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Quest Means Business
Anthropic Files for Highly Anticipated IPO; Brazil Reelects Lula Da Silva to Historic Fourth Term; Serbian Leader Ousted in Landslide Election Defeat; Israel To Hold First National Vote Since October 7 Hamas Attack; Sources: United States Ready For Major Iran Strikes If Trump Chooses; Houthi Strikes Upending Travel, Saudi Economic Forums. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired October 26, 2026 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:32]
RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST, "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS": Closing bell ringing on Wall Street. Yes, you see the Dow. It has been a bullish sort of
session. So much news about around the world, that we will get over the course and you'll understand why the markets have been so high as they are
with the Dow up a quarter of a percent.
Bring trading to a close. Those are the markets and these are the events that we are talking about today.
Live from Dubai. It is Monday. It is October the 26th. Over the course of the next hour, Anthropic launches a prospectus for what could be the
biggest IPO in history.
A stock market crash in Brazil takes place, we will tell you, following the election of President Lula Da Silva, investors remain stunned.
And there is more travel disruption here in the Gulf as Houthi rebels claim another strike on King Khalid Airport in Saudi Arabia, which, of course, is
exactly where we should have been this week for FII.
I am Richard Quest, tonight in Dubai, where of course I mean business.
Good evening. We begin tonight with Anthropic, which has filed for its IPO in the markets. The announcement came a short while ago. It promises to be
one of the largest -- it promises to be one of the largest IPOs, if not the largest IPO in history, arguably at $16.3 billion -- well, the gross
revenues here you see at the moment.
Clare Duffy is with me at the moment.
Clare, bring me the details on exactly what has been happening with this and why this has been such a major event today.
CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: Yes, Richard, I mean, this has been such a closely watched filing because it is really the first major standalone
A.I. lab filed to go public, and that means it is really going to test investors' appetite for artificial intelligence at this time when, as you
and I have talked so much about, we know there are big questions about how much these big A.I. labs are spending on A.I. infrastructure, and also big
questions about safety.
And this as one includes 93 pages of risk factors that range from competition from other big A.I. labs. To, quote, "catastrophic or
existential risks to humanity." Anthropic also saying in this S-1 filing that if its A.I. causes major harm, it is possible that its insurance
companies potentially the entire insurance industry couldn't cover the outcome of those risks.
So laying out big risks here, but also significant business growth. The company, as you showed there just a minute ago, posting revenues up 1,300
percent year-on-year in the first six months of this quarter. Most of that is coming from big companies that are using Anthropic's A.I., Claude tools.
But at the same time, the company reported an $80 billion net loss in the first six months of this year.
Now most of that is coming from an accounting adjustment, but $8 billion of that is coming from spending on computing infrastructure and we do expect
that to continue to grow.
And that is actually one of the more interesting things that I think comes out of this S-1. One of the major challenges for Anthropic's business is
its big customers. The enterprises that are using its Claude A.I. tools, they signed fairly short-term contracts, but Anthropic said that it is
renting out of cloud computing space that it has to do to maintain that business. Those are long-term contracts that it has to pay out, whether it
ends up using that computing space or not.
So really a lot for investors to dig in here -- dig in to hear from those risks to anthropic business to the existential risks that this company says
that its technology could pose to humanity.
Ultimately, though, Richard, this IPO could value Anthropic at $2 trillion.
QUEST: Right. Clare, let me jump in here, please. Let me just jump in here because the numbers involved are really off the charts when we are talking
about this IPO. Now, I mean the $72 billion accounting, that's sort of a -- when I saw that headline number, I wondered, so I did a bit of Googling, as
they used to say. I mean, that's really a sort of an accounting thing.
[16:05:07]
The reality, of course, is how much Goldman and co are going to price this at, and therefore Anthropic is first out the gate, but they won't be the
only one now in line.
DUFFY: That's exactly right. I mean, we will get more information about exactly how many shares Anthropic plans to list and the share price as we
get closer to this actual listing. Trading could start as soon as the week of November 16th. But this really is going to be a proof point for other
major A.I. companies that are looking at going public, in particular OpenAI, which has pushed off its expected listing at least until next year.
But again, we are really going to get a sense of how investors are weighing these standalone A.I. labs that are not like a Google, where you've got the
search business and the cloud business and frontier A.I., Anthropic is really relying on investors believing that its frontier A.I., its
enterprise customer contracts constitute a significant business.
And I think that's going to be the real test here.
QUEST: As you say, a significant business worthy of this sort of valuation. Thank you, Clare Duffy.
Now we learn more about the structure that Anthropic is going to be putting together. The filing shows the seven co-founders are each going to hold --
they are all worth $14 billion and that includes the chief executive, Dario Amodei, and his sister, who serves as the company's president.
These seven people who famously left OpenAI to create Anthropic own nearly identical stakes, roughly a quarter of a million shares each. What is
interesting is that a company is being set up that will hold, it will have no value, but it will hold 50.1 percent of the ownership stake and all
seven founders will have a co-equal stake in that company.
The company expects to keep its founders as part of this independent trust in control, and the structure could limit investor oversight and public
shareholder influence.
Dan Ives is partner and senior managing director, Tech Analyst at Yorkville Ives & Co., he is with me from New Jersey.
Dan, my word! I mean, this is the one we've all been waiting for at one level. The structure gives these seven the whip hand. And I mean, it is a
complicated structure. If five leave, then it all falls apart, and I think we've still got Dan Ives. Dan, do we still have you?
Excellent, we still have you.
The structure is complicated, and I do sort of wonder what the market is going to make of it when they come to price this because it is in a sense,
an event that you're signing on to those seven founders. We will stay for you for this answer, even though your shot is going in and out. But
hopefully, we will be able to hear you.
DAN IVES, PARTNER AND SENIOR MANAGING DIRECTOR, TECH ANALYST AT YORKVILLE IVES & CO.: Yes, look, I mean, this is -- it is a complex transaction, but
it is really at the -- it is a watershed moment for tech. I think investors are going to ultimately see a strong appetite for it. But it all comes down
to price.
I mean in terms of valuation just like we saw with SpaceX, I think this is going to be successful as it plays out.
QUEST: Are they -- I mean, the book building begins now in a sense, but I am not imagining that there will be any difficulty. This is going to be
much sought after.
I saw one interesting quote, the founders have been told that they should price the company exactly what it is worth, and not a dollar more. The
temptation will be to be making off like bandits.
IVES: Yes, well, they are going to have to price it, right? I mean, if you price it too high, especially in this market, that could reverse pretty
quickly. I think sensitive to price because also, as Clare talked about, it is not just about anthropic. It's about OpenAI, it is about the broader
tech infrastructure that all plays in how important it is.
QUEST: Dan, That we have a poor line with you tonight, which is extraordinary, since you're only in New Jersey. So I am going to call it a
break for a moment.
Dan Ives, joining me. We will talk more about Anthropic later in the program. Good moment for us to take a break.
This is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, which tonight is coming to you from Dubai.
QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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QUEST: Tonight, coming to you from Dubai. Brazilian President Lula Da Silva has defied both the polls and the prediction markets, and he has won a
record fourth term. He is 80 years old and supporters celebrated the surprise victory earlier today, mainly because he defeated Flavio Bolsonaro
by over four million votes, more than doubling his margin of victory over Jair Bolsonaro four years ago. Jair Bolsonaro, of course, is in prison now.
Even so, the younger Bolsonaro is challenging the results and even Lula has suggested that the election might have been tampered with.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LUIZ INACIO LULA DA SILVA, ELECTED BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): This was an election in which we had to overcome interference
from outside the country through digital platforms, which we will have to regulate.
It is not possible for us to ignore that crime in the digital world must be treated the same as crime in real life. We cannot have monstrously large
companies earning millions and billions paying no taxes to this country, and trying to steer this country's electoral outcome.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: All right, Julia Vargas Jones is with me now. Upon what basis is Bolsonaro claiming that this election should be annulled?
Bearing in mind, Julia, that both sides did agree to extend the hours of voting by a couple of hours because of bad weather and other circumstances.
JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: -- more time, Richard, one of them, Lula's campaign because there were issues with transportation across some
Brazilian states and Bolsonaro -- Flavio Bolsonaro's campaign because there was a lot of rain in the south of Brazil, a stronghold of his base. Both
requested the time, they were given the extra time.
The reason why Flavio Bolsonaro is saying that he is going to contest this is because the judge that signed the order was formally appointed by
President Lula, and also had been his personal attorney. He did not explain how legally his team would tackle it. He said, our legal team is going to
fight this.
[16:15:07]
His brother, Eduardo Bolsonaro, who has been living in the United States, and is -- has been charged with crimes in Brazil, has suggested that he
should leave the country. It is, of course, a huge blow to the Bolsonaro family, who, of course, for them, it could mean a pardon for Bolsonaro, Sr.
who is now serving a 27-year sentence for trying to overturn the 2022 election, a very similar playbook that we are seeing play out here. But
this time, not only my analysis, but a general analysis, a lot less of a chance of the kind of uprise and upset that we saw in 2023 following the
previous elections, when we saw crowds, you know, massive crowds in Brazil, that's that doesn't seem like its likely to happen.
QUEST: Right. Donald Trump has already said it looks like a rigged election in Brazil, but then he was strongly supporting Bolsonaro.
Is it the feeling in Brazil where you are, that this election will be either annulled, overturned or anything else? Or is Lula the man and he
will take office?
VARGAS JONES: Well, it is interesting you played that soundbite of Lula saying that that there were issues in this campaign. What he was referring
to was actually before the voting began on Sunday, he was talking about how Meta, he is accusing -- his campaign is accusing Meta of favoring
Bolsonaro's content online versus his content.
That of course, Meta then denied that. There were protests about this. That has really nothing to do with the challenges that are going on, Richard.
There is no real sense that this could be, that this could be contested, in part because that two-hour extension that allowed for more people to vote
not only was requested by both parties, but only about 35,000 more people went out to vote in that window, and Lula won by more than four million
votes. So the math doesn't really add up here.
Now, there could have been room for more contests, and there are tools in the Brazilian judicial system to request further investigation of this, but
this right now doesn't seem to be necessary.
Lula seems to have won fair and square. Judges have come out. The electoral authority has seemed to come out. The only ones who were freaking out was
the stock market this morning, and that is something that Lula will have to grapple with and come to terms.
And again, as he has done in the past, to form alliances with the center and the center right to try and appease the markets and prove to people
that he won't be bad for Brazilian economy.
QUEST: I am glad you take us to that point. Thank you. Thank you, Julia for joining us on that aspect. We will continue on that line because while
Lula's supporters welcomed the election results, the markets most certainly did not.
The Brazilian rial moved sharply lower against the U.S. dollar in one of the country's biggest daily moves on record. Weaker currencies can trigger
higher inflation and lead central banks to raise rates. Da Silva has yet to name a finance minister, which will be of keen interest to the markets.
And trading on the stock market, as we've been telling you, was halted this morning after the benchmark, the IBOVESPA, fell nearly 15 percent ahead of
the ahead of the opening bell. It is now down roughly 13 percent.
Several stocks within the IBOVESPA are getting crushed in today's session, losing over half their value in a single day. You can see there some major
--
CNN Brasil's William Waack joins me now.
The market, I mean, at some point, William, they did not -- well, no one expected, in a sense A, a victory and B, a victory of this magnitude and
having rallied so sharply on the possibility of Bolsonaro winning. This, I suppose, was inevitable that it was going to fall back in the other
direction.
WILLIAM WAACK, CNN BRASIL NEWS ANCHOR: Hi, Richard. It is very, very nice to be here again with you.
I think the market's correction was expected. If you have a Lula victory, as we have. But I think this is just on the surface.
The main issue, I don't think it is -- you know, there is a destruction of value of course. This is an important issue for everyone who is losing his
money, but the main issue is confidence, it is trust. Behind all of these market's movements is the lack of trust, lack of confidence, lack of good
expectations from any sort of economic agent.
They don't count on words from Lula anymore, even those words they haven't heard yesterday when he was speaking after his victory. So, it is not words
what people are expecting -- acts, are facts are measures that will stabilize, at least for the foreseeable future, the behavior of the public
debt, which is suffocating Brazil, not only because of the size of that public debt, but mainly because the impact on interest rates.
QUEST: Right.
[16:20:19]
WAACK: The cost of capital in Brazil, Richard, you know that very well is sky high. So, it is avoiding people putting their money here.
QUEST: But, you know, in a sense, because he is already in office and they know what is coming down the road, and once this knee jerk has unwound
itself, in a sense, the certainty of the continuity, even with policies, I mean, are you expecting William, any dramatic new policies from Lula?
WAACK: No. I know personally, because I am a reporter for 50 years and I know Lula since 45 years. This is what he believes. It is his credo. It is
what he thinks he has to do. And he is doing exactly what he thinks. So that's not where the main problem comes, I think.
The main problem is institutional. We have a very, very dangerous institutional crisis in Brazil, where powers of the republic are fighting
each other, and we have a high degree of corruption -- we have the Supreme Court, and the Supreme Court is establishing patterns of behavior that we
or a large majority of Brazilians do not accept.
So, what we are facing now is not only high interest rates, lack of confidence, but, and this is important, Richard, we don't know how the
rules of the game will be. We saw this yesterday.
QUEST: One of the things, though, we were in Brazil, as you know, recently, and the astonishing thing is the vibrancy of the country, the opportunity
and the prospects there, the natural resources, the educated workforce. I mean, I could go on forever. This is the land that God blessed, if you
will, with so much and it constantly trips over its own economic, political and geopolitical shoelaces. But this time, if I hear you right, its far
more serious.
WAACK: Well, it is, Richard, because there is such huge opportunities for Brazil during this upheaval that you are covering. I follow your reporting
quite closely. What is going on outside Brazil is opening up for us, it is not closing down.
Brazil could be a major player in all of these commodities, new geopolitics, new geo commodities. We are very keen on strong in energy. We
are strong in in minerals. And we are very strong of course, in agriculture but we need some strategic thinking.
It is a very vulnerable country in another way. The Hormuz crisis has shown us exactly where our main failure is, is to think ahead and prepare for
shocks like this. And this is not happening.
QUEST: I am grateful, William. Thank you.
Joining us from Sao Paulo, 5:00 in the afternoon. Thank you, sir.
One minor correction -- thank you, William -- I need to make to you. Julia Vargas Jones was in Los Angeles, not in Sao Paulo, as we had indicated on
the screen. I apologize for that, a bit of a finger problem in terms of somebody typing stuff in.
Now, Serbia also held national elections over the weekend with the student led opposition beating the long-time leader, Aleksandar Vucic, in a
landslide. Several European countries have been dealing with protests over economic conditions, and Serbia's results may be a signal for the bloc as
Seb Shukla now reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEBASTIAN SHUKLA, CNN PRODUCER: We have been all looking and seeing the protests coming in other parts of Europe, in Italy, and particularly in
France. What has happened overnight in Serbia is really the showing of what a group and united voice behind a political idea and movement can really
achieve.
They have managed to remove the long-standing, 14 years as President Vucic in Serbia, and have replaced him with this group that is known as The
Students List, and they have won an overwhelming majority, and it all began for something that was a roof collapsing at a central train station that
then elicited these months of protests, which were calling for an end to corruption within the government and for them to be able to listen to what
the people of Serbia really wanted.
And those images that were seeing coming from Belgrade and other parts of Serbia last night are really the culmination of this months' long effort.
Take a listen to some of the euphoria that was simply -- you could not miss it.
[16:25:10]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is an amazing feeling, really!
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are relieved. We are relieved, but we have to continue to remain a democracy, to continue -- it is really kind of to
fight against corruption. When everybody is like threatening you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The feeling is surreal. I laughed, I cried, I screamed, I jumped. It is just unbelievable. After so many years of this
tyranny and dictatorship, we are finally free. And that's -- we cannot put it in words.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is really fabulous. We are all crying. And what to say? We couldn't believe that it will be so easy.
SHUKLA: I think that this is really a seminal moment for Serbia. For a long time, it has been slipping towards a more authoritarian regime under
President Vucic, who has slowly been clawing the powers closer to the central government, including clipping the freedom of the press and freedom
of expression.
What the Serbs will be hoping now is that they are able to right the course and the trajectory for the country very, very similar to what we saw coming
out of Hungary at the beginning of this year, where they overthrew longtime leader, Viktor Orban. They will hope now that this will mark Serbia and
plot it back on a more pro-European course than the one that has been on most recently.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: Sebastian Shukla reporting there from Berlin.
Now, allow me to tell you a different way that you can now -- a programming note, if you will, CNN we are now streaming in the United States, Canada
and the United Kingdom, U.K.
What does it mean in real world? In real life? You can watch me, QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, access exclusive original programming, unlimited articles
and more. It is on the CNN app. It is cnn.com/all access, and that is of course where you can watch and enjoy everything that we have got for you.
As we continue now, the polls in Israel will open in only a few hours from now. It is the first national election since the October 7th Hamas attacks.
The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, fighting for his political career. Will he -- well, we will talk more about that in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:30:48]
QUEST: Hello, I'm Richard Quest. We have a lot more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS in just a moment.
We will be talking about all sorts of things. Where we will head to Israel, where the polls open in just a few hours from now for the first national
elections since the October the 7th attacks, and eight days away from the U.S. midterms, Omar Jiminez turns us on a midterm road trip, visiting the
most consequential swing state in the country.
We will get to that only after the headlines. This is CNN, and here the news always comes first.
Brazilian President Lula Inacio -- Lula da Silva has won a record fourth term in office. It's capped an incredible comeback by the leftist leader,
who became the first candidate in decades to win the presidency after finishing as the runner-up in the initial round of voting.
His rival, Flavio Bolsonaro, who lost more than 4 million votes, is vowing to challenge the results.
Celebrations have been taking place in Serbia after the longtime leader Aleksandar Vucic conceded defeat to a student-led opposition movement.
Tens of thousands of people filled the streets of Belgrade after the nationalist leaders' party lost the parliamentary elections. It ended 14
years of rule. It's a huge political shift, both at home and for the region.
The defeat deprives Russia of another important ally in Europe.
Anthropic has filed to go public, probably in the middle of November. It's likely to be one of the largest IPOs in history, and it could give the
company a valuation of more than $2 trillion. The shares will be priced over the next few weeks, with trading to be listed on the NASDAQ later.
The polls in Israel will open in a few hours from now for the first national elections in the country since the October the 7th Hamas attacks.
The multiple wars that followed have completely shaped the region.
The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has headed the most right-wing government in Israel's history is now fighting for his political
life. His ruling Likud Party is facing a strong challenge from centrist Yashar, that's led by the former head of the military, the chief of staff
Gadi Eisenkot. Polls suggest neither side has a clear path to victory.
CNN's Jeremy Diamond now on what this stake in this most closely watched election.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The candidates are making their final rounds. Campaign ads hang from buildings and over
highways. One of the most consequential elections in Israel's history now just days away.
For the first time since the Hamas-led October 7th attacks and the three years of war that followed, Israelis are heading to the ballot box, facing
a stark choice: to keep Benjamin Netanyahu in power or set the country on a new path.
That path is being forged by Gadi Eisenkot, once Israel's top general under Netanyahu, he is now the candidate best positioned to unseat him.
According to the latest polling, Eisenkot's newly formed Yashar Party is projected to win 23 seats, overtaking Netanyahu's Likud, now polling at 19
seats, down from the 32 it currently holds.
But the 120-seat Knesset needs a 61-seat coalition to form a majority government. The change bloc parties led by Eisenkot are projected to win 55
seats, while Netanyahu's right-wing governing coalition would win 51.
The Arab political parties are on track for 14 seats. Those parties also want to see Netanyahu ousted, but a majority of Israelis oppose including
them in a governing coalition.
In recent polling, a majority of Israelis say it's October 7th that will be front of mind as they vote.
[16:35:02]
The first opportunity they have had to hold Netanyahu accountable for the colossal security failure that took place on his watch.
The Israeli prime minister has repeatedly refused to take responsibility, rejecting calls to establish a state commission of inquiry akin to the
U.S.'s 9/11 Commission. Netanyahu has instead tried to turn voters' attention to how he responded.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER, ISRAEL: They all ganged up on us to wipe us off the face of the earth. We delivered crippling blows.
DIAMOND (voice over): With a commitment to finish the job in Iran, President Trump endorsed Netanyahu, promising he will never let you down.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (via telephone): I think you are going to have a tremendous victory actually.
DIAMOND (voice over): But in an election that centers on Israel's longest- serving prime minister, who is still on trial for corruption and denies the allegations, Eisenkot cuts a stark contrast as a relative newcomer to
politics and one vowing accountability.
GADI EISENKOT, LEADER, YASHAR PARTY (text): Almost three years after the failure, Netanyahu and his government are still running away from
responsibility, still running away from Truth, and almost three years without a state commission of inquiry.
DIAMOND (voice over): Eisenkot left the opposition to join Israel's war Cabinet after October 7th. Two months later, his son was killed in combat
in Gaza.
EISENKOT (text): I promise to you that we will do everything to be worthy, in contributing to the right decisions for those who have sacrificed.
DIAMOND (voice over): That story has struck a chord with many Israelis.
DIAMOND: Gadi Eisenkot is far from the most charismatic candidate in this campaign, especially when you compare him to Benjamin Netanyahu.
But people here say that they are drawn to his message that he is honest and that he is the man to unify this divided country.
DIAMOND (voice over): That drew this former Netanyahu voter to Eisenkot's campaign.
YIGAL PEDAEL, EISENKOT VOTER: I think it's the time to unite the -- all the people on Israel together. This is the time.
BOAZ HERMAN, EISENKOT VOTER: What Eisenkot bring is feeling of solidarity. If Israel want to exist, want to be unite again, and to -- and to keep its
brotherhood here as a society, Bibi has to go.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: Now, tomorrow night's program, join me, please. We will bring you the results of the Israeli election live.
The polls will close, and we will get the first exit polls, which are expected, and we will be covering it as it happens on QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
10:00 p.m. in Jerusalem, 8:00 p.m. if you are watching in London, and work it out where you are at this time of the night.
Wherever you are, this time tomorrow, we will be talking to you all about it.
Now, sources are telling us that the United States is prepared to launch more strikes on Iran if President Trump gives the order.
Coming up next, how new action could affect other players in the region.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:40:58]
QUEST: Telling CNN that the U.S. is prepared to launch major new strikes on Iran if President Trump gives the order. The scope of new military
operations would likely go way beyond efforts to maintain the status quo.
Sources believe Mr. Trump's decision could come any time before the end of the year, though most likely just after the midterm elections.
CNN's Zachary Cohen reports.
ZACHARY COHEN, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Sources are telling CNN that the U.S. military now has the forces deployed to the Middle East
sufficient to carry out a major military operation against Iran should President Donald Trump give the go order to initiate such an attack.
And sources saying that it would only take 96 hours from the time of a potential order from the president for the U.S. military to be ready to
execute that order, and it's one that we are told would go beyond maintaining the status quo or "mowing the grass", so to speak, by hitting
targets that could be quickly reconstituted by the Iranian regime, things like radars, launchers, and other elements that the Iranian regime has
shown that it can quickly build back and continue to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and potentially American bases across the
region.
Now, this comes as President Donald Trump has been expressing frustration with Iran and the current stalemate, wondering aloud if he should make a
deal with the Iranians or initiate, reinitiate combat operations as we saw earlier this year.
And one source putting it to us this way: "It will be a big effort." Speaking about the potential for another major military operation by the
U.S. and potentially Israel.
And we are told as well by sources that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been pushing behind the scenes for the U.S. and Israel to
conduct new joint attacks against Iran in the lead-up to both the Israeli elections and the U.S. midterms.
Now, that's something we are told both the president, President Trump, and U.S. officials have told the Israelis to hold off on. To delay until the
Trump administration is ready to conduct some sort of a joint attack, which most sources expect to happen if it happens at all, sometime after the U.S.
midterms.
So, this does come at a period of. Escalating tensions in the Middle East. Iran meeting with leaders, defense leaders from other relevant Gulf
countries today to try to see if there is a path forward for some sort of a diplomatic resolution.
And yet, U.S. negotiators have made little progress to date in securing any sort of a commitment from Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, as well as
to discuss its nuclear program, which remains one of President Donald Trump's outstanding strategic objectives for starting this war in the first
place.
And so, it remains to be seen if Trump will ultimately order a resumption of combat operations at any point over the next several months. But some
U.S. officials saying that it's now a matter of when, not if, he may do so.
Zachary Cohen, CNN, Washington.
QUEST: Any fresh U.S. offensive will threaten broader instability in the region. Saudi security officials are in Iran today for de-escalation talks.
It's the first high-level contact with Tehran since the Houthis escalated attacks on Saudi targets in recent weeks. That includes a deadly missile
strike on Riyadh's international airport.
The fallouts hindering Riyadh's economic agenda. Oil execs skipped a major energy conference earlier on.
FII, the Future Investment Initiative, where indeed we should have been tonight, was canceled, and airlines are halting flights to Riyadh. Delta
has delayed its new route from Atlanta.
It all comes as the Houthis claimed another strike on King Khalid Airport today. Our John Defterios, CNN John Defterios of old -- the old Abbot (PH)
diehard, John is the chairman of APCO's Middle Eastern North Africa region.
[16:45:02]
John is with me now. Now, senior fellow at the World Economic Forum's Centre for Energy and Materials.
John, let me -- these are my words, which you may or may not sign on to or not. This is just highly embarrassing for the Saudis. Besides being deadly,
that they had to cancel FII.
Riyadh Air has shifted its base of operations. They are unable to handle and to deal with this crisis without disrupting normal life.
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CHAIRMAN, APCO MENA APCO: Well, that's pretty bold statement, Richard. But I would say that the calling off of the Future
Investment Initiative, which I was supposed to be attending with you there, was a wise call.
As you suggested, they held the World Petroleum Congress. They did have a turnout, but the major energy companies, the international energy company
CEOs from the United States, for example, had to cancel that.
The transit was suggested to go to Bahrain and then get into a convoy to go to Riyadh for the event, and the security risk was considered very high.
You had trillions of dollars of assets under management from the CEOs who are supposed to be attending the FII. So, I think they expressed caution.
I'm in the camp, Richard. I actually think it was pretty wise to do so instead of trying to force an event like this. Take a step back, reset, and
do it in the spring. Now, it was interesting the market reaction today to the officials going to Iran to see the Iranian president, the head of the
National Security Council.
It was the defense minister from Saudi Arabia, Khalid bin Salman, the brother of the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and also officials from
Pakistan and Turkey, the part of that new Mecca security pact or defense pact.
It's very new. It's not been tested. We don't see Pakistan and Turkey leaning in to support Saudi Arabia. But they did come out with a statement,
Richard, suggesting that the talks or the dialog will continue.
Now, we hit almost $117 a barrel on Friday for North Sea Brent.
(CROSSTALK)
QUEST: All right.
DEFTERIOS: It came down, you know, briefly here, but we are at a six-month high, Richard, and would invite our viewers to look on the forward pricing
to the spring of 2027, and we are still looking the forward buy of $100 to $110 dollars a barrel. So, this is a risk-on market, no doubt.
QUEST: But John, what is -- what is not clear in any shape or form is how the Saudis propose to solve or settle this. The ability of the Houthis to
fly some pretty sophisticated missiles towards them is, you know, you -- this is not going to go away easily or quickly, and I don't see a strategy
from the Saudis of what they are going to do to take an oil to get rid of it.
DEFTERIOS: Yes, this is a massive tests in the last nine months, Richard, for the Saudi defense apparatus. I've talked to a number of different
sources. I've been in the region. I'll be going again this weekend for the -- at OPEC (PH) oil and gas conference.
And in fact, they spend about $90 billion a year. But I would say that apparatus is set up for a different era of warfare, if you will. The
Houthis had months to reset themselves. They have come on with a very forceful attacks against Saudi Arabia.
If you are going to ask me whether that East-West pipeline, which was carrying 6 billion barrels a day going from the eastern province to the Red
Sea, would be under attack, I would say that would be a surprise.
Also, the other surprise, the way I see it, at least though, is that the resilience of Saudi Arabia, particularly when it comes to the energy
sector, has been very impressive. The CEO of Aramco is suggesting they want that east-west pipeline to carry 10 million barrels a day. They are
building the infrastructure for it.
(CROSSTALK)
QUEST: Right.
DEFTERIOS: Then, I was looking at the latest numbers in the month of September. They are at 87 percent of the capacity they were at the start of
the year. So, 8.7 million barrels.
Richard, I would argue if you saw a tax like this in Asia or Europe and in the U.S. for the energy sector to be able to rebuild to that level, I think
is impressive. But you did hit on the Achilles' heel of Saudi Arabia, and that is a very porous defense sector away today.
(CROSSTALK)
QUEST: Right.
DEFTERIOS: And who do they turn to? The U.S. has not stepped up. This Mecca defense pact is new. It's good that they are attending meetings in Iran
right now to try to dampen down the mood music, if you will. But it doesn't lead to a solution. I agree with you.
QUEST: John, I'm grateful to you. John Defterios, thank you.
As we continue tonight, U.S. midterm elections are only a week away. President Trump is trying to drum up support for the Republican Party in
Mississippi.
[16:50:00]
We will talk about the latest in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: The midterm elections in the United States only eight days away. President Trump is on the campaign trail, as one might expect, where he
will host a rally in Mississippi later this evening.
Nearly 30 million ballots have already been cast in early voting, and the Trump administration is working to prevent any forms of fraud, it says. The
Justice Department is sending election monitors to all 50 states.
And now, President Trump is promising a $1 million reward for reports of so-called voter fraud. All of which is good grips for the bill.
Omar Jimenez is on a midterm road trip, visiting the most consequential swing states and districts. He is been streaming all day on CNN.com.
The fetching headgear tells me that you are in some form of food or hospitality environment that requires you to don such gear.
(CROSSTALK)
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes.
QUEST: But I have to say it's what the fashionable reporters are wearing this year.
JIMENEZ: It really is. Very astute observation, my friend. Because yes, I am donning this because I am in the middle of an olive oil factory here in
eastern Pennsylvania, happens to be one of the crucial districts that could decide the balance of power, and we have been talking to some small
business owners like my friend Tim Balshi here, who's president and co- founder of Mill Press Imports.
So, why don't we take a quick walk for a second, because he and I, you mentioned we were streaming all day. You and I were talking a little bit
about the impact of tariffs specifically on your operation here.
TIM BALSHI, PRESIDENT AND CO-FOUNDER, MILLPRESS IMPORTS: Yes.
JIMENEZ: Just what would you -- how would you characterize the impact of tariffs on what you have been trying to do here?
BALSHI: Hard, super hard.
JIMENEZ: Yes.
BALSHI: I mean, it's certainly an uphill battle. Since 2025, we were battling tariffs anywhere between 15 and 25 percent, which was super tough.
This year in 2026, the tariffs anywhere between 10 and 12 percent. So, it's just been a total struggle. And you know, unfortunately, I kind of feel
like they are unnecessary in olive oil since it really doesn't protect any U.S. industry. Right?
[16:54:59]
So, California being two percent at capacity of basically capable of supplying the U.S. with two percent of the total needs of the U.S., olive
oil market makes no sense to me that there needs to be an olive oil tariff. 98 percent of all olive oil is imported specifically from the Mediterranean
basin.
JIMENEZ: And I'm going to continue the conversation, but Richard, I just want to say before you came to us, he was about to give us an olive oil
tasting here. So, I would be remiss if we didn't do at least one, as you sort of explain a little bit about what we are going to try and why it
might be more difficult to bring it in than it was prior.
BALSHI: Yes, absolutely, absolutely.
So, we are going to try the green Arbequina.
JIMENEZ: OK.
BALSHI: So, this is a -- this is a bottle that we are very proud of. It's a super-premium extra virgin olive oil. Cheers.
JIMENEZ: Cheers.
BALSHI: So, when we taste, we are -- we are going to do something called strippaggio, which is like basically stripping.
JIMENEZ: OK.
BALSHI: Stripping the oil on the back of your throat. I'll cheers again.
JIMENEZ: Cheers.
BALSHI: Here we go.
JIMENEZ: All right.
BALSHI: So, have a sip.
JIMENEZ: Yes.
BALSHI: Close your mouth. Close your teeth and do this.
We are volatilizing some aroma. Should be getting --
(CROSSTALK)
JIMENEZ: I'm trusting him fully on this, by the way. I have no idea what I'm doing.
BALSHI: You should have a super clean taste in your mouth.
JIMENEZ: Yes.
BALSHI: The notes of -- notes of grass, tropical fruits, pepper.
JIMENEZ: Yes.
Well, hey --
BALSHI: Super healthy.
JIMENEZ: Yes, I feel healthier for it. This is probably the healthiest thing I've had today in this part of the country, Richard.
But hair net, extra virgin olive oil, a little bit of tariffs talk. That's just what we are getting into in the live stream. And it's been a --
(CROSSTALK)
QUEST: Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. Hey, hey.
JIMENEZ: It's been a great one. Thanks for hopping on for a little bit. Good to see you.
QUEST: Hey, hey, do me a favor. Do me a favor. That look -- stuff looks absolutely excellent.
JIMENEZ: Yes,
QUEST: Bring me a bottle back for my cooking, please, on the barbecue. Thank you. Bring me -- bring me a bottle back.
JIMENEZ: Yes. Here you are. Here you are. We will find you. We will find you, Richard.
Hairnet and all. I'll bring it to you.
QUEST: Goodbye -- good man.
I'll even wear the hairnet. We'll take -- thank you. We will take a "PROFITABLE MOMENT" after the break.
QUEST MEANS BUSINESS tonight from the Gulf.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: I think you -- tonight's "PROFITABLE MOMENT". I think you all know I love elections. When it comes to a good election, just -- when the people
speak, there is nothing quite like it.
So, Brazil, a result out of nothing that people had thought was going to happen.
[17:00:00]
You have the results in Europe, where, again, completely heading in the direction that nobody was really expecting.
And tomorrow, we have Israel, which goes to the polling one of the most closely fought elections into the country's history. Who knows what will
happen tomorrow in Israel? We will, of course, bring you the results when it does happen.
END
