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Quest Means Business
Brazilian Police: U.S. Swimmers Not Robbed; Trump: "They Will Call Me" Mr. Brexit"; Britain Is Open for Business; Baby Born In-Flight Awarded 1 Million Air Miles; Gawker.com Shutting Down
Aired August 18, 2016 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RICHARD QUEST, CNN ANCHOR: The bell has rung. The gavel has gaveled. The market is closed. The Dow is up just 21 points on a bit of a choppy sort
of day. It was a strong gavel. Trading is over. What a day it has been. Today is Thursday, it's the 18th of August.
Tonight, what happens in Rio doesn't stay in Rio. Brazilian police say U.S. swimmers lied about being robbed.
Make America Great Britain again. Donald Trump says he wants to be Mr. Brexit.
And literally baby on board. An in-flight bundle of joy turns into a great big bundle of air miles. I'm Richard Quest. We have a corker of a show
tonight. And I mean business.
Good evening. Startling developments in Rio as the police in Brazil say Ryan Lochte and the other three U.S. Olympic swimmers should apologize to
the people of Rio for falsely saying they had been robbed at gunpoint. A short time ago the police said the swimmers were not robbed as they have so
far claimed. The police say one or all of the athletes had committed acts of vandalism at a gas station where the swimmers say they were robbed.
Two of the swimmers were pulled off a plane on Wednesday night, trying to leave the country. Their passports were confiscated and they'll not be
able to leave the country until they've met with the police. Ryan Lochte, who is already back in the United States, still insists they were indeed
robbed. Although he's changed some of the details of the incident, blaming the inconsistencies on stress and trauma. The police disagree. The police
say Lochte was drunk and angry and his story is simply not true.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FERNANDO VELOSO, BRAZILIAN CIVIL POLICE CHIEF (through translator): The surveillance video images that also has the statements from the taxi
driver, the security guards, shows there was no kind of violence against the athletes when they were at the gas station. No physical or verbal
violence that could lead that they could think they are being victims of a robbery. No, there was not such a thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: So far the companies which are sponsoring the men, particularly Ryan Lochte, have not commented, although we just heard from Speedo which
is one of Lochte's sponsors. Speedo say that they are monitoring events but have no further comment to make at the moment. His current sponsors'
deals with the mattress maker, Airweave, Speedo, Polo Ralph Lauren. So far only Speedo says it won't be commenting, but they are following the
situation and has a policy of not to comment on ongoing legal investigations. If Lochte is found to have lied about the incident, he may
have trouble keeping these sponsors or indeed gaining new ones. Well, you can see how this thing is going. It's a real mess. In Rio, a spokesman
for the games has downplayed the controversy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARIO ANDRADA, SPOKESMAN, RIO 2016: We have to understand these kids were trying to have fun. They came here, they represented their country to the
best of their abilities. They trained for at least four years. They competed under gigantic pressure. I understand that these issues are under
investigation. I cannot go much further into details. But let's give these kids a break. You know, sometimes you take actions that you later
regret. They are magnificent athletes. Lochte is one of the best swimmers of all times. They had fun. They made a mistake. It's part of life.
Life goes on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: Give the kids a break. Shasta Darlington is in Rio. Shasta, the police, you were listening carefully to the press conference, they could
not be clearer that there was no robbery, there was no equivocation, no was possibility. They even justified the security guard pulling the weapon,
saying that he was facing four very strong young men, and they want an apology.
SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right, Richard. But I'm afraid that this press conference will end up raising more questions
than it answers. As you said, their main position here is that Ryan Lochte lied. Their taxi wasn't pulled over by robbers posing as policemen to
steal their belongings. And instead there was an altercation at a gas station, and that these four swimmers could be eventually charged with
vandalism and with falsifying testimony.
Yet when that issue of the gun came up, they were clearly raising red flags around the world. There was a security guard who was armed. According to
the police, he pulled his gun to try and calm down a very angry and disturbed Ryan Lochte. But the policeman also said that during this
altercation at the gas station, the swimmers ended up paying some money for the damages so they could walk away. They paid I believe it was a $20
bill, a total of let's say $50, not very much money, but when you've got a gun and an exchange of money, this is going to raise questions. And I
don't think we should overlook that, Richard.
QUEST: Right, but it raises questions. I mean, he said/he said, what role the gun played. But even allowing for those questions about them paying
money and possibly fearing because of the gun, there is a discrepancy, Shasta, between the story they told and the story the police now say they
believe happened.
DARLINGTON: Absolutely Richard. I think that's why a lot of people are arguing. Forget the legality of it. If these athletes, and especially
Ryan Lochte, because he's the one who went on NBC claiming to have a gun pulled to his forehead and then getting down as he was ordered, again the
robbers posing as police. If they lied and damaged property, and one of the accusations is they peed against the wall, they urinated against the
wall of a gas station. If they did this, this is not very Olympic behavior and at least they should be sanctioned for that, Richard.
QUEST: Are their medals in any threat here? Because they won the medals fair and square, but arguably there's more to winning the medal than what
you do in your sport, it's the Olympic oath about the way you behave.
DARLINGTON: Well, certainly, Richard, Olympic athletes are held to a higher standard. A higher standard than most other athletes in any other
arena. I don't think we have an answer to that question yet, simply because there have been so many twists and turns here. Who to believe?
What the final decision will be here? I don't think this is actually going to be resolved very quickly. And understandably, the IOC can't make any
decision until the legalities of this have been really ironed out, Richard.
QUEST: Shasta, I'll be talking to Danny Cevallos, our legal analyst, in just a second, but I want to ask you first, with your knowledge of the
Brazilian police and the prosecutorial system, will we get to the bottom of this, do you think?
DARLINGTON: I think we will, Richard. But I think that there are perceptions here that maybe don't agree with the international perceptions.
Security guards do use weapons. It isn't out of the ordinary to try and talk your way out of something. Oh, we get in a car crash, let me give you
some money and we'll walk away. Then can you later argue that that was kind of extortion. This will be the big question. I think for a Brazilian
audience this doesn't seem as extraordinary as it might to an international audience, Richard.
QUEST: Shasta Darlington, who's watching events in Rio this evening. Shasta, keep us informed, please.
Danny, we have to remember that we're dealing with two jurisdictions, the United States and Brazil. If they broke the law in Brazil, they will be
liable for Brazilian penalties?
DANNY CEVALLOS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Of course. That's always been the rule. Americans often labor under a misconception, that if you commit a
crime abroad, that the State Department will send Black Hawk helicopters to get you out of jail. The State Department is more than direct on its
website and will tell you that they will not get you out of jail. They won't pay your bail. They won't argue your case in a foreign court. If
you commit a crime abroad as an American, you can be subject to the criminal laws there. But that being said, this is one of those cases that
they should -- the Brazilian authorities, I'm not entirely sure they've completely made their case yet.
QUEST: Well, you heard the press conference, you heard a lot of what the police said. The police basically said there was no altercation. But
before we come onto he said, he said, Ryan Lochte is the in United States, not that this is an arrest issue, but I know viewers will want to know this
question. The police said they wouldn't be arrested. But extradition on this matter would be unthinkable.
CEVALLOS: Extradition is a process that's governed by a treaty between Brazil and the United States. And the crime first has to be extraditable.
It has to be within a list that is actually enumerated on the Brazil/U.S. treaty. But beyond that, it has to be a crime that is punishable in both
countries by potential imprisonment exceeding a year. So it depends very much on what Brazil chooses to charge, if they do at all, these swimmers
with in terms of a crime. If they charge them with something like vandalism which may be a citation, that's not going to make it. However,
falsifying reports in Brazil, as I understand it, has a potential incarceration of three years.
QUEST: Now you see that's the point here. Let's ignore about the peeing on the wall and the vandalism, to some extent that's high jinx as a result
of alcohol.
CEVALLOS: I've heard.
QUEST: I'll take your word for it. I've not had the experience myself. But the long and short of its the lying. It's the going on television and
saying, guns were put to our head. We were on the floor. Whether perjury or not, it's unsavory.
CEVALLOS: It's not perjury, because it wasn't a sworn statement. But yes, in the United States it's also a Federal crime to lie to authorities. But
thinking like a defense attorney, you have to ask what exactly where they aware of, the swimmers, when they gave that statement? Now, look. If you
practice any amount of criminal law on the prosecution or the defense side, people give -- witnesses, victims, give inconsistencies. And they give
self-motivated statements as well.
QUEST: Danny. Danny.
CEVALLOS: I hear what you're saying.
QUEST: There was no reference so far from those swimmers to altercations at gas stations.
CEVALLOS: But consider this. As far as they knew, they went to a gas station, and maybe they did urinate in the bushes. Maybe they did rip down
a poster. And then as far as they know, they tell get to a cab and somebody is sticking a gun in their face and demanding money. You know,
one of the things I took issue with the Brazilian authorities, is them saying there was absolutely no robbery.
However, it's possible that somebody may have stuck a gun in their face and demanded money. Do you know what we call that here in the States, Richard?
We call that robbery. So it seems a little disingenuous at this point that Brazilian authorities are completely ruling out the idea that these
swimmers perceived themselves as being robbed. Now, did they get other facts a little bit flubbed? It seems that may be the case now. But this
is an hour by hour development. There's new video emerging every minute.
QUEST: You're good at is your job, sir.
CEVALLOS: So are you, Richard.
QUEST: Thank you. When we come back, Donald Trump has given us nicknames, crooked Hillary, lying Ted and little Marco. Now he's got a name for
himself, which nobody understands why he's taken it, Mr. Brexit, in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Call him Mr. Brexit. Donald Trump sent out this tweet on Thursday with absolutely no explanation. "They will soon be calling me Mr. Brexit."
The man who is running to be called Mr. President has previously praised the U.K.'s vote to leave the European Union. You remember, back in June he
says Britons took their country back, just like we will take America back. So maybe that's what he meant. But why just on a random Thursday in
August, at 5:11 in the morning, to suddenly say "They will soon be calling me Mr. Brexit"? We need somebody who actually understand Trump-speak.
Joining me now is Mark Preston, executive editor. Good to see you, sir. What did he mean by that? Call me Mr. Brexit or is everybody wondering?
MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICS EXECUTIVE EDITOR: You know what's great about Donald Trump, is that he comes out, as we know, and he'll make these very
broad statements and he'll offer no explanation. In this case, "call me Mr. Brexit," he was somebody who supported it, OK, and he said nobody else
supported it. A lot of people didn't think it was going to pass, and it passed. I think he's saying, look, Brexit passed, I'm going to win in
November.
QUEST: Bizarre though.
PRESTON: This is a bizarre campaign with a very bizarre candidate.
QUEST: Now let's talk about the bizarreness of the campaign. The last 24 hours and the decision to appoint Bannon and Conway, we'll hear from Conway
in just a moment, how annoyed is the rest of the Republican establishment?
PRESTON: Ok, so two things for our viewers all around the world. Two different characters, one, Steve Bannon runs a website breitbart.com. Very
conservative, ultra conservative, in some ways prints stories that are not necessarily true. And then you have Kellyanne Conway, establishment, a
pollster, analytically driven. Her job is going to travel with Donald Trump and to try to keep Donald Trump from being Donald Trump, with
allowing him to be Donald Trump. And when I say that is she wants him to be comfortable, Richard, but she needs to rein in his message.
QUEST: Let's listen to what she said on "New Day" this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KELLYANNE CONWAY, TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANAGER: I think we're going to sharpen the message. And we're going to make sure Donald Trump is comfortable
about being in his own skin, that he did not lose that authenticity that you simply can't buy and a pollster can't give you. Voters know if you're
comfortable in your own skin. And let him be him in this sense. If he wants to deliver a speech, if he wants to go to a rally, if he wants to
connect with a crowd in a way that's spontaneous, that's wonderful, that's how he got here, how he became the nominee in large part, Alison.
I tell you what Donald Trump needs. He needs people who are like him in this sense. You have to be unapologetically, unflinchingly unafraid of
Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton and all the Clinton campaign means. Because we feel like we're up against a major machine here. And we -- you
know you need people good or for bad who are at least willing to, as we like to say, leave it all on the field. Give it our best shot.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: What do you make of that?
PRESTON: Well, I think she said is absolutely right. Everything she said is absolutely, positively right. But can she get Donald Trump to keep his
message honed together?
QUEST: Does that mean, by all means be inflammatory about crooked Hillary or whatever, but not to make comments such as criticizing Federal judges,
attacking Gold Star families, or the second amendment comments about alleged assassination of candidates?
PRESTON: Of candidates or quite frankly, using a good portion of these major rallies just to attack the media. Attacking the media does work for
Republicans if you do it in small doses. He chooses to give big heaping doses of attacking the media. However, by doing that, he's not allowed to
talk about -- and by the way, he's doing this to himself -- not talking about policy positions.
QUEST: I heard Bill Bratton, the Commissioner of police in New York talking about Donald Trump. And he actually said he basically would -- he
believes, it would be dangerous if Donald Trump. He bases it on a lack of policy depth. And that seems to be a different aspect to sort of the
incendiary bombs, the verbal bombs that he throws out. Where is this going, where is the criticism of Trump coalescing?
So just to sort of Bratton's point, I'm not concerned about the depth so much, as I think that I would say it's more important to see, is he
incendiary, is he quick tempered? You can bring along a whole administration that will understand foreign policy, domestic policy,
anything that you need to know. The question is, are you going to listen to these advisers? Donald Trump has shown he's not willing to listen to
his advisers. But to the point of bringing in Steve Bannon, the gentleman who came with Kellyanne Conway, very inflammatory, very much an enabler of
Donald Trump.
So that's where the concern in the U.S. amongst Republicans, that, oh my gosh, they're going to let Donald Trump be Donald Trump and this guy is
going to enable him.
QUEST: In a sentence, did the campaign get more interesting yesterday?
PRESTON: Oh, yes. I mean, it gets more interesting every day, doesn't it?
QUEST: Good to see you.
PRESTON: Thank you, sir.
QUEST: The European markets and how they traded. No, you can't touch the bell. The European markets and how they moved, they were all sharply
higher. The best games were seen in Xetra Dax, up a half a percentage point. Investors were reacting to the U.S. Fed minutes done the day
before. And signs that the U.K. economy isn't doing so badly. Data from the United Kingdom, let's talk about the U.K. It shows that the economy
is, perhaps surprisingly, outperforming the expectations. If you look at some of the numbers, let's start with retail sales, which are so important.
The latest numbers on retail sales show it's up 5.9 percent year-over-year change.
Growth in all sectors, spending was up too. And that pushed sterling higher. Now of course a lot of this, I mean Brexit is only a few months
old, but the mere fact that you've got this sort of expenditure in retail sales is considered extremely encouraging. Then you've also got numbers
jobless benefit claims. If you look at those claiming job seeker benefits, down 8,600. There'd been expectation that that number would rise. It's
the first drop since February.
And finally, the FTSE, the London market, the main barometer, the FTSE, which had fallen very sharply immediately after Brexit. If I just get my
pen out, you'll see. There you've got the Brexit fall. You had a fall earlier, on the results of that. It comes back up again. Then you get the
Brexit fall. But look at how the market rallied up, it's now way up here at 68, 69. Ten percent for the year so far.
Sterling is still off around 10 percent since the June vote. Well that's sterling off that's encouraging foreign investors and foreign visitors
particularly to travel to London. The mayor of London couldn't be happier. You've got good economic numbers, a strong market, and now more foreign
visitors on the back of a weaker sterling. Nina dos Santos reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NINA DOS SANTOS, CNNMONEY CORRESPONDENT: For the de Michele family, visiting Britain from California, Brexit has had its benefits.
THERESA DE MICHELE, AMERICAN TOURIST: It is definitely cheaper.
DOS SANTOS: have you found prices reasonable because the pound has fallen against the dollar?
DE MICHELE: It does. The prices definitely are reasonable.
DOS SANTOS (voice-over): The fall in the fall in the pound after the UK's decision to leave the EU mean that their dollars now stretch further. And
their holiday is more affordable.
DE MICHELE: We have tickets to go see a play in London on Friday night. We are going to go see the Harry Potter Tour, the studio tour on Sunday
night. We're touring around London today. Going to buy a bunch of souvenirs.
DOS SANTOS: Last year, over 3 million Americans visited Britain, spending almost $3.4 billion, more than any other nationality. And thanks to
favorable exchange rates, the hope is more will be tempted to come.
DE MICHELE: This is our first visit. But I would definitely come back as a result of that. We would like to come back again. We're thinking about
either Christmas or spring for spring break.
DE MICHELE, THERESA'S SON: Or maybe for my birthday in the summer.
DOS SANTOS (on camera): Since the Brexit vote, the pound has fallen 14 percent against the dollar. That's made London landmarks like these a lot
cheaper. A family of four will save $10 on their tickets to Westminster Abbey, where William and Kate got married. A ticket to Buckingham Palace
now costs $11 less than before. And that means more money to spend at afternoon tea at the home of the Queen. And the cost to see the city from
my top of the London Eye isn't quite as I watering if you consider that it used be $16 more expensive. That means this time booking early isn't good
for the budget. As Ed Blakesley, also from California is finding out.
ED BLAKESLEY, AMERICAN TOURIST: I made the mistake of booking a lot of this stuff just before the vote for Brexit. So he paid a little bit more
than I could have if I had waited. But, yes, I think it will help bring tourism.
DOS SANTOS (voice-over): Keen to counter the uncertainty over the country's future, London's mayor is determined his city shows them a good
time.
SADIQ KHAN, LONDON MAYOR: What's really important is that the world knows London is open. We're open for visitors. We're open for talent. We're
open for innovation. We're open for business. We'll carry on being the best place in the world to come for a holiday.
DOS SANTOS: Which means for Trans-Atlantic tourists sterling slump may end up being Brexit's silver lining. Nina dos Santos, CNNMoney, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: The tourists are here, but as for inward investment from the United States, that's a different matter. Those are greater, more long term
issues than a two-week vacation in the British capital.
Antonia Romero is the U.K.'s consul general in New York and the DG of economic and commercial affairs. It's her job to convince American
businesses to spend their dollars and send them to Britain. She joined me a moment ago. I asked, when you look at Brexit, which is what everybody's
asking about, how is she justifying and what arguments is she making.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANTONIA ROMERO, U.K. COUNCIL GENERAL IN NEW YORK: My message to anyone inward investors into the U.K. is that Britain very much remains open for
business. We are an open and competitive economy, fundamentally strong, underpinned by favorable tax and labor law. We have a talented and skilled
workforce. We have the communications and transport infrastructure, and a thriving financial services and professional services hubs to support
businesses.
QUEST: Right. And you had that before June the 23rd, and you have it after June the 23rd, except people will say to you, ah, what does it mean,
how will my business be affected by what the agreement or what happened in the referendum results?
ROMERO: So I've been spending a lot of time in the past few weeks talking to business here in New York and in Chicago and in Los Angeles and
elsewhere, to understand properly from U.S. businesses what are their priorities going forward for the U.K.'s relationship with the EU. And the
key thing is to understand what they need in order to ensure that they maintain their investment in the U.K. And it has to be said that Amazon
this morning, have just announced 1500 new jobs in Essex in their fulfillment center. Three weeks ago McDonald's announced 5,000 new jobs to
be created in the U.K. by the end of 2017. So it's looking promising.
QUEST: Just to push on this, when they say to you, ah, but consul general, a priority for us is to ensure that the U.K. maintains open access or free
market access to the single market, what do you say back to them?
ROMERO: It will be for the prime minister to decide what the priorities are in terms of the deal that we seek to do with the EU. I'm not going to
speculate now on what those priorities are going to be. My job is to understand what U.S. businesses would like to see from that deal and to
ensure they'll be taken into account.
QUEST: And as much as you can be discreet, diplomatically indiscreet. What are their concerns.
ROMERO: On TV.
QUEST: yes, on TV. Well why not, we're amongst friends. What are they telling new businesses?
ROMERO: The key thing is obviously they do want to stay in the U.K. as much as possible. They want us to ensure that we are going to allow them
to access global markets. They're seeking an indication from the government that we are going to remain an open and highly competitive and
fundamentally strong economy. And we are doing so. And the Office of National Statistics announced this morning that the unemployment rate has
continued at 4.9 percent. Employment is at a record high. So the UK economy is both fundamentally strong and proven to be resilient.
QUEST: and further on the other side of this coin, the U.K. is -- because as the Prime Minister has said, Brexit means Brexit. The U.K. is going to
have to negotiate a free trade deal of some sort with the United States for a quid pro quo in the opposite direction. Now, that is also going to be
very difficult. Donald Trump says he'll do it immediately. One imagines Hillary Clinton will have you at the back of the line.
ROMERO: We obviously are talking to all stakeholders, governments, et cetera, about what the nature of our trading investment relationship will
be. We're very heartened by the number of our friends and allies across the globe who have said they're keen to do a trade deal with us. The prime
minister will make the decision over what trade deals we'll be prioritizing.
QUEST: You have to admit one thing. You never expected to have to be -- no one really expected quite so quickly everything to be quite so
different, did they? Compared to say a year ago, two years ago, five years ago. It's all looking very different now.
ROMERO: Well, my job is to focus on making a success of Brexit and that's very much what I'm doing.
QUEST: So, you know the old saying, "Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.: The Rio swimmers seem to be in more than
hot water. We'll talk about it after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Hello, I'm Richard Quest. There is more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS in just a moment. When a woman boards a plane in Dubai and lands in Manila
with a newborn baby. Oh, and the baby is a millionaire with air miles under her belt.
And Peter Thiel, Hulk Hogan's tag team victory, would appear to be complete. Gawker is shutting down for good.
Before that, this is CNN. And on this network, the news always comes first.
The police in Brazil say four U.S. Olympic swimmers who said they were robbed at a gas station in Rio were not victims of crime. This
surveillance video does not show it, but police say one or all of the athletes actually vandalized the gas station.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FERNANDO VELOSO, BRAZILIAN CIVIL POLICE CHIEF (through translator): The surveillance video images that also has the statements from the taxi
driver, the security guards, shows there was no kind of violence against the athletes when they were at the gas station. No physical or verbal
violence that could lead that they could think that they are being victims of a robbery. No, there was not such a thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: The world is learning more about the child who was been caught up in Syria's civil war. These pictures are circulating online, a stark
reminder of the conflict. The boy's name is Omran Dagnish, believed to be 5 years old. He survived an airstrike on his home on Wednesday. Russia is
supporting calls to stop the violence. Activists say Moscow though is actually behind the bombings.
Amnesty international say 18,000 people have died in Syrian prisons over the last five years. It interviewed dozens of survivors from Syrian
detention centers. The victims say they face severe beatings, electronic shocks and other inhumane treatment.
Three bomb attacks targeting Turkish security forces in the East of the country. It killed 11 people and wounded nearly 300 others since
Wednesday. According to Turkish government officials, that they were Kurdish militants for the string of violence.
Huge flooding in the U.S. State of Louisiana, is now the worst natural disaster in the country since hurricane Sandy according to the Red Cross.
More than 20,000 people have been rescued so far. At least 13 people died in the flooding. In some parts of the state almost 80 centimeters of rain
fell in less than a day.
Ten thousand firefighters are working to contain wildfires in Southern California. A red flag warning is in effect which indicates high winds and
temperatures will continue to plague the region. Officials say they have no idea how many structures have already been burned. More than 80,000
residents have been warned to evacuate the area.
Let's return to top story. Police in Brazil say four U.S. Olympic swimmers were not robbed at a gas station in Rio. We've already heard the legal
side of it. But what actually is alleged to have happened? And what the police say there was one man who is there. He's CNN's Nick Paton Walsh
who's at the gas station. Nick, what happened and where?
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Richard, welcome to the scene of the probably not really a crime, depending on who you're
listening to. So over here, in the CCTV, that flap would have been down so you won't recognize it now, but you probably recognize this alleyway.
Because this is where we saw two in that CCTV video of the athletes running up and down here. Now it's getting a little dark so bear with me. But
we're told by a police source and also by the owner of the gas station, talking to Brazilian media, that a poster like this was torn off from here.
We're also told that this may have been the spot where some of the alleged urinating actually occurred. Kind of a funny decision, frankly, for these
athletes.
And just down here, that toilet is so close to see. Forgive me if you can see it. It's a little bit of a media jamboree here, everyone trying to
explain this bizarre situation to their respective audiences. But back out here is where the scene develops in CCTV. You will remember, it's 6:00 on
a Sunday morning. They seem to have been out partying all night. They go for what seems to be the wrong taxi over here and instead realize that's
not their car. Their car is in fact parked over here instead.
Remarkably, the driver is approached by what we think is a security guard. That's what the CCTV shows. And they have a conversation. The driver gets
out. Now it may at that point that according to the Rio police chief a firearm was pointed at the swimmers. We then know things probably calmed
down quite a lot, because money seems to have exchanged hands, according to the Rio police chief. Now when the police turned up, they didn't seem
really to find that much of a situation there they had to deal with. Bear in mind, Richard, though while we talk about this, we have not heard, yet
again, from Mr. Lochte or the three other swimmers, James Feigen, Gunnar Bentz, and Jack Conger. We haven't heard a response to these new
allegations from Brazilian officials.
But it's been difficult to observe this evolving over the past days, simply to see the confusion sparked by seeing these men returning to their Olympic
Village at 7:00 in the morning, about an hour after the video footage was filmed here. We're going back there, after an armed robbery, still in
possession of high value items, according to the judge who issued the search and seizure warrants, looking unshaken.
QUEST: Nick, why did the security guard approach them in the taxi? Was it because he had seen the vandalism in the alley, and the public urination?
Or do we have any reason why they didn't just -- what prompted that, rather than them just getting in the taxi and going off?
WALSH: As what we've seen, imagine this, it's 6:00 in the morning, some pretty loud and what the Rio police chief says is drunken Americans turn
up, they urinate behind your building, tear a poster off the wall, get in a taxi. It seems potentially the taxi driver was spoken to by the security
guard saying, hey, we've got to sort this out. You can't do that. And then the taxi drive didn't drive away. And it was later that the police
actually turned up.
Again, we haven't heard the Americans' version of events here, but what is so odd about all of this, Richard, and I still really don't understand.
You know, what happens here was a little bit of vulgarity, poor behavior, not what you would expect allegedly from athletes of that kind of profile
representing America here. But not some serious crime necessarily, even the Rio police chief saying at worst a false statement, not just something
you're going to get charged for.
What's odd is that this all began with the story from Mr. Lochte that he had been held at gunpoint by people dressed as police by holding a gun at
his temple. A very detailed and elaborate explanation of that night. And we're also really probably talking about an hour of their time here that
may have lasted at this gas station. And it's turned into this bizarre international incident of athletes being torn on planes, search and seizure
warrants from courts. The team with the top of the metals league here in the Olympics having some of their most high process people, their
character, drawn into question by Brazilian authorities. They're word against the Brazilian magistrate. A remarkable situation based on some
very odd and minor event that appears to have occurred here.
QUEST: Danny Cevallos, one of our legal analysts, an extremely good defense attorney, he suggests, you know, Lochte and co, might have seen
that security guard and, that you know, it's almost potential extortion. The gun is shown. They're told to pay up for the damage, and they may have
interpreted that as a robbery.
WALSH: Yes, that's possible. But at the same time, if you are looking for a full explanation of events from Mr. Lochte, according to what we've heard
from him, he didn't talk much about what happened for that moment. He left out the incident which was alleged to have happened here by Brazilian
authorities, if that is indeed the case.
We also see the security guard, not really dressed the police uniform, which was alleged to have been worn by the robbers who had the weaponry.
Bear in mind, Richard, this is 6 a.m. after a pretty substantial night of celebration. You can think of everybody for slightly egregious behavior,
and maybe not remembering things particularly well. But still it's difficult to marry up in an area of grayness exactly where Mr. Lochte said
he saw things happen and what was it the police are saying.
QUEST: I'll guarantee you one thing, Nick Paton Walsh, when we sent you on assignment to Rio you never expected to be at a gas station talking to
public urination by the end of the Olympics.
WALSH: Yes.
QUEST: Thank you. Nick Paton Walsh in Rio, at a gas station, talking about vandalism and public urination.
In the past few minutes the U.S. State Department has commented on the situation. The State Department spokesman says he's not aware of any
conversations between us and Brazilian diplomats about the Olympic swimmer incident. I'm not sure that takes us one jot further.
Born at 30,000 feet, kudos for the cabin crew who helped turn a baby's dramatic arrival into a smooth landing. We'll talk about how that baby and
how that baby is now a millionaire. QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: A baby who was born in mid-flight has been given a surprise true birthday present, a million air miles. Now, the baby was born on board a
Cebu Pacific plane heading from Dubai to Manila. Most carriers, just to put this in perspective, allow pregnant women to fly until roughly 36 weeks
in the pregnancy, between 28 and 36 weeks you need a medical letter.
We're not sure at what point of the pregnancy the mother was. But she was flying, she suddenly and unexpectedly went into labor. She was taken to
the front of the plane, by the way, where she gave birth. And then she was brought back to her original seat for the plane to land. Swabbed in baby
clothes was the passenger baby, from other passengers, and then got a million GetGo miles from Cebu.
Now, as we look at India as well, India -- the plane was diverted to a hydropath, there were two nurses among the passengers who actually assisted
in the birth. Ultimately, though, the plane was headed to Manila where the passengers got there eventually, about nine hours later, no one seemed to
mind, by the way. Cebu congratulated the mother and the daughter and says, the cabin crew acted with the utmost professionalism and efficiency. Thank
you very much.
s16:45:00] Between the ding dongs and the crying baby, that must be a cue for our Mary Schiavo, who joins us now, our CNN aviation correspondent.
Bearing in mind, Mary, the rules, the 26 weeks with a doctor's note, 38 weeks, complete ban, roughly give or take, it's surprising that women do
still give birth on planes.
MARY SCHIAVO, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Yes, although in most cases they're premature. In most cases the moms go into labor before their due date.
And of course no government agency, nobody really collects accurate data on it. But in most cases, and most newspaper reports say that it's like
between seven and eight months where they go into labor early.
QUEST: Right, so first question. What nationality -- I mean, obviously the parent, obviously the baby will always take the nationality of the
parent. So that's a given. But do they get any other nationality of the operator of the aircraft, the registry, the origin, the destination?
SCHIAVO: Yes, actually. The answer is they can. And it depends on two things, whether the nation they are over or if they're in territorial
waters of the nation recognizes citizenship by right of soil or by right of blood. Now the United States is right of soil. If you're above the United
States or within 12 miles of its border or any of its territories, you can have citizenship. That simple. For example, the U.K. is right of blood.
You take it of the parents. And if you're really in no man's land and you're over the ocean and you have nowhere else to claim citizenship,
there's a treaty. And the treaty says you take the nationality of the carrier. Where the carrier is flagged. So that will be your country, if
you're born literally at sea.
QUEST: Wow. So if you -- I mean, this is extraordinary. So if you happen to be over the Pacific and you're on Quantas, you get Australian
citizenship?
SCHIAVO: Yes, if you don't take your parents' citizenship. If for some reason you can't or don't want to or whatever, then the treaty says, yes,
you get the citizenship of the carrier if you have no other citizenship to claim.
QUEST: on the other side of this, it's extraordinary because all the flying I've done, I can honestly say I don't think anybody's given birth.
I've had a couple of heart attacks. Not me personally, other passengers have had heart attacks. And it's not unknown for passengers to drop dead,
is it?
SCHIAVO: Well, no actually, surprisingly, that happens a lot more than people giving birth. Women having their babies on a plane is like a once a
year or once every other year event. But sadly, a lot of people do. That happens more than once a year that someone dies on a plane.
Mary Schiavo, joining me. You've obviously been very busy today. I'm just trying to work are out when the last time you must've had to look at the
treaty on births over oceans. I'm guessing it's a while ago.
SCHIAVO: 1984, we had one that happened back then. Actually, there was a good story where a mom gave birth coming into Washington, DC, and so the
baby's name included Dulles in honor of the airport. The baby was fine.
QUEST: Excellent. Thank you very much, Mary, wonderful to see you.
Incidentally, this whole story is part of my newsletter, or the QUEST MEANS BUSINESS newsletter. We had an excellent response to yesterday's debate
over Uber and the English test. Now we may have one whether you think a million miles is sufficient for giving birth on a plane. Some might
suggest you should get -- that babies back. Probably in business class knowing my bad luck. You can go to CNNMoney.com/Quest, where you can
subscribe.
We're closing down, that's the word from one of the most famous celebrity blogs in the world. It's Gawker. And we will gawk at gawker's demise,
after you've made, created, and innovated.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. Gawker.com, gawker's media flagship website, is to shut down next week. It comes after Univision agreed to buy the
pining digital news startup at a price of $135 million. Dylan Byers is in Los Angeles for us this evening. Dylan, look, they're shutting down
because they're basically bankrupt because they lost a defamation case brought by Hulk Hogan. Is this the final, if you like -- is this the
denouement of not only gawker.com but the whole Gawker enterprise?
DYLAN BYERS, CNNMONEY SENIOR REPORTER: Well, it certainly looks like that now. Nick Denton, the founder of gawker, all of the gawker media
properties, including gawker.com, said it could have a second life. But for now it's going to shut down. It will continue to exist online, but no
new articles will be published. The rest of the Gawker properties are going to go to Univision, which bought gawker for $135 million.
But of course, when we think of Gawker we think of certain sensibility. We think of and aggressiveness, a brashness, a willingness to sort of uncover
uncomfortable truths to traffic in gossip, to anger people. That is not something that you can see happening at a place like Univision. That was
something that was truly unique to Gawker under Denton. So at least in the immediate future, unless someone comes in and take over the gawker.com
website and sort of tries to revive it, yes, gawker.com is very much done.
QUEST: What has Univision bought? $135 million is a chunk of change for buildings, computers, and a few staff.
BYERS: Well, that's quite right, although in addition to the flagship Gawker website, Gawker Media does have some valuable properties. It has
Deadspin, a sports property. It has Jezebel property, largely targeted towards female readers. It has blogs that are geared towards car
enthusiasts, blogs that are geared toward tech enthusiasts. These are platforms that matter and platforms that people do read and do care about.
Univision, of course is a company, you look at all of the companies that they've acquired or bought stakes in, they are really trying to gear
themselves towards a younger, more millennial generation of readers. They think that those brands will help them do this.
QUEST: And in terms of Gawker riding again, well first of all, do we know what happens to the $135 million that Univision has paid? Does that go to
Nick Denton and there be goes to pay the humongous damages that were awarded to Hogan?
BYERS: Well, that's absolutely right. So the price being $135 million, then you have $140 million that's supposed to go to Hulk Hogan. You going
to have to think at least a fair chunk of that change is indeed going to go to those fees. How much of that Nick Denton walks away with, we don't
know? For the time being, Nick Denton has said he will continue to try to work for contributing to the open and free exchange of ideas on the
internet, but that he is getting out of what he called the news and gossip business. So it's not like -- if he stays true to his word, we won't be
seeing Nick Denton go to another site or staying in the news business.
QUEST: Dylan Byers joins us from Los Angeles. Thank you, sir.
A quick look at how the markets traded as they came to a close on Wall Street. The Dow Jones -- and it's interesting to show you the markets as
we finish the day. Because you really got up, down, up, down, all day, which coming on the back of the Fed's minutes being released yesterday,
gives you some indication of the uncertainty, but at least the calmness perhaps, that the markets are -- it looks worse than it actually is in
terms of the amount of movement within that graph. The NASDAQ closed up a fifth of a percent and oil was up some 3 percent. We will have a
Profitable Moment after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
Tonight's Profitable Moment. Now, you know as well as I do that there is nothing I like least than to hear the wailing sound of a baby, especially
in -- thank you -- in business class. But what a joyous sound it must have been aboard Cebu Pacific Airways when the baby was born on the flight from
Dubai to Manila. The mother unexpectedly and suddenly went into labor. They moved her to the front of the plane, into a more commodious area. She
gave birth, and then they put her back in her original seat. Mother and baby are doing well. The baby is called Haven and the baby now has a
million frequent flier miles in GetGo, the program.
I asked Michael O'Leary of Ryanair what he would have done with a baby and mother that gave birth on his plane. After all, maybe he would have
charged them extra for the extra passenger in the baggage. No, he said, babies always fly free on Ryanair, never missing the chance for the advert,
and then he said he would give the mother a year's free flying for the ordeal of being born on his plane. All of which seems to be like a rather
good idea, if you can give birth on a plane, which you can't, so I don't get the free miles or indeed the free flights.
And that's QUEST MEANS BUSINESS for tonight. I've Richard Quest in New York. Whatever you're up to in the hours ahead I hope it's profitable.
We'll so it again tomorrow.
END
