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Quest Means Business
Protests in Ukraine After Zelenskyy Ousts Defense Minister; Truth Social Will Sell Wall Street Quicker Access to Posts; U.S. Announces New 25 Percent on Certain Brazilian Goods. Lovelace CEO on How A.I. is Changing National Defense; Standard Nuclear Shares Fall After IPO; Route 66 Road Trip Continues; Christopher Nolan Directs $250 Million Adaptation of Greek Epic; Visiting All 48 World Cup Contenders. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired July 16, 2026 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: The Dow skidded today as the markets progressed, although it didn't close at its lowest point. Again, though,
the tech selloff continued on the NASDAQ. That was down better than one percent. Those are the markets. And these are the main events: Angry
demonstrations on the streets of Kyiv as President Zelenskyy's decision to oust his Defense Minister plunges Ukraine's government into crisis.
Nuclear fuel company, Standard Nuclear is capitalizing on the A.I. energy boom with a $2 billion IPO. We will speak to its CEO.
And we are back on the road with Richard Quest. He is past the midway mark now and headed for the Grand Canyon on Route 66.
Live from New York. It is Thursday, July 16th. I am Paula Newton in for Richard Quest and this is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
Good evening.
Tonight, Ukraine's government is in turmoil after the firing of a popular Defense Minister and now, protesters took to the streets of Kyiv and other
cities to demand that Mykhailo Fedorov be reappointed. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ousted him as part of an overhaul of his wartime government.
Fedorov was seen as an innovator of Ukraine's drone technology. Protesters say he has made great improvements to the nation's military.
Our Clare Sebastian has more on this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is coming at a critical juncture in this war, Russia is clearly in escalation mode. Ukraine is in this
desperate race for new air defense supplies and this decision by President Zelenskyy to let go his Defense Minister, a very popular figure, Mykhailo
Fedorov, has only been in the job six months, but he has seen as a bit of a technological whiz. He is credited with the expansion of Ukraine's drone
program, with the big success they've seen over recent months in terms of deep and mid strikes attacking Russia's oil infrastructure, the effort
ongoing at the moment to isolate Crimea and the improvement of Ukraine's fortunes on the front line.
This decision has really touched a nerve, I think, among the people. We are seeing protests not only in Kyiv, but in other parts of Ukraine as well,
people calling for him to be reinstated, very worried about where this leaves the war effort.
This is the guy also, by the way, who convinced Elon Musk to shut down Starlink for the Russians, which was something that caused a lot of
problems for the Russians back in the winter and early spring.
So why is this happening? Well, President Zelenskyy said that he wants unity between the Defense Ministry and the Military. It seems that Fedorov
has clashed to some degree with the top levels of the military establishment, but I think the feeling on the streets is that people
haven't really had a full explanation, and that, again, is why this has touched a nerve, but a critical juncture in this war.
We are seeing these missile attacks going up, and I think this is going to lead to questions not only within Ukraine, but among its allies as well.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: Now, President Zelenskyy suggested that tensions between Fedorov and the military establishment prompted the firing. Fedorov has accused
Zelenskyy and a top general of blocking much needed reforms.
The now former Defense Minister is making his anger clear over that decision. Fedorov said he rejected an advisory role offered by President
Zelenskyy. He also ripped into Ukrainian military chief, Oleksandr Syrskyi accusing him of splitting the country.
Daria Kaleniuk is the co-founder and executive director of the Anti- Corruption Action Center in Kyiv. She told "The Kyiv Independent" that she planned on joining the protest. She joins me now from the Ukrainian
capital.
Daria, good to have you with us on what are tumultuous times yet again in Ukraine. I mean, why do you believe President Zelenskyy has made this move
and what is behind it? Because I note that some protesters have made some stunning claims accusing Zelenskyy of letting corruption rule and they
blame that, they see that as the reason that he took to changing his government.
DARIA KALENIUK, CO-FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ANTI-CORRUPTION ACTION CENTER IN KYIV: It is a very good question why Zelenskyy reshuffled
government in order to dismiss the most effective Minister of Defense since a large scale war has started.
We didn't have the answer, so the people went on the streets to demand answers and explanations.
What I can say about Mykhailo Fedorov is that under his leadership, there was actually attack on vested interests of the corruption groups who were
benefiting a lot for quite a long time from defense procurements and Fedorov tried to build up trust with international partners and with the
people of Ukraine and with Ukrainian industry to ensure that he effectively spends very scarce money, which we have for defense.
[16:05:24]
And that I think really disappointed a lot of vested interest who rallied in -- surrounding our Soviet-style thinking general, Oleksandr Syrskyi and
altogether, they outweighed all the successes of Mykhailo Fedorov.
The question is why Zelenskyy picked up the side of corrupt interests and of ineffective Soviet-style thinking generals.
NEWTON: Right. But what evidence do you have that he is actually doing that? And I should say, you know, you've been very clear that the way
forward for Ukraine, despite the war, must be an internal cleansing, as you call it. But do you have any evidence that that is why Zelenskyy is doing
this? Because obviously, I can only imagine in this situation how difficult it is for him to keep different factions within his own government, pulling
in the same direction.
KALENIUK: He doesn't have different factions within his own government. He is himself, his own government. He has absolute power, majority in the
Parliament and he himself decides who is the government and who are the ministers.
What I can say is the fact that under Minister Fedorov, there was corruption really attacked. Under previous Ministers of Defense, we were
exposing corruption of the previous ministers and we were demanding the resignation of the previous Ministers of Defense.
So the question is to Zelenskyy why. Ukraine, you know, is not authoritarianism or a totalitarian country. Even in a war time, during the
Martial Law, the people of Ukraine demand explanations.
You can't just ignore the questions from the people of Ukraine who are outraged and I think that the people of Ukraine will keep rallying,
demanding these explanations.
NEWTON: But what is at stake here for Ukraine in this moment? And I will add, do you believe that it is time that Ukraine have elections?
KALENIUK: We can't have elections because Russia will hijack. We can't let our military leave our battlefield and go vote. We can't do that --
allowing our military to run for elections because they are on their duty. So there has to be a lot of preparatory work conducted to run the elections
and Russia has actually to stop bombing our cities.
So the question is how within that framework, we still can maintain a democracy and rallies for us is the only way how to actually hold Zelenskyy
accountable and we will keep doing that.
The situation is very dangerous because we are entering in in a very dangerous period. For the last half a year, under the leadership of
Fedorov, we actually gained a momentum on the battlefield. We were lacking ballistic missiles, patriot missiles to shoot down ballistic, which Russia
is firing on our cities. But we were very effective in shooting down Russian Shahed drones.
For winter and for autumn, Russia is planning to terrorize all our cities all across the country, and depopulate Kyiv, the capital, where actually my
kids are still and I live with them and I really am concerned that the very effective minister who is taking care of our defense and of innovations in
the Army, is sacked that basically the safety of my children directly depends on these decisions of President Zelenskyy so I am outraged.
NEWTON: Daria, we can certainly hear in your voice how grave the situation is right now. And again, given everything people in Ukraine have been
through.
We are going to leave it there for now, but we will continue to follow this story. I really appreciate you being on the program.
KALENIUK: Thank you.
NEWTON: Now, Ukraine has enjoyed a lot of recent military success as Daria was just saying, so many protesters are questioning why, as Daria just
said, that Fedorov would be fired.
Russia has made little progress, though, on those front lines. Moscow has even resorted to lying about what is happening on the battlefield.
CNN's Nick Paton Walsh now has our report.
[16:10:01]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Huge losses, tiny gains and lies -- that's the reality of Russia's war on
Ukraine.
It is plain to see in the strategic town of Kostyantinivka, where last week Russia planted a flag in its center, claiming its capture. But that's not
true. Ukraine still holds lots of it, yet its fate over the past year lays bare the crisis at the heart of Russia's war.
Kostyantinivka sits right on what is known as the Fortress Belt of heavily defended towns in the Donbas, the capture of which is a key Putin goal.
Take it and the other two remaining towns of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk are well within reach.
But wind back a year. Take a look at reliable battlefield maps, and you see a story about Moscow's persistence, but also how much tiny gains cost.
Last year, we saw the road in was lined with fishing nets protecting from drones, but the town was under Ukrainian control and safe enough, but by
November it was being hit hard here in the southwest, with another drone video showing an airstrike just a few streets away.
Ukraine still had troops casually in the city center, and Russia was still really on the contested southwestern outskirts. It is in the first week of
the year that the map records a big leap forward for Moscow. But remember, their casualties across the whole front are estimated by the West at about
35,000 a month now, dead and injured.
The Ukrainians are at this time still posting from the central railway station, but by February, white phosphorus is being used to horrific effect
in the Southwest.
Even though the Ukrainians are still very much central, jump forward to April and the damage done is horrific. Drone images right where we saw the
Ukrainians in November, as the Russians have slowly crept in.
We saw how perilous it was to get in and out ourselves. The netting we saw ten months earlier, now a graveyard for so many.
Russian flags, central this week, even if the maps show they are far from controlling the town. One year of tiny, tiny steps and doubtless thousands
of Russians dead for a town that is relatively tiny itself.
Russia's real weak spot in this war.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: Coming up for us, President Trump's teleprompter operator is facing legal scrutiny. He is suspected of using insider information while placing
bets on a prediction market.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:15:04]
NEWTON: Donald Trump is set to address the nation tonight about election security. The White House says he may also discuss Iran and the economy
during his remarks. Now, the speech is set to take place at 9:00 P.M. in Washington.
Election integrity has been a fixation for the President ever since his 2020 bid to defeat Joe Biden.
The President's longtime teleprompter operator, will be apparently absent tonight. The White House says he has been placed on unpaid leave. Sources
say Gabriel Perez is under investigation for possible insider trading on the prediction site, Kalshi.
He was allegedly making money in so-called mention markets where people bet on what public figures like the President say, Kalshi says it has frozen
Perez's profits and sent its findings to federal regulators.
Now, we must note, CNN has a partnership with Kalshi and uses its data to cover major events, though all editorial employees are prohibited from
participating in prediction markets.
President Trump's own social media site, Truth Social, plans to sell Wall Street firms quicker access to his posts. Now, Truth Social says the data
feed will be available to institutional investors starting August 1st. The President's post often move global markets. The company said, the feed is
designed for high frequency and algorithmic trading firms, which try to beat the market by microseconds.
Clare Duffy is with me.
Clare, they are not hiding any of this, right? And boy, do I have questions.
They are doing this. They can do this. What kind of financial advantage will it give these firms? And yes, I know that other platforms like Elon
Musk's X do this already.
CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: Yes, Paula, this is an API where Wall Street investors will get early access. We don't yet know how much time
they will have in between when these posts end up on this API and when they would end up on the Truth Social feed anyways. But they will get early
access to this potentially market moving information.
And this is something that X and Reddit, other platforms do to give these algorithmic traders for whom even just a few seconds of extra time could
mean huge profits.
I think what's distinct here is that when you think about who is posting potentially market moving information on a company -- on a platform like X,
you've got corporate executives, you've got journalists and news outlets that are posting information.
On Truth Social, it is really just Trump. He is by far the largest account on the platform, with nearly 13 million followers. The other big accounts
on the platform are -- many of them are members of his administration, and so I think that is what makes this move by Truth Social a little bit
different than an X or a Reddit, and obviously this is going to be the Trump's ruth Social is positioning this Paula, as an important new revenue
stream for Trump Media Group.
NEWTON: Now, we were talking about a speed advantage here, and as you pointed out, we are talking fractions of a second. But at that time
difference is monetized, has been monetized on many different platforms.
Now, you just pointed out, right, Donald Trump is the high value truther there, and he does post incredibly valuable information. And I just want to
point out that in January, he posted the jobs numbers, hours before they were set to be released. So you could potentially make a lot of money on
that move, even if you saw that post just seconds, I shouldn't even say seconds, fractions of a second before everyone else.
DUFFY: Yes, Paula and I think this is especially striking in light of the great reporting that was done by the CNN Investigative Team that was
published earlier this morning, where they found more than 20 instances where Trump, his financial managers, bought stock in companies and then
days later, he posted on Truth Social about those companies. In some cases announcing government actions that would benefit those companies that he
had just invested in.
So I think this does seem like just another example of where we are sort of seeing the lines blur between his role as President and his businesses. We
should say that CNN has reached out to The White House for comment on this Truth Social move and the questions of conflict of interest that it might
present. No response there, but obviously, we will keep everybody updated if we get something from The White House on this.
NEWTON: Yes and you do wonder why, even for years now, regulators have not had anything to say about that advantage when it comes to government
agencies all over the world, not just in the United States.
Clare Duffy, I am really grateful to you for explaining it all. Appreciate it.
And we will be right back in a moment with more news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:22:39 ]
NEWTON: Hello, I am Paula Newton, and there is more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS in a moment when Richard Quest is on his way to the stunning Grand Canyon, as
he continues his journey on the historic Route 66.
One football fan aims to visit all 48 countries that have been competing in this World Cup. I will speak with him about what inspired the challenge,
but before that, the headlines this hour.
The Defense Minister many credit with creating Ukraine's successful drone warfare campaign has now been sacked. His supporters in Kyiv took to the
streets. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has announced the acting head of Ukraine's Security Service will fill the post for now.
A flood emergency is unfolding in Southern Texas, where at least one person has died. It is happening in the same area as last summer's deadly Camp
Mystic flooding. Relentless rain is leading to dozens of water rescues.
Drone video captured crews rescuing a family trapped in their home.
President Donald Trump is taking the unusual step of delivering a primetime address tonight. He is expected to call for major changes to U.S.
elections. Critics say he is trying to spread mistrust with his widely debunked claim that the 2020 election was stolen from him. The White House
says the President will present evidence to back up his claim.
The Trump administration says it will impose a new 25 percent tariff on most Brazilian goods. The U.S. Trade Representative says it is a response
to unfair trade practices. The announcement is one of the first since a Supreme Court ruling that struck down Trump's emergency tariffs.
Brazil's President said there was no justification for the measure and vowed to respond.
CNN Brasil reporter, Danilo Moliterno joins us now from Brasilia.
Thanks for joining us. And we are wondering, Lula says that these tariffs are illegal and arbitrary. But what are Brazil's options in terms of a
response? And I do want to note that major exports to the United States -- imports into the United States as well -- coffee, beef, avocados, petroleum
products, they are all exempt.
DANILO MOLITERNO, CNN BRASIL REPORTER: Good afternoon, Paula. It is great to be with you.
There is an extensive list of exemptions. We are talking about more than 2,000 products.
[16:25:06]
And I would say, this extensive list of exemptions is the major reason why the Brazilian government assesses that there is no major, no broad impact,
no broad macroeconomic impact, but a sectorial but a limited impact to some specific sectors of course, Brazilian government believes that that is an
important question, because even this limited impact would cost jobs and even business.
But now, this is the assessment here and I would say, President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, he is organizing his response in three fronts. The first one
is to try to diversify markets, to seek for new countries, new partners to Brazilian business, try to sell the products that are no longer being
exported to the U.S.
The second one, I would say, is to announce measures to help the business, help the sectors, as I mentioned, impacted.
Last year, when the U.S. announced a 50 percent tariff against Brazil, we saw Brazilian government announced measures like credit or even the
possibility of the federal government or even cities or states to buy the products that are no longer being exported to the U.S. and the third one, I
would mention is the possibility to retaliate the U.S., but it is a remote possibility because the government views Donald Trump as an unpredictable
person and is kind of worried of a possibility of escalation in tensions.
So I would say these are the three fronts that are being -- that President Lula are organizing.
NEWTON: Right, we will leave it there for now. We are really grateful to you. It is good to have you there, live in Brasilia. Appreciate it.
Now, there are still unanswered questions about that deadly strike on a school on the first day of the war with Iran. In a CNN exclusive, sources
tell CNN the U.S. Military has not conducted a standard intelligence review of that attack.
Iranian state media reported that a U.S. strike back in February killed at least 168 children and 14 teachers. Nearly five months later, the
investigation into what went wrong appears to be at a standstill. The Defense Department would only say the investigation is ongoing.
So the A.I. company, Lovelace, says it is developing automated systems to help in high pressure situations. Its CEO, Andrew Moore attended the
Defense and Innovation Summit Wednesday at the U.S. Army War College. The event serves as a gathering of tech and military leaders and defense
contractors. President Trump spoke at the event.
Moore says A.I. is already helping defense organizations process information more quickly, giving leaders better awareness in high pressure
environments. Andrew Moore is the founder and CEO of Lovelace, the A.I. company, and this is your words now: You have autonomous agents that work
for mission critical analysis. It is good to have you on the program, as we are always interested in learning about these new systems.
And I do want to deal with the A.I. of it all first.
Now, you say A.I. should support human judgment rather than replace it. Now, we would all say, pardon the pun here, that's a no brainer, but can it
optimize for accuracy and give it better context, right? Better analysis, better decision making. And I think that that's where we hit on an area
that we are not sure if it will help.
And look, we just recapped that incident in Iran. I am wondering, do you think your system could have helped in that situation? Because as I
understand it, from what CNN has learned, the data itself was outdated, the intelligence was outdated.
ANDREW MOORE, FOUNDER AND CEO, LOVELACE A.I.: Yes. Thank you very much for a really important question.
I think one of the things which distinguishes artificial intelligence used in these serious safety critical situations is that often, a commander will
need to have multiple independent sources of information before making such a critical decision.
And so there is a whole branch of artificial intelligence that my company is invested in, which is all about making sure that we have multiple
independent pieces of information to help support or refute a decision and that is similar to what is encoded into existing intelligence practices,
where many important decisions a commander will demand multiple independent pieces of evidence before taking action.
[16:30:00]
NEWTON: You know, your fix is called Elemental. We have some of it up on the screen now. You say it traces every answer back to a verifiable source.
I mean, how do you see that playing out, given we're at a point of now the next generation of defense capability? We have seen it play out in Iran. We
have seen it play out in Ukraine with its battle with Russia. So what can Elemental do?
MOORE: The thing that we've really pushed hard is to make sure that if an artificial intelligence is doing something called chain of reasoning, that
every link in that chain makes sense. So chain of reasoning is an important concept used throughout most modern A.I. is where it's almost like the A.I.
is solving a game of Sudoku, where it's got limited information on what is happening, and it tries to fill in all the blanks.
And the critical piece of that is we want to make absolutely sure that whenever the agent fills in a blank, it has got absolutely clearly the
precise source of information and ideally multiple independent sources of information to fill in those blanks.
NEWTON: You have been granted a sizable contract, I believe, with the U.S. military. I'm not sure what other militaries you're working with. Have you
seen this work properly in simulations? I'm kind of wondering, you know, you obviously believe in this. So how have you seen it perform?
MOORE: We've been very happy with the performance that we are all always extremely cautious about making any autonomous decision from this. This is
all about making sure that information is available for a commander to know that they have the right information more quickly. And for me, a sign of
success is if a commander needs information, and two or three years ago, it might have required a large staff to spend a couple of hours urgently
rustling through bits of paper and making phone calls, and instead we can get that same information to the commander in a matter of less than a
minute.
That is where I think the good side, the helpful side of artificial intelligence is. It is removing the crud from getting data assimilated as
opposed to trying to guess what the commander should be doing.
NEWTON: Andrew Moore, we were all trying to keep up with these developments in both A.I. and defense capability. I thank you to be on the program just
to explain at least a small fraction of it, and we'll continue to see its development.
Andrew Moore, for us. Thanks so much. Appreciate it.
MOORE: Thank you.
NEWTON: Now, it was a difficult IPO for nuclear fuel company Standard Nuclear. The company shares tumbled after trading started just a few hours
ago. You see it there, down 18 percent. It also had to cut its offering by more than half. There's still reason, though, to be optimistic. Companies
in the sector are expected to benefit as A.I. data centers drive up demand for energy.
Kurt Terrani is the CEO of Standard Nuclear, and he joins us now.
Kurt, glad to have you on the program. I know it's been a busy but exciting day for you.
Kurt, you're going to tell me what investors are missing here, right? Because, you know, power needs are set to soar. So what convinces you that
your stock may soar as well sometime in the future? Because investors were unconvinced today.
KURT TERRANI, CEO, STANDARD NUCLEAR: What -- hey, I'll tell you what. Really exciting day for us. Standard Nuclear is out there trading. We're
very pleased with that. I think, listen, we had a great outcome. This is an incredible milestone for the company. You know, our goal was to tap into
the public markets. We achieved that. We have a great set of investors, long-term investors that we see as partners. So we're very pleased with the
outcome. And like you said, you know, nuclear energy is not going anywhere. It's increasing.
Nuclear energy, though, needs nuclear fuel. And that's what we're doing. We're making the nuclear fuel that's needed to power the future of nuclear.
NEWTON: And I'm going to get to that issue of nuclear fuel and what you guys have done there. But I do want to point out that you're still losing
money, which in your phase of development shouldn't shock anyone and should actually be able to entice investors because of what may happen in the long
run. So I'm going to ask you, when do you see Standard Nuclear pivoting to, you know, more of a revenue generating point, but also a real critical
point to where it is generating, again, the energy that this A.I. buildout needs?
TERRANI: Easy. Easy. We are generating revenue today because, you know, unlike a lot of the companies in this space, we are manufacturing today, we
are delivering today, and we are generating revenue to do so. So our business model is proven, our capabilities are proven. We have the
authorization, we have the capabilities and we have the customer base.
[16:35:01]
So it's quite a fortunate situation for us. Moving forward, we're just going to increase our capacity. Our revenue is going to continue to
increase, and we expect to be profitable here soon.
NEWTON: When soon? Six months, two quarters, three quarters?
TERRANI: Next year.
NEWTON: A full --
TERRANI: Next year.
NEWTON: Next year.
TERRANI: Next year, we will -- yes. Yes.
NEWTON: First quarter? Second quarter?
TERRANI: Next year. Next year is going to be a great year, even a better year for Standard Nuclear than it was this year.
NEWTON: OK. Kurt, you are a nuclear engineer. You have a PhD in this. Anyone producing medical isotopes, which is a very worthy thing right now,
would gladly employ you in academia or in any other commercial venture. So why this venture? And now you have the pleasure of explaining to us what
uranium pellets are.
TERRANI: Fantastic. Yes. You know, it's a -- nuclear fuel is my passion. I tell you, I, you know, went to graduate school. I studied nuclear
engineering. I love nuclear fuel. It's the confluence of all the great scientific things, plus all the amazing things that nuclear engineering
brings. You know, I'm a big believer in nuclear. And again, we continue to see the wave of advanced reactors coming in. The nuclear fuel that we make
is not the traditional legacy uranium pellet that you refer to.
You know, in the old reactors, it's these ceramic pellets that they stack into a tube. They put them in rods, they put them in reactors. They operate
great. But when the new reactors are using a fully ceramic new fuel form, that's meltdown proof. And that's the kind of fuel that enables new safe,
walkaway safe, advanced reactors. That fuel is a scarce. Its manufacturing requires specialized facilities and capabilities.
That's what Standard Nuclear brings to the table. That is -- happens to be my passion. I have a great team. We all work together in the Department of
Energy National Laboratory System in the United States. And now it's so satisfying to bring it from the laboratory scale to the industrial
commercial scale, manufactured and delivered to our customers as they're bringing the new nuclear online.
NEWTON: Kurt, you did a fabulous job there. I'm sure you did not expect that in two minutes or less when you got your PhD that you'd have to
explain that. But you did a brilliant job and we'll continue to follow the progress, not just of Standard Nuclear but obviously many are excited about
what nuclear can do to build out our energy capacities.
Kurt Terrani, for us, thanks so much.
TERRANI: Indeed. Thank you.
NEWTON: Now, you probably know by now Richard Quest is on a great American road trip across Route 66.
Richard, are you there? We just spoke about nuclear fusion, for goodness sake. And I see a pie. That's my kind of fusion. Sugar and fruit. Is that
what that is?
RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS EDITOR AT LARGE: You have this look -- completely. We are now more than halfway. Coming up after the break, we'll
talk to the lady who owns the cafe at the midpoint along Route 66. The street out in front, that's I-40 and 66. And I made this pie, sort of. But
just look at the great American West. This is Arizona, and we'll continue Route 66 after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:41:03]
NEWTON: Richard Quest, full steam ahead on his road trip along Route 66. All right. Where is he going next? The Grand Canyon. Richard has been
hitting roadside restaurants along the way. I wonder what he's bringing back for me. Back in Texas, you see him there trying to conquer a 72-ounce
steak. Now he's taking on ugly pie.
Richard Quest joins us from somewhere on the road. I don't care if it doesn't look good. I see there Winslow, Arizona. I don't care if it doesn't
look good, Richard. All pies are good.
QUEST: So, Paula, we are now on I-40 and Route 66. This is the interstate, of course, that took over after the Route 66 came and then the two are now
together as we're going our way through Arizona. The Western states are the ones that benefited most from the arrival of Route 66. But of course, over
the years, it's now really been all about tourism. So at the midpoint, just around Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, I went to the Midpoint Cafe.
I learned how to make a pie, which I shall try shortly and more importantly, I met Brenda Hammit and she told me all about how you run a
business along Route 66.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRENDA HAMMIT, OWNER, MIDPOINT CAFE: It's been extremely busy. My business has probably tripled.
QUEST: Really?
HAMMIT: Yes.
QUEST: What are people saying when they come in?
HAMMIT: I don't know, a lot of them don't speak English, so I --
QUEST: That's interesting in itself. You're getting a lot of foreigners.
HAMMIT: Well, last year I had 84 countries come through and we spent -- and we made about 1500 pies and we sold them piece by piece in six and a half
months.
QUEST: Wow.
HAMMIT: Yes.
QUEST: So it's really going gangbusters.
HAMMIT: Yes. It's been extremely busy this year. Extremely busy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: And so that was the beauty of making the pie, running the business. And by the way, I need to show you before I actually eat any of this pie,
Paula. I need to actually show you. We have all the mod cons in our RV. I even brought my own espresso machine with me. Today at the front we have
holding the camera showing you where we are, that's our producer, Jackie. Our driver is Holly. She is the one who's making sure we stay firmly on the
road, at least most of the way.
And as for this pie, can I cut you a slice? It's a banana, coconut, blueberry, coronary killer of some sort or another.
Paula, look at that. How would you like a little bit of latte?
NEWTON: Go on. Go on, Richard, live a little. You have to -- there you go. What does it taste?
QUEST: OK. Now where are we going?
NEWTON: Go ahead.
QUEST: Where we're going next, of course, we're going on to the Grand Canyon. We'll be in the Grand Canyon. And then tonight I'll be camping, in
a glamping sense. Some of us may sleep in here. It's all good sleeping in here, but otherwise we'll be actually on the camping site, and then it's
out towards California.
What has been fascinating? Just look at this magnificent country. What's been fascinating is the way in which Route 66 has been the heart of this
country for so long, and even now, even now, it is such a fundamental part of heritage tourism.
Paula, I promise you, it's a journey worth taking.
NEWTON: Is that pie worth eating? I know the journey is good. Is the pie worth eating? Come on, give us the review.
QUEST: Put it this way. I promise you, I will send you a picture of what it's doing to my glucose monitor on my arm just to let you know just how
it's going to --
NEWTON: Oh, God, please don't. Please don't. Your producers are good for it.
QUEST: Because something tells me it's going to --
NEWTON: Tell them to send the pie.
[16:45:03]
NEWTON: Richard, I really feel like I'm on this road trip with you, even though I can't be.
QUEST: Send the pie. Yes.
NEWTON: Continue to have good fun on Big Bertha. And seriously, I feel like I am on this Route 66 with you. And you are correct. The view is absolutely
spectacular and we will wait for the Grand Canyon. It does not disappoint.
Richard Quest --
QUEST: The Grand Canyon. Absolutely.
NEWTON: Don't spoil your dinner. It's only 1:44 your time. Richard, listen. OK.
QUEST: You're right. I'm good.
NEWTON: I'll see you tomorrow, Richard. Bye-bye.
Now, Richard really is, as you can see, there on a long and strenuous journey. And while pies and steak have been obstacles on his trek, the
Greek version that we have for you here is less mouthwatering, more nerve- wracking.
"The Odyssey," Christopher Nolan's film adaptation of that epic poem, is selling out theaters ahead of tomorrow's big release. It was shot on 70
millimeter film in six countries at a cost of $250 million.
CNN asked Christopher Nolan about how he tackled this story.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTOPHER NOLAN, DIRECTOR, "THE ODYSSEY": The way I write, I write from the beginning of the story to the end, but I don't let myself start writing
for many months. I take notes, I draw diagrams, I do a lot of thinking. And I write notes in sort of more abstract terms. And I think of the film more
abstract terms. Ironically, for somebody who tends to work often in non- linear structural terms, I do start with page one and I do just write, you know, through to the end. And then I write in layers and I rewrite in
layers, but always, always from front to back.
THOMAS PAGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fabulous. I'd love to ask about Odysseus, this complicated man. How did you reconcile the figure of the hero that we
see in the poem with perhaps what we might expect to see from a hero in pop culture today?
NOLAN: I think taking on the character Odysseus is quite challenging because, I mean, the term most often associated with Odysseus historically
is wily. And that's not a characteristic you associate with hero at the center of a story. And in fact, very often, I think, I think in a lot of
ways, Odysseus, as in "The Iliad," he makes a fantastic supporting character. So if you're looking at, you know, "Star Wars," for example,
he's more Han Solo than Luke Skywalker.
So the challenge is, OK, how do you take the audience with them on this journey with all of those characteristics? And a big part of that is
casting. A big part of that is finding somebody like Matt Damon, who is such an incredible actor and a wonderful movie star with charisma, with
empathetic ability. The empathetic ability to open a journey, an emotional journey to the audience and bring them with him and into his way of looking
at the world and thinking of the world.
You trust him. He's able to gain your trust. And so in that way, Matt is able to fully embrace all of the complicated layers of this complex figure
without them being alienated. And that's a big part of, you know, how it works in the film.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: Now, one football fan is on a mission to visit all of the countries that have been competing in this Men's World Cup. We'll see how his journey
is going. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:51:05]
NEWTON: Argentina are under fire after their win over England on Wednesday and could face sanctions. Some of the team's players held a banner about
the Falkland Islands, saying they are Argentine. That was after punching a ticket to the World Cup Final.
Now the text refers to historic diplomatic tensions between the U.K. and Argentina over the British ruled islands in the Atlantic Ocean off the
coast of Argentina. They are known as Las Malvinas in Spanish. Pictures show the flag with fans at the end of the game. FIFA prohibits political or
offensive displays inside stadiums. We have reached out to them for comment.
Now, aside from this, I myself and I'm sure many of you have seen incredible displays of sportsmanship throughout this tournament, and even
that includes opposing fans consoling each other. And one fan we found is on a mission to experience as many of these football cultures as possible.
Jide Maduako aims to visit all 48 countries that have been competing in this World Cup. He started in February and said he's now been to 25 so far,
just over half. He's sharing his journey on social media, including this moment from my home. This was Canada's first match in the tournament
against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Jide joins us now. He says that his videos are making the World Cup more accessible. He is a social media creator and he's here with us with a FIFA
ball in New York.
Thanks so much. So good to have you. Let me know. How did you come up with this idea and what do you think it adds to the World Cup experience?
Because I'm sure more than one person told you, you were crazy.
JIDE MADUAKO, SOCIAL MEDIA CREATOR: Many people have told me I'm crazy, but thank you very much for having me. I think the idea came up because of the
accessibility for the World Cup. So the idea was that I wanted to bring the World Cup to the people because not everybody can get to this World Cup.
It's the biggest World Cup ever. And it's the most lucrative footballs for the fans. And I wanted to bring it to the fans all around the world.
NEWTON: So 48 countries, I mean, this is FIFA expanding this to so many. I hear they want to go even higher, perhaps for the next World Cup. Now the
vibe is off the charts. So what were some of your most inspiring things that you've seen? Because you've already been to more than two dozen
countries.
MADUAKO: Some of the craziest things are, and the best parts were, in Curacao when I was able to watch the match with the fans for their last
group game in Panama. When we were in Panama, I was the only England fan in Panama watching the game with the Panamanian fans. And also even across
Africa when we were in South Africa and when we went to Congo as well before the World Cup.
So we've had some amazing moments. Just being able to connect with the locals and actually learn about the cultures as well as the football.
NEWTON: So in your estimation, why do you think the World Cup hits differently in these different cultures? Like how have you seen that on
display?
MADUAKO: Well, for a lot of these countries, football is over 100 years old in terms of their leagues. So it's actually ingrained in the culture. And
because footballs a working class sport, it's been a way for people to express themselves especially after work for decades, nearly up to 100
years in some countries. So football has just been a way that's been ingrained in the culture, and it's become a Mecca for some places where
they could go to church on a Sunday, but they'll be at the home stadium on a Saturday as well.
NEWTON: You know, you're clearly a big football enthusiast, and I am sorry about the England loss, but they thrilled us all. So I'm sorry I had to say
it. Look, they thrilled us all. They're a great team and I hope that they are received as heroes. But you were in a place like Cape Verde. OK, this
was the Cinderella team. It is an island nation, and they really captivated so much of what the World Cup means.
[16:55:04]
I mean, what were your thoughts on going to a place like that?
MADUAKO: It was amazing. Like when we were in Cape Verde, just the dancing, the music, the way that the fans are just engaged with football itself. And
obviously Cape Verde has a massive Portuguese influence. So they are like someone like Vozinha as well. They're like part of the (INAUDIBLE) nations.
So they were able to like -- you see that there's actually really good players in Cape Verde as well.
Like they're actually really good. And it's just the culture is a very vibrant culture. And it was amazing to just be there. And the food is
insane as well.
NEWTON: What do you think it meant to them just to have you there and have someone who was actually interested in their team actually going to the
World Cup, qualifying even?
MADUAKO: Yes, it meant a lot. And I know because we went to Cape Verde about two or three months ago, and their biggest fear was that they had to
play Spain. So when they drew with Spain, I knew that it was going to be something like that was huge for the country as well. So I think that that
fate and the fact that Spain are in the final now is also amazing, because Cape Verde were the only team to actually draw them at this World Cup.
NEWTON: All right. We know you're having fun. So I just mentioned that FIFA might expand it to 64 countries. Listen, you're not done with the 48. How
long is it going to take you and will you do it again in 2030?
MADUAKO: Well, definitely I would love to do it again. Next time I want to do it again with my daughter. Right now the mission is that we -- I was
able to actually thank Rexona who were able to bring a fan to the World Cup for free as well. So we brought -- I brought a fan to the England game
against Norway. So, yes, I definitely would love to do it again. And I think it'll be done probably by the end of the year. That's the goal.
NEWTON: Jide, we will try and catch up with you again. Spectacular. We have to go. But are you going to the final? I know it's very expensive to try
and get there.
MADUAKO: Yes. And the mission is that we're going to bring a fan to the final as well.
NEWTON: Gotcha. Excellent. Jide, OK, we will wait to hear what the end of the year when you visited all these countries. Thanks so much for coming in
and bringing us really what are your unique experiences through so many countries. Really appreciate it, Jide.
MADUAKO: Thank you very much. Take care.
NEWTON: Now taking a last look at the markets. Chip stock losses sent Wall Street lower. The tech heavy Nasdaq took the biggest hit down about 1.5
percent. You see it there. The Dow shed 105 points while the S&P is down half a percentage point.
Let's look at some Dow components now. Nike up more than 4 percent. Walmart and Home Depot are up about 2 percent after solid retail numbers last
month. Health care also showing some gains. Amgen and Merck rose more than 3 percent, while Goldman Sachs leading the losses despite those great
results, down almost 5 percent.
That is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. I'm Paula Newton. "THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER" starts now.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
