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Quest Means Business
RFK, Jr. Suspends His Campaign Endorses Trump; Markets Rise As Powell Signals Lower Rates Coming; Report: Crypto Dominates Corporate Election Spending; Bus Crash In Nepal Kills 27 Indian Nationals; Kamala Harris Accepts Nomination In Rousing Speech; Harris Promises To Be President For All Americans. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired August 23, 2024 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:17]
PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: Nothing to complain about on this summer Friday, as you see, the scouts there closing out which was a very
good week, stocks enjoying a Friday treat from Jerome Powell.
Those are the markets and these are the main events.
The Fed chair says the time has come to begin lowering interest rates as a weakening job market outweighs the risks associated with inflation.
RFK, Jr. suspends his presidential campaign and endorses Donald Trump.
And beauty and boundaries at Yellowstone. You will not believe this, how spiking visit is it are numbers are leading to dangerous encounters with
wildlife at this majestic park.
Live from New York. It is Friday, August 23rd. I am Paula Newton, in for Richard Quest and this is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
And good evening.
The time has come for a new path says the US Federal Reserve chair. Jerome Powell signaled interest rate cuts are on the way as he addressed the
Kansas City Feds Jackson Hole Summit. He said the worst of the inflation is likely behind the US and that Fed members are now much more focused on
supporting that all important labor market.
Investors are excited by the remarks as you can see there. I mean, everything up better than one percent. The Dow closed 450 points higher as
you can see. The NASDAQ really capturing the limelight there, up almost one-and-a-half percent as Chair Powell continued to strike an optimistic
tone.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEROME POWELL, US FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN: Listen, the time has come for policy to adjust, the direction of travel is clear and the timing and pace
of rate cuts will depend on incoming data, the evolving outlook and the balance of risks.
We will do everything we can to support a strong labor market as we make further progress toward price stability.
With an appropriate dialing back of policy restraint, there is good reason to think that the economy will get back to two percent inflation while
maintaining a strong labor market.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: CNN economics commentator Catherine Rampell is with me.
Good to have you with us on what was a pretty good Friday for investors and likely people who are not investing in the market, but are looking to buy
the house.
So I want to ask you, is this it? Is this the Fed pivot that so many people have been waiting for?
CATHERINE RAMPELL, CNN ECONOMICS AND POLITICS COMMENTATOR: It has been put off for a long time, but it does look almost certain at their next meeting
in September. If you look at what market expectations have been, they have been pricing in a rate cut in September for a while. And then the Feds
Minutes there. The minutes from their most recent meeting also implied that.
And today, Chair Powell basically said it was a done deal. I think the only question is not whether they will cut rates in September, it is by how much
and that will depend on what the next Jobs Report and other set of economic data show.
NEWTON: And Jerome Powell has always been very clear saying that he is data dependent, and yet some of the data that we've had in the last few weeks,
it has not all been very clear cut in terms of where this economy is taking us.
RAMPELL: Yes, we've gotten some mixed signals. I feel like the last few years have been nothing but mixed signals and then stuff gets revised in
the moment.
I mean, in the moment its always kind of hard to decipher what is going on in the economy, but it has been really confusing in the past couple of
years.
And we had kind of a weak jobs report in July that came out at the beginning of this month and we have had consumer spending then very strong,
so it has been hard to know what -- how to interpret all of this, I guess I would say and there are signs, however, that inflation is back on track,
certainly, Powell indicated that today that he said that they have more confidence than they had before, that we will get back to our two percent
target, which is what they are looking for.
The bigger risk as Powell and other Fed observers, I guess had put it is not so much that inflation gets out of control again, it is that the job
market starts to not just lose steam, but potentially get a lot worse.
And we are not in that situation now, but that's the balance of risks right now, is to use Chair Powell's terms.
They are less worried about inflation, they are more worried about the job market. Those are essentially the two things that they are supposed to care
the most about and they have to trade them off against each other.
[16:05:11]
NEWTON: Sure. In terms of this cycle and what is in the year to come, I am still not so sure how transformative this will be for Americans and that is
because we don't know how many interest rate cuts there will be.
I am wondering how worried you are about real interest rates right now as we continue to have decreasing inflation, and yet we just showed a graph of
the Fed rate. It is incredibly high still.
RAMPELL: Yes, it is still very high. If you look at the various kinds of loans and credit products that are benchmarked off of the Fed's rate its --
the Fed funds rate, its benchmark interest rate. I am thinking things like mortgages, credit card, internet credit card loans, auto loans, et cetera.
Some of those have already priced in some rate cuts.
Like if you look at mortgages, for example. Mortgage rates have been coming down more or less since April, even though the Fed's benchmark rate hasn't
budged, but these financial institutions are kind of forward-looking and so they have already priced some of that in.
The question is how much lower will they go? And how quickly will the Fed move? And that sort of interplay between those expectations of what the Fed
is going to do and what the financial institutions actually do matters a lot.
So, at this point, we don't know how much more they are going to cut. I think I would probably rule out the idea of getting back to the ultra,
ultra-low interest rates that we saw circa 2020 through 2022 anytime soon. Those were historically unusual.
In fact, the period after the Great Recession, financial crisis of 2007- 2008, for many years, interest rates were at historically low levels. So I think we should assume that -- or it is reasonable to guess, I should say,
that rates are going to come down, but they are probably not going to come down to how rock bottom they once were, which means a lot of people may be
locked into their current mortgages because it will be more expensive to move.
NEWTON: Yes, and we did see some signs of life on the American housing market, but we will continue to watch that data closely.
Catherine, have a great weekend and we are going off on a high note there. I want to point out. Thanks so much. Appreciate it.
RAMPELL: Have a great weekend.
NEWTON: Thank you.
Now, Powell's address today had a much different tone than when he spoke two years ago as inflation was rising.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
POWELL: Reducing inflation is likely to require a sustained period of below-trend growth. Moreover, there will very likely be some softening of
labor market conditions while higher interest rates, slower growth and softer labor market conditions will bring down inflation, they will also
bring some pain to households and businesses.
These are the unfortunate costs of reducing inflation, but a failure to restore price stability would mean far greater pain.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: Just the words give you chills, don't they? Now, his warning that day spooked the markets. The Dow fell just more than a thousand points.
Think about that.
Today's shift is potentially signaling though as I was just speaking with Catherine about, a new era. It will mean lower interest rates on everything
from cars, homes, to credit cards. Those with money in savings accounts though may need to change their strategy.
Ken Fisher is the founder and executive chairman of Fisher Investments and he joins me now.
This is the money part that everybody or everyone is interested in.
Your warning, ignore the Fed or more specifically, do not bet on the Fed. Okay, so we get that advice out of the way. What are you betting on now,
given where we are in markets and more importantly, where you think the market might be going?
KEN FISHER, FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN, FISHER INVESTMENTS: First, it is a bull market. It has been a bull market. Were just six-tenths of one
percent away from all-time highs in the S&P 500.
The world market on a cap weighted basis is just behind that. The fact is, as I've long said, developed world markets are highly correlated. The
election year of a president in America is positive 83 percent of history since the beginning of accurate data in 1925 when the first half of a year
has been positive as was this year, there has only been one exception in history when the back half wasn't positive and that was long ago in 1948.
The fact is the economy is doing okay. The market is doing well. The election renders falling uncertainty from here as we finally get a winner
and clarity about what politics looks like moving into the next cycle, and that's all bullish.
The process of trying to outguess the Fed or think what Powell is going to say next, or will this way or that way is a little bit like somebody trying
to outguess who wins or loses in musical chairs when the music never really stopped goes out for the next thing.
[16:10:10]
And then there is the next thing and the next thing and the next thing.
NEWTON: We hear you, and I do want to go back to your analysis in terms of the presidential election, but I also want to ask you, your stat on the
bull market. That sometimes makes people nervous, right? They are thinking, we are near a top, were going to be out of top. Don't I take some money out
of the market at this point? Perhaps do some rotation.
FISHER: Well, first, most people just had to bejabbers scared out of them as the market plummeted between mid-July and early August, and whenever
that happens, emotions run high. People tend to have greater belief in reported fears and all of that resets psychology lower.
The markets hit endless new highs in a bull market. This bull market which started in October of 2022, oh, by the way, while the Fed was still in the
process of hiking rates 75 basis points at a crack month after month and then continuing after that, this bull market is two years old.
There is almost never a bull market that hits its first birthday without getting to a second, but this is just not a bad time and the fact that
people are afraid of it being too good is bullish, not bearish.
That's fear. Fear is a good thing.
NEWTON: Understood, and I do want to get back to that election cycle. So, it is something that you call the perverse inverse. Can you please explain
that?
FISHER: Sure.
So we have a very long history of presidential elections and stock market returns. So it is easy to analyze what happens in the first half of the
year, back half of the year. If Democrats win, if Republicans win.
When we elect a Republican because people tend to think Republicans are more pro-business and anti-regulatory and all of that stuff, markets tend
to be above average in the election year, particularly the back half of the election year.
When we elect a Democrat, the reverse happens, but then when we get to the inaugural year, those two flip-flop and in the inaugural year, having
elected a Democrat, we get above average returns significantly and with Republicans bold leverage, why? Because people tend to think the Democrats
anti-business, Republican pro-business. Republican pro-free market, Democrat more pro-regulatory.
And the fact of the matter is, the American system is set up to make presidents not be able to do as much as some people hope and other people
fear and in the inaugural year after people have gotten all excited or depressed about what got elected as it would impact business, the surprise
is the president can't do as much as people might have hoped for or feared.
And therefore, the Republican year tends to be disappointing in the inaugural year, the Democrat in the inaugural year tends to be a positive
surprise because they can't do but many fear they might to hurt business and free markets.
NEWTON: You know, in terms of the analysis itself, some people have been afraid that the bull market is dominated too much by tech, too much by just
a few industries, or even just a few companies.
Do you see that as a problem? I know recently more -- there has been more diversity, shall we say in some of the gains on the market in terms of
sectors.
FISHER: I see that from the moment it was first uttered as ignorance. But the fact of the matter is, this bull market has not been as broad as many,
but it has actually been broad.
The easiest way to see that is to look at all of the countries of which they are most of them in the developed world, not all, but most, that don't
have really any tech at all that has hit all-time highs in this bull market.
That could not happen if it was a narrow market led by just a few tech stocks.
Now it is true of course, the tech has done better than other sectors and you can see that on a daily basis, almost on every single day, not every
day, but almost every day. The market is up, tech is up more; when the market is down, tech is down more. That's just techs leading, and if you
believe the bull market, as I do, you believe that tech will continue to lead.
But two-thirds of the stocks this year are up nicely in total around the world. That's a fact that most people just don't seem to be prepared to
accept.
NEWTON: I take your point on the ignorance apart, guilty as charged. We will ride the bull and hopefully our stomachs, who will hold.
Ken Fisher for us. Have a great weekend. Really appreciate it.
FISHER: Thanks for having me, Paula.
NEWTON: Now, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. suspends his independent bid for president and endorses Donald Trump. We will discuss how it could shift the
race with just 74 days to go. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:17:37]
NEWTON: Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has suspended his campaign for president and is now endorsing Donald Trump.
The Independent candidate just spoke in Arizona. Kennedy spent much of his speech attacking the DNC, accusing it of using anti-democratic means to
stifle his campaign.
Now, you'll remember he initially ran as a Democrat. Kennedy also attacked the party on free speech and foreign policy grounds.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR. (I), FORMER 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Three great causes drove me to answer this race in the first place, primarily, and
these principle causes that persuaded me to leave the Democratic Party and run as an Independent and now to throw my support to President Trump.
The causes were free speech, a war in Ukraine, and the war on our children.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: Now, a source tells us Kennedy plans to campaign with Donald Trump. The exact impact of RFK's decision has still been very unclear for this
election.
Trump's team has long worried that he pulled directly from their base, but the share of the vote that Kennedy took up is in fact rather small. You see
it there, just two percent, that's from a recent CBS survey.
Remember though this is an incredibly tight contest, it could result in just tens of thousands of votes making the difference. And that's in those
key battleground states.
Alayna Treene is in Las Vegas for us where Donald Trump was just campaigning. The former president, in fact, will be going Arizona this
evening.
Alayna, I have to say you've had your work cut out for you the last couple of hours, just trying to parse this announcement and again, what it will
mean for Donald Trump.
So fill us in here. I mean, firstly, he has suspended his campaign, but what more are you learning about exactly what this will mean for the Trump
campaign going forward?
ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Look, Paula, this is time coming. They had been seeking this endorsement. They had been pushing for this endorsement.
And really, key people within Donald Trump's orbit had been crucial in some of the back-channel talks, to really getting RFK, Jr. to end his campaign
and to announce that he was supporting the former president.
You actually heard RFK, Jr. allude to that during that press conference.; He was saying that he had met with Donald Trump on two different occasions
over the summer where they talked about unifying and having some sort of unity ticket. Of course, that's not -- this is an endorsement for Donald
Trump, not a unity ticket, let me be clear, but that is what RFK, Jr. had said.
[16:20:10]
But I am also told that Donald Trump, Jr.. Donald Trump's eldest son was really crucial in trying to get RFK, Jr. to end his campaign and to endorse
him, as well as Tucker Carlson and a donor you, Omid Mallek, someone who had previously donated to RFK, Jr.'s campaign, had a close relationship
with him, but also is very close to people within Donald Trump's campaign as well.
All of this to say is that you're exactly right. They really do see this as being beneficial to Trump's effort here and then particularly, in certain
battleground states, where you do see RFK, Jr. still having some level of support, of course, not at all anywhere close to the polling numbers that
you see Harris and Trump enjoying, but enough that if Trump and his team could siphon off enough support away really, you know, take some of those
voters that RFK, Jr. had and pull them over to the Trump side, that it could potentially make a difference in an election that is expected to be
as close as this one is.
Now, moments ago, Donald Trump was behind me speaking at that podium here in Las Vegas, Nevada and he thanked RFK, Jr. for his endorsement. He said
he is a great guy, he said that he is going to have a lot more to discuss on this later, kind of hinting to how Kennedy may be joining him in
Arizona.
We actually can report now according to our conversations with Trump's team that RFK, Jr. is expected to appear alongside Donald Trump at that Arizona
rally later today.
So a lot of big changes and I think a big thing to keep in mind is, this entire week, Donald Trump had has been hitting the trail, holding different
events in from battleground states really trying to draw a contrast with Kamala Harris' campaign and also try to steal some of the attention away
from her, something that is very hard to do because of course, it was the Democratic National Convention and really a lot of that attention was on
Harris, not Trump.
But today, I do think, this was a big deal for him. It was a welcome endorsement and something that they are very happy to be touting later on
this evening.
NEWTON: Yes, and it could make a difference on the margins as you're speaking, Alayna, we were showing that event in Arizona, upcoming. You now,
tell us that RFK, Jr. indeed will be there. I do wonder what JD Vance, his vice presidential pick, thinks about if these are crowded campaign events
now, going forward. But hey, we will wait to see what they say at that rally in Arizona.
Alayna Treene for us on the campaign trail. Thanks so much. Appreciate it.
Now crypto firms are responsible for nearly half, think about that, half of all corporate election spending this cycle.
This according to a new report from the consumer advocacy group, Public Citizen, the industry has spent $119 million in donations to crypto focused
PACs.
Now Donald Trump is leaning into crypto. He promoted his own upcoming crypto initiatives. He is calling it the defiant ones on Truth Social
Thursday. Kamala Harris, though, is also reaching out. Her campaign says, she will back measures to in fact, grow digital assets.
Rick Claypool is the author of Public Citizen's Report on crypto donations, and he joins me now from New York. Good to have you with us.
So this strategy makes sense, right? Money spent by super PACs are going to elect pro-crypto candidates. And I should add, it is from any candidate,
any party. Just do you -- are you pro crypto?
My question for you is, what does crypto want from Washington?
RICK CLAYPOOL, RESEARCHER, PUBLIC CITIZEN: So it seems like what crypto wants from Washington is less enforcement and friendly regulation, and they
are spending eye-popping sums to try to make this happen.
The top spending crypto companies, Coinbase the crypto exchange company and Ripple, which is a company that has a stable coin both have faced serious
enforcement actions by the Securities and Exchange Commission and both are also strongly advocating for having rules transfer to, I think what they
are seeing as a more lenient regulator and the concern here, they are spending, you know, over $119 million. That's almost half of all of the
corporate money that has gone into the 2024 elections that if our elected are falling over themselves to try to do with this industry wants because
they're spending so much, that is a really concerning signal for the interest in protecting the public from crypto scams and frauds and other
problems that we know that this sector is rife with as people are sort of using these cryptocurrency as speculative assets in ways that can be highly
risky.
[16:25:14]
NEWTON: And we've had our fair share of those incidents and you pointed out the statistic that stunned me, right? Nearly half, 48 percent of all
corporate money, direct corporate spending into these campaigns, you point out that this is unprecedented, but how do you believe this could actually
change campaigns going into the future? Because we've got this presidential campaign clearly, it is affecting it, but then we have down-ballot races,
right? We've got the race for the House. We've got the race for the Senate.
And each state obviously, at times being able to impose their own regulations or not.
CLAYPOOL: That's right. And so the main super PAC that the crypto corporations are funding, it is called Fair Shake. It is targeting races,
you know, both Democrats and Republicans to try to just elect pro-crypto candidates.
So, this is a different strategy than what we've seen. What we've seen, usually corporate election spending is favoring particular political
parties the second biggest political spender -- corporate political spender in 2024 is Koch Industries, which many people know from the billionaire,
Koch brothers who have been very prolific political influence spenders.
But they have only spent a fraction of what crypto has, $28 million at last count. So a distant, a distant spend.
So this strategy of just sort of focusing on just raising this enormous sums and then just essentially presenting candidates with the choice of,
okay, you're going to support our policies or we are going to buy attack ads that are going to potentially end your political career is just a
massive, leveling up of just corporate power playing and political influence in elections.
It is also so far been quite effective. So they have -- they spent $10 million against Katie Porter in the California primary. They spent millions
against Jamaal Bowman in New York and they've spent millions supporting Jim Justice, the Republican candidate in West Virginia, right?
So they are demonstrating their effectiveness. Politicians are falling in line, changing positions and if other corporate sectors are watching and
seeing that, oh, this strategy is pretty effective. Now, if I am Big Oil, if I am tobacco companies, if I am for profit persons, I am looking and
saying, here is a way to get what I want in Washington.
So after Citizens United, this is already 15 percent of all of the corporate political spending that happened after the 2010 Supreme Court
ruling allowing --
NEWTON: Yes, and that is the key, that court case opened the door to all of this, and I really want to thank you for your insights because it has
really opened my eyes, and as you said, this is just one industry.
Rick Claypool, thanks so much. Appreciate it.
Now, Harris leaned into themes of change and unity in her acceptance speech Thursday night. With the DNC now finished, the final sprint to election day
has begun.
I will speak with strategists from both parties, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:32:27]
NEWTON: Hello. I'm Paula Newton. There's more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS in a moment when we'll dissect Kamala Harris's big acceptance speech and how
Donald Trump is responding. And we'll take you to Yellowstone National Park, where record numbers of tourists are causing big problems for the
wildlife that lives there. Before that, though, these are the headlines this hour.
Several Secret Service employees have been placed on administrative leave after the assassination attempt on former U.S. President Donald Trump at a
rally last month. Sources tell CNN personnel from the Pittsburgh field office, along with one member of Trump's security detail have been
reassigned and ordered to work from home.
A bus crash in Nepal has killed 27 people, all citizens of India and injured 16 others. The Indian Embassy in Nepal says 43 people were on the
bus when it drove off the road and plunged into a river bank. The bus was traveling to Kathmandu. The cause of the crash is unknown.
The White House says the latest Gaza cease fire talks are constructive and moving forward. CIA Director Bill Burns is now in Cairo to join other
senior negotiators from Egypt, Israel and Qatar. The success of these talks could hinge on Israel's effort to keep troops stationed along the Gaza-
Egypt border. Sources say Israel has now submitted a revised proposal that reduces troop levels in the Philadelphia quarter.
So, Kamala Harris urged Americans to put their differences aside when she accepted the Democratic nomination for president Thursday night. Now the
U.S. Vice President spoke in front of an energetic crowd in Chicago to close out the DNC. She leaned into her life story and middle-class
upbringing during her speech, drawing a sharp contrast between herself and Donald Trump. Harris also emphasized --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, UNITED STATES VICE PRESIDENT: Our nation, our nation with this election has a precious, fleeting opportunity to move past the
bitterness, cynicism and divisive battles of the past, a chance to chart a new way forward.
I promise to be a president for all Americans. You can always trust me to put country above party and self.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: Republican strategist Ryan Williams is in Nantucket, Massachusetts. Democratic strategist Caroline Heldman is in Los Angeles. Thank you to you
both. As we are talking about last night again, Caroline, do you believe her speech, you know, took her momentum where it needs to go now? Off the
convention floor right and over to the ballot box? Excuse me, and if you think it will. How?
CAROLINE HELDMAN, U.S. DEMOCRACTIC STRATEGIST: Well, I think Harris did exactly what she needed to do, which was define herself and she did
something really unusual. She spent a lot of time talking about her background, about being the child of two immigrant parents, and she used
that to define who she is today. I would say this speech was beautifully written and delivered, exceeded my expectations.
And I would imagine that, you know, the sugar high is not worn off from Kamala Harris and it will not after that rousing speech last night. I don't
care what side of the political aisle you're on, you have to look at that and say it was short to the point, defined her. She got her policies in.
She redefined patriotism and freedom, which are typically buzzwords for Republicans. And now the hard work begins.
She has to maintain this momentum, as you note, for another about 75 days until the election. And any misstep from this point on, because the time
clock is so short, will have a bigger impact than they usually do in these campaigns.
NEWTON: You're absolutely right about that. And the misstep there is key. Ryan, this is the day after for Donald Trump as well. I'm sure he's
relieved. He just pocketed the RFK Jr. endorsement. Can it be a fresh start for him as well now that the -- really the campaign has been rebuilt in
terms of the Democrats from the bottom up?
RYAN WILLIAMS, U.S. REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Yes. We're past the conventions now. We're in almost the home stretch. Voting starts, actually in about a
month in places like Pennsylvania, where early voting starts. So, he's got an opportunity now to really take on Harris. She's riding this honeymoon
since she became the nominee of the party after Biden dropped out. There'll be more scrutiny on her now. She is going to have bad days at some point.
That's inevitable. She's going to make mistakes.
She'll have to do interviews. There'll be a debate coming up. He didn't have to focus on her and deliver a message as to why she's the wrong person
to lead the country. But that takes discipline, message discipline, which Donald Trump has not shown he has. So, he's going to have to focus on her,
on a clear message, contrasting the two candidates and not get, you know, go down rabbit holes questioning her racial identity or attacking the
Republican governor of Georgia or all the dumb things he's done in the last several weeks since she got in the race.
NEWTON: You know, Caroline, Ryan makes a good point in terms of saying that she is going to have to sit down for an interview. There have been no
announcements yet. Why do you think the campaign has chosen not to do any of those so far and not even announce that one was coming, even though Vice
President Harris did promise at least a sit-down interview by the end of the month?
HELDMAN: You know, it's hard to say for sure, but my guess would be that, you know, she was taking this playbook from Donald Trump's efforts which is
to do big rallies. And we actually saw a lot of footage from those big rallies, high-energy rallies at the DNC and I'm wondering if maybe they
were spending all of their time essentially, you know, grabbing video for the DNC. There's no doubt she'll sit down for interviews.
But I think it's smart for her to curate her message early on, given that Donald Trump really does make a lot of personal attacks, race, gender,
sexism is -- I think we're going to see a really ugly personal race from Donald Trump against Kamala Harris moving forward. So, she curated it
perfectly in terms of delivering the message. And I would assume what we'll see now is just an echo of all the policy she presented last night.
NEWTON: Ryan curated is not the way many people would describe Donald Trump's campaigning. Having said that we have seen in the past that it can
be incredibly effective. He tends to just stick with his gut when he feels something isn't working. How much do you think he will continue, though, to
lean into the concept that, look, this isn't a person that you can trust and more importantly, as far as he's concerned, not a person that's tough
enough to be the president?
WILLIAMS: I think that's what he'll do. I think he'll try to hit her on issues like immigration, on some of her recent proposals, price controls
for food, try to draw a sharp contrast, say she's not the right person to lead the country to be in the world stage. But he'll do it in the way that
Trump does it, which is bombastic. He'll probably say something that will be offensive. This is who Donald Trump is. He's not going to change in --
75 days he's been acting this way for 78 years.
So, we know what to expect from him, but he's going to have to really focus on kind of defining her and really driving up her negatives. She's had a
very good launch to the campaign. She's in a good position. She does make errors, though. I mean, if this was a long campaign, I think she'd be a lot
more vulnerable. But it's a short campaign and I think they're going to try to run the days down and just hopefully she can win by being not Trump.
[16:40:04]
I think that's what they're going to go for.
NEWTON: Yes. Quite a few days of campaigning before that all-important debate, September 10th which I'm sure is something many people will be
putting on their calendars. Caroline, Ryan, thanks so much. Have a great weekend. Appreciate it.
(CROSSTALK)
NEWTON: Now, those recent polling shows, as we've just been talking, right? A tight race between Harris and Trump with Harris making up ground in key
swing states like Pennsylvania, which President Joe Biden narrowly won we'll remind you in 2020. CNN's Gary Tuchman spoke to some undecided voters
there to get their reaction about Harris's DNC speech.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We do come to you from Allentown on the heart of the beautiful Lehigh Valley in eastern Pennsylvania and we
are with eight residents of the Lehigh Valley who have been watching television with us tonight and watching Kamala Harris's speech.
None of these people before tonight have made a decision about who they will vote for in November. And at least one person here, before tonight,
wasn't sure she was going to vote at all, because she doesn't like either of the candidates.
Also, what they have in common, five of these people, they're all five of them loyal union members from the UAW local, United Auto Workers here in
the Lehigh Valley.
So, thank you all for being here. The first thing I want to ask you, I want you to grade the speech. OK? A is excellent, B above average, C average, D
below average. We all know what F is.
Let's start with you. How do you grade the speech?
SCOTT, LOCAL UAW PRESIDENT: I gave her a B+.
LINDSAY (ph), UNDECIDED VOTER: B.
ANDY, UNDECIDED VOTER: B+.
DONNA, UNDECIDED VOTER: A.
PATRICK, UNDECIDED VOTER: B+.
SEAN (ph), UNDECIDED VOTER: A.
SABRINA, UNDECIDED VOTER: A.
BRIAN (ph), UNDECIDED VOTER: C.
SCOTT: I thought she looked very confident. I liked how she spoke from her heart. I liked her message of unity, end the division that we have in
America.
DONNA: She hit all the points that I wanted to know about. I wanted to know more about her, her economic policies, her foreign policy. I know she
couldn't go into depth about that, but I mean, I felt that she looked very presidential. She sounded presidential, and I think she's going to be a
unifier.
PATRICK: She didn't go in depth. I did like what she said about she's going to try to do for the middle class, about a tax break for us, which will be
very nice. But still, a little bit more information on some of the things that she planned on doing.
TUCHMAN: Like I said, none of you were ready to make a commitment to any candidate in November.
Please raise your hand right now if you're now ready to make a commitment after today. Wow. I'm kind of surprised by that. We haven't rehearsed this.
I'm going to make that very clear. Seven of you are now ready. Scott.
SCOTT: Yes. I'm going to vote for Kamala Harris.
TUCHMAN: Andy.
ANDY: Yes. Kamala Harris, yes.
TUCHMAN: Donna.
DONNA: Yes, I'm voting for her also.
TUCHMAN: Sean (ph). Sean (ph).
SEAN (ph): Yes. I'm Kamala.
TUCHMAN: Sabrina.
SABINA: Kamala.
TUCHMAN: Patrick.
PATRICK: Kamala.
TUCHMAN: Brian (ph).
BRIAN (ph): Trump.
TUCHMAN: Trump. And finally, Lindsay (ph).
LINDSAY (ph): Still probably not voting.
TUCHMAN: To the point you don't like either of them.
LINDSAY (ph): Nope.
TUCHMAN: What I will tell you, 75 days now until election day. So, Lindsay (ph), you have a few more nights to sleep on it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: Our thanks to Gary Tuchman there. I mean, it's not scientific, but it is so interesting to hear their quick takes on that speech. Now, thanks
to a hit T.V. show and breathtaking views. Yellowstone National Park has never been more popular. When we come back, we'll answer the question, is
there such a thing as too many visitors?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:46:06]
NEWTON: The oceans surrounding South Africa are teeming with life, but in places, there are also worrying buildups of plastic waste that are
impacting the ecosystem. Today on Call to Earth, CNN tags along with a rescue unit on Cape town's waterfront that helps protect one of the most
playful inhabitants from the perils of plastic.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): It's an early and quiet morning at one of South Africa's most visited tourist destinations, Cape town's iconic VNA
waterfront, which attracts around 24 million people annually. Situated in the oldest working harbor in the southern hemisphere. It's also a welcoming
host to an entirely different breed of mammal.
MARTINE VILJOEN, MARINE WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT ASSISTANT, TWO OCEANS AQUARIUM FOUNDATION: Over the past 20 years, we've had a population of Wildcat for
seals making use of our harbor as acting as an extension of our oceans. And to them, I really think they believe this to be their home. It's a stop of
point or safe space. They're not habituated, but they move in and out as they please.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Aside from playing the part of waterfront attraction, they also play a vital role within the marine ecosystem.
VILJOEN: They help balance everything out from being a prey source to being a predator themselves. They indicate how the health of the ocean is doing,
and they give us a valuable insight how the bigger picture of our ocean helps.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Once heavily hunted, cape fur seals are now a protected species in South Africa, and it's estimated that around two
million inhabit the coasts of southern Africa.
Still, they face significant challenges with climate change, human- wildlife conflict, and more recently, rabies, all areas of concern. Here on
the waterfront, a team from the nearby Two Oceans Aquarium looks after them.
BRETT GLASBY, MARINE WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT PROGRAM COORDINATOR, TWO OCEANS AQUARIUM FOUNDATION: The programme that we run here, the Marine Wildlife
Management programme, is unique. It's the first of its kind in the world, where we are essentially reducing conflict between humans and animals
within the space of a working harbor slash tourist destination. We are the buffer.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): But one of the most widespread and tangible threats facing these curious creatures is plastic pollution.
GLASBY: We are out here on our second patrol of the day, looking for any seals that have plastic around their neck in the hope that we can actually
get them disentangled this morning.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Removing the plastic items, which is most often commercial fishing debris, can be a challenge so they have to get
creative.
GLASBY: So we gave them the dedicated seal platform you're going to see behind me there with all the seals resting on it. The added benefit to the
seal platform is that we've made the gaps between the wood and slats very wide and for a very specific reason. We have around 100 seals a year that
come into the waterfront with plastic entanglements just like these around their necks. But if they come and rest on our platform here with the wide
slats, we get to climb into wetsuits, swim below them and disentangle them. And we use a very special tool for that.
This is our cutter and it is a hooked blade on the inside, very thin to fit through the wooden slats. And the idea is that we'll swim in a wetsuit
underneath the platform. We poke this through the slats, hook it onto the entanglement and give it a really good tug. And that'll snap it off the
seal's neck. From the seals' point of view, he's resting in the sun. He'll feel a tug on his neck. He'll stand up, he'll bark at the seal next to him
and lie down again. He doesn't even know there was a human involved in removing this plastic off his neck.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Brett Glasby says in 2023, they disentangled 124 seals at the V&A waterfront alone, a statistic that is
increasing year after year.
VILJOEN: Seals need our help. We've put them in situations that they can't get out of themselves and we have to step in to help them out. It's our
responsibility and I really love being a part of that change.
[16:50:03]
GLASBY: I can spend hours standing here at our SEAL platform watching them busy tussling and wrestle with each other. It is entertaining. So they have
obviously their natural role in the environment but they also have a role in terms of engaging people's hearts and minds and getting them passionate
about something with regards to the sea. All you need is a little bit of passion and then the ball starts rolling and you start caring about more
and more of our environments.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: They're just magical, aren't they? And let us know what you're doing to answer the call with the #CalltoEarth.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEVIN COSTNER, AMERICAN ACTOR: Ranching is only business where the goal is to break even. Survive another season.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: The rolling hills of the western United States there. Now that was a clip from the hit show Yellowstone. The show is set on a ranch that
shares its name with Yellowstone National Park, which is spread, in fact, across Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. Now, the show has been credited with
helping fuel a tourism boom. More tourists mean, though, more problems for the park's wildlife.
CNN's Ed Lavandera went to visit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The motel over there has a sign that says, do not pet the fluffy cows. You constantly have to be
reminded about this stuff because you're walking around town and you think that they're just part of the atmosphere that they're friendly, you have to
remind yourself they're wild animals. Whoa.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): Friendly stranger reminds us of that in a loving way. This is Close Encounters Tourists in the Wild. It didn't take us long
to figure out what not to do. There is such a thing as getting too close to wildlife. Wild animals don't want to take a selfie with you, and they
especially don't want to be held. This scene was captured in North Carolina. These people pulled black bear cubs out of a tree because of this
human interaction, at least one of the cubs could not be reunited with its mother.
[16:55:09]
Wildlife Refuge staff were unable to locate the second cub.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: Ed Lavandera is in Texas for us right now. Every time I look at that video, it is so upsetting. And yet, as you point out, this is
happening more and more these encounters.
LAVANDERA: Yes, it really is. And that's, you know, why we're going to Yellowstone to kind of explore this fascinating topic. And everyone that
you talk to these national parks, they're very understanding of what happens. And we witnessed this during our four days in Yellowstone National
Park when one of these majestic animals, a bear or a (INAUDIBLE) I'm like you can sense around you, people like temporarily lose their minds because
it is an out of body experience in many ways, being this close to all of this.
And these parks are kind of, you know, victim to their own success. We have millions and millions of people here in the United States flocking to
national parks. They're coming from all over the world. When you go to these national parks, the international flavor of all of this has really
changed dramatically. And we spoke with the superintendent of Yellowstone National Park about this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAN SHOLLY, SUPERINTENDENT, YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK: It's the largest wildlife and visitor interface in the world. We hit a million visitors in
the -- in the park in -- for the first time in a single year in 1948 and then we hit 4.8 million in '21.
LAVANDERA: Is it sustainable for the park or is there ever going to be a point we're going to say, hey, is there a limit to how many people can
come?
SHOLLY: Yes. There's going to be a limit. I don't know exactly what the point in time is or what that number is.
LAVANDERA: Is it possible to build more roads? I guess the more roads you build, the more impact you have on the wildlife.
SHOLLY: This isn't a problem that we're going to build our way out of. The park is 2.2 million acres, less than 2000 acres are pavement and the vast
majority of visitors never get more than a half mile away from their car.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA: So, Paula, during this special hour, we're going to introduce you to a kind of a fascinating cast of characters that have been drawn to
these national parks. One man in particular, who wrote a book called Death in Yellowstone, literally wrote the book on the myriad of ways that you can
get yourself into all sorts of serious trouble. But there's also, you know, people are drawn to this for almost like therapeutic and like spiritual
reasons.
So, we get into all of this in a really fun and fascinating way.
NEWTON: Not going to lie, Ed. You got the pulp assignment there. It looks absolutely fascinating. And we'll all be watching. Ed Lavandera for us
there from Texas. And of course, you can see Ed's full documentary. It's an all-new episode of the whole story with Anderson Cooper, one whole hour,
one whole story. That airs Sunday at 8:00 p.m. in New York and 8:00 a.m. Monday in Hong Kong.
Coming up. We will have those dazzling numbers for you from Wall Street. That's right after a break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NEWTON: U.S. markets rallied after Jerome Powell signaled that rate cuts are on the horizon. The announcement excited investors driving the Dow up
462 points.
[17:00:04]
The NASDAQ also gained nearly 1-1/2 percent. And we have a happy Dow 30 today. Home Depot surprisingly took the top spot there. Boeing up a
percent. NASA in fact set to announce plans for bringing the starliner crew back to Earth, get this, Saturday.
That's it for QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. Richard will be back on the chair on Monday. I'm Paula Newton. "THE SITUATION ROOM" starts right now.
END
