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Quest Means Business
Six Jurors Have Been Seated In Trump Hush Money Trial; IMF: US Strength Will Power Global Growth; Sources: US Expects Israeli Response Will Be Limited In Scope; 6 Jurors Have Been Seated In Trump Hush Money Trial; Fire Engulfs Copenhagen's Historic Stock Exchange; U.K. Cracks Down On Explicit Deepfakes; Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg In The Spotlight. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired April 16, 2024 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:13]
RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: Four o'clock in New York, day two of Donald Trump's historic hush money trial, and in Israel, deliberations
ongoing the government's War Cabinet decides how to respond to Iran's attack.
I am Richard Quest in New York.
JIM SCIUTTO CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: I am Jim Sciutto in New York as well, but downtown outside the Manhattan Criminal Court in Lower Manhattan.
The first six jurors have now been seated after a dramatic second day in the former president's hush money criminal trial. In the courthouse, right
behind me, on the 15th floor, potential jurors are facing questions from both the prosecution and the defense, even their social media posts through
the years are coming under scrutiny.
The judge struck one potential juror from the pool since he called on Facebook for Trump to be locked up.
Trump's team wanted another removed for posting a pro-Biden celebration after the 2020 election, the judge declined to strike the potential jurors
saying the post did not implicate her ability to be fair.
Trump hit on some familiar points when he spoke before today's proceedings. He again attacked Judge Juan Merchan and the case itself.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Every legal pundit, every legal scholar said this trial is a disgrace. We have a Trump-hating
judge. We have a judge who shouldn't be on this case.
He is totally conflicted, but this is a trial that should never happen, it should have been thrown out a long time ago.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: That is not true, what Trump said, every legal scholar has not dismissed this case as unfounded.
Zachary Cohen is with me now.
Zachary Cohen, Trump has reportedly been, based on pool reports from inside the courtroom engaged throughout the second day of the trial, seeming to
ask questions being involved in various discussions, but there was a moment as we understand it, when the judge admonished Trump for potentially
intimidated one of the jurors.
Can you explain?
ZACHARY COHEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes, that's right, Jim.
So shortly after lunch, Trump's legal team was trying to challenge one of the potential jurors for cause, which would mean that there was reason that
they should the judge should remove them from the jury pool without having to use one of their ten preemptive strikes.
This juror came in and was forced to answer questions about one of their social media posts where it was essentially about a video about where there
were celebrating Joe Biden's 2020 election win.
And during -- while that juror was speaking, according to the people that were in the room, the reporters in the room, Trump was visibly and audibly
reacting to the words coming out of her mouth.
And so, ultimately the judge did decide that this juror did not need to be struck out from the case, but once she left the room. The judge spoke
directly to Donald Trump and said, he will not have any form of intimidation of jurors in his courtroom, and really speaking directly to
Trump, the defendant in this case for one of the first times that we have seen and making it very clear that he was issuing a warning about how his
courtroom was going to run going forward.
But more importantly, maybe Jim is that we have six jurors now seated for this trial. That means we need six more jurors plus about six alternates,
the judge saying that he may adjust the number of potential alternatives that are needed if he wants to.
But it seems like we are making progress on filling out that jury box. I was in the courtroom, though when these first six jurors were sworn in and
when the judge addressed them for the first time, as jurors the pool reporter in the room really describing this in detail, saying some of them
looked stressed as they walked in the jury box, one of the new jurors was biting their bottom lip.
One of the other jurors kept their eyes trained to the ground as they walked swiftly into the well and the jurors filed into the first row of the
jury box. They stood up, they raised their right-hand and they were sworn in officially as the first six jurors in this case.
And we are also learning a little bit more about who these jurors are, at least the first three that were sworn in today. The first seated juror, who
will be the foreperson on this trial is a man originally from Ireland. He works in sales and has some college education. He is married, but doesn't
have kids.
He reads "The New York Times" and "The Daily Mail" and watches some Fox News and MSNBC, which is important to note because we do know that there
were lot of questions asked about potential jurors and their media consumption habits. Where did they get their news? What are their views on
Donald Trump as a result.
Some of the other jurors that is seated, one is an oncology nurse who lives with her fiance, a native New Yorker. The other is a corporate lawyer
originally from Oregon so really even these initial jurors that are seated representing various different corners of the United States, and really a
jury of Donald Trump's peers in Manhattan itself, and they are going to be the ones tasked with rendering a fair verdict in this case. That is, of
course, once we get to 12 jurors seated and we get to around six alternates seated.
[16:05:10]
SCIUTTO: Yes, a cross section of the city to some degree, as we watch this.
Just briefly, Zach Cohen, before we go, have we gotten a sense of where this judge draws the line in terms of opinion versus bias because having an
opinion is not a problem to be on a jury. The question is can a juror be fair? What has met the standard and what hasn't so far today?
COHEN: Absolutely. We are getting a better sense of where Judge Merchan draws that line. The first juror who was challenged by Trump's team per
cause. Judge Merchan allowed them to stay on the case because this juror walked in and looked the judge straight in the eye and says, these Facebook
posts or any political views that I have will not impact my ability to render an impartial and fair verdict in this case.
But one of the jurors who was stricken from this case over social media posts that happened because they wrote that they want to see Donald Trump
in jail. The judge said that that was something that was a bridge too far. They had to strike that juror from the case, and then there was a
combination on the third juror who was stricken for cause, a combination both of the post and the content in social media posts, as well as the
jurors' demeanor when they were answering questions from attorneys.
So, there are a little bit of a variety there, but Judge Merchan making clear that social media content and what you're posting on social media
does not necessarily require you to be struck -- it does not necessarily reflect a bias. It is about their ability to render an impartial and fair
verdict in this case and whether or not he believes them when they tell him that they can't.
SCIUTTO: Zach Cohen, thanks so much.
Joining us now for more legal commentary, as we note that Trump has been described as sizing up the jury pool flipping through documents, conferring
with his lawyer.
Joining us now is Joe Miller, "Financial Times" legal correspondent.
He was inside the courtroom today.
Joe, can you describe Donald Trump's demeanor throughout this process?
JOE MILLER, CNN SPORTS: Yes. Well, as was reported yesterday, Donald Trump has once again been struggling to stay awake through proceedings today. We
should say its quite a warm day in Manhattan today and the courtroom is quite a bit warmer than it is outside and we are talking about a 77-year-
old.
But the proceedings were somewhat pedestrian for a good part of the morning as the court, as the judge continued to get the perspective jurors to
answer 42 questions each about their media habits and their profession, et cetera and educational background that was mentioned earlier, and it was
only just in the last hour or so when we started getting into the meat of the social media posts in the past, that these prospective jurors may or
may not have had published and where we had jurors stricken for a cause.
And there you saw Donald Trump really start to perk up, to smirk at some of the jurors in the box and he was even admonished by the judge for appearing
to murmur something at one woman as she left the well, and the judge was very clear that he wouldn't tolerate any more of that from Donald Trump.
So, quite subdued in the morning and a little bit more animated in the last hour or so.
SCIUTTO: No question. Joe, can you describe how the jurors reacted when they were chosen to be on what is a highly consequential case, an historic
one, a former president, a current candidate for president and let's be frank, there are also personal considerations here.
They will be involved in this, left to put their lives on hold for many weeks as they go through this process.
MILLER: They looked nervous. One of them bit her lip when she was sworn in. Some of them gaze down at their shoes, some tried to make eye contact with
the judge and avoid eye contact with the former president sitting a few feet away, but they reacted really how you would expect normal New Yorkers
picked to be a part of history, unexpectedly picked to be a part of history would behave.
And you know, you can understand why there might be a fair amount of trepidation from those who have been picked for this panel, because while
their names and addresses are not public, a lot of identifying detail about who they are and what their professions are and whether -- what law firms
they may or may not work for et cetera, things like that have been spoken about in open court this morning and this is a case where perhaps more
scrutiny on it than any we've seen for many, many decades.
So understandably, they did look nervous and so did some of the people who were brought in for further questioning and I expect that will be the case
going forward.
SCIUTTO: Yes, listen, as we know, Donald Trump himself, he has attacked judges. He has attacked family members of judges leading to gag orders and
other legal proceedings here, and that's why that moment when the judge admonished Trump for seeming to or attempting to, as he described,
intimidate potentially one of the jurors. It gives you a sense of what they might face down the line here from supporters perhaps as well. It is a
factor.
[16:10:14]
Joe, I wonder, as you saw the judge react as well to some of the objections put up by Trump's defense attorneys to some of these jurors, it did seem
based on reading some of the pool reports that the judge was getting somewhat impatient that he felt that the defense team was objecting in
effect to everyone. Did you see that as you were in the courtroom?
MILLER: And the judges been treading quite a careful line here and appearing not to show any frustration when it comes to the various
objections that are raised. He has really shown some frustration when it comes to dealing with Donald Trump himself.
As you mentioned earlier with admonishing him not to try and intimidate any of the potential jurors. He has made it very, very clear time and time
again, though, that he is not going to entertain any challenges that are based on whether one of the potential jurors does or does not agree
politically with Donald Trump whether they did or didn't vote for Donald Trump. He said that is entirely irrelevant.
What matters here is whether or not those potential jurors can pledge to be fair and impartial in deciding this case, and there were a number of
challenges related to the social media post that Trump's team had unearthed over the lunch break that were dismissed quite rapidly by Judge Merchan
because he said they did not seem to indicate that these potential jurors could not decide this case fairly. They simply indicated that they had
political views and in a pool of the ordinary New Yorkers, it is almost impossible that there will be people out there without strong views one way
or another on Donald Trump or on his political views.
SCIUTTO: Yes. And to be clear, we should note that that is standard, that's not unique to this case. There was opinion and there is bias jurors are not
required to have no political opinions regardless of attacks that may come from Trump and his team.
Joe Miller, the view inside that courtroom there on the 15th floor of the building behind me. Thanks so much for sharing.
QUEST: Let's turn to our business agenda. The IMF says the US will be driving global economic growth this year. The IMF's WEO, the World Economic
Outlook sees US GDP growing by 2.1 percent, far more than other countries, as you can see.
Yet, it is also warning of overheating and has urged the Fed to be cautious about lowering interest rates. The IMF also saw what are some signs the
inflation fight has stalled, geopolitical risks are threatening to push energy prices higher. As you can see, Brent is once again way up there from
where it was in March.
The IMF's chief economist, Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas joins me now. Pierre- Olivier good to see you, sir.
Let's cut straight to what the fund is seeking in terms of policy response from the United States. Are you saying all things considered that an early
cut in rates should not happen?
PIERRE-OLIVIER GOURINCHAS, CHIEF ECONOMIST, IMF: Well, thank you for having me, Richard? And yes, the US economy has been doing better. It has been
doing better in terms of economic activity, so we have revised upwards our projections for 2024 and also for 2025, but it also comes with a revision
upwards in inflation.
And when look a little bit more closely, what we are seeing in the US economy is strong growth, strong supply, strong productivity increase in
labor supply, but also strong demand.
US households are actually out there, they are consuming. We are seeing a lot of spending and right now, the edge might be on the demand side and
that is causing a problem maybe for price pressures going forward.
QUEST: So is that -- it looks like yours shot might have just frozen. Are you still there sir?
I think we may be having a problem with the IMF feed at the moment, just waiting -- giving it a second or two because I wanted to actually make the
point about whether or not they should cut rates. And indeed, Jay Powell speaking has said that a recent inflation data has clearly not given us
greater confidence, it will take longer to achieve.
We are back with the IMF's chief economist. We are back with you, sir. Thank you.
And now, I was just saying the Fed Chair said today, the recent data have clearly not given us greater confidence, and instead, indicated slightly,
it would take longer than expected to achieve confidence.
Therefore, bearing in mind what you've said, bearing in mind what Powell says and the data, it is unlikely to see a rate cut, I don't know, this
side of maybe December.
GOURINCHAS: While we still believe that you know, we praise the Fed for being very data-dependent.
[15:15:10]
They still believe that there are going to be bumps in this disinflation path, and maybe we see some of them materializing, so at this point is
still our baseline, that inflation will be coming down and the fed will be in a position to cut rates later in the year.
But, indeed, if inflation proves more persistent and this is what Chairman Powell highlighted in his speech today, then it might require delaying some
of these rate cuts later into the year or even further.
QUEST: As you look at the other G7 countries, they are all in sort of in some shape or form, the Eurozone, the UK, they are all in pretty much the
same sort of situation about this timing of the first cut because the moment you get that, so do you -- have you revised your thinking for those
countries, Eurozone and UK on the timing of the first cut.
GOURINCHAS: But there is a difference between the US and some of the other advanced economies, including the UK or the Eurozone here.
What we are we are saying in the is US is a strong component of demand behind the inflation forces. And therefore, that's one of the reason why it
might be --
QUEST: Now, we tried our best. Two tin cans and a piece of string, we will pay the electricity bill next time.
Let us continue. The world is warning against further escalation as Israel's war cabinet is meeting to plan its response to Iran's attack, in a
moment, we will talk about that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Israel's War Cabinet has met again, I think it is the fifth meeting since the Iranian attack, and obviously, the issue is Iran's large scale
unprecedented attack of the weekend.
There is very little guidance on what Israel is planning. Certainly, it is not the same as when the Iranians telegraphed what they were going to do.
US officials are telling us that Israel's response will be limited in scope, but Iran's president has warned of severe and painful response, if
Israel takes action against Iran's interests.
Ben Wedeman is in Beirut.
[16:20:00]
Ben, do you think the scope of the Iranian warning, the caveat also applies to actions that Israel takes against proxies like Hezbollah?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There is a definite risk and certainly, there are many who are speculating that perhaps Israel
will make some sort of symbolic strike on any run-in target, but the worry is that the main brunt of Israel's answer to Iran's strikes over the
weekend will be on groups like Hezbollah.
Today has been a very violent day on the border between Lebanon and Israel. Each side have conducted by my count more than ten strikes on the other,
the Israelis conducted, for instance, two drone strikes on two separate cars.
So far we understand that three fighters with Hezbollah were killed, one with the Amal Movement which is another Shia political party/militia that
operates in Lebanon.
The Israelis are claiming that one of them was a senior field commander, one of the Hezbollah people who was killed, but certainly, this would
indicate the tensions are rising on the border.
Now, we've seen them fluctuate in the past, but certainly, eyes have been watching much more closely what is going on in the border perhaps to see an
indication if tensions will rise after the Iranian strikes.
But we understand that there is real pressure on the Israelis to tone down the possibility of some sort of strike on the Iranians. The Egyptian
foreign minister spoke with his Israeli counterpart. Rishi Sunak, the British Prime Minister, spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying
its time for cooler heads to prevail.
The real worry is that if this gets to be a situation where each one is responding to the previous strike, this region could really slip down into
the abyss of a regional war, so the pressure is on Israel to moderate its response or many would prefer just not respond at all, take satisfaction
with how the strike, the Iranian strike really didn't end in any palpable results, any damage on Israel and perhaps move along and the hope is in
this part of the region that the focus will return on the situation in Gaza, which is as dire as ever, and only getting worse -- Richard.
QUEST: Many thanks joining us from Lebanon, in Beirut.
The US House Speaker Mike Johnson is facing increased threats to his speakership as he moves to advance a series of bills that will provide aid
to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. Congressman Thomas Massie says, he will join his colleague, Marjorie Taylor Greene in an effort to oust the
speaker.
Hardline Republicans are angry at Johnson's plan.
Jim Sciutto is with me.
He has been speaking to a variety of lawmakers. It is not enough, Jim, not enough to suffer the Trump trial. You've got to do double duty on this as
well.
Look Jim, the reality is Johnson knows that if he -- I mean, Taiwan and Israel are all okay, but if he pushes on with Ukraine, then he is going to
end up with his speakership in question.
How can you avoid that?
SCIUTTO: Listen, it is a trial of another -- right -- what is going on, on Capitol Hill right now. It is not clear because now you have two
Republicans in Greene and Massie saying they will issue this motion to vacate and they say they've got the votes to remove him as Speaker just a
few months after they removed Kevin McCarthy from the speakership.
It has been a drama for months here. What he needs now, what he would need now to survive are Democratic votes, and I actually asked a Democratic
lawmaker on the air just the last hour because Democrats are very focused on getting this aid passed, not just for Israel and Taiwan, but also as you
mentioned, crucially for Ukraine, might they consider a quid pro quo, which is yes, please put those measures on the floor as you promised.
By the way, they will pass with both Democratic and Republican votes if they go to the floor, Speaker, put it on the floor, would Democrats then
give Johnson the votes he needs to survive? Not clear.
There has been some discussion of that and he said there has been discussion. The problem, of course, Richard Quest is could a Republican
speaker survive based on some Democratic votes? Not clear that that is doable, right?
So, it is --
[16:25:03]
QUEST: That is an interesting question and almost impossible for him to survive. But, Jim, listening to some of the interviews over the course of
the day that you've been doing, this view from those who have been to Ukraine that the situation now is critical, that if the US and the pipeline
to get the stuff there would be many weeks.
I mean, we are now looking at a situation where Ukraine will slowly lose unless the US follows up. Basically, it is commitments.
SCIUTTO: They are already losing something, right? I have been told by Ukrainian commanders, they are losing fighters due to a shortage of
ammunition.
The Ukrainian president said they lost a major power plant because they didn't have the air defense missiles to defend that power plant. So there
are measurable costs to the delay in US aid already. They are also losing territory in the east.
So you can say without this aid, they will lose more, and by the way Republican and Democratic members of Congress and the speaker they know
that and yet, we remain in the same place.
It is a remarkable outcome and we should note, based on a tiny minority of Republican members of the House, they are the ones standing in the way of
this despite the fact that majorities of Republicans and Democrats support this aid. That is the situation were in.
We've been in it for weeks and months, Richard, and we may still be in it again.
QUEST: Jim Sciutto is in downtown, I am in midtown. We will both be back after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Hello, I am Richard Quest. More QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. We will tell you about Denmark mourning the destruction of its historic stock exchange.
There was a devastating fire there.
[16:30:04]
And Dubai is at a standstill, as a year's worth of rain falls in a matter of hours in a place that doesn't handle rain particularly well in normal
times.
We'll only get to after that the news headlines because this is CNN. And here the news always comes first.
The U.S. Supreme Court has heard arguments today over a law that's been used to prosecute hundreds of January 6th defendants. More than 350 people
have been accused of obstructing official proceedings when they stormed the capital. One of them argues the law is being misapplied and the court's
interpretation could affect the special prosecutor's case against Donald Trump, who is facing the same charge.
A short time ago, the U.S. House sent impeachment articles against their Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to the Senate. House
Republicans voted to impeach him in February on border security issues. The Democratic-controlled Senate is now expected to either quickly dismiss the
charges without a trial or conduct a speedy trial without a conviction.
The U.S. Justice Department plans to sue Live Nation, the country's largest concert promoter and ticketing Web site for breaking antitrust law,
according to a report from the "Wall Street Journal." The company's Web site crashed in 2022 preventing thousands of Taylor Swift fans from buying
tickets to her hour.
And the 2024 Paris Olympics, the flame has been lit in the place where it all began, Olympia in Greece where a crowd gathered. This is a symbolic
event. 10,000 torch bearers will help carry the flame to Paris in time for the opening ceremony on July 26th.
SCIUTTO: Jury selection is set to go on a bit longer here today at Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial. Six jurors have now been seated, another
six are needed, as well as perhaps as many as a half dozen alternates. Two potential jurors were struck from the case, at least in part, over past
social media posts expressing a strong political opinion about Trump. Trump said earlier that he should be on the campaign trail, not in court at all.
Republican strategist Shermichael Singleton is in Washington and he joins me now.
Shermichael, good to have you on.
SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good to see you, Jim.
SCIUTTO: Shermichael, I know that there has been a lot of guessing as to what the political effect will be of a presidential candidate on trial.
That presidential candidate being Donald Trump, and you and others have made the point that for some of Donald Trump's supporters nothing will
change their views of him to the negative.
But I wonder, as you see him now, in the courtroom is that damaging for Donald Trump? Is it awash or does it for some solidify his support?
SINGLETON: I think it's actually going to solidify his support, Jim, within the Republican Party. I think this actually will more than likely increase
his levels of enthusiasm and excitement, and I think it will also encourage those supporters to go out and do what you would like for supporters of
your candidate to do, which is to get active and try to activate other individuals within the party to also be as excited about voting for the
former president.
I think a part of Trump's message that this has been politicized has been effective within the base of the party. I think the question becomes,
though, Jim is where do those swing voters land in some of those battleground states. I'm not certain that the message of the trial will
activate those voters, but I do think a message consistent with themes of the economy, immigration, I think foreign policy now is also pertinent to
many Americans. I think those things could, could move some of those voters into Trump's corner.
SCIUTTO: Into Trump's corner. It's interesting because to play devil's advocate for a moment, not from my perspective, but I spoke to a recently
former Republican House member just last week who said that when voters, whether they be Republican or independent, when they are reminded of what
brought Donald Trump into this courtroom behind me here, and that is an affair with an adult film star, an alleged affair, a payment to that adult
film star to keep her story quiet prior to the 2016 election, when they're reminded of those details that that will have an impact. And I wonder if
you see that potential as well.
SINGLETON: I do understand that argument, Jim, and I would give some level of credibility and legitimacy to it. But I do wonder, Jim, if I could just
beg this question, I guess a hypothesis, if you will. Are there really people out there who haven't made their minds up about Donald Trump and his
character one way or the other, whether it's this particular issue or a litany of other issues?
[16:35:03]
I'm just not convinced, Jim, that there's this magical voter out there who just doesn't have an opinion one way or the other. I think people have
opinions. And so my question as a strategist, if those opinions are there, what are the points that I can really hammer home in terms of the
messaging, in terms of policy positions that I really know people care about that can move the needle one way or the other.
SCIUTTO: What about then campaigning, the work of campaigning and getting out into the field, meeting voters in swing states to try to get them to
vote for you and to bring them out and to raise their enthusiasm? You will have Donald Trump spending a good deal of his time for the next several
weeks inside this courtroom behind me. Joe Biden, as he was today, on the campaign trail. Does that have a political effect, a campaigning effect on
the former president?
SINGLETON: Yes, I think that matters, Jim, and candor obliged me to be truthful with our audience. You want your candidate out there campaigning
in some of those battleground states. Yes, the campaign will do a lot of that work. You get out the vote efforts on the ground, phone calling, door
knocking, campaign ads, radio ads, social media ads where permitted. But it is important to have the candidate out there talking about those issues on
the stump at large rallies, events that Donald Trump himself loves to revel in because he loves that adoration.
So now you have to figure out in this very unique situation how do you bring, I guess, the campaign to the courtroom in many ways? Now the
president, former president has talked a lot about this being a persecution, if you will. I would probably try to pivot. I would probably
advise the former president to again talk about the kitchen table issues, prices being high, gas prices likely going up again, Jim, this summer,
which is a part of the norm.
But I would make that a part of my message versus to continue talking about the trial. Minds are made about that in my view. I don't think you're going
to sway anybody there, but I do think that there's potential to remind people about their everyday struggles that could be salient.
SCIUTTO: Yes, that's a good -- that's a good point. He's got a bully pulpit, right? He's got the nation's cameras on him twice a day as he walks
into and out of the courtroom. He could certainly talk about more than his view of the trial.
Shermichael, good to have you on as always.
SINGLETON: Thank you, Jim. I hope you're staying cool out there in New York.
SCIUTTO: It's beautiful weather.
Coming up, we're going to return to Richard Quest for the latest on a sad story we've been covering closely, and that is just devastating floods in
Dubai, a year's worth of rain in just 12 hours. People there are now navigating flooded streets and buildings.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:41:11]
QUEST: In Denmark, they are calling the loss of the old Copenhagen's stock exchange a national disaster. A fire ripped through the four-centuries old
building on Tuesday. The distinctive spire, you can see engulfed.
Isa Soares reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ISA SOARES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Huge fumes of smoke billows into the sky as a piece of Danish history goes up in flames. On Tuesday,
rescue services tackle the raging fire, engulfing Copenhagen's old stock exchange. The fire was seen swirling around one of Denmark's most famous
landmarks moments before its historic 56-meter spire collapsed. Emergency services said the fire started in the morning and just a few hours later
nearly half the building had been destroyed.
JAKOB VEDSTED ANDERSEN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, GREATER COPENHAGEN FIRE AND RESCUE: This is a very historic building built back in 1620 by King
Christian IV so it's a very historic building in Copenhagen and a big part of the Danes' inheritance.
SOARES: Although there have been no reported injuries, about 400 years of Danish cultural heritage had been destroyed. But this didn't stop
employees, rescue workers, and members of the public from trying to rescue its artwork. According to CNN affiliate BT Denmark, Brian Mikkelsen, a
Chamber of Commerce director, was one of the people who helped rescue some of its historical paintings.
BRIAN MIKKELSEN, DIRECTOR, DANISH CHAMBER OF COMMERCE (through translator): Some of the most important things that mattered in history, for example,
Christian IV and Kroyer's paintings. But it is the building itself, which is an institution and in itself a signature of Danish business life for
over 400 years.
SOARES: Danish government owned Channel TV-2 said valuables were being rescued by 45 fighters inside the building but it's still stunned onlookers
who watched the flames burn with some comparing the tragedy to Paris' Notre Dame fire in 2019.
ELIZABETH MOELTKE, COPENHAGEN RESIDENT: This is our Notre Dame. This is our national treasure. I've been in there several times and it's a magnificent
building so it makes me feel very, very emotional.
SOARES: That emotion over the historic building would still be felt for weeks to come as the cause of the fire is yet to be determined. But with
Copenhagen's mayor saying they will do everything they can to replace its damaged heritage the long road to restoration won't be easy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: Notre Dame has proven amply that with the will and the money, it can be done.
A torrential storm dumped more rain on Dubai than it usually gets an entire year. In a place that doesn't handle rain very well to begin with, this was
serious stuff. Streets, homes and businesses flooded four inches of rain in 12 hours. It's around 10 centimeters. The severe weather forced DXB to
suspend operations at the airport for about half an hour.
Chad Myers is at the CNN weather center.
Now, what caused this? I mean, I've been in Dubai many times when it rains and things do not go well, but this was on a different scale.
CHAD MYERS, CNN WEATHER CORRESPONDENT: Four separate lines of weather move through the city. And that is a very big airport, by the way. No, it was
only down for a little short length of time, but 87 million people go through that airport. So this is a major, major story here. At 99
millimeters this is what the roads look like, and in fact this is what the runway looked like as well.
We saw some jets trying to move through this. All that turnaround don't drown nonsense I guess doesn't apply to big jumbo jets, but they were
certainly flying and driving through all of that water.
[16:45:04]
So here's Dubai. Watch one storm here, another storm develop, another in the water. And it's just one after another. One round of brain. So 99
millimeters in 12 hours. But get this. If you continue to look at this, there's not even a month that gets more than 35 millimeters all year long.
And in 24 hours, Richard, 159 millimeters of rain just in that city. Now, we are going to see some rain in parts of Iran and also into Pakistan over
the next couple of days from the same system. And in this area here that's going to pick up 100 millimeters throughout the desert. That's three
million people living in that area.
So we could watch out for some more flooding, especially when you start to get a little typography in his ground here in Iran and Pakistan.
QUEST: I'm grateful, Chad Myers. Thank you, sir.
MYERS: You're welcome.
QUEST: Creating deepfake porn in England and Wales could soon be illegal. Their plans to tighten on regulation in just a minute.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Creating deepfake pornography could soon become illegal in England and Wales. The U.K. government plans to outlaw any sexually explicit
deepfake that's made without subject's consent and offenders would face a criminal record and a fine and be jailed if they actually shared the image
with someone else.
Clare Duffy is in New York.
This is, if you will, another of the incremental measures being taken by regulators, lawmakers to deal with this growing problem.
CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: Yes, Richard, I think what we're seeing here, there's so much concern about various potential implications of
artificial intelligence, but I think what we're seeing here is lawmakers and regulators really trying to address the most potentially harmful
applications of this technology. And AI has made it so much faster, so much easier to create these kinds of non-consensual sexual images and videos of
specific people.
So this U.K. law I do think would be a first step in addressing this issue, making it illegal not only to share these images but just to create them in
the first place.
We've seen a number of these kinds of actions from the U.S., from the E.U. proposing legislation in the U.S. that would make it illegal or that would
offer the opportunity for a victim of this to sue the person who created this kind of content. In the E.U. it's a similar law to what we have in the
U.K. here, would make it illegal just to create deepfake pornography.
[16:50:06]
I do think it's interesting that what we're seeing in the U.K. with this proposed legislation here is going after the creators of this kind of
content, but not necessarily, at least not yet, the platforms where -- that enable people to create this kind of deepfake imagery. I do think that is a
potential opportunity for future regulation here. You know, on one hand, you have the people who are creating it, but what are they doing about the
platforms that are enabling people to create this kind of content.
QUEST: The issue surely is the enforcement of it. I mean, it's an entire raft of laws on the books about revenge porn and everything else. But it's
all about how you -- how you execute and actually bring people to justice over this.
DUFFY: I do think that's a huge question here, Richard, how do you prove who was the creator of this kind of content, and if they haven't shared it,
how do you find it in the first place? And look, this is moving so quickly that regulators also need to try to move quickly to keep up here. We've
seen everybody from Taylor Swift, an international pop star, to high school students around the world being victimized, being harassed by this kind of
content.
And so I think it is, you know, promising that lawmakers are making a start at this, but certainly more needs to be done here.
QUEST: Clare Duffy is in New York. Grateful as always here. Thank you.
So day two of the Trump hush money trial has drawn to a close. Manhattan's top prosecutor Alvin Bragg is in the spotlight and the media glare. He's
overseeing the case against Donald Trump and his office has faced a surge in threats ever since he indicted the former president with 34 felony
counts last year.
CNN's Jason Carroll now introduces us to the man who is the first ever to criminally prosecute a former president.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Alvin Bragg could be described as a man with a few notable first behind his name.
ALVIN BRAGG, MANHATTAN DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Good afternoon.
CARROLL: He's 50 years old and in 2022 he became the first black Manhattan district attorney. And now he's the first to prosecute a criminal case
involving a former U.S. president, Donald Trump.
Bragg had a prestigious early start. He attended Trinity School, an elite private school on Manhattan's Upper West Side. But back in his
neighborhood, he says he was often wrongly stopped by police as a teenager. He gave insight into his experiences during his campaign for office.
BRAGG: When I think about police accountability, I think about the NYPD stopping me three times at gunpoint as a kid. When I think about violent
crime, I think about having a knife to my neck, a semiautomatic weapon to my head, and a homicide victim on my doorstep.
CARROLL: Bragg's interest in law started early. He graduated from Harvard Law. A 1995 article in the "Harvard Crimson" credited him for moderating a
discussion between black and Jewish students, calling him the anointed one for his ability to reconcile diverse people and clashing views.
Bragg's resume lists a series of prestigious offices. He served as assistant attorney in the Southern District of New York, a top lawyer in
the New York attorney general's office, a professor of the New York Law School Racial Justice Project. That's where he represented the family of
Eric Garner. The family sued the city after a plain clothed officer put him in an unauthorized chokehold after he was caught selling loose cigarettes.
Garner's death in 2014 sparked outrage and protests nationwide.
Bragg credits his interest in police reform to his years growing up here in Harlem, where he says once again he was unfairly stopped by police as a
child. His mother was a teacher, his father, a social worker, according to "The New York Times."
(Voice-over): And Bragg now taking on his highest profile case to date, his case against the former president underway.
BRAGG: These are felony crimes in New York state. No matter who you are, we cannot and will not normalize serious criminal conduct.
CARROLL: Bragg, who is a Democrat making good on a campaign promise to make Trump a priority.
BRAGG: I'm ready to go wherever the facts take me. I believe we have to hold them accountable.
CARROLL: Trump has called his trial political persecution and has repeatedly directed his anger at Bragg, someone he's called an animal and a
degenerate.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The racist Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg who is presiding over one of the most dangerous and
violent cities in the United States.
CARROLL: Jason Carroll, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: Allow me to update you on the markets which closed just 54 minutes ago. Nice and choppy, but it all stayed in the green which is interesting.
And when all is said and done 63 to the better, on the big board, it's 60 points up after the Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell's comments it'll
take longer than expected for the Central Bank to cut rates. The 30, don't often see United Healthcare at the top, but there you are today up a very
strong 5 percent.
[16:55:02]
JPMorgan and Goldman down also as competitive bank, Bank of America, reports a drop in profits. Apple is near the bottom after the CEO comments
that he wants to invest more in the Vietnam market.
Talking of that Vietnam market, we'll be in Vietnam next week. QUEST MEANS BUSINESS will come from Vietnam as we are off on the road and on our
travels again. But I'll give you more details on that as we get closer. In the moment, profitable moment after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Tonight's "Profitable Moment," it's very tempting to opine the profitable moment about the jury selection. But there'll be plenty of time
for us to get to that in the course. Instead, let's talk about the IMF and their latest economic report. Well, the cat is out the bag. It's now quite
clear that the IMF that says the U.S. is potentially overheating and therefore cuts in interest rates immediately would do no good in their
quest to bring down inflation.
And so whether it's in September, October, November, or later in the year the IMF still expects a cutting rates, but not just yet. And Jay Powell
confirmed it pretty much when he said that there needs to be greater confidence and that clearly inflation was not coming down as fast, which
sets the scene for the annual meet or the spring meetings, I should say, that are taking place in Washington where we will be on Thursday and Friday
of this week.
It is a very tricky moment. Everybody wants a rate cut. If only to give some relief after such high rates after many years. But now is perhaps just
not the time. It depends on how you explain that to people, whether or not the markets can take it in its stride.
And that's QUEST MEANS BUSINESS for tonight. I'm Richard Quest in New York. Whatever you're up to in the hours ahead, there you have it, I hope it is
profitable. "THE LEAD" coming up next.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper this hour.
The challenge at the U.S. Supreme Court that could upend cases. Some 350 Capitol riot defendants' cases. The issue, a single obstruction charge, the
debate and arguments today that could even impact Donald Trump's January 6th criminal case.
Plus the rather dramatic delivery on Capitol Hill today. House Republicans sending two articles of impeachment against Department of Homeland Security
Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over to the U.S. Senate for trial.
END
