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Quest Means Business
Source: False Report Made With A.I. Almost Started A War; Trump Speaking At The White House; Trump: Why Should I Help Kennedy Center Without Recognition?; Trump, Banning CNN, MS NOW And POLITICO From White House; Attack On East-West Pipeline Disrupts Saudi Oil Exports; Analysts Say A.I. Now Drives Much Of United States Economic Growth; Cairo's Driverless Monorail, Africa's Sustainable Transport Model. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired September 18, 2026 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:25]
RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST, "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS": Closing bell is ringing on Wall Street.
Citi doing the business tonight. The Dow is down. It has been down all session. Oh! One, and a two and oh, dear! What a wimpy gavel from Citi. I
am sorry, but I thought we'd have had a bit more strength than that. Anyway, we are off 97, so we are way off the lows of the day. It is a
bifurcated market. The S&P and the NASDAQ were both higher, which means that there is something weird going on in the sense of one or two stocks
have been moving things in particular directions.
But the movements are not huge. So let's not waste too much time because there so many things for you and I to get to grips with the markets, and
these are the main events.
President Trump says he is banning major news outlets, including CNN from The White House, effective immediately. We will have a CNN exclusive
report, an A.I. generated intelligence that almost prompted U.S. military action against a Chinese ship.
And tonight, Air France-KLM CEO tells me he is spending billions more due to high jet fuel prices and profitability for future.
We are live in London. End of the week. It is Friday, it is September the 18th. I am Richard Quest on a Friday. As elsewhere, I mean business.
Good evening.
Begin tonight with a CNN exclusive breaking news. A source says that an intelligence report that was generated with the help of ai and then
circulated across the U.S. military earlier this year amid the war, almost started another war.
Now, the report claimed that a Chinese ship in the Middle East was transporting components of a nuclear weapons program. Accordingly, we hear
that U.S. Military planes were in the sky, and there were plans to board the vessel, and then the report was found to be entirely false.
CNN's senior national security reporter, Zach Cohen has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZACHARY COHEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Sources are telling me and our colleague, Katie Bo Lillis, that this intelligence report was
circulated through the U.S. Military earlier this spring while the war with Iran was still ongoing and it concluded that a Chinese vessel that was
transiting through the Middle East was likely carrying components of a nuclear weapons program.
Now, that obviously caught the attention of U.S. Military officials, who immediately moved to prepare for a potential operation targeting that
ship. Even taking steps towards possibly boarding the vessel, we are told that it was when air military aircraft were in the sky and that this
operation looked like it was going to be underway, that U.S. officials took a closer look at the intelligence report itself and determined that it had
been generated with the help of A.I. and that the chatbot used by a special operations analyst had misidentified the ship's cargo, ultimately, leading
U.S. officials in the military to pull the plug on the planned operation and hence likely avoiding a potential international incident with one of
the world's other superpowers.
Now, this is reviving and contributing to ongoing concerns, and the debate about the place of A.I. going forward in the U.S. commitment to potential
guardrails around A.I. and the U.S. Military under President Donald Trump and his defense secretary Pete Hegseth, have been very A.I.-forward during
their second time in office.
Hegseth himself sent out a memo earlier this year saying that he wants the military to be experimental in how it uses A.I. and to incorporate it in
nearly every facet of its job, whether that be targeting operations or more mundane tasks like budgeting.
This is going to raise additional questions, though, given the close call, as our sources characterized it, in terms of incorporating an intelligence
report that was aided by A.I. and ultimately proved to be, as one source put it, entirely false.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: Zach Cohen reporting.
Now, the Trump administration has fully embraced A.I. The President even refers to it as the golden goose, and in some respects, he is not wrong.
ING estimates that a third of this year's U.S. economic growth is tied to tech investments, mainly in A.I. and data centers. A strategist at Goldman
Sachs told CNBC that an A.I. investment is driving half of the S&P 500 profit growth.
[16:05:10]
So, if you suddenly restrict A.I. development, as many are now calling for, the broader economy is going to feel it. The issue is how much and Alison
Morrow has been looking into this for us.
But Allison, in a sense, it is disproving or proving a negative because we know what happens if we do. What happens if we don't?
ALLISON MORROW, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR EDITOR: Right. Yes, I mean, a lot of the fear that has been circulating in A.I. policy circles and tech circles
this week is about these kind of far off or, we hope, far off doomsday scenarios. But the more kind of prosaic and in my opinion, likely negative
outcome from A.I. has nothing to do with the technology itself, but this kind of ecosystem of companies that are heavily reliant on one another for
business, and that creates a lot of potential linkages.
QUEST: I need to interrupt you, Allison, do forgive me. Do forgive me. I need to interrupt you.
Donald Trump is speaking at The White House. Forgive me.
MORROW: Okay.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: National committee, it is fake news. It is fake news. And excuse me, excuse me. And
when you look at POLITICO, I mean, they got a government, the government under Biden gave them like $8 million to keep them afloat and the stories
they wrote are fake. So there is a lot of news, and there may be others to join them, and maybe they can get better and would like to have them in.
But our country has to have honest news. You know, you don't have a country unless you have, as I say, borders -- good voting, straightening them out.
Borders are unbelievable. Nobody has come into our country in the last 17 months illegally.
But you need borders and you need fair and free voting, and you know what you need? You need a free press. You need a fair press and an honest press
and CNN and you know it and everybody knows it. You're intelligent. I've known you a long time.
You know how fake their reporting is. It is one sided. It is never good. I've done many, many look at this story today about favored nations on
drugs.
We lowered the drug costs by 50, 60, 70 percent. They won't even put it. If they put it on, it will be they will find a reason why that's a negative.
Okay. Yes.
REPORTER: Why are you doing this ban now? Is there a particular reason? No. No reason. No. Just because. No, it is really just cumulative stories over
the last two years. You get sick of it and you call them and you tell them, I have very good experts like people behind me.
Bobby Oz, they call and they try and explain things to me. They know that they know it. They know it as well, they are smart people. But they
purposely write negative news. And they do that because they want to try and diminish the Republicans and the Republican administration.
And honestly, we've done a fantastic job. Look at the numbers. Look at the economic numbers. We have more money coming into our country today than
ever before.
We have the highest employment that we've ever had in history. All of these things, the lowest -- we have the best poverty rate, the lowest poverty
rate in the history of our country and people are making more money today than they ever had.
And we do have something that I am very proud of. Iran will not have a nuclear weapon, now for that, people are going to have to pay some extra. I
think most people, if they had a vote on lower gas prices or letting Iran have a nuclear weapon, I would be willing to vote that it would be a
massive landslide. People don't want to have Iran have a nuclear weapon.
And you know what? They won't, and the war is going to end soon. And when it ends, your gas prices are going to drop to a level that they were
before, maybe even lower.
When I left Iowa, just before I started this, I had no choice. I said to my people we would have to do an excursion down to Iran, the Islamic Republic
of Iran, because they're going to have a nuclear -- if we don't hit them with the B-2 bombers, they right now would have a nuclear weapon.
And if they had it, it would be a matter of days. I equate it somewhat to the Democrats. If they ever got into power, they will terminate the
filibuster and they will immediately have D.C. as a state. They will immediately have many other things take place. But D.C. and Puerto Rico
will become immediately, that gives them four more senators. That gives them lots of other things, like 12 congressmen. They want to have, ideally,
21 Supreme Court justices.
They will have everything they ever dreamed of, and frankly, Republicans should terminate the filibuster because if you don't do it, they're going
to do it. And you can't let that happen.
REPORTER: Mr. President, Willy Nelson with Salem Media. Mr. President, reports say the holdout juror in the Lindsay Clancy case and, excuse me --
reports say the holdout juror in the Lindsay Clancy case and his family were doxxed and threatened so badly. He left Massachusetts. What's your
take on that?
[16:10:15]
TRUMP: Well, I just don't know. I think the case is very sad. It is a horrible thing. She was on all sorts of drugs and she was very messed up.
She killed three children, her three children. It is a very tough situation and I know the jury was certainly not a friendly one in terms of that one
person, but it is not for me.
Look, you had a jury and the jury was hung, and we will see whether or not they have another trial.
REPORTER: Mr. President, many leading Democrats have condemned far-left streamer, Hasan Piker. What is your take on him? And do you think he is a
liability for Democrats?
TRUMP: I do. I think he is a terrible liability. I think he has got a power over some of these Democrats and he will be voting that way. I mean, he is
a communist. There is no question about it.
And the Democrats have a lot of communists, and the communists can hold up the party because it only takes a few votes when you have a close election,
or you'll have a fairly close -- I hope the Republicans are going to do well, but you're going to have -- it is going to be pretty close.
And a group of three, four, five, 10 people can steer a party in a certain direction. That's, you know, both parties. Yes. No, he is a guy who is very
-- I mean, his statements are so bad. How a Jewish person could vote for a Democrat is not even -- if you think of it -- not even believable. And yet
they will. It is amazing.
But it is not possible in a world of rationality that somebody who is Jewish, that somebody who is Black could vote to be a Democrat, could vote
for a Democrat.
The things that have been said about different groups of people by them are incredible, and the mainstream Democrats, I know many of them, and I am
friendly with many of them, but they've gone way left because they've had no choice, not because they didn't believe it, they know communism has
never worked. They know socialism has never worked, but these people are petrified of the radical left and he is one of them. Yes.
REPORTER: Mr. President, Polish leaders have expressed concerns that Russia may attack Ukrainian allies. Do you agree with that assessment?
TRUMP: Well, I think they already have attacked Ukrainian allies. They've been attacking Ukrainian allies for approximately five years.
REPORTER: Mr. President --
TRUMP: I do agree with that. I think everyone agrees with it.
REPORTER: Mr. President --
TRUMP: No, no. Go ahead.
REPORTER: Congresswoman --
TRUMP: Did you mean Ukrainians or another country?
REPORTER: Ukraine. So Poland is --
TRUMP: You mean, are they concerned that they're going to attack Poland?
REPORTER: Yes. They might attack.
TRUMP: Well, you have a great President who is a big Trump fan. He was in 12th place. I endorsed him, and now he is president and he is doing a
fantastic job. And he is -- he has got it under control.
REPORTER: Congresswoman Maria Salazar filmed a video outside The White House the other day disagreeing with your immigration policies. You
endorsed her primary campaign. Do you still back her run? And have you seen that video?
TRUMP: Well, I do, and I have. I disagree with her. Look, I have a strong - - a very strong -- it is a movement, it is my movement. It probably at least partially won the election.
When I got elected at the beginning, and you know, previous to my coming in, we had the most unsafe border maybe anywhere in the world, maybe in
history, 25 million people poured in from prisons, from mental institutions, drug dealers, murderers, 11,888 murderers came in all
documented. They allowed them into our country.
I have a very strong -- she obviously doesn't have a very strong feeling for the border, but I do. And I understand what she is saying, but I have a
very strong -- I won because of my border. Now nobody thinks about it anymore.
Look, they just announced the numbers, over the last 16 months, nobody, zero -- I even find that hard to believe -- but it is done by a group of
people that seem to sort of lean Democrat. You know, they're not going to give me anything for nothing, and they say over the last 16 months, not one
person came in through the southern border illegally, which is pretty hard to believe.
But even if you said if you did, but 25 million came in through Biden and a lot of them should never be here. No, I am very strong on the borders and
she isn't, and she is a nice person. I got her elected. Without me, she wouldn't have gotten elected.
She ran against a person a number of years ago who was not even thought possible to lose. And then when I endorsed Maria, she ended up winning in
the biggest surprise in all of Congress for that session, for that term.
[16:15:10]
And Maria won only because of me, so she has got a little bit soft on the border. I understand that, I understand that, but I just don't happen to be
there.
REPORTER: Mr. President, freedom of the press is enshrined in the First Amendment. Are you trying to --
TRUMP: thank you for telling me?
REPORTER: Are you trying to intimidate the press from doing --
TRUMP: No, no, no, no. I dislike dishonest press like you. I think you're terrible, but I dislike dishonest. I like to see honest press.
Yes, please. Yes, please go ahead.
REPORTER: In the first administration, you tried a similar ban against CNN and it didn't survive a court challenge. What makes you think that this
move --
TRUMP: Well, we will see. I mean, it didn't -- we didn't have to take it too far because the reporter that you're talking about discredited himself.
He became a joke. So, he no longer was very effective. So it didn't matter.
No, but I think it is good. I think it is good to point it out, whether it survives or doesn't. I mean, I don't think a court should allow -- it
depends on the judge you get to be honest with you. I don't think that a court should allow fake news to be written day after day after day.
I think that somebody has a right to keep them away if they're going to write false stories all the time. I don't think I've had -- look, I won the
presidency. I won all seven swing states. I won the popular vote. I won 87 percent of the counties. That's why the maps are all red when you look,
except for two little blue lines on each side, on each coast.
I won a landslide and I get no -- I get -- I don't get fair press. I get it from Breitbart. I get it from -- a little bit from Fox. Fox is the worst. I
think Fox has, frankly, the worst polls in the whole business. I think they should have gotten rid of their pollsters years ago. They've been calling
me wrong for 10 years. But, my polls have been very good.
You know, I get good polls, I get good everything. But what I do ask is just a semblance of truth. CNN is fake news. MS NOW is fake news. They're
fake news. They know it. They are put there for a reason.
POLITICO was bailed out by our government from going out of business. I don't know if it was $8 million or something, but they were given this
massive subsidy prior to my coming into office because they write only negative, you know, only negative. Now we've done something that nobody has
ever done politically. Ive had a political career like nobody else in history.
On occasion, it would be nice if we had some fairness. It is all fake news. Yes, please.
REPORTER: Mr. President, to put a finer point on it, though, how is this action legal and constitutional, considering the First Amendment? And
Governor Sanders, you were White House Press Secretary. Do you agree with this plan to ban news outlets?
TRUMP: Well, I will just answer it again. I will say it the same way. I don't think somebody should be allowed to come in and write fake stories.
They're fake news and that's why they have no credibility. That's why -- so I had 96 percent negative coverage during the election and I won because
they have no credibility. I got 96. I guess, NBC was 93 percent negative. So 93 -- with all of the victories I've had, everything has been a victory.
It has all been a victory.
And I won the election like nobody has ever seen anything like it. I get no -- they never write a good story. They won't write a story about -- I just
reduced drug prices by 40, 50, 60, 70, 80 percent, I won't get a good story out of these people.
From some of them I will. I will get one from him. I will get one from him. I will get a few of them. But it is sick. I mean, there is something wrong
with a country that can allow people to write purposely negative stories.
Now, if they want to write them, that's fine, but I don't have to let them into my -- into the People's House.
Yes, please.
REPORTER: The governor --
TRUMP: Governor, go ahead.
GOV. SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS (R-AR): Sure. I think it is hard for you to argue against a free press when you're literally standing in the Oval
Office asking questions of the President of the United States. He has been more accessible and easier to talk to than any president in history.
Think about the previous administration where he could barely get through a press conference, and yet you have the opportunity to stand here in the
Oval Office and ask questions to the leader of the free world. I mean, that's pretty free and you're standing here asking those questions.
I think the President is right to support the First Amendment, but he is also right to ask that you be honest and fair. That's not an unreasonable
thing.
TRUMP: Well, look at the way you treated Biden. He went a year-and-a-half without having a press conference, a year -and-a-half, and what was the
question you asked him most? What is your favorite flavored ice cream? Okay.
What -- I think you asked him that question once. What ice cream do you like the best? I mean, I heard that question so many times and he will
always say vanilla. That's a good thing. He was very consistent.
I am surprised he got that right, but he would always say vanilla.
[16:20:10]
Yes, please.
REPORTER: On another note, are you disappointed that Senator John Thune isn't bringing the Ratepayer Protection Act to the floor?
TRUMP: He is not what?
REPORTER: He is not bringing the ratepayer protection act that the House passed.
TRUMP: Well, I am talking to him about it. We will see what happens.
REPORTER: Mr. President, President Xi coming here next --
TRUMP: Great honor.
REPORTER: China is one of the most repressive countries for journalists in the world. What signal does it say?
TRUMP: Well, I don't know about that. I think -- I think we are repressive also. We get fake news. We don't repress, but they write fake news. No, I
think he is going to come. We get along very well. It is nice that we get along very well. We've had a good relationship. He will be here next week.
I can tell you this, it is too bad we don't have the ballroom open. Because if we did, we could have -- we would have thousands. We could have 2,000
people having dinner. They would love. We have a very tiny little room. That is going to be squeezed out at about 125 or so people. But, I
literally could tell you that thousands of people would love to be at that dinner. This is a very tough ticket for me.
I've told a lot of very good friends of mine, you just can't come, just can't come. We are going to have a very good meeting. We are going to have
a meeting. We get along well. We are doing very well with China.
I would say others maybe not so well, but we are doing very well with China. And President Xi and I have a good relationship.
REPORTER: Do you expect an A.I. safety deal or any talks on that?
TRUMP: Well, we are going to have a lot of different deals. We intend -- we not just doing it for our health. We are going to have some pretty
important meetings. You know, China is paying us a lot of tariffs. And you remember I had it up to 145 percent at one point, but it was too much. It
was really it was really hurting them badly and I didn't want to do that.
No, we get along very well. We have a good relationship.
Now, you know, somebody said, oh, they spy on us. And I said, maybe they do, but we spy on them too. You know, I don't want to give any certified or
classified information, but we spy on them, too. They said they spy on you, sir. I said we spy on them, too.
Yes, please. Back, back, back, back. Go ahead. Not you.
REPORTER: Thank you, sir. Charlotte Scott with Spectrum News.
Pennsylvania has reported four measles related deaths. What's your message to other states who might worry about a spread or outbreak coming to their
states.
TRUMP: I think we are going to be in good shape. We have nothing against vaccinations for measles. Do you want to discuss that for a second, either
Bobby or Oz.
ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR., U.S. HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: We encourage people to vaccinate on all the CDC's websites. CDC has not yet
received information about the measles' death, the alleged measles deaths. We are waiting for that and we will put it up on our website when we hear
about it. We encourage people to vaccinate.
One of the problems with Pennsylvania is that the governor has, until very recently refused to cooperate with CDC. We were able to go in and end the
outbreaks in all the other states in South Dakota and Texas and all the other states. We sent our epi aid team into those states. When I offered
that to Governor Shapiro, he said, no, we don't need your help.
TRUMP: They've got a bad governor in Pennsylvania. People just don't know it. He is very -- he is close to incompetent. Daniel --
REPORTER: Mr. President --
TRUMP: Wait a minute. Wait. Daniel --
REPORTER: You announced last week that you'd be delivering $500.00 rebate checks to nearly a million Americans who were overcharged via Obamacare.
Can you talk about what this would look like?
TRUMP: Yes, we saved hundreds of millions of dollars for the overcharging that the Democrats did for Obamacare and other things and we found it. We
gave it back to the people. We handed them back a lot of money. And thank you for bringing that up.
The other thing is, as you know, because we are doing so well, taking in so much money on tariffs and other things, because we have more factories
being built than at any time in the history of our country, including car plants and every other kind of plant, including A.I., but including
everything we are giving Republicans or and when I say Republicans, because I think everybody is going to be Republican, actually, but we are giving
the people of our country who are adults --
QUEST: We will continue to monitor what President Trump is saying, but it is starting to go in circles of things that we've already heard. The big
news, of course, out of this is that CNN, MS NOW and POLITICO all have been banned by the President from The White House.
Kristen Holmes is with me. She is at The White House, our chief media analyst, Brian Stelter is with me as well.
[16:25:00]
Let us start with you, Kristen. You've been banned, but you're still there.
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and there have been a number of questions from various reporters who were just in there
that we heard in that Oval Office meeting, asking questions about how he could justify this. He said, because they're fake news.
At one point, he was lamenting the coverage, saying that most of his coverage was negative. He even seemed to acknowledge that this might not
hold up in a court of law by saying whether it survives or doesn't, he should be able to do this. He was asked how this was constitutional. He
said that he should be able to, uh, basically have somebody not be allowed to come in if they write fake stories, and he also added that there was no
catalyst, but it was cumulative.
I will note that earlier today, before he issued or said that there was this ban, that he also was criticizing CNN and the coverage. The other part
of this, though, is that we still don't quite understand what that means in terms of a ban, does that mean revoking press passes? Does that mean
revoking pool access? Pool access, of course is the rotation that all of the television networks are on in which they are able to ask the President
questions, to go into events like this. They fly on the plane when it is their day.
So we still don't have quite an understanding of, of what they mean by this ban. But he is doubling down on the notion.
QUEST: Forgive me, Kristen, do forgive me. Let's go back to the President. Brian, you'll be on the other side of it.
TRUMP: Banned from the room. He went out, came back, and they wouldn't let him in. So standing there without a teleprompter, isn't it nice to have a
president? And actually, they said it was one of my best speeches. I don't know how that happened, but they are introducing, ladies and gentlemen, on
behalf of the United States, and I am looking at the teleprompter screen and it was totally blank, and it was for more than half the speech.
Somehow they let him in in about half the speech, they probably they did that on purpose. And he shouldn't have been leaving the room for a minute.
He had to leave the room, come back, but -- you remember that? They turned off the escalator. Fortunately, my First Lady was very strong, and I was
able to grab her back or another part of her body, and it was actually a little bit lower than the back. And it kept me standing up tall. I was
standing very tall.
But you remember, I was going up in the air and it came to a dead stop. This was -- I built a lot of escalators. I put in a lot of escalator.
You're going to have some beauties right over here. But they don't do that unless somebody wants. And then I got up to make my speech, and I said, I
don't have a teleprompter. Can you imagine? And I think I spoke very well.
It is nice to have a president that doesn't need a teleprompter.
REPORTER: Mr. President sir, have you looked at any plans to demolish The Kennedy Center? There was an image of you from Air Force One.
TRUMP: Well, look, here is the problem with The Kennedy Center. I should be very careful because Bobby is standing right behind me and I cherish that,
too. I actually like the name of Kennedy and Trump, Trump and Kennedy because it showed bipartisanship. It showed a Republican Party and a
Democratic Party working together.
The problem with The Kennedy Center, it loses. For years, its lost between $60 million and $100 million a year. It loses that every year. It is not an
economically sound thing. Now, with all of that, Carnegie Hall loses money. All of those places lose money.
They need massive subsidy in order to sustain. They get very little from Congress. I am ready to fix it. Make it good. We have a hostile judge. We
have a conflicted judge. His wife represents, I think, Barack Hussein Obama. But Biden represents Kamala, represents Democrats. She has a
different name, so most people don't know that, but we were able to figure it out. But we have a very hostile judge, as I understand it, he gave us
the right to go and do the job, finally, after a week.
I could have started this job seven months ago. As you noticed, a big portion of ceiling fell down two days ago, almost killed a security guard.
Missed him by a -- the place is a dump. It has been a dump for years. It has lost money for years.
I can turn it around, fix it. But the question is, somebody is going to have to subsidize that for years to come because Palaces of the Arts lose
tremendous amounts of money. The Kennedy Center for 25 years has lost a tremendous amount of money. And all I am saying -- I don't mind doing the
job, but if I do the job, I think the Trump administration, including Bobby, but the Trump administration should be recognized.
Why should I raise and put up and do all of this work, not only building it, which I will do a better job building it than anybody else, anybody in
America. But why should I do everything? And then for the rest of my life, have to go out and raise money, because by nature -- by the nature of that
type of an operation, you lose anywhere from $50 million to $100 million, maybe even $150 million a year. I think if I do that. Excuse me
I think if I do that -- excuse me. I think, if I do that --
[16:30:22]
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why do you want your name on the memorial?
TRUMP: Because we should be recognized. The Trump administration.
If I'm willing, and the administration is willing, we have a lot of people working very hard on it to save it. I can save it easily.
But why should we be doing that and then raise money for the rest of our lives to keep it afloat, because that's what you have to do?
If we get no recognition. I think the Trump administration should be recognized as having saved the Kennedy Center, because nobody else can do
it.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can't you be (INAUDIBLE) of being honest?
TRUMP: Wait a minute. I already raised $258 million from Congress and they gave it to me because it's me, in order to rebuild it and fix it.
The problem is once it's built it's going to lose a hundred million dollars a year, and it was losing a lot of money.
Before I got there, you know, people said, oh, Trump got there. No, no, I came there to save it.
The problem is we had a very hostile judge. We have a very outstanding board. The board is among the most successful people in the country and
they vote --
We have a congresswoman who is, you know, a person that never did a thing in her life, frankly. Never did anything constructive. All she does is
complain. But saving the Kennedy Center is very, very tough.
A tremendous amount of effort is going to --
Once it's built -- and I'll build it great, get it done on time, like that building on time, under budget. It's going to be great.
Like your heliport outside. It's already -- it's two months ahead of schedule. It's going to open. They are going to have an official opening on
the 21st with the first helicopter landing, et cetera. And it's beautiful.
Everybody -- in fact, they were going to sue me on the heliport. And then, they saw how beautiful it was, and they decided not to sue. The same group
that goes around suing everybody to stop progress.
But if we are going to save the Kennedy Center, I think the Trump administration should be given recognition for doing so.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President --
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was it appropriate for your son to accept the gift -- of the payment of some of his wedding festivities?
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: Well, it's totally -- it's totally allowed. And a lot of people have parties, and -- but it's totally allowed.
But as I understand it, he paid him back. He didn't want to have that. So, I hear he paid him back.
A person that he knows, I guess a friend of his, gave him a wedding party. That's very common. I've heard of many people given wedding parties.
I've given --
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- some of his --
TRUMP: Wait a minute. I have given -- well, I don't know. Maybe you didn't do a background check. But I've given -- I have given wedding parties for
numerous people.
They get married. I give them a party. I give them parties at beautiful places like Mar-a-Lago and others. But I've given many.
With all of that being said, I understand that Don has paid them back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
TRUMP: No, I heard -- I heard about that. I actually heard that, when I heard the story, I asked about it. He said, no, I'm paying it back, Dad.
So, and that was a while ago. So, I heard he is paying.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President --
TRUMP: But I have to say, though. You know, giving a wedding party is pretty common.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President -- Mr. President, on the ban, what does that mean in practice? Are you taking away their badges? Are you banning
them from the pool? What does this actually mean?
TRUMP: When you say the ban, which ban? You know, you know how many bans I'm involved in? I got more bans going. I've got more bans going in
anything we did.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On the three news outlets, sir. What does that mean in practice? Are you taking away their badges? Are you banning them from the
pool? Are you banning them from the Oval Office? What does that mean?
TRUMP: I still don't know what --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What do you mean vision of ban for the (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How is the ban works, sir, on media outlets?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: POLITICO.
TRUMP: Oh, the ban on the free press, right?
A very simple ban. I don't want them in my office. I don't want them here. I would say the ban would go as far as you can.
And if they could straighten themselves out, you know, if they could straighten themselves out, I'd love it.
Look, they are very dishonest people. They write in a very dishonest way. ABC fake news gave me $16 million that was agreed to --
$16 million that I won from ABC News because George Slopidopoulos (PH) wrote incorrect stuff.
CBS gave me $38 million because they broadcast Kamala Harris on "60 Minutes", and the question bore no relationship to what she said. You saw
that.
I'm right now suing BBC because they have the granddaddy of them all. They have where I said, walk freely and patriotically, having to do with January
6th, and they put horrible fighting words into my mouth.
With my -- with me actually saying it, I said, I never said that.
And when we checked, it was -- BBC actually changed my language, and they put words in my mouth.
[16:35:02]
That's the furthest I have seen. So, that's --
We have numerous lawsuits. We'll be suing these people, too.
But the ban is because they are fake news. They cannot write the truth.
And POLITICO is very bad. And POLITICO, frankly, I think what they did was illegal. They accepted a -- the world's largest subscription. They got $8
million or something like that for a subscription to their stupid, you know, lightweight paper.
But I will say, POLITICO and MS NOW, which nobody ever heard of, and CNN, which is doing very poorly --
The reason they do so poorly is because they have no credibility. And if they had credibility, I wouldn't be sitting here right now.
So, we are banning them. Yes, we are. And there may be others to follow. Thank you very much, everybody.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, guys (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you so much, guys.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thanks, everybody.
TRUMP: Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, guys.
TRUMP: Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: There we have it. That was long, wasn't it?
Kristen Holmes is with me. Brian Stelter is with me. Kristen, did we learn any more about how the band's going to work? Do you think?
HOLMES: I heard from one of the reporters there, who clearly has an understanding of how this process works in general, which is you have a
press badge, you have a pool, all of the things that I had mentioned to you. He didn't seem to have any indication of what exactly the ban meant.
He said, I don't want them here. I don't want them in my office. He said, which again, our offices here are not in his office; they are in a separate
location.
So, it seemed as though he was referring to the pool. But then, he said that if they can straighten themselves out, I would love that.
He also said the ban would go as far as it can. Just a reminder, he is continuing to say that this is about negative coverage of him, and saying
that it's untrue, and that he doesn't get fair coverage.
First of all, we actually covered this event leading into it. He kept saying that CNN never covers the most favored nations. We did a hit on
television, and we had a digital story up.
But in addition to that, I will point to recent stories that we have been covering that show that Republicans have been distancing themselves from
President Trump --
(CROSSTALK)
QUEST: Right.
HOLMES: They show the polling going into the midterms; his popularity is at an all-time low, and those are facts based on polling from across the
country and multiple news outlets.
So, again, we still don't understand the logistics of how this ban is going to work. But he is, again, doubling down on it, saying he also added at one
point that he doesn't like the New York Times or The Washington Post either. But he hasn't gone as far as to kick them out yet.
QUEST: Kristen, I'll let you get back to your reporting because you have been very kind and generous with time at the moment.
So, let's go to Brian Stelter.
Bran Stelter, apparently, CNN has now responded in one shape or another. If you give me that, if you have it, and then, we will talk a little bit more.
BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: Yes, you have three news outlets here: CNN, MS NOW, POLITICO, all just trying to report on the president and
not get into a fight with the president, not get into a legal battle, not trying to do anything like that. But the president's words are incendiary,
and we've never seen anything quite like this before, Richard.
I've seen a lot of Truth Social posts, but I've never seen the president say he's banning someone from the White House, but then not see any action
following through.
So, we are in a little bit of a strange information vacuum. But clearly, the president wants his White House team to figure out a way to implement
this. So, we are going to watch and see that happens in the coming hours.
CNN has responded saying, " CNN stands fully behind our White House team and their fair and accurate reporting. We have a right under the U.S.
Constitution to do that reporting without hindrance or interference from the government. Should the ban, which President Trump threatened, go ahead,
it would be an illegal assault on that fundamental and constitutionally protected right."
And we are already hearing from a number of press freedom groups, like the Reporters Committee. These groups exist in order to defend journalists'
rights in the U.S. They are usually involved in much more obscure or minor skirmishes, sometimes at the local level, but increasingly in Trump 2.0,
they have also been in court defending the press's rights in Washington, D.C.
(CROSSTALK)
QUEST: Right.
STELTER: The Reporters Committee coming out saying, a ban like this, if Trump implements it, would be flatly unconstitutional. Richard.
QUEST: OK, and finally, why? Why do you think? Why? What's behind it? Why now? Why today?
STELTER: Every day I read another story about the president's low approval ratings, and not only his low approval ratings, but how he's a drag on his
party in the midterm elections.
Every day I read a story about GOP politicians trying to distance themselves from the president. And every day I read a story about the
struggles involved in the Iran War and the mess the president has apparently created in the Middle East.
Every day those stories are being published fairly and accurately by news outlets like CNN, and I'm sure the president gets very angry when he reads
them.
[16:40:04]
Of course, that's part of the job.
And I think, Richard, we can tell viewers one thing for sure. Our cameras are there. We just saw Kristen on the north lawn. If there is any action,
if anybody comes over, if they try to remove us, I think we will be able to show it to the viewers. OK?
QUEST: Brian, I'm grateful. I'll let you get back to your duties and reporting. Thank you. I want to talk about one of the reasons why the
economic situation is so bad, the price of gas is so high, and largely, as a result of policy of the United States.
The disruption of the Middle East oil supplies is poised to get worse. According to Bloomberg, Saudi Aramco has told two European refiners, they
will receive no crude shipments next month. The company is working to repair its east-west pipeline, which runs to the Red Sea port of Yanbu.
The pipeline was damaged this month in attack. That's all to do with the Iran-backed Houthis.
Brent remains stubbornly high, trading at $103 a barrel in West Texas, intermediate slightly below.
Now, with me, Mohamed El-Erian, who is been very patient and kind with this time, and is professor at the Wharton School of the University of
Pennsylvania.
This -- thank you, first of all, for standing by, because I need you to put into perspective that the energy crisis that the world is facing, and by
the way, much worse in parts of the world where there are now riots and fuel protests, is because of a sort of an unleashing of forces by what the
U.S. and Israel attacks on Iran did.
MOHAMED EL-ERIAN, PRESIDENT, QUEENS' COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY: Yes, we have had a major disruption in the supply of oil. We have also had a major
disruption in refine -- the refining of oil.
So not only is crude -- our crude prices higher, but even more importantly, and it's the number I look at every morning now, is what's happening to
refined product, diesel, in particular.
So, we have seen diesel today reach $6.46 a gallon. Richard, as you know, that goes into the transportation of virtually everything we buy in stores.
So, that is going to be a problem going forward that compounds the problem of people having to pay a lot more at the gas pumps for their gas.
QUEST: If we then factor in yesterday's raise in U.S. interest rates by the Fed, and there's another one or two to come probably, we are -- we are
getting into a cycle of slowdown to bring down inflation, I mean, that's just going to sort of feed upon itself for maybe valid economic reasons.
But this situation, I mean, in your opinion, is it going to get more difficult and tougher?
EL-ERIAN: It is in the short term. So, three of the four major central banks have hiked interest rates in the last 10 days. Why? Because inflation
is higher. Why is inflation higher? Because of energy prices. And yet, Central Bank hiking interest rates does nothing to energy prices.
What they are trying to do is stop it from going to other prices. How do they do that? By trying to lower demand.
So, you see the connection here that you have a shock. They can't respond to the shock directly. They do something else. And let's not forget market
rates.
So, today the 10 years back at five percent. Mortgage rates already at seven percent So, you have the impact also of higher borrowing costs across
the economy.
So, additional headwind, so far, the economy has been incredibly resilient, but we are running down buffers. We are running down the oil buffers, the
inventories, and we are running down the financial buffers.
(CROSSTALK)
QUEST: Right.
The stock market has been supported by A.I.-related investment. Whether it's data centers or whatever or self-funding, if you will, circular
funding within the A.I. ecosystem.
But how long can that continue? Because, at some point, yes, a wing and a prayer and a hope that it's going to produce profits in the future. But if
the economy is not slowing down, you have got higher interest rates, you have got higher productivity costs, eventually, eventually, surely that
A.I. investment must start to crack.
EL-ERIAN: Yes, and man, as you said, the beginning of the show, A.I. spending has been really important. That's been a shield to the economy, as
have these inventories. But the shield to the markets has been actual and anticipated earnings from AI. That has been a critical factor that have
allowed markets to basically ignore everything we talked about before.
So, earnings become really, really important, and everybody's focused on earnings.
[16:45:06]
So far, they are not being impacted in a major way, but that's the thing to look at if you are invested in the stock market.
QUEST: I'm going -- I'm going -- I'm doing my best to ensure that I don't lead you into political waters. But at the end of the day, there is a
discrepancy between the way the president describes the way the U.S. economy is performing, which is performing better than most. I'll grant
him. But the way the numbers are starting to flash amber, even red. And that's the discrepancy that I wonder we should be most concerned about at
the moment.
EL-ERIAN: So, we have had that discrepancy for a while. If you remember, under President Biden, they were proud of Bidenomics. They were proud of
how the economy was doing, and yet, all the surveys suggested that people were dissatisfied.
And that shows you that we have a very uneven economy. Parts of it are doing really well. If you are in the stock market, you have been doing
really well. But half the population is not in the stock market.
Growth has been uneven. There is this notion of a K-shaped economy where the lower-income households are under tremendous pressure.
So, what tends to happen is the aggregate numbers don't show you how uneven growth has been, how uneven the financial rewards have been, and that is
why survey after survey for the last six years tell you that Americans are very dissatisfied with the economic situation.
QUEST: Mohamed, we are grateful you hung around. Certainly, our gain tonight. Thank you for joining us. Have a lovely weekend. I'm grateful.
Thank you, sir.
EL-ERIAN: Thank you.
QUEST: Europe's -- Egypt's capital is one of Africa's largest and most congested cities, but it's all sort of my favorite, Cairo.
And moving millions of people around is increasingly difficult. Now, Cairo is betting on a new monorail to remove that gridlock, Victoria Rubadiri has
been finding out how this transport system might be replicated across the continent.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VICTORIA RUBADIRI, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Gridlock and congestion are a common daily reality for commuters in Egypt's capital
Cairo. With millions of cars in a densely populated city, moving around can be challenging and slow.
Now, a new state-of-the-art rail line running above these busy streets might be the solution.
BEN LEZALA, VICE PRESIDENT, SERVICES FOR AFRICA, ALSTOM The monorail is the first of its kind in Africa, first of its kind in Egypt. It's a -- it's a
really significant project. It's the first driverless system on the African continent, and it's very, very important for the growth of Cairo, moving
people around the city safely, reliably --
RUBADIRI (voice over): For Alstom, the global transportation company building the monorail, that means creating a network capable of keeping up
with Cairo's rapid expansion.
The monorail has 74 car trains that operate on routes that run on either side of the famous Nile River.
LEZALA: Two lines: one line of 57 kilometers, 22 stations. Second line of 42 kilometers, 13 stations. It connects the center of Cairo to the east and
the west, where new cities are being developed for the expansion of the Greater Cairo region.
RUBADIRI (voice over): But it's more than just moving people from A to B. New infrastructure can also create new economic opportunities across
different sectors.
LEZALA: So, all along that route, we are unlocking economic potential. So, that's by people being able to move more quickly, more freely, more time
available to the commercial activities which are happening on the ground, with that shopkeepers, restaurants, and so on.
RUBADIRI (voice over): It's not just for Egypt, though. Alstom says that this sort of project can be replicated across the continent.
LEZALA: We are seeing throughout the African continent that, you know, with the advancement of tech, the entrepreneurial spirit of those cities, and
the adoption of various technologies, the connectivity is there.
With the economic growth that's happening as well, particularly with the boom in resources that's happening. We are seeing a much more demand in
urbanization, and that demands more transportation.
LAURENT VOS, PROJECT DIRECTOR, CAIRO MONORAIL, ALSTOM: This project is the proof of concept for Africa that a transportation solution, sustainable,
adaptable to rapid growth demand for the population is possible.
So, effectively, we can deploy this solution everywhere in the growing city in Africa, that can adapt the big corridors when they are expanding their
cities, that answer to the need of people to connect together to move from their job to their areas.
We are extremely proud to have delivered this project, this fantastic project which is built by Egyptian for Egyptian, and I hope tomorrow, it's
a model, a vision for the other cities in Africa to develop this solution.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[16:50:08]
QUEST: In a moment, the chief executive of Air France-KLM. And how do you manage to turn a profit with the high price of jet fuel?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Earlier tonight, we spoke about the energy crisis with Mohamed El- Erian.
The crisis is raising costs for airlines. Well, you know that. You look at the -- look at prices, billions of dollars in extra fuel costs.
The CEO of Air France-KLM, told me his airline will spend up to $2 billion more on jet fuel, and half of that, or a bit more than half, is going to be
passed on to flyers.
Jet fuel prices have more than doubled since the start of the year. They are back as high near historic levels.
Air France's -- Air France-KLM's chief exec says he doesn't expect the price to fall back soon, despite all the disruption, he is still
profitable.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BEN SMITH, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, AIR FRANCE-KLM: Well, we've had a hedging policy for the last 10 years. It served us very well this year
relative to some of our competitors. We stopped hedging for a while. We have restarted, and it's -- we are going to go back to the same policy we
had before.
You know, airline business is hard enough. We don't want to be in a situation where we are speculating against our competitors.
QUEST: What do you estimate your fuel bill has increased by this year?
SMITH: It will be between $1.2 and $2 billion versus last year.
QUEST: And I assume you are managing to pass most of that on.
SMITH: We are managing between 60 and 80 percent, depending on the -- on the route and depending on the cabin.
QUEST: But at the end of the day, you're not expecting prices to come down anytime soon.
SMITH: No. No. Well, we have some markets where, you know, going eastbound from Europe, where a lot of customers are avoiding the Gulf for safety
reasons, not only -- not only on a connection basis but also on an O and D basis.
And so, if you look at the Gulf carriers, they have pretty much put all their capacity back in. So, they got to fill those seats.
There is a lot of pressure on yields going eastbound.
QUEST: And that's really the last thing anybody wants at the moment. In a sense, a price war to the bottom --
SMITH: Yes.
QUEST: Is not good for anyone.
SMITH: No. No.
Now, if you look at our network and our capacity, our exposure to eastbound routes or to Asia is much lower than many carriers.
[16:55:07]
We have our biggest concentration of capacity is to North America, then, Africa, then, South America. So, we have got a very, very big footprint
south and west of Europe.
QUEST: Are you expecting to make capacity cuts this winter? As I'm starting to see airlines four, five, six percent capacity cuts because of cost of
flying and lower yields.
SMITH: No, because we were our flying capacity in Amsterdam was not at the level --
(CROSSTALK)
QUEST: No, no. I mean, generally group wide. Group wide.
SMITH: Group wide, no. We are going to -- well, compared to our budgets and our long-term plan, we will be on the low end. So, we have, you know, we
plan to range, we have a lot of flexibility with unencumbered fleet, so, we have always got that.
We have a -- average age which is relatively high, so, we can bring down staff numbers to attrition quite quickly. So, we have a lot of levers.
Right now, every route that is flying is cash positive. So, if we had losers, long haul, if we had losers, they would be out.
QUEST: Finally, you must be very satisfied in a sense. I mean, Air France was the airline people avoided. The -- it was the government airline. You
know, it was running with a state mentality.
You have got these awards, and perception is now changing, and it's changing, perhaps, not as fast as you would like, but it is changing.
SMITH: Well, what attracted me to Air France-KLM and to Air France, specifically, was the potential of the brand, and you know, as an
enthusiast and somebody who is passionate about airlines, I was 4 years old and working in the business for 36 years, you know, to be given the
opportunity to create a global, respected, and profitable airline with something I believe could be done was really exciting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: Ben Smith of Air France-KLM. We will have a "PROFITABLE MOMENT" after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:59:56]
QUEST: Tonight's "PROFITABLE MOMENT". Well, let's not dwell too much on economies or bans or anything else. Let's just recognize the weekend is
upon us.
And of those of you like myself were a Jewish, are following for Yom Kippur, I wish you well over the fast for Yom Kippur on Sunday and Monday.
END
