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Quest Means Business
D.C. Shooting Suspect Charged With Attempt To Kill President; Trump: Secret Service Did A Really Good Job; White House To Welcome King Charles, Queen Camilla; Central Banks Contend With Higher Oil Prices; Jury Selection Begins In Civil Trial Over OpenAi's Mission; King Charles And Queen Camilla Visiting The White House; Sabastian Sawe Smashes Two-Hour Barrier In World- Record Run. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired April 27, 2026 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:24]
RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST, "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS": Closing bell ringing on Wall Street, as you can see, the Dow has been are sort of -- its
a miserable sort of day. It doesn't really tell the whole story that because actually -- oh, and a one, and a two, and a one, two, three, four!
There's the triple stack. It shows that the market, the NASDAQ and the S&P eking out small gains small enough to put them into a record. Both those
two indices are records, the Dow is not.
Those are the markets and the main events of the day: A suspected gunman is accused in his first court appearance of trying to assassinate President
Trump. We will give you the details.
King Charles and Queen Camilla are on their way to The White House enroute from their arrival. They are hoping to repair frayed relationships between
Britain and the United States.
And Musk versus Altman. $130 billion battle over OpenAI's, now headed well and truly into the courts.
You and I, well, I am live in New York. It is Monday. It is April the 27th. I am Richard Quest and I mean business.
Good evening.
In the last few hours, the man accused of trying to attack top administration officials at The White House Correspondents' Dinner has
appeared in court. He is 31-year-old and he faces multiple charges, including trying to assassinate the President.
The prosecutors have asked for him to be detained before trial. The man stayed mostly quiet during the initial court appearance.
At the Justice Department, officials there have just concluded a news conference. The U.S. Attorney, Jeanine Pirro, said the suspect's intent is
clear.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEANINE PIRRO, WASHINGTON D.C. U.S. ATTORNEY: There will be additional charges as this investigation continues to unfold. But make no mistake,
this was an attempted assassination of the President of the United States, with the defendant making clear what his intent was and that intent was to
bring down as many of the high ranking Cabinet officials as he could.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: Evan Perez is in Washington.
Early days, in terms of facts, charges and details. But what have we learned today that's advanced our knowledge?
EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, we now have the actual charges that he is facing, including, of course, the one, the big one,
which is the assassination attempt against the President of United States.
Now, that is that is a charge that could bring a life sentence against this suspect. But one of the things that is really not clear is there additional
evidence beyond the so-called Manifesto that we have now seen public, whether there is anything else that he has said, any statements he has
made, anything that they found in his devices that lead them to believe that this was intended as an assassination against the President, rather
than just an attack against the administration, as they've previously described.
Also, Richard, another thing that, you know, I asked the question of the acting Attorney General during the press conference a little while ago,
because they've been trying to rally and saying that the security was above board, that everything worked exactly as it should.
And I think a lot of questions are being asked, including by the fact that this complaint that was unsealed today in federal court, the charges it
says that the suspect fell as he ran through this lobby area. What the acting Attorney General, what the President and others have said is that
the Secret Service acted heroically and tackled him.
So what this tells us is that the story is not completely being told here and we are going to see when there is a further investigation, exactly what
happened.
One other thing, Richard. I think what we are waiting to see is whether they determine who actually fired the shot that struck the Secret Service
agent. Remember, they tell us that one agent took a shot to his to his bulletproof vest. It is not clear that the assailant actually fired that
shot.
QUEST: What I am not fully clear on having sort of even having read and over the weekend is how far it was from where he ran the line to the
ballroom. How realistic was it for him to have got from there and not been stopped to get through the front door to the door of the ballroom?
[16:05:07]
PEREZ: Well, that's one of the things that the Secret Service is relying upon. The idea that if he had made it past that one story, he had to go
down a set of stairs and then entered this ballroom, the largest in the city, and then there was a number of other layers of security before he
could even get to the President of the United States.
It is true, there is some distance. But again, Richard, remember, there are members of the Cabinet all over that room. One of the other questions is,
why do you have the President, the Vice President, pretty much all of the top government officials in one place at the same time that could be -- if
this man was carrying more than just a shotgun, a lot more could be done, obviously, damage could be done to the line of succession of the United
States government at this stage.
QUEST: And let's not forget, all the other people who were there. I mean --
PEREZ: Absolutely.
QUEST: You know, if he had opened fire in that antechamber or even on his way downstairs, we could have lost several colleagues because our own dear
Wolf Blitzer was in the vicinity. And so, yes, I hear this argument that if your goal was to protect the President of the United States, it worked. If
your goal is also to protect the members of the general public, it didn't.
PEREZ: It really did not. Right? I mean, it is only for the by the grace of god that he apparently wasn't trying to hurt anyone else and he says that
in his Manifesto that there were not people who were shot and killed that day.
QUEST: I am grateful for you. Thank you, sir.
PEREZ: Thank you.
QUEST: The White House Press Secretary says the security protocol on the night worked as planned as we've just been talking.
Karoline Leavitt says the suspect tried to reach the perimeter and was immediately neutralized. Others are calling for further scrutiny. The House
Speaker, for instance, says security measures around large events must be reevaluated and Susie Wiles, the chief-of-staff is going to meet Secret
Service and others to discuss these issues.
President Trump was asked his thoughts on the security team during an interview with "60 Minutes."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NORAH O'DONNELL, CBS NEWS: He had been staying at the hotel since Friday. He checked in. He said he had cased the place and he wrote, "What the hell
is the Secret Service doing?" And he wrote this quote, "I expected security cameras at every bend, bugged hotel rooms, armed agents every ten feet,
metal detectors out the wazoo. What I got is nothing." He wrote. "Like this level of incompetence is insane."
Sir, you have already had two --
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: He was pretty incompetent too, because he got caught and he got caught pretty easily. So
I'd say he was pretty incompetent, too.
You know, I could take any event having to do with security or anything else. I can always find fault. Those guys did a good job last night. They
did a really good job.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: Jonathan Wackrow is a former Secret Service agent. Jonathan is with me now.
I have read so much over the last 48 hours about this, but I always come -- I come back to the conclusion that actually the thing worked as it was
intended to. It was -- you know, if you have one of these events, it is going to be messy and there is going to be noise, furor, chaos and drama,
by definition.
But if your goal was to prevent the assassination of the head of state and maybe Cabinet members, it worked.
JONATHAN WACKROW, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well. Richard, you're exactly right and two things can be correct at the same time. The security
plan that was developed by the Secret Service for the specific site can -- you know, can indeed work as designed. But at the same time, there can be
improvements.
And I think that that's the conversation we need to have right now is, you know, in the moment, the security design, the main magnetometer checkpoint,
the officers and agents that were at that location, they are really that first line of defense, they did their job, but could they do it better next
time?
What we are seeing right now, Richard, is a drastically changing threat environment and the Secret Service cannot be complacent. They have to learn
from this.
QUEST: Okay.
WACKROW: Even though it was a success, they can always improve on their process and how they apply security, especially on these large scale events
that have multiple political leaders gathered at the same time.
QUEST: All right, all right. Well, I am old enough to remember the Brighton bomb when the IRA tried to -- well, they blew up the Brighton Hotel, a
similar thing. You know, the Prime Minister of the day then Margaret Thatcher was in the hotel. So many people were injured and killed and the
IRA came up with that famous line, you have to be lucky every time, we only have to be lucky once.
Now, in this case, in this case, it was it was firearms. But had he been able to plant a device in the hotel, that would have been a different
matter.
[16:10:10]
WACKROW: Exactly. Now, your point is well taken, but when -- you know the security plan that's developed really takes the broader threat environment
in consideration as they are setting up these different security measures.
There is also a lot that you do not see, right? Especially when it comes to explosives and other, you know, other hazardous devices. There are
mitigation plans that are in place.
We saw this attack using firearms, but the Secret Service does have multiple mitigation protocols in place if someone has an explosive device
or some sort of biological or chemical hazard on them at the same time.
So there is no single point of failure here. The security plan is a multiple layers that are overlapping, but your point is well taken. But
that's why this checkpoint is -- you try to set these security plans up where your main checkpoint is as far away from your -- from the President
as possible in the event that there is an explosive.
QUEST: So now let's talk about the President's idea that this is to a certain extent, justification for the ballroom. Now, put aside the size,
scale and whether or not its vainglorious, the ballroom, the core point he is making is that this is a secure place within the most secure borders.
I can see a strong argument in favor, but that would also mean, well, you'd have an argument for never leaving The White House or Buckingham Palace.
You'd always -- you'd have a secure place and you'd stay there regardless.
WACKROW: Yes, I mean, listen, selfishly, as a former Secret Service agent, I would like the President of the United States, regardless of their party,
to stay in one location and never leave. But that's just not the reality of politics, right?
Politics are all about getting out there on messaging campaigns, getting out to see the people. I mean, under the President's current construct
there, he would never leave. Every event would be there. All political events, fundraisers, everything like that. It is just not a feasible idea
moving forward.
I get what he is trying to leverage at this moment in time, but it is just -- you know, not a reasonable thought.
QUEST: I am grateful, Jonathan. Thank you. We will talk more.
WACKROW: Thank you.
QUEST: The visit of the King and Queen of the United Kingdom is going ahead, and it is going ahead right now.
King Charles and Queen Camilla landed just outside Washington about 90 minutes ago. We understand that a few minor adjustments are being made
following the events of the weekend, and at the moment, we are waiting for President Trump and the First Lady to greet the King and Queen at The White
House.
This is an informal greeting that will take place. The full state pomp and ceremony will take place tomorrow, but this is the opportunity to begin the
visit, and the visit represents the special relationship between the U.K. and USA, specifically marking the 250th Anniversary of U.S. Independence
from Great Britain.
Kevin Liptak is at The White House. It is all taking place. We are expecting their majesties any time now. I assume they have gone by road
from Joint Base Andrews, and they are going to have afternoon.
Well, no, they are going inside to have a cup of tea with the President, aren't they, afterwards?
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Right. They are going to have a cup of tea inside The White House. We are not going to see that
particular portion. So, maybe they have a little chat and then they are going to go back out onto the South Lawn and take a tour of the new beehive
that the First Lady has installed that is a replica in miniature of The White House itself.
So it is all very friendly, I think, in keeping with some of Prince Charles' interests, and so this will be sort of the informal kickoff before
the big day begins tomorrow and you can see all those chairs and the risers that are out on the South Lawn. That is for the big welcoming ceremony
tomorrow morning when you see the military bands marching through, you'll hear from the President give a little speech at that point. That is sort of
the kickoff of the State Visit, capped by the State Dinner tomorrow night on the State Floor of The White House.
All very exciting, particularly, I think, for a President who is one, shown so much affinity for King Charles himself, but also just for the Royal
Family as an institution. He has talked about watching his own mother sitting rapt in front of the television at Queen Elizabeth's coronation.
Mrs. Trump was from Scotland, from the Outer Hebrides herself, but also a President, who has shown an affinity for the trappings of royalty.
You know, the man who is building his own grand ballroom just to the left of that picture that you're looking at now, and so this is someone who very
much enjoys these kinds of things. Obviously, there are the politics of this, which I am sure you'll get into, but this is for, I think, President
Trump. Yes, for President Trump, it is much more about the pictures, I think.
[16:15:09]
QUEST: You know, you're absolutely, and look, Kevin, I've done more of these Royal State visits than is honest or decent. So, you know, I know how
this one goes.
But I also know and you'll forgive me, but you know, being a Brit and an American, I've got -- I am jewel. I also know that Americans love to go
overboard when the British Royal family arrive. It is either one person described it inferiority of what we don't have in the United States or it
is a "Yeah! Boo! Sucks. Look how well we've done since we got rid of you."
I am never sure which way that pendulum swings at any given time, Kevin.
LIPTAK: Yes, I think maybe were finding ourselves in the middle. I mean, it is an irony that the visit is intended to mark the 250th anniversary of
America's Independence from George III, who King Charles is a direct descendant of.
So if the Americans had a problem with any of that, I don't think they would have timed this specific visit around the occasion that the two
countries were separated, and so you're right that Americans like to watch these kinds of things. That's one of the reasons, I think Charles is not
only going to be at The White House, but he will be up in New York. He is going to Virginia, which is right outside of Washington for some nature
observances.
And so it will be interesting to see what the reception is here in the United States. I think, you know, obviously King Charles is a very
different monarch than Queen Elizabeth was perhaps not as well known, certainly just because he hasn't been in the role for quite as long. But it
will be interesting to see what the reception will be.
QUEST: A quick, quick final question to you -- is President Trump aware? Of course, he is aware, but is he going to pay heed to the fact that what he
might think is a cutesy remark about Keir Starmer, you know, just one of his -- one of the classic Trump off the cuff comment would actually put the
King in a rather tricky spot?
LIPTAK: I think he is certainly aware that there is some awkwardness in this visit, although he has said over the last week or so that King Charles
has nothing to do with any of that. He seems to be observing this constitutional break between the politics and the monarchy very keenly.
But, you know, when he is sitting alongside the King in the Oval Office tomorrow, when they are both delivering toasts at that state dinner
tomorrow night, it has to, I think, be in the back of the President's mind that he has the potential to do something very embarrassing or very
awkward. He knows that this is a visit with pretty high stakes, and certainly he knows that its one that many British lawmakers didn't want to
see happen at all. I think it is in his own interest to see this visit go fairly well, even if in President Trump's own mind, it is not necessarily
going to do anything to smooth over the differences he has with Keir Starmer.
QUEST: Let's see if you can snaffle a sandwich, the cucumber sandwich. Thank you, Kevin.
Kevin Liptak at The White House.
Now, the German Chancellor says The White House has been humiliated by Iran over talks that failed in Pakistan.
The latest on that in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Sod's law, the moment you leave it, they arrive. There you are -- the King, the Queen, the President, the First Lady. Interestingly. Oh, look
at that, kisses all around. That's unusual. You don't normally kiss the King, but there you are. But everybody seems very friendly and here we have
the protocol -- I wish I could tell you what Melania is wearing, but she looks absolutely superb in that yellow suit. I am sure somebody will tell
me before the hour is out.
Along with Her Majesty, the Queen, bearing in mind, you know, they're getting all of them except for Melania. They were all getting on a bit in
years, and it has been a long day for His Majesty flying across the Atlantic.
And the two men know each other well. They've met many times.
Kevin, so there you are. I won't put you on the spot and ask you what Melania is wearing. But they are both -- they are all on good behavior
here.
LIPTAK: It seems to be so. You mentioned the, you know, brief maybe breach in protocol with the kiss, and I am always reminded of when Michelle Obama
put her hand on Queen Elizabeth's lower back and everyone seemed to have a little minor freak out, but I think the Queen later said that she didn't
really mind too much, so those things don't matter as much as maybe we all think they do.
But obviously very friendly between these two.
[16:20:10]
QUEST: Kevin, let me tell you, having covered the Royals for many years, the Royals don't care. The Queen -- the last thing the Queen will have
cared about was whether there was a kiss on both cheeks.
The only thing they care about as you might remember from the talking hat incident in 1991, is if they are --
LIPTAK: Oh, yes, that hat!
QUEST: I mean, I covered it. If they are put in an embarrassing or awkward position. But that was a truly -- I am sure we will be have to rerun the
tape. That was a truly warm greeting, the King and the President know each other extremely well. They have met each other many times, and Melania is
determined to make the most of it and it looks like it is an excellent sort of -- here we go -- we've now seen the proper pictures from the beginning
of them getting out and meeting the First Couple.
LIPTAK: Right, and it is Charles' first time. He has been to The White House, of course, many times. It is his first time as President, but this
is the first time he has been here since 2015, so back in the Obama era.
So it is always interesting to see people have been here so many times at different eras of their life, to come back and see what it is like.
I am always reminded of those iconic pictures of Princess Diana dancing with John Travolta on the State Floor of The White House, and in the very
background, you can see King Charles sort of standing in the corner.
It will be interesting to see if when he is -- because they will now be walking up to that very location. They are walking up the stairs to the
grand foyer of The White House where that took place with that checkerboard floor.
So I am always curious, does the -- do the memories come flooding back? But these two men clearly do know each other fairly well. They are about the
same age. They are of the same era. They just saw each other back in September during the Royal Visit in London, and I think the President, for
his part, does have a really keen affinity, despite, I think, some differences.
If you were to say, policy differences on the environment and that sort of thing, they aren't particularly aligned, but the President, obviously
someone quite reverential to the institution of the monarch, and now he has the monarch in his own building, and I think for him it will be quite an
honor.
QUEST: And, you know, you're right on -- I think you're being very diplomatic, which might even get you an MBA or a Knighthood in the way
you're describing the fact that they don't see eye to eye.
By the way, it is Melania who has been leading on the kissing. I was watching that last one. She is the one who goes in first and it was
interesting, the President, who, as you know, is a germaphobe and an absolute germaphobe, he wasn't having anything of it. He was not going in
for a kiss.
LIPTAK: He is not -- he is not a kisser himself, I don't think. But, you know, Melania is -- when it comes to it, she can be a warm woman and she
has, by all accounts, put a lot of work into this visit, all the details, the menus, the decoration, the flowers, all the traditional duties that you
don't frequently see Melania hewing to. She has thrown herself into this visit in a new way.
And so -- and then you think as well, you know, you can't ignore the fact that it was two nights ago that she was bundled off the stage of The White
House Correspondents' Dinner, quite shaken, at least according to President Trump himself and now, she is out, obviously, in a much more secure
facility.
But now, we are seeing her for the first time after that episode and she looks very well, of course.
QUEST: I am grateful for you, sir. Now, you can complete your duties and find out for me what she is wearing, Melania.
LIPTAK: Okay.
QUEST: Thank you, sir. We all have to do duty in many different ways.
Brent crude is again trading over $100.00 a barrel. The U.S. and Iran seem to be far from reaching a deal, so the Straits of Hormuz is effectively
closed. Brent at $108.00, West Texas is at $96.00, and I think that that difference is actually quite significant, because that difference is
telling us where we expect the market is going to go.
U.S. officials were meant to go to Pakistan for talks. Iranian officials never agreed to meet them, and they had left Islamabad before the U.S. had
even left. President Trump then canceled the trip of the delegation of Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
Some U.S. allies are questioning the strategy. This is a remarkable statement or comment by the German Chancellor, Friedrich Merz. What he had
to say earlier today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FRIEDRICH MERZ, GERMAN CHANCELLOR (through translator): The Americans clearly have no strategy and the problem with conflicts like this is always
that you just don't go in, you also have to get out again.
We saw that all too painfully in Afghanistan for 20 years. We saw that in Iraq. So this whole affair, as I said, is ill considered, to say the least.
At the moment, I cannot see what strategic exit the Americans are now opting for, especially as the Iranians are obviously negotiating very
skillfully or rather very skillfully not negotiating and letting the Americans travel to Islamabad, only to leave again without any results.
This entire nation is being humiliated by the Iranian State leadership, especially by these so-called Revolutionary Guards.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[16:25:11]
QUEST: Nic Robertson. Ouch!
This entire nation, humiliated by. There is no strategy. Now, look, you know as well as I do that what leaders -- they will often tell you this in
private, but never want to say that in public. This wasn't an accident that Friedrich Merz said this now.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: No, I mean, look, if you listen to the Iranian public position saying that they are demanding
some kind of new legal rights to the Strait of Hormuz, that they are going to want any ships that pass through to be friends of Iran, pay a toll to do
so, do it under the guidance of the IRGC, and if the country isn't a friend of Iran and as anyway been involved in the war, should pay some kind of
additional duties for war reparations.
This kind of language really makes the United States look in a very weak position, because essentially Iran is declaring the Strait of Hormuz a
spoil of war, that it can do what it wants with it.
I think what I understand from people who are relatively close to the process here, is that sort of language is going to work well for a domestic
audience in Iran, but is not going to sit well with any leader, particularly Donald Trump or Merz for that reason, no leader is going to
want to see -- a world leader is going to want to see Iran be able to dictate that suddenly countries can impose tolls on waters that come close
to their own territorial boundaries. So it does seem to be a nonstarter.
I think where things are at the moment is not as bleak as it may appear, that there is diplomacy going on, that there have been backwards and
forward conversations involving the mediators and messages from all sides here.
I know you want to ask me another question. I am going to let you do that, Richard. But I think, it is not quite as bleak as it may seem.
QUEST: Right. But Nic, we just heard Merz speak the truth that dare not speak its name. This is a shambles and it is humiliating for the U.S.
ROBERTSON: Right. Yes, it is -- and if things continue the way they are, this would be very humiliating for President Trump. Of course, he does now
have a third battle group moving in, and he does have the option to go to war. But both he and Iran seem to have wanted to avoid that until now. So,
if the diplomacy that I hear about that's working in the background, if that comes to fruition towards the end of this week, would be an
anticipated time to sort of dip our finger in the diplomacy and see where it is going.
I hear something from the Iranians, that may inform us better whether Trump can turn this around.
Look, what is being discussed is trying to get the easy part of the problem solved, leave the hard stuff for later.
And you know what? And this plays to what the German Chancellor Merz said, that the easy part is just resetting to before the war, Strait of Hormuz is
open, there is no war, that's believed to be the easy part of the deal. Leave the nuclear for later.
And again, in that context, Merz still has his point. If the reset to make a deal now is to go back to where it was before the war, that begs the
question of why the war, Merz has landed you say, something normally reserved for behind the doors.
QUEST: I am grateful, Nic Robertson, who is in Islamabad. Thank you, sir.
Now the price of oil is higher today, but the energy crisis can't be reduced just to daily fluctuations. There you have the two prices, the
references that we see at the moment on the screen with West Texas.
Oil moves every day based on news and how that has shaped prices and expectations. Take a look at the way the long term trend for Brent crude
and it has been higher for some time now. It was trading around $60.00 a barrel before then, then the war began and as you can see, Brent at the
moment is now -- the core point here is that Brent has now been at these elevated levels for some considerable time, and Central Banks must take
those into account when deciding on interest rates.
So you've got the U.S., Europe, Britain and Japan, all of whom will be deciding what they are going to do. The energy crisis could result in them
being more hawkish.
Adam Posen is president of the Peterson Institute for International Economics. Adam is with me.
Adam, the issue here is that we've now had -- I am just going to call up the Brent price. Brent has now been at this elevated level for some several
weeks -- six to seven weeks.
[16:30:05]
Although it is bouncing at the top because it is higher underneath, the damage just continues to carry on.
In other words, we are in this deteriorating position that is masked arguably by the top line.
ADAM POSEN, PRESIDENT, PETERSON INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS: I agree with you completely, Richard. Thanks for having me back, by the way.
Usually when there is an energy shock, it looks like a plateau in terms of costs. Theres this brief upward period where the costs rise, but if you can
reverse the shock before it plateaus, then it stops, but once you're too late, it stays up for a long while, and that's the period we're now in, now
that we're several weeks in.
As Nic Robertson was saying, reporting to you and us on Chancellor Merz's remarks, this is not only humiliation for the U.S. and squandering things.
It's an economic cost, because the longer it goes, people run out of stored energy, the more desperate they get, the more it gets built into future
inflation momentum and erodes inflation expectations ability to stay low. It's a big deal.
QUEST: If you were, we've got the Fed, the ECB, the BOJ, the BOE. I guess all of them want to avoid having to make a decision at the moment, because
they don't really have all the facts. They want to look through the current inflationary bubble that's now bubbling up nicely. But they -- do you see
that they can sit on their hands and do nothing for the time being?
POSEN: I think they're in different situations, even though they're all facing the same shock, Richard. I think the ECB, the European Central Bank
has the best shot of sitting tight, looking through it, telling people they're waiting to see what happens and not having multiple rounds of
further inflation to worry about.
They've had a good record on inflation the last couple of years, and people are used to seeing that distinction in Europe. There also is a lot going on
in the renewable space and changing energy, as we saw with Europe in 2022 after the Russians cut them off.
Bank of Japan is at the other end of the spectrum. People have been waiting for them to raise rates. The governor keeps saying he wants to raise rates.
They don't raise rates. So, I think there's going to be a bit of a backlash if they don't raise rates under this circumstance, since the economy is
still strong from the moment, and wages came in, thankfully, at a pretty high rate.
So, I think the BOJ has little choice, but so far, remains reluctant.
The Fed is not quite where the BOJ is, but they're going to want to stay put. It's kind of a perverse blessing for them to have this, because it is
being the oil shock, because it means they're not going to get into an immediate fight when Kevin Warsh becomes chair, pushing as Trump wanted,
potentially for rate cuts, it would be huge malpractice to cut now rather than waiting.
So, that'll get them into the summer, and then they'll be close to the midterm election.
As an economic forecast, I think they're going to regret not raising rates until December, but I think that's where they are.
QUEST: And as we look forward, I mean, just how much time have they got do you think before they're going to have to move?
POSEN: I think the ECB has plenty of time. I think the Bank of England probably has plenty of time. Plenty of time in this context, means six
months till the fall.
QUEST: Wow.
POSEN: I think the Fed is going to run out of time, but then they're going to be close to the midterm elections in November, and it will be very
difficult for them to move, say, in September or October, close to the election.
QUEST: Adam, good to talk to you, sir. Thank you. We'll talk more as it continues. Thank you, sir.
Two of the biggest names in tech are facing off. Elon Musk is suing OpenAI, the company he helped start. We're outside the courthouse in a moment.
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[16:37:20]
QUEST: Hello, I'm Richard Quest. A lot more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, we're going to be in Oakland, California, where jury selection is underway in
Elon Musk's lawsuit against Sam Altman and OpenAI.
And King Charles is hoping to put the U.K. shady trade relationship on the -- with U.S. on a former footing. The CEO of British American business
joins me only after the headlines, because this is CNN, and here, the news always comes first.
The man who officials say burst through security lines and fired a gun at the White House Correspondents dinner on Saturday has been charged with
attempting to assassinate Donald Trump. Cole Tomas Allen had his first court appearance a short time ago. In addition to the attempted
assassination he faces, two gun related charges, but officials say other charges may follow.
The king and queen have arrived in the United States on a four-day state visit commemorating the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence. King
Charles and Queen Camilla are having a private tea with U.S. President and the First Lady. The king is set to address a joint meeting of Congress on
Tuesday.
Two men made history at the London Marathon, running the race in under two hours. Kenya's Sabastian Sawe won in an hour, 59 minutes and 30 seconds. A
minute fast than the old record, but hot on his heels. Most of the race was Ethiopia's Yomif Kejelcha, he logged the best second place finish ever.
Jury selections began in Oakland, California. It's the trial involving two of the world's most powerful tech CEOs. Elon Musk is suing Sam Altman, the
head of OpenAI, for allegedly portraying the company's original nonprofit mission. Musk says he helped found OpenAI to create safe artificial
intelligence, and he says OpenAI started chasing profits in 2019 a year after Musk parted ways with the company.
Musk exceeding more than $130 billion in damages from OpenAI and Microsoft, because they're accused of aiding OpenAI's alleged breach of trust. Musk
and OpenAI President Greg Brockman are expected to take the stand this week.
Hadas Gold is outside the courthouse in Oakland, California. This at one level, you know, two very rich men suing the bejeebies out to each other.
But at another level, it goes deeper, because it goes into the question of why OpenAI was originally set up, and this whole not profit idea.
[16:40:00]
HADAS GOLD, CNN MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Yes, a lot of people might. Say, oh, it's Elon Musk, the richest man in the world is trying to get more money
out of it. But there's a reason that the judge let this come to trial, because she said there is evidence that points that Elon Musk, at least has
a case that should the case that should be heard in front of a jury, and that's over whether Elon Musk or whether OpenAI betrayed their founding
mission, the charitable nonprofit that they founded, that it would be creating A.I. for good without trying to go after financial gains.
Of course, that changed over time, with a for profit subsidiary, and still, to this day, OpenAI still has an -- has a nonprofit foundation that sits on
top of its for profit corporation. But Elon Musk is arguing essentially that he was duped. He gave something like $38 million in the first few
years of OpenAI. He helped recruit new people to work for OpenAI, and he is saying essentially that he was deceived, and that Sam Altman and the other
executives enriched themselves on the basis of that deception, on the basis of his donation that he now says is worth something like $130 billion that
he doesn't want for himself, he says. He says he wants that to go back into OpenAI's nonprofit.
But if Elon Musk is successful in this case, it will drastically change OpenAI as we know it, if he gets all of what he is seeking, he wants OpenAI
to revert back entirely to its nonprofit status. Remember, OpenAI is going for an IPO this year. He wants Sam Altman and Greg Brockman to lose their
positions on the board, and he wants that $130 billion to go back into OpenAI's nonprofit.
OpenAI, for their part, they are saying that Elon Musk knew about this plan to potentially have the for profit subsidiary, that he was supportive of it
because he wanted them to be able to compete better with Google. And they say this is just a case of somebody who has personal animosity, who wants
to confuse competing with OpenAI, and wants to take a competitor down a peg, because Elon Musk has his own A.I. company, xAI.
We are in the middle of jury selection right now. We don't know whether the jury will be fully picked today, but we are expecting opening statements
and even Elon Musk potentially to testify as soon as tomorrow.
QUEST: Hadas, thank you. The British king and queen have arrived at the White House for their state visit. King Charles is looking to improve the
strained relations between the U.S. and U.K., in a moment.
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QUEST: British King Charles and Queen Camilla have arrived at the White House as part of their four-day state visit. The roles were reverse only a
few months ago then, it was President Trump who was at Windsor Castle. During that trip, the president and some of America's top tech firms
pledged to invest $40 billion in the U.K. The U.S. president also praised the special relationship.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[16:45:06]
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The word special does not begin to do it justice. We're like two notes in one chord or two verses
of the same poem, each beautiful on its own, but really meant to be played together. The bond of kinship and identity between America and the United
Kingdom is priceless and eternal. It's irreplaceable and unbreakable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: The relationship's on somewhat shaky footing. The tech investments have been paused, and the president's lashed out at Sir Keir Starmer, the
British Prime Minister, for not joining him in the fight against Iran. A leaked Pentagon memo reportedly even outlined the potential punishment,
suggesting, apparently, the U.S. could review the U.K.'s claim to the Falkland Islands.
Sir Duncan Edwards is the chief executive of the trade group British American Business. Joins me now.
Sir Duncan, well, I mean, this is a -- it's tricky, isn't it, because we can harp on about the special relationship till the cows come home. But the
reality is, the U.K. has used it as a way to drum up business, and it's on shaky ground.
DUNCAN EDWARDS, CHIEF EXECUTIVE, BRITISH AMERICAN BUSINESS: Well, I think actually the relationship is in pretty good shape. I mean, I think if you -
- the president -- what the president said last September, I think he absolutely means, I mean, I don't think we've had a more anglophile
president in the White House for a very long time.
That said clearly, you know, he's got some differences with the political leadership, the government in the U.K., but I don't think, I don't think
his argument is with the U.K., per se, I think that is his affection for the U.K., and his admiration for the U.K. is absolutely genuine.
(INAUDIBLE).
QUEST: So, Duncan, if you're advising a British company, how do you say to them, look, the reality is you need to be British, but not governmental.
You need to be fly the flag because the Americans still like us, but don't appear to be too close to anything resembling the current government?
EDWARDS: I mean, it's interesting, if you talk to large British companies about where they are, considering putting incremental investments around
the world more often than not, I would say 80 percent 90 percent of the time, they're looking at the U.S. as their priority market for additional
investment, and that's because the market here in the United States is so attractive, and you hear it time after time after time in industry after
industry companies wanting to increase their investment here.
Now, the issue is about trade, and particularly about trading goods, where there has been clearly some turmoil since liberation day a year ago, when
the President imposed tariffs on everybody. The U.K. ended up in a fairly good position but it's clearly been bumpy.
And, so for those -- for those companies that are selling goods, particularly physical goods, into the U.S., it's been a bit tricky.
QUEST: With this in mind, the U.K. and the U.S., that the volume of trade is absolutely enormous, but the ability to maintain that, thinking about
making sure that promises were kept on things like tariff rates on things Like deals that have already been done and signed.
EDWARDS: Yes. Look, I think -- I think the trading goods has actually risen marginally, the bilateral trading goods over the last 18 months, but it's
the trade in services, which is really what people don't talk about, because it's not physical. You can't really see it, but that's what's
booming. And the U.K. is a fabulous exporter of professional, financial, technical services, including to the U.S., which is its biggest market.
I think on the investment case, people are a little bit concerned. There were some big promises made last September about these big investments
going to the U.K. In truth, they were always contingent. They always were contingent on commercial terms. And we saw the big decision by OpenAI to
pause their investment while they rethink whether the energy costs in the U.K. are at the level that can justify the investment.
So, there is a little bit of that. But those, those big announcements last September always felt a little bit contingent.
QUEST: I'm grateful to you, sir. Thank you very much indeed for joining us.
EDWARDS: Always a pleasure.
[16:50:00]
QUEST: A Kenyan runner has done the incredible by finishing a marathon in under two hours. Sabastian Sawe says his new adidas running shoes were real
help. Not surprising, that'll certainly do good for the company. In a moment.
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QUEST: I think we might have some new pictures of -- not apparently, not yet. I was getting myself all excited that we were going to have some fresh
pictures of the King and Queen. Instead, I'll have to tell you about the shares of Adidas. We've got a real boost today after a runner wearing its
shoes broke the two hour barrier in the London Marathon, Kenya, Sabastian Sawe were finished in a world record one hour, 59 minutes, 30. 65 seconds
faster than the previous. Adidas stock was up more than one percent after Sawe gave some credit to its new running shoes, the Adizero Adios Pro Evo
3, if you will, try and say that after a few the lightweight design helps with it is with the speed.
Don Riddell is in Atlanta. Not only the first, there was also the number two who did it at a record. I guess it's difficult to pass how much is the
shoe, the footwear, the technology, versus the stamina and advanced training mechanisms of the athlete?
DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: Good to see you again, Richard. I mean, honestly, it's kind of all of it, but the fact that not one, not two, but
three, significant runners in the London Marathon this weekend, we're all wearing the same Adidas shoe, leads you to the conclusion that clearly, it
has something, if not quite a lot, to do with the shoes.
You've talked about, the male winner, you mentioned the female winner, Tigst Assefa, but also the guy that came in second in the men's race on his
marathon debut, by the way, also broke the two hour mark.
And for the longest time, Richard, that just seemed like it was going to be an impossible achievement. And obviously the times have come down and down
and down and down, and they've been kind of flirting with this two-hour barrier for a while now, but now it has finally been broken in the men's
race, and you have to wonder what's going to come next.
It's reminiscent a little bit of Roger Bannister back in 1954 back then, nobody thought you could run a mile in less than four minutes. He finally
did it, and the next month, his record was broken again.
QUEST: So, what is it about these shoes? I mean, is it the fabric? Is it the dissolved or it's all of it. What specifically, if I was to give you
one of them, what would you point to?
[16:55:02]
RIDDELL: Well, it's all of it. First of all, it is very, very light. It's less than 100 grams. So, that's lighter than a banana or a bar of soap. So,
I mean, you don't really feel them on your feet. The design is crucial. They've got these carbon plated midsoles that kind of propel the runner
forward. There's a lot of cushioning on the heel. There's a sort of curved design at the front. So, I mean, they are purpose built, obviously, for
this exact thing.
They're quite expensive. They're 450 pounds. So, what's that? I mean, that must be close to $600 I think. But I mean, these runners clearly appreciate
them and value them, as you can see from this photo there. He's got the time written on the shoe, because the shoe had a lot to do with it.
QUEST: Have you ever run a marathon, Don? I just realized all the years I've known you, have you ever run a marathon?
RIDELL: I have, maybe it was around about the time that you and I was to get worked together in London, 2002. I did it in four hours and seven
minutes, which is more than twice as long as those guys. I don't think that she would have made any difference to me.
QUEST: I know. No. But what's fascinating and what the point I was making, if you had run a marathon, you remember as if it was yesterday your time at
the time that he did.
RIDELL: I love it.
QUEST: If I was wearing my hat, I'd take it off, because I've never run one myself. Thank you, sir. Good to see you as always.
We will take a Profitable Moment, and hopefully we might have some of the latest pictures of their majesties at the White House. QUEST MEANS
BUSINESS.
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QUEST: In tonight's Profitable Moment, I need to show you these pictures that have just come into us. It is the king, the queen, the president and
the first lady having tea at the White House. And as you can see, the king and the presidents opposite each other, and the first lady and the queen.
I can tell you the queen -- the first lady is wearing a wool clape suit by Adam Lippes and Manolo Blahnik snake pumps. We know that the queen got off
the plane wearing a Dior coat and now is wearing -- we're not -- we're not sure what the embroidered ivory dress, who the designers are. And that we
will get that information, or indeed, the various jewels.
The reason I just want to bring all this to your attention. You know, I've come in, I've covered royal visits to the United States. I did 1991, I did
2007 and so I'm well familiar with how these things go down.
And the reality is, the significance cannot be overstated, not because they actively like each other or not, but the shared history between the two
countries is so deep at all levels that the ability for these two to get together and meet, I think that's what's the significant part.
[17:00:14]
Because, as Ronald Reagan famously said to Margaret Thatcher at The Williamsburg summit in the -- in the G7 in the 1980s, he famously said, if
your ancestors had been a bit cleverer, to which she replied, I'd have been hosting this summit.
And that's QUEST MEANS BUSINESS for tonight. I'm Richard Quest in New York. Whatever you're up in the hours ahead, I hope it's profitable.
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