intransigence regarding the release of further records, which the AP has been fighting hard to secure.)
Nevertheless, the AP's tweet allowed Donald Trump to stand on stage at a campaign rally and declare that "fifty percent of people who saw [Clinton] had to make a contribution to the Clinton Foundation."
Clinton campaign spokesperson Brian Fallon accused the AP of cherrypicking "a limited subset" of data to give "a distorted portrayal of how often she crossed paths with individuals connected to charitable donations to the Clinton Foundation." On Twitter, he hit the AP for failing to correct its breaking news alert, which he called "100 percent factually inaccurate."
In a statement, AP spokesperson Paul Colford said his organization had been "transparent in how it has reported this story," and that it would continue to examine Clinton's schedules as they became available.
"The Associated Press' reporting relied on publicly available data provided by the State Department about Hillary Clinton's meetings, phone calls and emails, cross-referenced against donor information provided by the Clinton Foundation and its related charities on its websites," Colford wrote.
Meanwhile, other news organizations pilloried the AP's report.
The Washington Post Fact-Checker wrote that there were "many more nuanced and important details in the story that are being misrepresented — by the AP's own promotional tweet, and by Trump."
Vox's Matthew Yglesias was more direct: "The AP's big exposé on Hillary meeting with Clinton Foundation donors is a mess," his headline read.
Boardman argued that the story itself "was not nearly so flawed as Yglesias and others have charged."
"The AP reporters made clear they found no smoking-gun quid pro quo. And Clinton defenders' claim that 'there is no story' is absurd; of course it is worth investigating and explaining the relationship between Secretary Clinton and the Foundation, and how that relationship worked while she was at State," he said.
"If anything," Boardman continued, "the AP story could have used far more exploration of the inherent ethical issues here, and of the notion that whether or not Clinton gave extraordinary help to Foundation donors, the potential for accusations of that was probably reason enough to avoid such meetings altogether."

Associated Press botches Hillary Clinton report and response


The Associated Press is standing by an investigation into Hillary Clinton despite widespread criticism and has yet to correct a tweet about its story despite near unanimous agreement among other journalists that the tweet, at least, was false.


Do not read this if you have not seen "The Night Of" finale and intend to watch it.
With a response rivaling the first season of "True Detective," HBO newcomer "The Night Of" has been the show of the summer and the buzziest debut from the network since that limited series. That acclaim added the weight of lofty expectations to its eighth episode, which finished off the mystery in understated but satisfying fashion.
Of course, the "True Detective" payoff didn't match the build-up, and given the resolution, there will no doubt be some griping about a similar scenario here. The main difference is that while viewers naturally became caught up in "The Night Of's" whodunit aspect, that was really secondary to the collateral damage the murder accusation against Naz (Riz Ahmed, in what has been a star-making turn) inflicted not just on him, but those close to him.
That theme resonated powerfully throughout the conclusion, in which the world-weary detective Box (Bill Camp) came up with a plausible alternative suspect, as the case kept gnawing at him post-retirement. It also saw Naz's young attorney, Chandra (Amara Karan), endanger her career through the revelation that she had become too involved with her client, compelling the cut-rate defense attorney who became Naz's unlikely champion, John Stone (John Turturro), to deliver the closing argument that would help spare him.
Turturro might have inherited the role from the late James Gandolfini, but in hindsight, it's hard to imagine anyone could have played it better. That included the outbreak of eczema that turned him into a scratched-up mess in court; and the subtle realization that he, unlike Naz, would go back to pretty much business as usual, representing the guilty and scrounging for his cash fees.
Related: 'The Night Of' brings arresting crime drama to HBO
Running 98 minutes, the finale spent perhaps a bit too much time in the courtroom, giving relatively short shrift to the little matter of actually solving the murder. Series creators Richard Price and Steve Zaillian didn't lay blame upon one of the usual suspects, and one can argue the results of Box's continuing investigation fell into place a bit too neatly and came out of left field.
Still, that sort of misses the point, beautifully set up in the absorbing first episode: A quiet, unassuming student who had been the pride of his Pakistani immigrant parents, Naz engaged in one uncharacteristic, spontaneous moment that would have serious consequences on his life, whatever the trial's outcome. The far-reaching toll was reinforced by his continued drug use after his release, a byproduct of the compromises made to survive the hardening and dehumanizing aspects of prison.
From a broader perspective, "The Night Of" -- thought-provoking, wonderfully cast and terribly addictive -- represents precisely the kind of ambitious programming that HBO subscribers have come to expect and indeed, demand. (As an aside, the miniseries offered further proof, if any was needed, that HBO should cast "The Wire" and "Boardwalk Empire" veteran Michael K. Williams -- who played Naz's prison protector -- whenever possible.)
The natural temptation will be to try to replicate the program's admirable qualities with a follow-up of some kind, which has already been discussed.
Yet given the "True Detective" experience, that seems like a sucker's bet. As Stone counseled Naz at the end, there's wisdom in getting on with one's life, especially faced with the daunting prospect of creating another "Night" as good as this one.

'The Night Of' finale delivers satisfying verdict for HBO series


Nearly 10,000 workers are suing Chipotle for allegedly cheating them on their pay.
Current and former Chipotle (CMG) employees claim that the company made them work extra hours "off the clock" without paying them. It's a practice known as wage theft, and Chipotle is allegedly doing it all over the United States.
"Chipotle routinely requires hourly-paid restaurant employees to punch out, and then continue working until they are given permission to leave," according to the class action lawsuit known as Turner v. Chipotle. It's named after a former Chipotle manager in Colorado, Leah Turner, who claims she had to work without pay and was told to make workers under her do the same in order to meet budget goals.
Chipotle denies any wrongdoing and says the case has no merit. The company says it has paid all wages it owes employees.
Briana Alexander is one of the nearly 10,000 workers who have joined the lawsuit. She worked at a Chipotle in Miami, Florida for about a year, starting in the fall of 2013.
"Behind the scenes, [Chipotle] is not always what it seems," Alexander told CNNMoney. "I can say I have worked off the clock."
Alexander says she was forced to stay late numerous times at her store. If the workers weren't done by midnight or 12:30am, they were clocked out but told to keep working until the job was finished, even though they were no longer getting paid. Alexander also claims she worked 12-hour shifts on some days, but was clocked out after her shift time ended even though she actually continued to work on busy days.
Related: I'm 35 and living with my mom again to get by
Why this lawsuit is different
Chipotle has faced similar lawsuits before, but this is the first time there has been such a large class action case against the company for wage theft. As of Friday, 9,961 current and former workers have sent in consent forms to join the lawsuit.
They come from about every state that Chipotle operates in, according to lawyer Kent Williams of Williams Law Firm, who is representing the employees in Turner v. Chipotle.
"Chipotle has argued this is a few rogue managers who aren't following policy. Our view, especially given the number of people opting in, is that it's a systematic problem at Chipotle," says Williams.
Related: Chipotle under fire for illegal workplace policies
Problems this summer at Chipotle
Felipe Ricardo believes Chipotle continues to skimp employees on wages. He worked at a Chipotle in Danbury, Connecticut in the summer of 2016.
"I only worked nights because I have a full-time job during the day," Ricardo told CNNMoney. "Normally the schedule says you end at 11:30pm, but it's almost impossible to get out at 11:30pm."
He remembers working until 1 am one time. He told the manager to make sure his hours were adjusted to reflect the extra time. He recalls her saying, "Don't worry about it." But when he got his paycheck, the hours weren't adjusted. He complained, and isn't sure if the hours were ever changed. Working two jobs didn't leave him with a lot of time to scrutinize his hours, he says.
Ricardo has not joined the lawsuit. The 23-year-old has since left Chipotle to go back to school.
All hourly employees who worked at Chipotle from February 2012 onward were mailed a card in April asking if they wanted to join the class action case. Workers had to respond by July.
Related: As wages rise, CEOs are starting to complain
Problems at closing time
CNNMoney has also heard from dozens of Chipotle workers who claim to have personally experienced wage theft at their restaurants or seen it happen to others. Some say they were not paid for five or more hours a week.
The main complaints center around what happens at closing time. Workers are supposed to end their shifts between 11pm and midnight at many restaurants, but workers tell CNNMoney that they almost never leave on time.
Chipotle's system automatically clocks workers out by 12:30am in most places, but workers say they are often asked to stay longer to finish cleaning and preparing for the next day. Managers are supposed to adjust the hours, but workers allege that doesn't always happen.
Chipotle is trying to regain customers since an outbreak of foodborne illnesses (including E. coli and norovirus) made customers in several states sick last year.
Customers have placed "an extraordinary level of trust in us and have come to know that we will do the right thing when it comes to our food, our employees and our approach to running a business," said Steve Ells, Chipotle's founder and CEO, on the company's earnings call in late July.
Chipotle is expected to continue fighting the case.

Nearly 10,000 workers sue Chipotle for unpaid wages


Nearly 10,000 current and former Chipotle workers have joined a class action lawsuit alleging the company forced them to work 'off the clock' without pay.


Responding to national outrage over high prices, Mylan announced plans on Monday to launch a generic EpiPen at a 50% discount to the branded version of the life saving allergy treatment.
Mylan (MYL) said the generic EpiPen will be "identical" to the branded product in terms of how the drug is made and how the auto-injector functions.
The surprise move is the latest attempt by Mylan to silence the uproar ignited by a more than 400% increase in EpiPen prices. The launch comes ahead of looming competition from Teva Pharmaceuticals (TEVA), which is hoping to launch a generic EpiPen of its own as early as next year, pending FDA approval.
Mylan said it plans to launch the generic version in "several weeks" at a cost of $300 per two-pack carton, compared with $608 for the branded EpiPen.
Mylan didn't specify what discounts -- if any -- it is offering on this $300 generic price. It's also not clear why consumers would buy the more expensive branded EpiPen if, as Mylan describes it, it's exactly the same as the generic.
The company didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
Related: EpiPen CEO: Blame the 'broken' system, not me
Under pressure from angry parents and politicians last week, Mylan said it will provide instant savings cards worth $300 to patients who have to pay the full price for the drug out of pocket.
"We understand the deep frustration and concerns associated with the cost of EpiPen to the patient," Mylan CEO Heather Bresch said in a statement on Monday.
Like last week, Bresch again attempted to shift the blame away from the company and towards a health care system she has called "broken."
The "complexity and opaqueness of today's branded pharmaceutical supply chain" led Mylan to determine that "bypassing the brand system" was the "best option," Bresch said.
No matter who's to blame, Wall Street investors seem to like the latest move by Mylan. The company's stock rose 2% ahead of Monday's opening bell, continuing a rebound from the selloff triggered by the pricing controversy.

Under-fire Mylan to launch generic EpiPen for $300


Competition is coming in the EpiPen controversy -- from Mylan itself. The company that makes EpiPen surprised analysts on Monday by announcing plans to launch a generic version of the allergy treatment at a 50% discount.


Welcome to the final few days of August.
Here are the four things you need to know before the opening bell rings in New York:
1. Global market overview: Stock markets around the world are looking weak as the U.S. dollar strengthens.
Market moves are still being influenced by a Friday speech from Fed chair Janet Yellen, who signaled that an interest rate hike is still on the table for this year.
U.S. stock futures are sinking and European markets are declining in early trading. The FTSE MIB index in Italy is leading the way lower with a 1% drop. U.K. markets are closed for a holiday.
Most Asian markets are closing the day with losses, though the moves are relatively small. However, the Nikkei in Japan got a 2.3% boost thanks to a weaker yen.
Oil markets are having a bad day. Crude oil futures are down by nearly 2% to trade just below $47 per barrel. Prices have fluctuated wildly this year, hitting a low near $26 per barrel in February and then rebounding to trade above $51 in June.
Related: Fear & Greed Index
2. Stock market mover -- Herbalife: Shares in Herbalife (HLF) look set to jump after a stock market filing on Friday revealed that famed investor Carl Icahn had purchased another 2.6 million shares in the controversial nutritional supplements company.
Icahn now owns nearly 21% of Herbalife through Icahn Associates.
Herbalife has been under fire from activist hedge fund manager Bill Ackman since December 2012 when he accused the company of being a scam. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission subsequently opened a probe into Herbalife, which just wrapped up last month. Herbalife agreed to a $200 million settlement with the FTC.
3. Economics: The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis is releasing consumer income and spending data at 8:30 a.m. ET. The July data also includes some insight into inflation trends.
Related: The laptop's godfather dies at age 75
4. Weekly market recap: The main American market indexes took a dip last week, dropping further from all-time highs hit on August 15.
Over the five trading days, the Dow Jones industrial average and S&P 500 lost 0.9% and 0.7%, respectively. The Nasdaq had a more positive performance last week but still closed with a 0.4% loss.

Premarkets: 4 things to know before the open


Here's what you need to know about the markets before you start your business day.