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Quest Means Business

Oil Soars, Stocks Drop After Trump's Primetime Address; Iran: Drafting Strait of Hormuz Monitoring Protocol with Oman; Trump Fires U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi; Trump's Speech on Iran; Artemis Moon Mission Ready for Critical Engine Burn; Middle East Conflict Driving Up Tourist Cancellations. Aired 4p-5p ET

Aired April 02, 2026 - 16:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[16:00:18]

RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST, "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS": The closing bell is ringing on Wall Street. Oh, yes, Madam. Keep your finger on the

button at least for another few seconds. The market was down, then it recovered and it remained fairly solid. Put us out of our misery on this

trip. Oh Good Lord. Oh, come on, come on. Yes, and a one -- one, oi! And a two, ay -- ayayay! Oh!

I think what you have just witnessed there is the Andy Warhol 15 minutes of fame. Those are -- you see the way the markets have traded. We have come up

quite a long way from where we were, but those are indeed the markets and these are the main events that you and I are talking about today.

President Trump's primetime address did little to calm the markets. Oil prices rose.

President Trump has fired his Attorney General, Pam Bondi, and the Artemis crew will soon leave Earth's orbit, it is the furthest anyone has been from

planet home in more than 50 years.

We are live in London. It is Thursday, it is April the 2nd. I am Richard Quest, and of course, I mean business.

Good evening.

We begin tonight. President Trump's primetime address, it was supposed to put things right, but it has given the markets little reassurance the

conflict with Iran will end any time soon, despite the fact the President said it would go two or three more weeks, well, the price of crude jumped

11 percent in the hours after the President spoke. His threat to bomb Iran back to the Stone Ages, hardly calmed nerves either.

As for Tehran, it claims to have attacked an Amazon Cloud data center in Bahrain, which is exactly what people feared that U.S. assets would be

targeted. Iran's Revolutionary Guard described it as its first action against spy and terrorist technology companies.

Iran's Foreign Ministry says it is working with Oman on a plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Donald Trump made clear in his address that the U.S.

won't be involved, but he encouraged Europe to take the lead instead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Build up some delayed courage, should have done it before, should have done it with us as

we asked. Go to the Strait and just take it, protect it, use it for yourselves.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: Take it, protect it and use it for yourselves. What exactly that means is anybody's guess. We are nearly five weeks into the war, and the

impact on the global markets has been severe.

I want to show you the details. So let's look at the U.S. indices since the Iran War, where we are at the moment, they're down between three and five

percent, but that doesn't tell the whole story because actually if you think about the NASDAQ, at one point, it was down into correction limits of

10 percent, so that was down 10 percent. That was down 10 percent, and that volatility really just shows how the markets have moved.

As we look at the price of the average price of gasoline, it is up 36 percent, translating into every sector of the economy and oil prices

themselves, well, there we go. I mean, you talk about the cause and the effect. It is Brent, which of course is the main one because that's the

blend that we are talking about. That's the benchmark, it is up 50 percent, and West Texas coming up behind plenty of supply, but coming up behind, up

more 66.4 percent.

Put it all together and the U.S. markets as we leave March behind have just wrapped up one of their worst quarters in years. So to put all this into

perspective, now I've set the territory.

Anna, it is really good to see you as always. Happy Easter and good to see you.

Now this is fascinating at all sorts of levels because the stock market was down, came back up, then been down, but the oil markets have remained

consistently down.

ANNA COOBAN, CNN BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS REPORTER: Yes, I mean you've just pointed to those figures there, 50 percent for Brent up since before the

war. You know really the only thing that's going to give markets relief is a proper reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. And this, you know, a thing

we've heard around Oman talking with Iran about possibly having navigation, monitoring the ships, going through maybe a toll system. This isn't any

sort of relief really, because what countries want is there to be free navigable zone like it was a month ago.

QUEST: Okay. But that's not going to happen anytime soon, and you've certainly now got an emboldened Iran that has always known, but has now put

into practice its supremacy over the Strait.

[16:05:10]

Donald Trump says, just go, go and take it. Go and do it. What does he mean?

COOBAN: Well, Donald Trump has now basically put the onus on countries that are not involved in this war directly, militarily, and who rely more keenly

on the oil coming out of the Strait than the U.S. does in terms of the actual physical oil itself. Of course, the U.S. is impacted by high prices.

But now these countries, which were reluctant to get involved, are actually coming together today with a summit hosted by the U.K. and thinking about

ways to actually put their naval assets in the region, not to be involved militarily because they've just got to do something, Richard.

QUEST: Is there any evidence that if the U.S. backed off a bit, Iran would just say, come along, you can all go through or not?

COOBAN: I mean, from my vantage point, there is nothing to say that that's going to happen, but it is so volatile. We just don't know. It is the

uncertainty, which is really the killer in this market and the killer for investors.

QUEST: And what about this toll idea? I mean, we saw earlier in the week some tankers paying, I believe $2 million is the number that was being --

pardon the pun -- floated.

COOBAN: Well this is Iran exercising its supremacy over this waterway. You've got the military might of the United States, but what Iran has is

control or at least partial control over this really vital choke point.

And so now any sort of suggestion or implementation already of a toll system is something which many politicians, economists are really, you

know, fearful of. And we saw this summit today with leaders basically saying they totally reject the idea of any sort of toll system.

QUEST: They can do as much as they like, but they may have to do with it. Thank you, Anna. Anna is with me. Thank you very much.

Jason Furman is with me, former chair of The White House Council of Economic Advisers, now Professor of practice at Harvard Kennedy School.

Jason, always good to see you, sir. Professor, thank you for taking the time.

As this goes longer, it gets worse in terms of the economic effect. Are we at the point yet where you think for either global growth or U.S. growth,

we are in crisis territory?

JASON FURMAN, PRACTICE OF ECONOMIC POLICY PROFESSOR, HARVARD UNIVERSITY, FORMER CHAIRMAN, COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISERS: We are definitely not close

to crisis territory for U.S. growth, we are an oil exporter. We've reduced our oil intensity over time. We have a lot of scope to respond.

For the rest of the world, it is a little bit tougher, in part, you know, $100.00 a barrel is in a world where the dollar is stronger than it was 20

years ago, it is more than $100.00 a barrel was at that point in time, but you know, if it stays here, I think well be okay, if it goes up from here,

I will get more worried.

QUEST: Right. What is your major concern? Is it one of inflation and the inflationary effects which will prevent particularly the Fed, from cutting

rates, as they might previously have been wanting to do?

FURMAN: Yes, for the United States, it is the worry that the unemployment rate was probably going up even without this. This probably adds to that.

But at the same time, their inflation metric is around three percent and it is really hard to cut rates when that's the case.

It might be going up to four percent. It is basically impossible no matter how much you say. I am looking through, et cetera.

So this is making their job really, really hard.

QUEST: Are you surprised that the markets, I mean they have rallied a bit back up again today, but the oil market stayed down. Are you surprised that

the markets did brush off last night's attempt by the President to soothe or save them?

FURMAN: I am surprised the markets moved one iota in response to yesterday's remarks. I mean, I didn't think he was going to say anything

and he didn't disappoint. I just read some of his Truth Social posts and I don't know how anyone updates.

You know, we are going to blast them to smithereens. We are going to end the war in a day. Either one of those statements, you know, who knows what

they mean.

QUEST: In that environment, and you know, I am constantly being asked by my colleagues when I am broadcasting, so I will get some free guidance from

you. I will plagiarize from you, as they say.

Everybody keeps asking me, all right, what is it going to take for the market to come back down again? So, let me ask you that.

FURMAN: Well, you're talking about the oil prices to come back down again?

QUEST: Yes. Oil prices to come back down.

FURMAN: The Strait needs to be opened. The Strait needs to be opened and it needs to be clear that it is going to permanently be opened, that is the

overwhelmingly most important thing here.

QUEST: You have sat at the very top tables when these maybe not quite this sort of stuff that has been going on, but you've sat at the top table. How

does the debate range? Do people -- when they are talking about these things in The White House, in Treasury, they seem to be living in a

different world to the real world of the markets.

So what sort of discussions take place?

[16:10:03]

FURMAN: Look, I was in The White House when oil prices went up to -- it was actually in today's inflation adjusted dollars $150.00 a barrel after the

Libya strikes, and you just start running around like a sort of chicken with its head cut off, trying to figure out what you can possibly do. Can

you do SPR releases? Can you threaten gas stations that raise prices? Can you, you know, deal with a bottleneck in one part of the refining system,

et cetera?

And you're like up working 24 hours a day on this and you know that at the end of that 24 hours a day, whatever you do is just tiny, tiny compared to

this hundred million barrel a day global market, and that's the problem they have. The national security people could maybe do something about this

the economic people cannot.

QUEST: And finally, back to where we started in a sense, the difference and disparity between the economic effects in the United States largest economy

in the world and the rest of the world. We've got countries in Southeast Asia running out of fuel. We've got some places running out of jet fuel.

Europe is going to start really feeling the effect coming on soon. The U.S. hasn't got enough export surplus that it can actually help.

The gap between the U.S. and the rest of the world is going to get bigger.

FURMAN: Yes, I think that's absolutely right. I mean, first of all, by the way, one reason why the U.S. economy has done well in the last year is the

topic we are not talking about, which is A.I., and you add that to us being an oil exporter, so there is a sense in which we benefit from this, a sense

in which we get hurt.

Europe, I don't think, has really gotten its act together in response to all the great ideas it has gotten from Draghi, Letta and others. And so I

expect, you know, more divergence in the global economy as a result of this.

The United States may be on the positive side of that divergence, at least comparatively so and others on the negative.

QUEST: Professor Furman, Jason, good to see you, sir. Thank you for taking the time to talk to us tonight.

The U.S. Attorney General, Pam Bondi has been fired by President Trump. Sources say the President was growing frustrated with her work,

particularly the handling of the Epstein files. Her top deputy, Todd Blanche, will become acting Attorney General.

Kevin Liptak is with me.

What did he expect from her?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: I think he expected her to insulate him more from the fallout of these files, and that is where his

problem with Pam Bondi lay. You know, it wasn't that she wasn't seeking justice for the victims, which she is not doing. It wasn't that she was not

seeking out other co-conspirators, which is not also something that she is doing. It was that the president seems to have been damaged by how this has

all gone about, you know, the drip, drip, drip; the constant, uh, putting out of information and files that had President Trump's name in them.

Obviously, it doesn't show any wrongdoing, but it did seem to suggest that the President was trying to hide something, and it has become a cloud over

his entire administration, and I think that is where the President thinks that she botched all of this.

And, you know, all the way back to very, very early in this term when she brought in all of those influencers and handed them binders that she

claimed were the Epstein files and it turned out to be just a bunch of information that was available publicly, I think she sort of put the

President in a bind because, so much of his output had been that he was going to put out information and release all of this information that

brought more co-conspirators to light and she didn't do any of that.

And it just made him look sort of bad and incompetent, and I think that is part of why the President thinks she botched the entire thing.

QUEST: Now, the huge fuss was made at the start of the administration, particularly by Susie Wiles, the chief-of-staff that this was not going to

be Trump 1 redux. This was not going to have chop and change favorite, but all the usual stuff. We've lost two and incidentally, two female Cabinet

members in as many months.

Do you get a feeling that we might be going back to Donald Trump being more maverick and more in the way he is dealing with his Cabinet?

LIPTAK: Yes. I do think the posture has changed on that front somewhat, and I think it started with Kristi Noem, the Homeland Security Secretary. The

President clearly frustrated and losing confidence with her, he fired her, but there was really no blowback.

You know, both his supporters and his opponents were kind of fine with the President getting rid of Kristi Noem and the process of confirming her

replacement, Markwayne Mullin, was relatively smooth. He was confirmed fairly quickly, and he is in the job now.

I think it is going to be much more difficult to confirm a new Attorney General. A lot of senators have some issues with how that department has

become politicized. I also think the President is going to have a hard time finding someone to replace Pam Bondi, who is more loyal and more sort of

pliant than she was, even though the President is frustrated with her for not going after his political enemies in a more aggressive way, she did

fairly everything she could.

[16:15:13]

She tried to get indictments against James Comey and against Letitia James. It was the grand juries and the facts that were standing in the way there.

And so how the President is going to find someone who is more successful at that than Pam Bondi, not entirely clear, but I also think the President is

clearly looking for a reset.

You know, we are in the middle of a very unpopular war. The economy is, by all accounts, something that is going to be a problem for him and the

Republicans in the midterm elections. And I think the President is trying to identify places that he can make changes and switch things up at a

moment in his presidency that is very, very difficult, and clearly, his advisors recognize that as well.

QUEST: Kevin, good to see you in Washington. Thank you, sir. Kevin Liptak.

As you and I continue our nightly conversation on business and economics, Europe is attempting to formulate a plan to open the Strait. President

Trump said it wasn't America's problem.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: Markets in Israel were closed today for Passover and ahead of the holiday, the Finance Ministry trimmed this year's economic growth forecast

because of the fighting with Hezbollah and Iran.

Growth is now expected to be between 3.3 and 3.8 percent, depending on how long the conflict lasts. A sharp reduction from the previous forecast, 5.2

after the Gaza ceasefire was announced.

On Monday, the BoI held interest rates steady for the second month, and it was geopolitical uncertainty, of course.

Governor Amir Yaron is the Governor of the Israeli Central Bank. He joins me tonight from Tel Aviv.

Chag Pesach Sameach, Governor, for Passover. Let me just start on the economic front. This cut in growth. It is not surprising, obviously,

because of what is going on, but it doesn't bode well in a sense because you've got higher prices for inflation and you've got lower economic

growth. You're heading to the perfect storm here.

AMIR YARON, GOVERNOR, ISRAELI CENTRAL BANK: Richard, good evening.

First of all, let me say, obviously, this event now is -- I will turn to Israel in a second. This is a global event. A lot of the effects will be

determined, as you mentioned, by its duration, and obviously the outcome at the end and the various geopolitical outcomes that it might end up with.

[16:20:16]

And they can affect, obviously whether the straits are closed, whether prices come down relatively fast or they are prolonged at a high level for

quite a long time, in which case we will see damages to both inflation and the economies and we already see that priced in, in the markets, especially

in Europe for raising rates and in the U.S. holding rates for longer.

As far as Israel, we've lowered our forecast from 5.2 to 3.8 and this is under the working assumption that this battle continues until pretty much

the end of April.

So it is a very, you know, specific working assumption. And we expect given this, we expect a rebound in 2027, in some sense, what we expected in 2026

and inflation, because Israel is relatively -- has LNG, somewhat less prone to inflation due to energy, but still obviously exposed, we expect

inflation to go up to 2.2 by the end of 2026 and 1.8 by the end of 2027 under this assumption, and therefore, we signaled one to two cuts by Q1 in

2027.

QUEST: Right, but you've also got the problem of increased spending on defense. And I know that the bank is particularly concerned. You've warned,

the challenging time that there needs to be on the government spending side, there needs to be more restrained. Is anyone listening?

YARON: So you're absolutely right. And first, just a perspective, the government made significant adjustments during the 2024 and 2025 budget,

exactly as the bank suggested. In the 2026 budget and in particular in the update to the budget that was done in the recent week or so due to the

campaign with Iran, things have gone to what we think is a deficit that is going to be above five percent.

So my statement was it was good that the budget was passed because it provides for economic continuity, facilitates economic continuity, but it

was really fitting at this point to avoid any, you know, deficit spending measures such as coalition money and tax reductions at this challenging

point in particular.

Let me say that for 2026. I think the big challenge is going to be in the 2027 budget. This is when Israel faces what I call its fiscal trilemma. On

the one hand, making sure that our debt to GDP, which is expected to end in 2026, around 70 to 70.5 percent to make sure it is on a path coming down.

At the same time, continue to fund security expenditure, which are still under almost all scenarios are going to be higher than prior to the 7th of

October, and on third, let me just finish that, we still have to invest in important growth engines such as education and infrastructure.

How do you do that? You need to eliminate budget items that do not incentivize certain segments of society from going into the working place,

from getting the right skills, from coalition money. And unfortunately, this will pretty much likely involve also raising taxes in order to bring

all these three elements together.

QUEST: That last answer went into a real political hornet's nest, both in terms of the cost for the Haredi, education and the lack of investment.

But I want to just ask, is there any evidence that international investors are shunning Israel, either on philosophical grounds or because they are

worried about the economic situation and the geopolitical stability of the country?

[16:25:10]

YARON: So, Richard, first of all, it is important to note the Israeli economy and the Israeli public have shown great resiliency throughout this

two-and-a-half years since the 7th of October. We've seen investments in high tech, if anything, increased in the last several quarters, we've seen

more investments if it is private equity companies, we've seen even hedge funds having more interest in coming here.

The Israeli stock market has overperformed relative to others until this last campaign with Iran, and even now, our stock market, the exchange rate

and the risk premia have all moved relatively in a very moderate fashion relative to other markets.

QUEST: Governor, I am grateful to you, sir. Thank you for joining us tonight. We will talk more, hopefully, when you're in New York or I am in

Tel Aviv. Thank you, sir, for joining us.

The Governor of the Bank of Israel.

More than 40 countries joined the U.K.'s virtual summit on the Strait. The U.S. President says other countries should take responsibility for securing

the waterway, claiming the Strait will naturally reopen once the war is over.

President Macron criticized the inconsistent messages coming from The White House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT (through translator): We want to be serious. We don't say each day the opposite of what we said the day before.

Perhaps we don't need to speak every day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: Dan Yergin is Vice Chairman of S&P Global with me now. I mean, it couldn't be more blunt. The market reaction on oil this morning, Dan,

really made the point better than most that as long as the President is throwing inconsistent messages, the market doesn't know which way to turn,

so the price goes up.

DANIEL YERGIN, VICE CHAIRMAN, S&P GLOBAL: Well, I think there are really two prices, Richard. One is the future price and the other -- oh, we have

an echo. Do you have --

QUEST: Yes, I am sorry. Yes. I think you might be hearing yourself coming back. Let me just see if we can sort that out.

Are you able to hear yourself okay, sir? Are you able to continue?

YERGIN: I can hear, yes, I think I can -- now, it is fine. What I started to say, really, there are two prices, $108.00, which is the futures price

and then there is the price for a barrel in the next 10 days and that's $140.00.

And so the oil market, that's the real price to look at because that's the price that reflects physical shortage as opposed to financial market

interpretation of what is happening.

QUEST: Right, so where are you expecting as this gets longer and longer, where do the shortages, the real shortages start to be felt? We know The

Philippines, we know Southeast Asia, are we getting to the point where Europe is going to feel real shortage?

YERGIN: Well, of course, as you say, Asia is already feeling it because 80 percent of the oil that came out of the Strait of Hormuz went to Asia.

Europe is going to feel it in products like diesel and jet fuel, and there is already the prices for jet fuel are more than double what they were

before this crisis began.

So, I think that's where Europe starts to see it at the beginning, and then of course, where it is felt less is the United States, because of the Shale

Revolution, it has made the U.S. sort of self-sufficient.

QUEST: Your new book, "The New Map," goes into many of the ideas -- I mean, it is almost a prognosis in a sense, for what is happening now. It is

almost as if you sort of had predicted this particularly, particularly the weaponization of oil and the strengthening of the monopoly position of,

say, Iran and the Strait.

YERGIN: Yes, I mean, first we saw it with gas where Putin weaponized gas in 2022 after the invasion of Ukraine against Europe. And now, we really have

the weaponization of the Strait of Hormuz and this has turned out to be the other big weapon that Iran had and it is applying it.

And, you know, Richard, it was not a secret that this was the most important choke point for world oil. For years, people have been seeing it

and out there was always this nightmare scenario that that traffic through the Strait would be disrupted. Now, it has happened.

QUEST: If somebody had said to you six months ago, Dan, if there is a war, if America starts bombing Iran, I think there is a real chance that Iran

will close the Straits of Hormuz. If they had said that six months ago, would you have -- because seemingly, the administration didn't seem to

think it was a realistic possibility. What would you have said if I had said that to you?

YERGIN: Well, it was kind of obvious that they would do it. Iran has already kind of with Oman and the UAE has in, you know, in a practical way,

managed the traffic through the Straits so there wouldn't be collisions, you know, at its most narrow, it is 21 miles. So it is the obvious choke

point.

You know, for decades, people have seen it as the choke point and Iran now with its drones and so forth, has showed that it can command it and turn it

basically into a canal and extract tolls for ships that want to pass that it will let pass.

QUEST: Dan, I am glad to see you, sir. Thank you for joining us. Kind of you to take time tonight.

QUEST MEANS BUSINESS coming up, a closer look at President Trump's speech from last night, what it said and more importantly, what it didn't say and

the economy.

QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. Good evening.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:30:53]

QUEST: Hello, I'm Richard Quest. There is more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS in a moment. It's called the point of no return. The Artemis II crew is hours

away from leaving Earth's orbit. The beaches of Cyprus have been empty lately, or at least far emptier than normal. The Iran impact on tourism,

the war. Before that, the headlines because this is CNN and here the news always comes first.

Donald Trump has fired Pam Bondi, his attorney general. Sources are telling us Mr. Trump was frustrated with her handling of the Epstein files. We're

told he also thought she had not investigated or prosecuted enough of his political opponents. Bondi's top deputy, Todd Blanche, was appointed acting

AG.

The National Capital Planning Commission in Washington has approved President Trump's $400 million White House ballroom project. The board was

stacked with Trump loyalists who voted in favor of the measure. Now, what happens is unclear because the project has been stopped after a federal

judge ordered construction to halt earlier this week.

[16:35:04]

In Florida, we've now seen the new body cam video of the arrest of Tiger Woods after his car accident. It happened last Friday afternoon on Jupiter

Island near his home. Mr. Woods failed the field sobriety test. He was then found with prescription drugs.

Last night, President Trump delivered his national address. It borrowed heavily from his social media posts. Some said it was a reprise of his old

hits, including the threats towards Iran.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks. We're going to bring them

back to the Stone Ages where they belong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: And look at another example. Same language, goading other countries into reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We will be helpful, but they should take the lead in protecting the oil that they so desperately depend on. So to those countries that can't

get fuel, many of which refuse to get involved in the decapitation of Iran, we had to do it ourselves, I have a suggestion. Number one, buy oil from

the United States of America. We have plenty. We have so much. And number two, build up some delayed courage. Should have done it before, should have

done it with us as we asked.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: Just one fact. The U.S. doesn't have a huge surplus left over to sell either with LNG or in terms of oil. There's a -- there is some

leftover but not a huge amount.

President Trump didn't spend much time on the economy at the time that the poll, CNN poll shows the president's economic approval rating has hit an

all-time low.

David Chalian is with us, our Washington bureau chief.

The one common theme about last night and the comments afterwards, it's, people are saying it was just a reprise of his greatest hits from social

media. Was last night about really making an argument or was it about trying to shore up because he knows he's in deep trouble on this?

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: He is in deep trouble on this. Our new poll that you referenced on the economy, we also had a look at Iran.

Only 34 percent of Americans approve of the military action in Iran. That's down from when the strikes first happened, right after the February 28th

strikes, Richard. And we've seen that only a third of Americans think Donald Trump has a clear plan to deal with Iran.

And I'm not sure anyone listening last night could walk away sort of being sold, oh, no, no, I didn't think before last night that he has a clear

plan, now I see the clear plan, because, as you noted, he did repeat everything he has said publicly on social media when he gaggles with

reporters in the Oval Office, which all seems aimed at keeping his options open and without committing to some course here. And by doing that, you

also don't then clarify for the American people what the clear end game is.

QUEST: I was particularly struck, of course, we had last night's speech. Then today he fires Pam Bondi. Is there any strategy behind any of this?

CHALIAN: Well, I don't think those two things are connected. I don't see a strategy in that it had been rumored for quite some time that he was quite

dissatisfied with Pam Bondi as attorney general over the Epstein matter, over the fact that his sort of retribution agenda was not being enacted and

getting through the courts, going after some of his political enemies. So I think she's been on the ropes internally for a bit.

But I do think last night, the one bit of strategy I think they were hoping for, again, I think we'll have to wait to see if the American people bought

it, was that he hadn't really talked en masse to the American people about the effort in Iran. And this was a large opportunity, asked for time from

the broadcast networks to try and really, I think, buy a little more time for himself to see if he can get to an end game here.

QUEST: One thing I noticed, yesterday, Marco Rubio's comments about NATO or, very much on message with the president, but these are surprising

messages from somebody like Rubio. Is he currying favor or does he genuinely believe it, I wonder?

CHALIAN: Well, we have seen him shift, no doubt. I mean, you know, Marco Rubio was one of the champions just before he took over as secretary of

state, when he was a senator of ensuring that if the U.S. were to remove itself from NATO, that would need a two-thirds vote in the Senate and no

president could do that unilaterally. Right? So he obviously has -- sort of had to adapt his positions on things to get -- in accommodation with

President Trump, given his current role.

[16:40:05]

But you see that he sort of navigates that somewhat carefully because I think Marco Rubio envisions a political future for himself beyond Donald

Trump, and is trying to make sure that he leaves some space for that.

QUEST: I'm grateful to see you, sir. Thank you very much.

CHALIAN: You too. Thank you.

QUEST: Thank you.

The Artemis moon mission is about to reach the point of no return. Will explain the critical maneuver that they're about to perform.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: A few hours from now in the Artemis moon mission reaches the point of no return. OK, so it's when the four astronauts in the Orion capsule

perform a translunar injection burn. A few moments ago, NASA gave the crew the go ahead to do that procedure. That will propel the crew out of Earth's

orbit and towards the moon. First time that we've been to the moon since 1972. The plan is for inertia and gravity to slingshot the ship around the

moon and then back to Earth.

God, this is clever stuff. Equally clever the toilet. Well, that toilet trouble in the Orion capsule, which is now resolved. Shortly after launch,

we learned there was a problem. It's got one toilet on board. You can see what the toilet looks like in this video. Mission control helped fix it.

The crew fix it. There's never a plumber when you need one. Notably, this is the first moon mission with a toilet in the capsule.

Ed Lavandera is live in Houston, Texas.

There are many things you and I thought we would be talking about, but toilets, I guess, wasn't high on our agenda.

Ed, I'm fascinated. This story has just captivated the world. It's unbelievable. Now this translunar injection thingamajig, explain.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, so this is the propellant that is going to send the Orion capsule out toward the moon. And

this is a crucial, crucial moment in this mission. So it's significant that here, about three hours from now, that they have given the go ahead for

this translunar injection burn. And what will happen is that essentially the engines that will turn on and it will begin the process of sending this

capsule and break away from the earth's gravity. So right now, over the last day, it has been orbiting the earth at a very, very high altitude, way

higher than like satellites or anything like that.

[16:45:03]

But it needs this propulsion to be able to break the Earth's gravitational pull, and then chart its path toward the moon. And once that happens, you

cannot come back. The only way to come back is to circumnavigate the moon in this path that they have already predetermined, that the mission team

has predetermined. So, once they're there and they're essentially using gravity to and to bring it back ultimately in very simplistic terms here.

QUEST: Right.

LAVANDERA: But, you know, this is --

QUEST: Right.

LAVANDERA: This is a huge, crucial moment. No humans have been on this path since 1972.

QUEST: Well, I mean, look, I was alive in '72 and I remember the moon launches and all that, but I don't remember how they did it. I mean, did

they have to do this orbiting of the earth to get this slingshot so that they could go around the moon rather than just sort of taking the straight

lines all the way there?

LAVANDERA: Well, one of the reasons for the orbiting is to get those initial tests. Remember this is a test flight. So none of the equipment has

really been tested in its true conditions where it's expected to perform and maintain and sustain a crew for any given period of time. So much of

what has been done over the last 24 hours is just to make sure that the capsule and everything could work properly, that they could get to this

moment and feel confident that it could go out to the moon and bring the crew back safely.

So that was part of the reason why, you know, they have spent some time orbiting the earth. But, and so far everything, Richard, seems to be going

rather well.

QUEST: Right. As we keep everything that we have that can be crossed for their goodwill and good health, what's the mood there? What's the mood?

LAVANDERA: You know, we were at a watching party just next door to the Johnson Space Center yesterday. The euphoria over what is happening here,

the excitement over it, is really stunning to see, you know, especially here at Johnson Space Center, a community, space community that has been

integral to the entire history, American history of U.S. space exploration. You know, these people have lived it through every generation, Apollo,

Gemini, the space shuttle, the International Space Station, and now Artemis. You know, there's just -- you can just feel that passion.

QUEST: Right.

LAVANDERA: That intensity, that the euphoria of what they witnessed yesterday.

QUEST: Is there a feeling that they have purpose again, in a sense, you know, SpaceX and the space station and all the problems and privateering

into space. But this is really what the tax dollars are all about. This is, this is real space exploration.

LAVANDERA: I can't help but think that they do have that feeling because, Richard, I was here, was it more than 10 years ago? I was in mission

control as the final space shuttle mission landed in Florida. We watched all of the people in mission control. You know, I remember hugs and tears

that this is -- that this era had come to an end. And back then there was real question as to what was going to come next, what was going to be their

purpose, their mission?

What did they strive for? And I feel like this has just reignited I think the passions and the hopes for so many people here.

QUEST: Good to have you there, Ed. We'll talk more as this mission continues, Ed Lavandera.

The Iran war is wreaking havoc on global travel. Summer destinations in Europe are losing out. The director general of the Cyprus Hotel Association

will be me after the break. They've certainly got their work cut out for them.

QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:51:17]

QUEST: Travel plans have been turned upside down by the Iran conflict. It spells trouble indeed for countries like Cyprus, which relies on summer

visitors. Its short-term lodges saw a spike in cancellation last month. The tracking firm AirDNA says the cancellation rate briefly hit 100 percent

after the fighting broke out.

Christos Angelides is the director general of the Cyprus Hotel Association.

Christos, I get it, I understand this is not easy whichever way you cut this and you're at a very delicate time. I mean, I assume Easter is a bust,

and really you're now trying to protect the summer as best you can.

CHRISTOS ANGELIDES, DIRECTOR GENERAL, CYPRUS HOTEL ASSOCIATION: You just described the true matters and the fact of the things we are going through.

However, we did not, you know, experience 100 percent cancellation. We had a 40 percent in March and so much for April. From then on, we are

experiencing a balance, I would say an even situation between cancellations and bookings for the rest of the summer. However, the April and Easter

period looks challenging, and we are doing our best to reverse the situation. It's not easy. It's a tough call, but we try our best through

whichever means we can.

QUEST: Right. Right. On that point, what can one do? Because this isn't a question of price or competition. This is a question of safety and people

being worried. So, I mean, I agree, if you discount enough, some will turn up, but if you discount, you know, you'll also lose money and you'll also

cheapen your resorts, et cetera, et cetera. How are you going to balance that?

ANGELIDES: Look, it's something that we don't want to do and we won't do because as you described, when you discount heavily your destination and

your hotels, it appears as a cheap trick. You have to lower your standards and then you destroy your reputation that took 40, 50 years to build up as

a quality destination for families and couples alike. On the other hand, we need to remove the veil of uncertainty over Cyprus.

And we can do this in a number of ways. First of all, we are, you know, pumping up our promotions online, offline. We are inviting journalists and

editors to visit Cyprus to see for themselves. We are organizing now a campaign for travel agents and tour operators to visit, to verify for

themselves the true matter of what we are saying that Cyprus is a safe destination for all to enjoy.

QUEST: Right.

ANGELIDES: And as a matter of fact, you know, since, you know, that small incident that happened on the 2nd of March, things are moving in a normal -

-

QUEST: Yes.

ANGELIDES: In a normal way. Cyprus --

(CROSSTALK)

QUEST: I guess it's, I guess your problem is perception often versus reality, isn't it? It's the fear rather than what might actually happen.

ANGELIDES: Exactly. It's the perceived risk versus the reality on the ground. And this is what we're trying to reverse now.

[16:55:04]

The good thing is that the airlines and the tour operators have kept the volume of the seats and the volume of their programs, which gives, which

gives, you know, an impetus and a confidence, both to us and the travel agents who are there to persuade their customers to book.

QUEST: All right. I'm grateful, sir. Thank you for --

ANGELIDES: This is a good -- this is good news.

QUEST: Thank you. It is a good news. Thank you.

ANGELIDES: Thank you for having me. And please visit.

QUEST: Thank you. Ah, there's an invitation we can't refuse. Thank you.

Now I'm putting my hands up. I -- all right. Yes. I am the idiot. I did not realize when I was looking who she was. I held up my hand. It was Mikaela

Shiffrin who brought the hammer down on a mixed session in the markets. She is only three times Olympic ski champion. She is the most decorated Alpine

skier, American skier, and I did not realize it. And sorry.

The Dow closed relatively flat. I did realize that. Down 61 points trading in a narrow range. Take a look at the 30 and you'll see who won, who lost

and who really didn't do much of all. They were just pretty much even Stevens. IBM is at the top and who do we got at the bottom? Home Depot is

at the bottom. You pay your money, you take your choice. We'll have our "Profitable Moment" after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: Tonight's "Profitable Moment."

One of the most important things we do on QUEST MEANS BUSINESS is bring you the real stories of what's happening in the economy. So we had the ice

cream truck the other day with their Italian ice. Tonight it's the Cyprus Hotel Owners Association. And the reason is it's too easy to just talk

about the oil was up and this was down. And that had happened in the big picture.

Economics and business is really about our everyday life. I've always said it. You and I have talked about this many times. And the truth is that the

crisis, the war in Iran is having ripple effects around the globe. And we don't know the full effect, but we're going to cover them as and when we

see them, such as the Cyprus owners, the hotels, they're wonderful place. I haven't been. I'm looking forward to my first visit.

But those hotels have a dilemma. Do you stay empty and hold the rate or do you discount, maybe get some more money in, but you start to cheapen your

product? And how long can you keep this going for before you've got to make some really tough decisions? It might be Cyprus, it might be the Southern

Med, it might be -- it doesn't matter where, the Middle East. I think we're going to see a bonanza in terms of cheap holidays out the Gulf when that

finally reopens, but that's another business of the crisis we'll talk about some other day.

That's QUEST MEANS BUSINESS for tonight. I'm Richard Quest in London. Whatever you're up to in the hours ahead, I hope it's profitable. Happy

Easter if you're celebrating. Good Passover if you're celebrating.

END