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Quest Means Business
Meta Chief Accuses The White House Of Censorship Pressure; Trump Says He Has Accepted Rules For September 10 Debate; Hostage Rescued From Gaza Reunites With Family; Interview With Maersk CEO Vincent Clerc On New Green-Fueled Container Ship; Kelce Brothers Sign Massive Podcast Deal With Wondery; "World Of Wonder" Goes To Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired August 27, 2024 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:11]
RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST, "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS": Closing bell. There it is, ringing on Wall Street. Summit Global is ringing the
closing bell.
If you look, at the way the Dow has gone, it was down quite sharply earlier, but we are now bouncing around the zero level, which is
interesting. It shows that were looking for direction and I suspect it might be like this way ahead of any Fed meeting next month, you never know,
looking for direction, looking for some sort of initiative.
The main markets and the main news of the day: Meta's chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg says he regrets bowing to White House pressure to censor COVID
content during the pandemic.
The first debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris seems it will go ahead. The former president announced he has agreed to the rules, and I
will discuss recession fears with the CEO of the world its larger shipping giant. The CEO of Maersk as he launches his new ship will be with me in
this hour.
We are live from New York. It is Tuesday. It is August 27th. Where did August go? I am Richard Quest. I mean business.
Good evening, we begin tonight with Mark Zuckerberg and his claims that the Biden administration pressured Meta, the parent company, of course to
censor social media posts during the pandemic.
He says, in this long letter that senior White House officials repeatedly asked Meta to remove certain posts about COVID-19 and expressed frustration
when the company disagreed.
In hindsight, he said he regrets that Meta wasn't more outspoken about it. Meta posted on X by the House Judiciary Committee. Chairman Jim Jordan has
long accused Big Tech of silencing conservative votes.
Now, the White House is standing by its actions, saying: "Our position has been clear and consistent. We believe tech companies and other private
actors should take into account the effects their actions will have on the American people while independent choices about the information they
present."
It is no secret that the White House did urge social media companies to take down COVID misinformation. In 2021, Joe Biden, President Biden said
that failure to do so was having deadly consequences.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They are killing people. I mean, it really -- look the only pandemic we have is among unvaccinated and that
-- and they are killing people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: Clare Duffy is in New York.
All right, let's just go through this. First of all, do we know why Zuckerberg is saying all of this now? Why that is just coming out now?
CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: I think that's the big question here, Richard.
Look, I think there are two ways that you can look at this. On one hand, tech companies often reevaluate their content moderation practices ahead of
elections and we could look at this as Mark Zuckerberg acknowledging where the company may have gone too far but in the past.
Of course, he says that Meta felt pressured by the White House when it comes to these COVID claims, but ultimately the decision was still down to
the company.
And so we could see this as him sort of saying, you know, we are not going to behave the same way when it comes to future requests from the White
House, because this comes in the context of the Supreme Court ruling that says the White House can still flag concerns, harmful content to these
social media companies and make recommendations about it, but it is still really is up to the companies.
However, I do think that the timing and the way they have communicated this information is really interesting. It plays directly into the hands of
Republicans in this narrative that they have been presenting about the Big Tech companies censoring conservative voices. You see House Republicans
already celebrating this letter as an example of the fact that the Biden- Harris administration was forcing tech companies to censor conservative voices, which is not exactly what this letter says, but --
QUEST: So sorry, I just wanted to just -- do forgive me. I just want to ask, on that point, do you think he is currying favor ahead of the election
with one side or the other? And I will tell you why I ask it.
The third paragraph talks about the money that they gave to support electoral infrastructure, now saying they won't do that again.
Is he taking sides? Or better still, is he hedging his bets?
DUFFY: I think it is the latter. You know, it is interesting like he mentions this initiative that he donated money to, which was really just to
expand voting access, which in theory shouldn't be partisan.
[16:05:03]
But as we head into the election, I think he absolutely is trying to at the very least dodge allegations that he or his company are biased for one side
or the other, which is something that he has dealt with for years, these claims that Facebook favors liberals over Republicans. There isn't a ton of
evidence of that, but I do think he is trying to hedge his bets here, and especially if Meta ends up having to make some tough content moderation
decisions in the run-up to the election if we start to see political misinformation, I think he doesn't want to have to deal with claims that he
was doing that at the behest of the Biden White House.
QUEST: I am grateful. Thank you, Clare Duffy.
Now, Roger McNamee is the co-founder of Elevation Partners and the author of "Zucked: Waking up to the Facebook Catastrophe."
What do you make of this letter that he sent and particularly this idea. I mean government has -- government, provided it is not bullying or
threatening, government is entitled as anybody else to say, we want you to do this.
ROGER MCNAMEE, AUTHOR OF "ZUCKED: WAKING UP TO THE FACEBOOK CATASTROPHE": Yes.
Richard, the whole notion that we are talking about a freedom of speech issue is just complete nonsense. Since 2016, internet platforms have
consistently been factors for disinformation. They have amplified it and they have done so consistently in a way that has in fact, globally
benefited the extreme right at the expense of all other voices.
In Facebook's case, they have particularly been damaging not just to democracy, but also to public health through the amplification of COVID
disinformation, and also public safety by harming young children.
And so the notion that Zuckerberg has a leg to stand on here is just completely ridiculous, and I would argue that all he is trying to do in
this letter is two things. He is trying to cow the Biden administration and he is trying to signal Trump that he is really aligned with Trump because
Trump has been threatening him with prison and --
QUEST: Isn't that a bit nakedly obvious, Roger? I mean, to sort of to do that or is it just as nakedly obvious as that?
MCNAMEE: Well, I think it is as nakedly obvious is that. I think -- keep in mind, all of these tech billionaires live in incredible isolation. They
live in these gigantic compounds where the only people they see are people who agree with them.
And the result of this, as you see this herd behavior and in the United States, in this election cycle, it has favored former President Trump to
the exclusion of the Democrats.
And yes, there is Reid Hoffman, who has been very visibly supporting Kamala Harris, but he has been doing so by arguing for basically the same policies
that the Republicans are arguing: No taxes, no regulation of any kind.
QUEST: Okay, what do you believe is legitimate pressure that government puts, let's say, like a time of crisis and maybe I should rephrase that in
the negative. What do you believe is illegitimate pressure where the force of government would be used?
MCNAMEE: So Richard, I want to break this into two parts. The first thing is, government has a duty to protect public safety. It has a duty to
protect democracy and public health and those are not topics that should be controversial at all.
But the second part of the problem is that these companies have operated without any form of government regulation. They've been totally self-
regulating and the consequence of that has been huge damage to democracy, the undermining of the response to COVID, and a lot of extreme harm to
young children.
And I look at this and I think the federal trade commission has the right idea. In their case against Instagram, which is part of Meta, they are
arguing that there should be no collection of data on minors and no monetization of data on minors.
I think that's the correct thing, which is the underlying problem is that these products are architected and the companies have cultures that
guarantee bad outcomes and there is no regulation to prevent that from happening.
QUEST: I can hear some of your critics saying, well, Roger would say that. I mean, here he is bashing away at Facebook and Meta again, wrote a book
called the catastrophe in "Zucked," what would we expect Roger to say?
MCNAMEE: I think anyone who says that at least is paying attention. The fact that I continue to say it though reflects the fact that nothing has
been done in terms of congressional or legislative things in Europe to try to rein these guys in.
The courts in the United States, thanks to the Justice Department, thanks to the Federal Trade Commission, are beginning to engage and in Europe,
there are good laws that just aren't being enforced.
[16:10:02]
QUEST: Well, now, dying on a second, we've had -- we've had every European commissioner on this program and the argument seems to be that when it
comes to things like antitrust and social media, Europe is basically saying to these companies, if you want to play in our playground, in our
territory, you have to follow these rules.
The US is doing an enforcement rather than a price of entry method.
MCNAMEE: Well, and if Europeans denied entry, then that formula would be working, and I totally applaud the laws that have been passed in Europe.
What makes me extremely uncomfortable is that we are doing this after harm has been done and without any mechanism to prevent future harm from
happening.
So I think the arrest of the founder of Telegram is a really interesting step in France because it is suggesting you know, you guys are actually
doing businesses that are crime scenes. You should be held accountable for that and that is something I agree with.
QUEST: I have to say, Roger, well, first of all, very grateful that you came and talked to us today. As always, it is a treat and a pleasure, and I
have to say that is a splendid painting behind you. Not that it distracted me from what you were saying.
MCNAMEE: It's a San Francisco artist.
QUEST: Well, it is a magnificent painting. I am very glad that you shared that. We enjoyed it that as well as your views.
Thank you, sir. Thank you for joining us.
MCNAMEE: Always a pleasure, Richard. Thank you for having me.
QUEST: The special counsel prosecuting Donald Trump has filed a reworked indictment in this federal election subversion case.
This is complicated, so bear with me and lets go through this together. Jack Smith now slimmed down the allegations against Mr. Trump. It follows
the Supreme Court's ruling that gave broad immunity to presidents. In other words, rather than throw the whole thing out, Jack Smith has basically gone
back to, taking the Supreme Court ruling, worked out which bits do not flow directly if you will from Mr. Trump's actions as president and has now
reformulated that indictment, we will see if that will fly with the various judges and the courts.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump says he has reached an agreement to participate in a presidential debate with Vice President Harris on September the 10th.
According to those who know about this matter, the ABC debate rules will largely be the same as they were for the debate here on CNN.
The microphones will remain muted when it is the other candidate's turn to speak. Donald Trump has added former electron rival and prominent vaccine
skeptic, Robert Kennedy to his transition team despite the fact he doesn't belong to the former president's Republican Party.
Kristen Holmes joins me from Washington.
Let's do this bit by bit, if we may. This idea that -- well, they have all agreed, we are off to the races now, September the 10th. What could
possibly go wrong?
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean look, no one knows what is going to happen until the two of them show up on that stage on
September 10th. We would like to wait until then to officially confirm of what is going to happen next. What we do know is that there had been a sort
of impasse between Kamala Harris' campaign and Donald Trump's campaign over the rules and particularly one rule in which the mic would be muted while
the other candidate was speaking.
That was the rule during the CNN debate with Donald Trump and President Joe Biden, and the Harris team said that that shouldn't apply to them as well.
New candidate, new rules. They did not want those mics muted. However, Donald Trump's team said that they had agreed to that original debate rules
with president Joe Biden, now, Kamala Harris and they wanted them muted.
Now it appears and this is based on sources outside of the campaign as well as Donald Trump's Truth Social post that they have come to an agreement and
those original rules will stick as they move forward. That also means no studio audience, no crib notes. But again, the big part here was those
muted mics.
Of course the question is, what happens next? We find out how they're preparing for the debates and then we see whether or not they actually show
up on that stage on September 10th. We have no reason to believe that they are not going to show up on that stage for any reason.
This was yesterday, Donald Trump kind of flirting with the idea, teasing the idea of not showing up because of these rules. But he seems to be
buckling down that he will be there.
QUEST: We look forward to the debate. I am also looking forward to seeing if they shake hands.
Of course, President Biden and Mr. Trump didn't shake hands at the start and I am wondering whether -- I don't know, one can wonder.
HOLMES: It has become a norm not to shake hands in the era of Donald Trump. I mean, I remember back when it was Hillary Clinton versus Donald Trump,
they originally didn't shake hands, then at the end of the debate, they did.
Now obviously, as you noted, Donald Trump did not shake hands with Joe Biden. It is such a far movement from the norm that we saw for literally
decades of political discourse, this handshake at the beginning.
I would not be surprised if they didn't shake hands. It is just a reminder of every time Donald Trump says something about Kamala Harris is
intentionally nasty and even when he was asked about those nasty comments, he said that he should be able to because he is mad at her.
[16:15:16]
So it seems unlikely that Donald Trump would extend some sort of olive branch to Kamala Harris, but anything could happen.
QUEST: And we will watch and we will wait, and I am grateful as always. Thank you.
As you and I continue tonight, the IDF, Israeli Defense Forces rescuing another hostage being held in Gaza. Details on the operation to bring him
home, in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Now, the Israeli military has freed another hostage from Gaza. It is the eighth captive to -- Israeli captive to be rescued alive since the
beginning of the war, and the IDF says Farhan Alkadi was rescued from a tunnel in Gaza after the military received specific intelligence.
He is reportedly in stable condition. He is 52 years old. He is a father of 11 and had been held by Hamas, wait for this, for 326 days.
Jim Sciutto is in Tel Aviv.
There is some discussion about whether they knew they were going to find him or whether they stumbled across or -- do we know the circumstances?
I know the IDF for being a little coy about what happened.
JIM SCIUTTO CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, the IDF is telling us and I spoke to an IDF spokesperson a short time ago that
this was an Israeli military operation. They were operating inside the tunnels under Southern Gaza, and is when they came across and discovered
Alkadi there, though they did say that this was based on accurate intelligence. In other words, it seems to be that they are saying that this
was not an accident that they came across him, but they were acting on intelligence that hostages might be present there.
Regardless, big picture, it is a rare bit of good news when it comes to hostages held there and there are still 108 held, and certainly a pleasant
surprise.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SCIUTTO (voice over): Farhan Alkadi, just moments after his rescue smiling among the Israeli Commando Units who freed him and as the military
helicopter carrying him landed at a hospital in Southern Israel, his family dashed through the hallways for the reunion they had hoped for through 326
painful days of captivity.
[16:20:08]
PROFESSOR SHLOMI CODISH, CEO, SOROKA MEDICAL CENTER: He appears to be in general good condition, but will require another day or two of medical
tests to makes sure he is still okay.
SCIUTTO (voice over): Alkadi is just the eighth hostage to be rescued alive in a military operation from Gaza since October 7th and the IDF says his
rescue from Gaza's notorious and dangerous complex of Hamas tunnels is a first.
REAR ADM. DANIEL HAGARI, ISRAEL'S CHIEF MILITARY SPOKESPERSON: Israeli commandos rescued Qaid Farhan Alkadi from an underground tunnel following
accurate intelligence.
His family had been waiting 326 days to receive the news they did today, but there are still 108 hostages whose families are still waiting.
SCIUTTO (voice over): Israeli officials declined to release further details for fear of impacting the safety of other hostages, believed held nearby,
but two officials tell CNN that the IDF found Alkadi alone without his captors.
Alkadi, a 52-year-old Arab Bedouin and father of 11 was working in security at a kibbutz in Southern Israel when Hamas fighters abducted him on October
7th. He was among several non-Jewish hostages held by Hamas.
His freedom is a rare moment of relief for hostage families in Israel.
With good news, all too rare, just last week, Israeli forces brought back the bodies of six hostages found dead in Southern Gaza.
Tonight the Hostages Families Forum released a statement calling Alkadi's rescue, "nothing short of miraculous," but adding "Military operations
alone cannot free the remaining 108 hostages. A negotiated deal is the only way forward."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCIUTTO (on camera): In the last hour, I spoke to a friend of Alkadi who has spoken to him, saw him since his release, said that he is in good
spirits. They did say he is somewhat confused. He has been caught but off, of course, from news for all of these many months just basically re-
emerging, right, into his family, his family village soon, although he will remain, Richard in the hospital for a couple of days for medical
observation.
QUEST: In your report there, Jim, you talked about a negotiated deal and what the families say a negotiated deal has to be part of this.
Where are we on the ceasefire? I sort of got a bit lost between talks in Cairo, Doha. Where are we on the ceasefire.
SCIUTTO: Yes, my understanding from speaking to a US official with knowledge of the talks is that they made some progress this weekend, the
talks are still open and that they are beginning to talk about some of the final details of a potential agreement, including the specific names of
Palestinian prisoners held by Israel that would be released in exchange for some or all of the hostages.
But the fact Richard, that they are discussing those final details in paragraphs does not mean that they have settled all of the sticking points
and issues that still divide the parties, which seemed to be focused in particular, on the ongoing presence of Israeli forces in Gaza after any
ceasefire agreement and any exchange of hostages. That is one that has been a sticking point throughout these negotiations.
Hamas wants no presence, Israel is insisting on some presence along the border between Gaza and Egypt, not clear if they will be able to bridge
those differences in the coming days or weeks.
QUEST: Well, I've managed to squeeze some extra time for you and I to talk, Jim and on this -- remember earlier in the week, I said I would wanted to
talk about these barrages of missiles and rockets that are sent over. Why does the other side send them in such numbers when they know they're just
going to --
I mean, I understand that they hope some will get through, but the cost benefits analysis must say it is not worth it?
SCIUTTO: Well, let us think about Saturday's attack, the overnight attack that we were reporting on well into Sunday morning, I should say.
According to Israeli military, they got intelligence that Hezbollah was planning quite a large strike, and that Israeli warplanes, some 100
warplanes strike pre-emptively, taking out a large portion of the firing positions, weapons et cetera before Hezbollah was able to fire, Hezbollah
did eventually fire some several hundred rockets, but the presumption is that had Israel not carried out that pre-emptive strike, Hezbollah would
have been able to fire more.
To your point, without firing in number, Israel's many missile defenses from Iron Dome, David's Sling at various altitudes have been able to take
out the vast majority of projectiles from Hezbollah and frankly, going back to April when Iran launched many, many, hundreds of missiles and drones or
many dozens of missiles and drones, the defenses were able to take those out as well.
[16:25:10]
So it does raise the question, are Israel's defenses in combination with US defenses that have been placed in the region, as well as the missile
defenses of allies, including states such as Jordan, do they largely neutralize the capability of Iran and Hezbollah to strike Israel? Possibly.
But the presumption is that Hezbollah and Iran have quite a number of weapons that if they were to fire them in greater numbers, they might be
able to overwhelm the defenses and get some through. We don't know. It hasn't quite been tested yet, at least to that degree. But folks are always
on pins and needles here for that very possibility.
QUEST: Jim, thank you, sir. Thank you for helping us understand. Grateful.
SCIUTTO: Thank you, Richard.
QUEST: Now back to the breaking news, the special counsel prosecuting Donald Trump has filed a reworked indictment in the federal election
subversion case. He is Jack Smith and he slimmed down the allegations against Mr. Trump following the Supreme Court's ruling that gave broad
immunity to presidents.
He has not dropped any of the four charges he initially brought against him. Jessica Schneider is in Washington.
Jessica, before we go further and into the weeds of this. Of all the cases against Donald Trump, which is this one? Where is it based and which is --
it is not the Miami documents.
JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Right.
QUEST: it is not the Georgia -- or is it the Georgia, which one is it?
SCHNEIDER: This was actually the one that was kind of looked at a few months ago as the one that was most likely to go to trial before the
election, and then it got held up when Trump's team appealed this whole issue of presidential immunity.
And then that, on July 1st was when the Supreme Court ruled that presidents do have some immunity for their official actions and that kind of put the
ball back in the special counsel's court, which is what we are seeing right now.
And the question was and this is actually answering part of that question is how Jack Smith was going to proceed in this DC case, which revolved
around Trump's efforts to subvert the election, the 2020 election to stop the certification of it? So this answers the question, and what it does is
about in this 36-page document, Jack Smith is refining the charges that he has made against Trump.
He is not changing the charges, he is just refining the allegations so they fit within the scope of what the Supreme Court said he could do.
QUEST: Which, if I -- so this is the case that went all the way up to the Supreme Court and has now basically come back down again to Jack Smith.
Now, Smith, I am looking forward to reading the document over a cup of tea later. Smith, I assume -- I know, I don't have much of a life -- Smith, I
assume has now had to extract any, if you will, evidence or potential that flows from Trump as president, because that would be immune under the
Supreme Court's decision or some variant thereof?
SCHNEIDER: You're exactly right. So what we are seeing in this new indictment is talk or allegations of interactions he had with DOJ officials
to pressure them to say the election was rigged. That has been taken out. Some issues regarding the pressure that was put on Vice President Mike
Pence to stop the certification, parts of that have been taken out.
What mostly exists and remains now are Trump's efforts and Trump's allies efforts to pressure like state and local officials also to submit
ultimately that fake slate of electors. So yes, they really had to whittle down and decide for themselves what was official and what was not official
acts.
You know, that doesn't mean the questions are over. There is going to be a lot of litigation still as to whether this indictment meets the test that
the Supreme Court sort of set for them.
QUEST: And the secondary part of that test, of course, which was official acts.
Okay, thank you, Jessica. Excellent. Good to have you. Thank you.
SCHNEIDER: Thank you.
QUEST: Now, if you want to talk about the economy and the global economy, look no further than the shipping industry. Maersk is the largest and the
chief executive of Maersk is launching a ship, a very green ship and we will talk about that and the economy in a moment.
QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:33:11]
QUEST: And so to the global and the U.S. economy where people are increasingly confident about spending money in the months ahead. The
Consumer Confidence Index in the U.S. rose in August to a six-month high, still down from recent years but it's only -- it's an improving index. It
suggests people will be shopping for things like cars, appliances, computers, and smartphones.
Now, you want a good gauge of the global economy, look at shipping. Maersk brought in more than $50 billion in revenue last year. It's got 700 ships
sailing around the world and it's expanding its fleet to include ships that run on low-carbon methanol at the moment.
Vincent Clerc is the CEO of Maersk. He is with me now.
That is the big ship behind you, sir, isn't it? That's the new ship. Tell me about it briefly.
VINCENT CLERC, CEO, MAERSK: Yes, that's the last ship joining our fleet here and it's a real interesting ship, both from a design perspective but
also, as you mentioned, because it is the fourth ship in the world that is unable to sail both on traditional fuel, but also on green methanol. And
therefore reduce carbon footprint of this activity significantly.
QUEST: How much does a ship like that cost and how much more does it cost to operate over a traditional ship, if indeed it is more expensive?
CLERC: So a ship like this cost about $200 million, and that's pretty much the same price, whether you're buying a traditional ship or a ship that
runs on methanol like this one. The difference is really on the operational expenses. The green fuels cost between two and three times the price of the
traditional fuels. And this is where I think from a total cost of ownership perspective, there is a need to supplement the work that has been done in
making the fleet green with a real regulatory regime that makes it easier for consumers and customers to do the right charts.
[16:35:09]
QUEST: You see that's the problem. It's the same in aviation. Everybody knows what needs to be done but, A, you can't get the SAF in sufficient
amounts or the green fuel as you put it. And B, who bears the burden of the investment to create the environment to make the fuel.
CLERC: That's true. That's exactly the issue, although will concede that between what has been done in the U.S. with the Inflation Reduction Act and
the investments that are happening in China in renewable energy, we're going to see a lot of capacity of green methanol coming online in the
coming years. So I think from both the ship availability and fuel availability we're making big strides.
The problem that we have yet to solve is the problem of cost. And there the industry has actually made a proposal to the International Maritime
Organization that if we can get accepted or if we can get something similar to what we proposed accepted then we can actually decarbonize this entire
hard-to-evade sector.
QUEST: The other fascinating part is this, the economy is getting better in Europe, barometer of that. Now, container rates are steady and good. The
volumes are good. Things you are seeing an improvement in global economic growth at the moment.
CLERC: I think what we have seen throughout the last couple of years is an incredible resilience of the global economy, even in the aftermath of
COVID. The expectations that there was for hard landings or recessions, whether it was in Europe following the invasion of Ukraine or in the United
States, this has not materialized as we see and we continue to see strong container demand and we expect that to last probably through the year.
QUEST: And the Red Sea, you and I, sir, have talked about the Red Sea and the difficulties there. I noticed today another ship is leaking oil, not
one of yours I make clear, but is leaking oil and there are problems. How much of the Red Sea problems -- I mean, it's sort of, you've managed to
mitigate, you're sending ships different directions. You're doing other things. But the long tail of effect, how much is still having it?
CLERC: I mean, this is still a major effect. I mean, since the globalization of the container, we have never had to live supporting global
trade without having access to the Suez Canal. It's one of the most travel trade route in the world, and it's been closed for the entire year. So this
is still having a large impact. We have to sail longer distances. It consumes more of our capital. It has inflationary pressure on our cost. So
this is still having a large impact and there is no real sign of de- escalation of the situation on the ground with, as you mentioned, ships every year, every week still being subjected to attacks.
QUEST: Vincent, you know, CEOs are as always -- they can always see problems on the horizon, but at the moment, would you say you are
comfortable about the training position, about the situation for shipping at the moment, and that previous concerns have been to some extent delayed?
CLERC: For sure the concerns that we had of overcapacity have been delayed, but we also need to realize that hopefully the selling routes that we're
having today are not the new normal and I hope that we will were returning to normal sailing routes in the foreseeable future and managing this and
the unwinding of the current situation is certainly going to be very sensitive. And there we could still see quite a lot of volatility in the
market. So in general, I think volatility is here to stay and even if situation is more stable today than what it has been at many moments in
history we can see always that there will be certain things that will not make that last forever.
QUEST: Well, thank the CEO of the Port of L.A. because he's often on our program talking about trade. So thank him on our behalf. And thank you,
sir. What a gorgeous ship behind you and we look forward to visiting you. Thank you, sir. I appreciate your time.
CLERC: Thank you.
QUEST: The Kelce brothers have agreed to a massive podcast deal with Amazon's Wondery Studio. Now, sources are telling us the NFL stars, excuse
me, need to cough for an air. There's an ant. It's a contract around $100 million. Wondery gets ad sales and distribution rights to their popular
podcast, "New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce." The brothers draw a big audience with lighthearted football talk.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRAVIS KELCE, HOST, NEW HEIGHTS WITH JASON AND TRAVIS KELCE PODCAST: The Steelers versus Vikings in the first ever best NFL team named bracket
final. Steelers, 39.4 percent of the votes and your Minnesota Vikings with the best team name in the entire NFL wins it on a 60 percent slide. Just
not even close. Not even close. The Minnesota Vikings? Damn, was nobody on Twitter?
[16:40:04]
JASON KELCE, HOST, NEW HEIGHTS WITH JASON AND TRAVIS KELCE PODCAST: It's just another beat for the U.S. steel market.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: Sara is with me, Sara Fischer in New York. And $100 million, I mean, and it's for a few years. Not what it's worth or whether it's worth,
because that's in the eye of the beholder, but it is a lot of money and monetizing that to get the return, and that's about the Duke and Duchess of
Sussex monetizing it back is going to be difficult.
SARA FISCHER, CNN MEDIA ANALYST: Very difficult, but there is some hope. So in the old days of building a podcast business, you had companies like
Wondery, like Spotify, like Scripts. They were all trying to get these podcasts exclusively and to host them on their platforms exclusively.
And what we found, Richard, was that that doesn't really work out. The creators don't love it. The users, the people who are listening, don't love
that. So what instead has happened is we've seen this massive shift from companies owning podcast rights exclusively to instead owning the rights
just to distribute and monetize them exclusively. Essentially, they're saying we know that Travis and Jason Kelce's "New Heights" podcast is
massive.
And the way that we're going to get a return is taking a cut of the sales. That's a different strategy than we saw in previous years. Now, will that
cut of sales add up over the three-year deal to $100 million? Not quite sure but even if it doesn't, Richard, what Wondery is doing is it's
establishing credibility in the space of selling podcasts so that it can continue to build the business in sort of the podcasts and audio ad tech
and distribution space, not necessarily just reporting it to itself exclusively.
QUEST: This is fascinating because they're doing it at the start of the production process in cable, of course. It's always the old reruns that a
studio will then do a distribution deal to second and third parties. But this is right at the front when it's still new.
FISCHER: And part of that, Richard, is because it's really technologically difficult in these newer mediums. If you want to get into podcast
advertising, you need specific software, you need expertise on how to sell it. There's a lot of new AI functions and tools. And so it's not as easy as
just brokering random deals. You need to be partnering with people who have expertise in the distribution.
The big picture, though, Richard, is like the Kelce brothers are stars and they can command $100 million. And we saw the other day Alex Cooper just
signed a very big deal with Sirius XM, also valued at around $100 million multiyear deal. If you're a massive star, you can command something like
this. But the layman podcasters, the long tail, they cannot.
QUEST: I can only imagine and you and I will talk about Oasis and how much they'll be commanding now that they're getting for that. But that's a
subject for another day. Very grateful for you. Thank you.
And that's QUEST MEANS BUSINESS for tonight. I'm Richard Quest in New York. Whatever you're up to in the hours ahead, well, it may not be $100 million,
but I hope it's worth it. We're off to Ho Chi Minh City. It's "WORLD OF WONDER."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:45:48]
QUEST: I'm Richard Quest. I love traveling the world. Broaden the mind. Open the heart.
It really is quite something to see all this.
And I'm not done yet.
It's time to embrace new adventures. Find the fun. Seize the moments.
Spectacular.
In this "WORLD OF WONDER."
There is grace, elegance, and beauty here in Vietnam, and it is on display in the art of water puppetry. Skilled artisans up to their waists in water.
Just what the doctor ordered. Heavy rubber wading suit in 100-degree temperatures. Queen Mother wore these when she'd go fly-fishing, you know.
Why on earth I thought of the Queen Mother fly-fishing, indeed it's got to me. Actually there is a royal connection here. Water puppetry was often
performed for royalty. The puppeteers like Tran stand backstage in the water, performing for an audience sitting in front. And then there are my
efforts.
KEV, CAMERAMAN: Bet I can tell as soon as Richard takes over.
QUEST: Of course you can. The man has been doing it for God knows how many years.
KEV: Go on.
QUEST: All right. That's him.
KEV: Don't tell me when. OK. It's starting to look ill. I think that's you now, Richard.
QUEST: How do you know?
KEV: Because it looks like it's dying.
PO TRAN, JOY JOURNEYS: It's very heavy. Requires a lot of strength.
QUEST: A lot of strength and a lot of experience.
TRAN: Yes.
QUEST: I'm running out of one and the other I don't have. Oh, this is too much.
Tran on the other hand has both in spades.
TRAN: It's very beautiful to watch.
QUEST: He's a master of puppets.
There's a common theme that I'm seeing. Preserving history and sharing culture, giving a performance, fiddling with fish, or, wait for it,
building an entire theme park.
This is Vietnam's answer to Disney, if you will.
What is this place?
TRAN: It's Suoi Tien Theme Park. Suoi Tien is fairy tale theme park. It's got all the culture and tradition of a thousand, thousand years. They've
gotten the hail wind there as well.
QUEST: Let's go.
TRAN: Yes.
QUEST: Oh, look at it.
TRAN: It is. How cool is that? The kids love this place.
QUEST: Everything here draws from ancient beliefs, values, and traditions.
TRAN: This is a force king of Vietnam. Give him a good worship.
QUEST: Beautiful. Beautifully done.
TRAN: Yes.
QUEST: For me the star of the show here is the House of Horrors.
Sir, this is judgment day.
TRAN: Yes. If you do all good things, (INAUDIBLE) as a human. If you do all bad things, you got to go to hell and feel the suffering. And then you can
reborn into animals, or you're staying here longer.
QUEST: Gates to hell.
TRAN: Let's do it.
QUEST: There are 18 levels of hell, covering every sin you can think of. Evil thoughts, evil deeds.
TRAN: Cheating and lying.
QUEST: Cheating and lying. Only two to you.
TRAN: (INAUDIBLE).
[16:50:03]
QUEST: They have some pretty unpleasant ways of torturing you.
These animatronic dolls are being cut in half, boiled in hot oil, eaten by a dog. Oh, very graphic.
That's so scary. The kids are terrified. A little terrified.
KEV: Would you say this is a family friendly attraction?
QUEST: Well, I would think it requires a bit of explanation. My takeaway is that for young kids who are being taught about all of this, it's a pretty
scary phenomenon. But it's because they can see it and they know what's behind it.
Quite terrifying, madame. Don't take (INAUDIBLE).
KEV: You're ready?
QUEST: Yes.
KEV: Now run back. Go!
QUEST: That's enough hell for one day.
KEV: Let it out.
QUEST: OK. It's flying.
Time to let my spirit soar to the heavens.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: It is barely 8:00 in the morning and it's already fritzing. So this is what you do. You sit here in the morning.
TRAN: Yes, in the morning.
QUEST: And do what? And watch?
TRAN: And watch. I have my coffee.
QUEST: All right. What sort of coffee do you have?
TRAN: I'm going to give you a ways of weasel coffee. A weasel coffee.
QUEST: What's that?
TRAN: You know what a weasel?
QUEST: A weasel, a little --
TRAN: A little cat.
QUEST: Yes.
TRAN: OK. So the local over there they feed the weasel by the fresh coffee beans.
QUEST: Oh, no.
TRAN: Please.
QUEST: Go on.
TRAN: And then it moves out.
QUEST: No, no, no, no, no. No, no, no, no, no. We're not doing that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's really good.
TRAN: It's good.
QUEST: This is fruit coffee.
TRAN: Oh, no, but it's certified, you know, good quality.
QUEST: The beans are retrieved and then of course washed and sanitized. Only then made into coffee, and not incidentally sold at a great premium.
Interesting.
TRAN: Very good, right? Deep flavor.
QUEST: It's got a very deep flavor, but it's not bitter.
TRAN: Yes.
QUEST: It's a rounded depth of taste of the coffee.
KEV: Maybe the weasel smooths it out.
(LAUGHTER)
QUEST: Just ignore him.
This coffee is strong.
It's smooth.
TRAN: It's strong, right?
QUEST: With enough caffeine to put a pep in my step. I've been told that traversing the city's narrow alleyways away from the congested main roads
is a must.
So I'm going down to a local market which sells memorabilia, bric-a-brac, I'm told. Lots of relics from the war.
It is a strange concoction. How do you keep bric-a-brac memorabilia of a war from half a century ago?
Is it real?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're real. Yes. They collect the (INAUDIBLE) here.
QUEST: Decades on and the war is starting to become ancient history. Oldies like me, well, we remember the end of the war. The new Vietnam founded by
this man, Ho Chi Minh. His statue and its surroundings a strange juxtaposition of the country's capitalism Vietnam style. Traditional
culture erupts in some very unusual ways. Like flying a kite in the summer.
I know which one I want.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know which one you want. Yes.
QUEST: This one.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The colorful one. I knew it.
[16:55:03]
QUEST: Simple, beautiful, flying a kite. Even if there are nodes of other people with bigger, faster, more robust flying machines. It all has
wonderful memories of Mary Poppins. Until reality rolls back.
Yes. Yes, yes, yes. Hang on. It's getting stuck. Right. Mine is in the middle here. Sorry. How did it look, Kev?
KEV: It looked like you didn't have a clue what you were doing.
QUEST: It's very unfair.
He's right, because it's been about 50 years since I've flown a kite.
KEV: It's up.
QUEST: Hey, Kevin. What were you saying? Look, Kev. Look at that. OK. It's flying.
Suddenly I've got two kites.
KEV: Have you got two? What's he doing? He's gone mad. That's dangerously close to that post, Richard.
QUEST: It's all aeronautics. Oh, no. Hold it.
I'd always cometh before a fall.
It was all your fault, Kevin.
KEV: Did somebody get a bit cocky?
QUEST: No, I didn't get a bit cocky. I just got distracted for a second by you.
KEV: I reckon you were the only person here flying two kites. It's coming.
QUEST: No, it's not.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People are laughing at us now. We'll just cut the string.
KEV: Richard, I think you need to let it go. It's OK.
QUEST: Right. Next kite.
I can't fly a kite for toffee. I don't care.
There is a grace, an elegance, a beauty, simplicity, whatever you will, about flying a kite in such amazing places. Saigon, Ho Chi Minh. And you'll
want to come here and fly your own kite. Enjoy all of this yourself.
Ho Chi Minh in Saigon. Fly, baby, fly.
Part of our "WORLD OF WONDER."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
