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First Move with Julia Chatterley

All Three Taylor Swift Concerts Canceled; Egypt Tells Airlines to Avoid Iranian Airspace; Israel Prepares for Potential Attacks from Tehran; State of Emergency in Russia's Kursk Region; Cross-Border Attack by Ukraine in Russia; Harris and Walz Rallies in Wisconsin and Michigan; Walz's History with China Comes into Focus; Disney's Weak Theme Park Results; Tropical Storm Debby Picks up Strength; Boeing Starliner Astronauts Could Return Home in 2025; Shipping Demand Remains Strong Says Maersk; Hall of Fame: Quincy Speeds to Gold in Paris. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired August 07, 2024 - 18:00:00   ET

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

[18:00:00]

RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: International Space Station and especially their visitors that you'll hear more about in a moment. It's

6:00 at night on a Wednesday here in New York. I'm Richard Quest. Julia's off tonight. I'm at the helm. Hold on to your hats because wherever you are

in this world, it's your "First Move."

A very good morning, afternoon, and evening. A warm welcome to you. This is your need to know. All three Taylor Swift concerts due to be held in Vienna

are cancelled amid allegations of a planned terror attack.

Egypt is telling airlines avoid Iranian airspace as Israel prepares and braces for potential attacks from Tehran.

And a state of emergency is declared in Russia's Kursk region amid reports of a cross-border attack by Ukrainian troops.

Also, stuck in space, the Boeing Starliner astronauts, 10:00 at night for them, they could be staying there until next year. All of that, a great

deal more, to come up.

So, let's begin with developing news to bring to your attention. Three of Taylor Swift's concerts in Austria have been cancelled. It follows two

people being arrested in connection with plans for an alleged terrorist attack. The police say the suspects were focusing on the Vienna region,

where the singer's due to perform for three nights from tomorrow.

Elizabeth Wagmeister is following the story. Elizabeth is with me. This is -- now, this is -- I mean, you. I can see why the promoters cancelled, but

it's fairly dramatic that basically they're saying that the threat is so real they can't guarantee safety and therefore are going to cancel these

concerts.

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: That's absolutely correct, Richard. You know, at first, when the authorities over in Austria

had announced that they did make two arrests in connection to this planned terror attack, you know, could have hit Taylor Swift's concerts. They said

that the show would go on and that they would just be increasing security measures at the entrance.

Well, then, very soon after, the concert promoter and also Taylor Swift's official website, they announced that the shows would be canceled, that

fans would be getting refunds for their tickets. So, you're absolutely correct that this seems to be them directly saying that the threat was so

large that we have to cancel this and, of course, put safety first.

QUEST: Yes. Now, this begs the question, of course, for other concerts, whether Taylor Swift or otherwise. And I mean, obviously, it's always

safety first. And I was interested to say they thought they could do it by security at the front gate, but clearly not. Where does this go next?

WAGMEISTER: You know, this has been an ongoing discussion about security, particularly at concerts. And someone like Taylor Swift, who is, you know,

pretty much the biggest star on the planet, this concert was expected to bring over 50,000 people.

But, Richard, you remember back in 2017 in Manchester when Ariana Grande, at her concert, there was that tragic bombing that killed 22 people. So,

where this goes next is, of course, you would hope that there's not going to be more threats. But as the authorities said, these two people,

according to authorities, they said were radicalized on the internet. They said that one of the suspects who was 19 years old recently pledged to

ISIS.

So, this appears to be a continuing and very disturbing trend. And when it comes to the concert industry, of course, they need to keep the safety at

first of mind for the fans, for Taylor, for really any performer. And what we know about Taylor in particular is she always puts her fans first.

Recently, there was that tragic stabbing at a dance class that had Taylor Swift music. Now, she wasn't directly involved in that, but, Richard, since

it was her name involved in her music, she released a statement saying that her heart was absolutely broken.

QUEST: I was so -- I mean, I was so impressed when she put out that statement. It was so much the measure of the woman and the artist that she

did so quickly. Thank you, Elizabeth. When there's more to report on this, please come back and we'll talk more about this. Thank you very much.

[18:05:00]

To the Middle East now. Egypt has ordered all of its airlines to avoid flying over Iranian airspace at certain times on Thursday. Tehran's

threatened retaliation, of course, as you know, against Israel over the assassination of the Hamas leader on its soil. So, now the tensions that

could escalate into a full-scale regional war.

Meanwhile, talks in Saudi Arabia. Dozens of foreign ministers are gathered at the request of Iran and Pakistan. Jeremy Diamond is with me in the

Israeli city of Haifa. Firstly, let's deal with this Egypt. NOTAM, as it's known, Notice To Airmen. You know, when it came out, it actually took the

market down sharply, a market, which -- the stock market, which you've been up, it fell quite sharply as a result.

But I believe we've had other NOTAMs over other days from different other places, including Israel. But this has just been the one that's really got

the attention.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean, look, Richard, it speaks to this moment of tension that we are in. Everyone is on edge.

Everyone is looking for any indication of whether or not this is going to escalate into further conflict or perhaps go the other direction.

And so, when Egypt issued this, you know, no fly warning for several hours early tomorrow morning over Iran, it obviously raised fears. There are some

indications that it may be related to Iranian military exercises that were pre planned. And frankly, I think if we were seeing something that was

related to intelligence about an impending and imminent Iranian attack, you likely would have seen more than just Egypt issuing that kind of a warning.

So, it appears, at least for now, to be, you know, folks just being on edge and reacting to something like that. But again, it just speaks to the

uncertainty that we're facing right now.

QUEST: So, this conference that's taking place, this meeting, what's its goal? I mean, it is regional leaders, Pakistan and Iran leading it, but

what's their -- what's the aim?

DIAMOND: Well, it is a part of what we have been watching over the course of the last week and what has really intensified over the last few days.

And that is enormous pressure being brought to bear on Iran to try and avoid responding in a way that could spiral this entire region into war.

And these countries are acting out of self interest in some ways.

I mean, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, you know, all these countries in the Middle East, they don't want to see a regional war that could affect their

economies, that could affect regional stability. And so, obviously, they're incentivized to try and get Iran to step down from this ledge. And

obviously, many of these countries are also allied with the United States, which has been trying to bring similar pressure to bear.

And so, we've seen a few indications today that there is perhaps a window here, an opportunity for a diplomatic off ramp here, as Iran has suggested

-- as the Iranian president suggested in a phone call with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, telling him that, look, if there is a ceasefire

in Gaza, if Israel agrees to a ceasefire in Gaza, that could calm things down in the region. That doesn't mean that Iran won't respond in some way,

but perhaps if there is movement towards a ceasefire, they will choose to calibrate their response in a way that doesn't spiral this entire region

into conflict.

But now, there are growing indications that Hezbollah may -- which is, of course, a major Iranian proxy but does have a significant degree of

independence that Hezbollah appears to be further along in its preparations for an attack, according to U.S. officials. And there are indications that

they could choose to strike first and strike perhaps even independently of what Iran chooses to do.

So, that is still keeping this region very much on edge. Hezbollah is just 30 kilometers north of where we are sitting now in Haifa. And we know, of

course, that they have a significant arsenal of missiles and rockets, many of which they have yet to actually deploy and they could do in quite

devastating fashion.

QUEST: Jeremy in Haifa. It's late at night. I'm grateful. Thank you. Russia's health ministry says at least 31 people have been injured in -- by

Ukrainian shelling. It follows an attack apparently on Russian territory. According to the acting governor of the Kursk region, a state of emergency

has been -- a situation of emergency has been declared. The Russian National Guard says it's beefed-up security to a nuclear plant.

Kyiv has largely remained silent about what's going on. The U.S. Department of State says it's in contact with Ukraine about this incursion and that

the attack does not violate the U.S. policing -- policy on striking Russian territory.

With me is the retired Air Force colonel and our military analyst Cedric Leighton. What on earth -- the more I read on this story, Cedric, the less

I understand about it. Did they just go in? Was it air based? What -- I mean, what -- there are also reports that some parts of -- some of these

villages may have been taken over. What's your understanding of the situation?

[18:10:00]

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, Richard. It's certainly a very fluid situation to say the least. So, as we say, in these situations,

the first reports are almost always the wrong reports.

But what we seem to know so far is that the Ukrainians actually did move in to this small village called Sudzha, which has about had about 5,000 people

before all of this started. It's about a few kilometers north of the Ukrainian border, and there's a border crossing that bears the name of

Sudzha as well, where supposedly up to 40 Russian border guards surrendered to the Ukrainians.

It was a ground-based incursion, as we know so far. First reports indicated that about 300 Ukrainian troops entered this Russian territory, through the

-- in the Kursk Oblast. But there may be as many as 1,000 Ukrainian troops that have had some work -- have been doing some work in this area right

along the border.

So, if this is true, one of the key things to note about it, Richard, is that this is where -- the town of Sudzha is where there's a large gas

pipeline that goes through the area, and there's actually a pumping station right there that if the Ukrainians take that over, they could potentially

cut off the gas through that pipeline.

Why is that pipeline important? Well, that pipeline is the one that supplies Europe with Russian gas, and about 50 percent of Russia's gas

exports actually go through that pipeline even through the Ukraine war right now.

QUEST: But why would Russia -- I get your point about the pipeline, but -- sure. Let's just say for the point of argument that they wanted to cut the

pipeline. Well, you're just going to cut European gas supply. You'll deprive Russia of the money, but you'll also screw over your closest allies

in a sense in Europe. Why would they want to make a deteriorating situation worse by doing an incursion? What is the geostrategic purpose?

LEIGHTON: Yes. So, as best as we can tell this geostrategic purpose for something like this would potentially be for the Ukrainians to trade

Russian land that they capture through an operation like this for Ukrainian land that the Russians currently control.

So, the Russians have occupied land in the Donbas since 2014. There's also some land, of course, that they've taken over since that with the invasion

of February 2022. So, if the Ukrainians are angling for some kind of a peace deal with the Russians, one way to do this is to actually gain some

territory in Russia proper and then use that as a bargaining chip for the territory that Ukraine wants to get back from Russia.

QUEST: Thank you for clarifying that for me. I'm grateful to you, sir. Thank you. So, the United Kingdom now, where it's 10 past 11:00 at night,

and crowds of anti-racism demonstrators have turned out. It's a day when police had feared they would instead be dominated by far-right rallies.

Instead, authorities say 6,000 riot officers have been on standby. There are reports that as many as 100 far-right riot gatherings have been planned

for today, Wednesday.

Both racist and anti-Muslim violence has exploded after the killing of three young girls in the town of Southport in England last week. Reporting

now from London, here's CNN's Clare Sebastian.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, here in East London, there were rumors that far-right groups would target an immigration lawyer's office.

You can see that it was boarded up already before this even started. But what we got instead was a very large counterprotest, anti-racism groups,

members of the local community coming out and really trying to shift the narrative of the past week.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a lot of community cohesion here. Walthamstow's always been like that. For the EDL or the far-right to target this kind of

area. The reason they're doing it is because they know that they're going to create disharmony or they're going to try to create the disharmony and

stuff here, but it just shows everybody's very strong here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. There's no space for fascists here. And that's who they are.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As a Muslim woman as well, thoughts do creep up into my head. Am I safe? Am I able to walk on the streets without being

attacked? And to come here and to see that, yes, I am safe because the people within my community are against this and are showing that they're

against this, is also a sign of relief.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Black and white, unite and fight.

CROWD: Together we are dynamite.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Black and white, unite and fight.

SEBASTIAN: The British prime minister, Keir Starmer, did promise that those involved in violent would feel the full force of the law. That has

already started to play out. We got the first sentences handed down on Wednesday to those involved in the violence. They ranged from 20 months to

three years. They were fast tracked through the courts.

[18:15:00]

And here in London, there was a heavy police presence. The Met police had made an extra 1,300 officers available. But in East London, a sense of

relief, a sense of community spirit, and no sign of the violence that we've seen over the past week.

Clare Sebastian, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: So, let me update you with other news to bring to your attention. It was an exuberant Democratic reception for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz as

they pushed on with their campaign trail. They're touring battleground states. Michigan is next. A rally there is underway.

Also, there was Donald Trump's running mate, J. D. Vance. He's been attacking Walz's military record. Yes, he's accusing him of ducking service

in Iraq, but there's no evidence.

Walz's history with China is coming into focus as well. The Minnesota governor's ties to the country go back to 1989 when he spent a year there

as a teacher. CNN's Will Ripley now on why Walz in China in '89 has become such a hot topic of discussion.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the summer of 1989, about two months after China's military massacred pro-

democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square, Tim Walz, an American teacher fresh out of college, traveled halfway around the world to China, paying

respects in Beijing, where so many people died.

GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN), DEMOCRATIC VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I felt it was more important than ever to go, to make sure that story was told and to let

Chinese -- the Chinese people know we were standing there. We were with them.

KAMALA HARRIS, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT AND U.S. PRESIDENTIAL DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE: Welcome the next vice president of the United States, Tim Walz.

RIPLEY (voice-over): 35 years before becoming the Democratic nominee for vice president, Walz volunteered to spend a year in China, teaching English

and American history to mainland Chinese students. The Nebraska native later telling his hometown newspapers he was treated like a king, and there

was no anti-American feeling whatsoever.

Walz moved to Minnesota, teaching high school there for years. He got married on June 4, 1994, the fifth anniversary of the Tiananmen Square

Massacre. He wanted to have a date he'll always remember, his wife told a local paper at the time. They spent their honeymoon taking students on a

two-week tour of China, Hong Kong, and Macau. Those student trips became a summer tradition.

CARA ROEMHILDT, FORMER WALZ STUDENT: I would go back in a heartbeat. In a heartbeat. Because it wasn't political for us. It wasn't any of that. It

was an educational trip with one of our favorite teachers.

RIPLEY (voice-over): Cara Roemhildt says she and her classmates still talk about their trip to China with Mr. Walz in 1998.

ROEMHILDT: It felt very, very comfortable. And we went all over, you know, train rides, a whole bunch of different places, just seeing a different

culture and having respect for it while seeing it. Knowing that it's different, but knowing that's OK too.

RIPLEY (voice-over): Since entering politics in 2006, Walz has consistently criticized China's human rights record. In Congress, he co-

sponsored a resolution condemning the arrest of Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo. He also met with the exiled Dalai Lama in 2016.

WALZ: Governor Tim Walz here. Happy Chinese New Year.

RIPLEY (voice-over): All the while advocating empathy for everyday Chinese people. Supporters say his understanding of the country could lead to more

informed, pragmatic policies. Critics like Republican Richard Grenell, a former Trump ambassador to Germany, label Walz pro-China. And on China's

tightly controlled internet, some question Walz's reasons for traveling to China the same year as the Tiananmen protests. 1989? Great timing. The

years he was in China make him suspicious. Comments untouched by government censors.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: President Biden has shared his own doubts about a peaceful transition of power if the former president, Donald Trump, loses in

November. It's Biden's first interview since he left the 2024 race, and the president pointed to comments from the Republican nominee suggesting the

only way he'd lose is if the election is stolen from him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you confident that there will be a peaceful transfer of power in January 2025?

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: If Trump wins, no, I'm not confident at all. I mean, if Trump loses, I'm not confident at all. He means what he says. We

don't take him seriously. He means it. All the stuff about if we lose, there'll be a bloodbath. It's -- have to be a stolen election. Look what

they're trying to do now in the local election districts where people count the votes. Elected -- they're putting people in place in states that

they're going to count the votes, right? You can't love your country only when you win.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: As you and I continue, remnants of the Tropical Storm Debby are churning up the East Coast of the United States. There's a lot of flooding.

We'll have your up to the minute weather forecast in a moment.

[18:20:00]

And inflation weary consumers are thinking twice about visiting Disney parks. There are brighter spots in Disney's latest earnings report. In a

moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: A volatile day on the market in our Money Move. The Middle East, those concerns that I was talking about at the beginning of the program,

really knocked the besteebies (ph) out of the market. It all started really well. The market was up, maybe up to 400 or 500 points after the gains that

we saw -- or the losses on Monday. But stocks began falling after that Egyptian warning to its airlines, that NOTAM, on fears of a possible strike

of Iran on Israel.

The NASDAQ ended the day down 1 percent. Europe, which had only seen the best of the day. That's slightly misleading because they hadn't seen what

happened in New York. Anyway, the strongest gains of the year were seeing there. Second day of gains in Asia. The Nikkei reversing earlier losses

after the Bank of Japan official said Central Bank is done for hiking rates for now. Let's make -- let's see what they'd make of the news when they

open in just a few hours from now.

Disney's joined a growing list of U.S. companies warning that price weary consumers are pulling back on spending. Disney's said, disappointing

results at his experiences division, that includes its theme parks and cruise lines. And it says, excuse me, demand may not pick up any time soon.

It triggered a 4 percent drop in Disney's share price. All this as the firm's streaming assets turned a quarterly profit for the first time, which

was a top priority for Bob Iger, the chief exec. Bob O'Donnell joins me, the president the founder of TECHnalysis Research.

OK. So, I mean, the parks, particularly, for example, Disneyland Paris, where people have been going elsewhere instead because of the Olympics, but

is there a feeling there's something structurally or systemically wrong there, or is this just a cyclical downturn that will reverse in time?

BOB O'DONNELL, PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER, TECHNALYSIS RESEARCH: You know, I think generally speaking, it's more of a cyclical thing. Like you said,

they talked about the Paris Olympics being an impact for Disneyland Paris. There has been some softness in China as well. You know, and then in the

U.S., I think what we're seeing with the U.S. is we went through this crazy travel and trip phased post COVID, but things have settled out a bit. And

so, I think there's a little bit of that reflection being shown there.

[18:25:00]

Some people have argued as well that they're upset that they got rid of the fast pass during COVID and they have this new Genie plus thing. And some

people like the idea of the fast passes at the park because it was free. And so, now it costs more money. And so, that may put some people off.

But I think, fundamentally, people still -- they are going out. I think they've tempered it a little bit, and that's being reflected in those parks

and experiences numbers, as you said.

QUEST: Right. The -- this streaming Disney Plus profitability, has it reached real -- I mean, stripping away, if you will, the investment costs

on it. Has it reached real profitability and is it -- look, is it sustainable?

O'DONNELL: I absolutely think it's sustainable. And to me, this is the biggest news from these earnings, because, you know, if we look at Warner

Bros. Discovery, they had this $10 billion write down of their linear TV assets, right? We've already seen Disney do some of the reduction in the

value of there, and it's all about streaming, right?

And so, for that streaming division to finally show a profit I think is hugely important sort of psychologically, because now it's clear that's

where things are going.

QUEST: So, let's talk about WBD, which, of course, is parent company of CNN, our network. In other words, let's talk about my own company. The

results were ugly. I think that's charitable. But if you look at what our CEO David Zaslav said, he said that WBD, our top priority is our global DTC

business. We're extremely pleased with the growing momentum we are seeing, demonstrating by another strong quarter, 3.6 million net ads, international

expansion, et cetera, et cetera.

So, WBD still hasn't got over, if you will, the merger costs and difficulties, but showing growth on streaming.

O'DONNELL: Yes, exactly. And again, it's all about the fact that we're finally sort of closing the coffin, closing the chapter, whatever analogy

we want to use on traditional linear TV and the value associated with that. Advertisers are moving obviously more towards streaming as well.

So, I mean, this transition, you know, none of this occurred overnight. This has been happening for years and years and years. But I think finally,

this marks that point between what happened with what WBD marked down as well as Disney hitting profitability, these to me are signs of that

transition really starting to kick in.

QUEST: But with WBD, there is still, as the results announced today, show $41 billion in debt. Now -- or debt to be paid off. Now, even paying down

debt and buying back debt and all the things that the company did, at some point, how does WBD address, how does the market want WBD to address $41

billion in debt?

O'DONNELL: That is a fantastic question. I do not have a great answer to that, unfortunately. But I think, fundamentally, what this does reflect is

there is likely to be more consolidation within the media industry as we see more of these companies coming together. Ironically, of course, we

broke up cable because people didn't want it. And now, we're seeing over the top streaming bundles starting to come back, and maybe they come back

because of the combination of these companies.

So, I think we're going to see a lot of shifts going how WBD deals with that debt long-term. That's a tough one.

QUEST: We will keep an eye on it. Thank you, sir. I'm grateful. Very kind.

O'DONNELL: Thanks, Richard.

QUEST: Tropical Storm Debby is strengthening as it moves up the eastern coast. North Carolina's governor is warning people that huge rainfall and

flooding could be on the way. He says the best thing people can do for their safety is avoid walking or driving in flooded areas.

Chad Myers is with me. OK. So, tell me first of all, where is it going, and for those of us, for example, up in the northeast, are we going to feel the

effects?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely. Especially Pennsylvania, upstate New York. You already felt a few of the effects last night in New

York City with all of that flooding. Really a lot of the --- the tropical moisture wasn't really along that front, but it was enough to kind of

enhance it for sure.

A 60-mile per hour storm right now, 100 kilometers per hour. And it's very close to Charleston. Just to the north of Charleston, close to Myrtle

Beach, the Grand Strand, Horry County, that's the areas that we are going to see most of the damage tonight, if there is any additional damage at 60

miles per hour. That's kind of the threshold. You get up to 70, 75 miles per hour, trees can come down, certainly.

And talking about staying out of the water with your car, some of that water is salt water. Don't drive through salt water with a metal car made

of steel, that's going to rust. Look at that, half a meter of rain there in parts of Florida. Everywhere that you see purple here, Richard, that's 10

inches of rain or more. So, we're talking somewhere -- I mean, we're talking 40 to 50 centimeters of rainfall that's come down just from this

storm alone.

[18:30:00]

A Category 1 hurricane at its worst. So, this is the problem when you talk about the rain, it's going to get into the mountains. And yes, everything

close to the shore, we call it the low country, South Carolina, North Carolina, all the way down to Georgia, it runs off into the ocean really

quickly.

If you put 25 centimeters, four, 10 inches of rain out here, that has a long way to go. That has a lot more flooding potential. And I think that's

the case for the next day and a half before it's finally gone.

QUEST: And the weekend could be a washout for those in the region. Thank you, sir. I'm grateful. It can be cold.

Coming up next, NASA is still trying to come up with a plan. Now, there are -- these astronauts, the Boeing Starliners, they are welcome guests on the

ISS. They're going to be there a lot longer than they intended to be. And it'll be Elon Musk possibly that will bring them home. I'll explain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: NASA says there's a possibility that the two astronauts who flew to the space station on the Boeing Starliner won't be able to come home until

2025. Now, the Starliner suffered propulsion issues and helium leaks on its debut flight to the station in June.

Without a clear return date, contingency plans include launching a vehicle next year built by Boeing's rival SpaceX. Dutch Wilmore and Suni Williams

have been in space for 63 days, seven weeks longer than initially expected.

The former astronaut Mike Massimino joins me now. Look, it was Benjamin Franklin that said, you know, guests like fish smell after three days. And

they have been seven weeks and are likely to be there for months. Can the space station handle them?

[18:35:00]

MIKE MASSIMINO, FORMER NASA ASTRONAUT AND VISITING PROFESSOR, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, ENGINEERING SCHOOL: Richard, yes, the space station sure can.

I think the people on board are appreciative of the help that they're getting from Suni and Butch. But I think -- you know, it's a long time to

be extended that -- for that period of time. And it's not definite yet.

You know, they were supposed to be up there for nine days. They've been up there now for more than that. A few weeks longer than that. This would be

dramatic though. A big change if they decide to launch the next SpaceX vehicle with only two crew on board to leave the two seats open for Suni

and Butch. That means they're not coming back, as you said, until -- at least until February.

So, you know, that's a different equation. I don't think the people on board mind, I think though Suni and Butch might have to go through some

mental preparation for that amount of a stay.

QUEST: But there again -- I mean, you know, I suppose that's what they do. They're trained. They're thoroughly trained for this -- and we'll take it

in their stride up to a point. Boeing's Starliner. This is billions over budget. It is dramatically late. It is on its debut mission. It has -- how

embarrassing is this for Boeing?

MASSIMINO: Well, you know, it's not great. But I don't think it's over yet, Richard, either. The plan is still to try to get comfortable. And as

with some of the words that we're using in the press conference today, was trying to get everyone comfortable, trying to get the whole team on board

with being able to clear the vehicle to come back with the crew on board.

The spaceship is coming back one way or the other. And it's pretty confidently that they'll be able to get it back. Whether or not the crew

will be inside, they're not sure about that at this point. But I think they'll get their spaceship back and they'll be able to hopefully correct

whatever the problem was and then continue to fly it again someday.

QUEST: Now, the -- my understanding is, and please, do put me right, is that the bit with the propulsion bit, where there's problems, forget the

helium leaks for the moment, the propulsion and the thrusters, that bit never comes back. That bit stays up there or goes off. So, the ability to

find out what's gone wrong, even if they to use the aviator -- the airline section, in fact, even if they deadhead the Starliner back, how will they

find out about the thrusters?

MASSIMINO: You bring up a very good point, Richard, is because that thruster, the propulsion module with those thrusters do not return to the

planet. They're used for reentry and they're going to -- that's going to burn up in the atmosphere, which was some of the motivation to keep them on

board because you're going to lose that whole module once you come back.

So, that's one of the reasons they wanted to stay on board to collect more data. They've been doing tests on the ground. And then, they've been also

trying to corroborate what they've seen on the ground to what they see in space with the real vehicle. And I think that has been going fairly well.

They've been able to identify the problem. They've got most of the thrusters back online. 27 out of 28 are back online. A few of them that

failed on -- when they were approaching the space station are now working fine.

So, it's -- I think it seems like the spaceship is ready to return. I think it's just getting the whole team comfortable. And when you're talking about

putting people inside of the spaceship, it's a lot different than returning it empty. I mean, returning it empty, they still think it's going to be

able to come back, but, you know, you -- when you have people inside, it's a whole different ballgame.

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

MASSIMINO: My pleasure. Thanks for having me, Richard.

QUEST: "First Move," midweek, Thursday in Asia. The outlook for the shipping giant Maersk appears ship shape. Freight demand remains strong.

One part of the world is still a cause for concern. You'll hear Julia talking to the CEO of Maersk in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:40:00]

QUEST: The shipping giant Maersk says it sees no signs yet that the U.S. Economy is heading for a recession. The Denmark-based firm has raised his

guidance repeatedly throughout the year as shipping demand remains strong. And now, says in its results were boosted by robust demand for Chinese

exports. The Maersk chief executive Vincent Clerc discussed the company's outlook with Julia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VINCENT CLERC, CEO, MAERSK: We are indeed in a significantly different context than what we were six months ago, which led to these three upward

revisions. We have, first of all, a very strong market demand, reflecting actually a much more resilient macroeconomic environment that what we

anticipated.

And in the second thing is really that the Red Sea disruptions, which started around the end of last year, have become more entrenched. There is

no solution in sight, and this has led us to have to plan with longer routes for longer time. Meaning, also, shortages of capacity, higher prices

as we also take on more costs.

So, a very different outlook. Less growth in the second part than in the first, but still a fairly resilient macroeconomic environment as far as we

can see.

JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN ANCHOR, FIRST MOVE: I want to come back to the macro just on the Red Sea crisis. It obviously means more container demand. It

means longer routes, for example, too. I know it's tough to predict, but unfortunately, fortunately, that's your job. Can you give us a sense of

just what you're thinking in terms of time horizon and seeing still such a significant impact on the business?

CLERC: Yes, I think when this started at the end of last year, our view was that within three to six months, we would have a solution, either

diplomatic or military to the problem. And that would be able to reestablish safe passage.

I think today, what we have seen is a constant escalation, larger zone where the attacks are taking place, still a high frequency of attack. And

therefore, there's no sign of de-escalation or solution inside for a safe passage, which leads us to believe that at least until the end of the year

we're going to continue to sail the way that we're doing today

CHATTERLEY: Yes. And certainly, I think we'll continue to watch it obviously very closely as well. Let's talk about the macroeconomic

environment. You mentioned the word resiliency in a surprising level. Certainly, here in the United States, everybody's very much focused on what

we're seeing in terms of economic slowdown in the United States. We, you and I, have talked in the past about watching the consumer, perhaps darker

clouds forming.

What are you seeing in terms of demand? And is there any sense of significant slowdown in the numbers that you're seeing?

CLERC: So, so far, what we're seeing is that after two years in Europe of having a lot of customers running down their inventory as they expected a

recession in Europe, they have had to come to the conclusion that actually there is more resilience in the Europe consumer than they were expecting.

And therefore, we're seeing replenishment cycles and orders that come more in line with the demand that we're seeing in Europe.

We're also seeing emerging markets that are actually rebounding as economic activities increasing following COVID now and there is more discretionary

income to spend on the type of goods that we're moving.

[18:45:00]

With respect to North America, actually, what we have seen is a sequential very, very stable level of import. Some of it probably being pulled forward

as some customers will fear either labor disruption on the East Coast or tariff coming possibly after the election. But it is in line with still a

strong and resilient consumer demand. Inventories are marginally up in the U.S. compared to the beginning of the year, but not at a worrisome level.

And purchase order for the Christmas or the holiday season goods for the third quarter here seems to continue to be quite robust.

So, I know there's been a lot of turbulence in the market following the job reports, but at least for the type of macro indicators that we're looking

at, there is no sign at this stage that the U.S. would be headed for a recession.

CHATTERLEY: Yes, I certainly trust what you're seeing in the field that you have rather than one data point. Let's be clear on this. Just very

quickly, what you were saying there, though, I do think it's very important. We're a few months out now from a presidential election where at

least one candidate has talked about significantly potentially raising tariff rates. Do you think some weakness could be masked potentially by

firms buying in ahead of that, restocking ahead of that, just in case?

CLERC: That is certainly something that we're keeping an eye on. And I think for me, the key data point here is to look at inventory level in the

United States, because if that was the case, we would see sharp increases in the inventory uptake. People are stocking up to avoid tariffs for the

first part of next year.

As I mentioned, we've seen those inventory actually increase a little bit, but they are not at what you would consider very high or worrisome level at

this stage, which would be actually a lead indicator for a much weaker 2025. That's not what we're seeing yet.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: That's the CEO of Maersk. Coming up next. Breathtaking win for the U.S. track and field star Quincy Hall at the Olympics. The best of the

action. From Paris in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: The Olympic Games and the headlines from there, where they sleep is as important as where they actually practice. The hotel group, of course,

managing the Olympic villages for both athletes and the media, 80 buildings, and just look at the numbers, 14,000 athletes, 1,300

journalists. It all includes making sure everything is just right, including that famous cardboard bed frame.

I spoke to Sebastien Bazin, the CEO from Accor Hotels.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: Before we get to anything, have you actually slept on one of those cardboard beds?

SEBASTIEN BAZIN, CEO, ACCOR: No. I did not even try it myself. But, you know what, Richard, you're missing the unmissable. What the hell are you

still doing in New York? You still can do 8:00 p.m. flight. Come to Paris, come my way and try it with me. We miss you.

QUEST: You're just a tease. I was warned about people like you. All right. Now, listen --

BAZIN: No way. No way.

[18:50:00]

QUEST: -- how good is it? I mean, how difficult has it been? This is an amazingly complex even for a call, which has thousands of rooms, tens of

thousands of rooms, this is still being challenging. What's been the biggest challenge?

BAZIN: Yes. The biggest challenge is not to miss. We had a lot of weight on our shoulders. We had to welcome the world. We had to welcome 20,000

athletes. We had to make sure everything was ready on time. We had to make sure they can actually get the check in, the checkout being the curator

being the guide, and you just cannot fail. And we train 40,000 people.

And it's being quite fun and it's being formidable, it's being exceptional. And a lot of people who are going to actually miss the Olympics going to

regret it for the next 20 years. All the Parisian have left and many of them wants to go back, but it's a bit too late. Now, it's being a splendid

success for our core for sure, but for all the sponsors, it's being extraordinary, probably beyond anybody's expectation. And people are just

having fun in Paris.

QUEST: Just -- let's listen to some of the athletes, Sebastien, who have been speaking about that energy, that enthusiasm. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATIE LEDECKY, U.S. SWIMMER: The energy here in Paris has been incredible. So, I think they would just join in on the cheering that all the Parisians

have been giving to all the athletes here. It's just been a great environment, great atmosphere.

RYAN CROUSER, U.S. SHOT-PUTTER: During the Paris Olympics, if anybody sees a gold medal, it's like the crowd comes up to you faster than you can take

photos.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: I mean, that sort of sums it up, doesn't it? It's been -- despite the rain and the water in the Seine, and the atmosphere has been

phenomenal.

BAZIN: Richard, we're being through the rain, opening ceremony. We had to serve to where we have our own caterer called (INAUDIBLE). We served 5,000

meals on the pouring rain. And we happen to actually get all through it. We've missed a lot of -- actually, VIPs actually went home to back to the

hotel. But you know what, the gentleman just said on TV? I've been to many events. The noise, the crowd, people applauding, clapping, happy,

friendship, generosity. It's just you feel something in each of the stadium and a bit despite who is winning. So, it's something which we -- probably

France has been waiting for since 1998 for the World Cup. So, it's been 20 years we missed it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: Now, to the games themselves. A huge win for Team USA's Quincy Hall. He came from behind to win the men's 400 meter, finishing the

personal best. The win extends Team USA's lead at the top of the medal. Patrick Snell is with me.

PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: Hi there, Richard. Yes, thanks very much. Fascinating interview. I really enjoyed following, that one along. Let's

get caught up then with some of the event action from Wednesday with the USA's, as you said, Richard, Quincy Hall coming from behind to win the

men's 400-meter gold medal. And in some style too, I will say.

He would record a personal best time for the 26-year-old, just powered his way to that time. Personal best time, I'd say 43.40 seconds. And at one

point, he was in fourth place down the stretch. Didn't look like he was going to win at all, but he just came back to overtake Matthew Hudson-Smith

of Team Great Britain by 0.04 seconds. The Englishman claiming silver in a European record time of 43.44. Zambia's Muzala Samukonga earning bronze.

So, here's a look at the medal table then for through the end of this Wednesday, and we can see that Hall adding another goal. So, the United

States now with 27. France with 13 gold medals with four of them coming from one man, French phenom, really the story of the games on so many

levels, Richard, the swimmer, Loon Marchand. And the host nation just loving every single minutes of it.

Richard, no one has more gold medals in Paris than Monsieur Marchand. Here he was out those images there on Tuesday celebrating with fans at Champions

Park in the heart of the French capital. Now, Marchand hails from the southern French city of Toulouse. It's a real hot bed of rugby, a real hot

bed of rugby. But to get a swimmer to just power his way, writes name up in the lights has just been phenomenal.

22 years of age, and he's shown already, Richard, why he is drawing comparisons with none other than the legendary Michael Phelps by winning

four individual gold medals at these games, including two in less than two hours during a remarkable night, and both in Olympic record times, too. He

also won a bronze in a team event just for good measure for France.

He really has become overnight, I think -- this is no exaggeration, Richard, he has become a global sensation, and Leon has been reflecting on

it all with our man in Paris Coy Wire.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEON MARCHAND, FOUR-TIME GOLD MEDALIST IN PARIS: I like to tell myself just to have fun. This week has been Christmas for me. You know, I was just

opening my gifts every day. I trained a lot for that. So, it's really rare, really special, really unique. I really focus on my energy when I'm in the

call room before the race. And the French public has been amazing to me. So, I always using that.

[18:55:00]

COY WIRE, CNN SPORT ANCHOR: What's something you've done throughout the career that might be a little quirky to other people, but to you it's just

norm?

MARCHAND: I don't think I needed a lot of motivation. I just want to win all the time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SNELL: Richard, four gold medals to his name already. Only just 22 years of age. Let's keep a close eye on him four years from now, when they go

again in Los Angeles, California. Richard, back to you.

QUEST: Thank you, Patrick Snell. And finally, tonight on "First Move," how two dogs unwittingly became the face of a fire safety video. Take a watch

at this. They were caught on film (ph) on these dogs. Look at them. Watch. One of them's got a battery, a lithium battery, that he chews into. If you

take away the battery, you'll see what happens. It happens in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and the power bank, he -- the dog bites into it, and the power

bank blows up. And while watching the unfolding blaze for a while, the pair managed to escape to safety.

The damage was substantial. Fire officials say it just goes to show how easily these devices can become fire hazards. The dogs, the only important

thing is, the dog survived.

Julia is back tomorrow. Thank you for joining us. This is CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:00:00]

END