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First Move with Julia Chatterley
Sean "Diddy" Combs Denied Bail; Sean "Diddy" Combs Pleads Not Guilty on Charges; Exploding Pagers Kills Nine People and Injure Thousands in Attack on Hezbollah; Instagram's New "Teen Account" Settings; Donald Trump Returns to Campaign Trail; Harris Speaks at National Association of Black Journalists; Justine Trudeau Pressure to Quit; Tuk-Tuks Gets EV Transformation. Aired 6-7p ET
Aired September 17, 2024 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[18:00:00]
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: -- January 6, 2021. And also, he seemed to be expressing concern that the U.S. Supreme Court could have kept Trump off
the ballots to begin with because he's an insurrectionist, although he was never tried for that. We should note. We're going to ask Congressman Raskin
if he wants to come on to further explain what he meant.
If you ever miss an episode of The Lead, you can listen to the show whence you get your podcast. The news continues now on CNN with Wolf Blitzer in
The Situation Room. I'll see you tomorrow.
RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS EDITOR-AT-LARGE AND CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST, "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS": It is 1:00 in the morning in Beirut, 6:00 a.m. in
Shanghai, it's 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday in New York. I'm Richard Quest, in for Julia Chatterley. So, you can see where the next hour's going to go.
Because wherever you are in the world, it's your "First Move."
And you're most welcome. This is what you need to know today. Sean Diddy Combs is being held without bail on charges of sex trafficking,
racketeering, conspiracy, and transportation for the purpose of prostitution.
At least nine people are killed and thousands injured as pages explode in an attack that's targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon.
And Instagram is making sweeping changes for teenage users. It affects privacy and age verification. All that and the tuk-tuk transformation. The
iconic three-wheelers are going electric and global. We'll talk about that, and there's a great deal more.
First, though, I need to start with the accusation against Paul -- Diddy Combs of abusing, threatening, and coercing women for years. Tonight, Sean
Diddy Combs will spend the night in a cell, having been denied bail.
At a federal courthouse here in New York, he pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him. The prosecutors are alleging that the rapper operated
a criminal enterprise that included sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice. His lawyer had this
to say outside court after the hearing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARC AGNIFILO, ATTORNEY FOR SEAN "DIDDY" COMBS: He's been looking forward to this day. He's been looking forward to clearing his name, and he's going
to clear his name. And we're going to stand by his side as he does. We believe in him wholeheartedly. He didn't do these things. This was a 10-
year relationship. There's no coercion. There's no crime. There's basically just, you know, someone who brought a civil case and now is finding
themselves as a witness in a criminal case.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: Now, let's look at the days of elements. Elizabeth Wagmeister reports on what happened.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER (voice-over): Tonight, Sean Diddy Combs, one of music's biggest stars, ordered behind bars after
pleading not guilty to a sweeping federal indictment, charged with racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in
prostitution. The grand jury indictment accuses the music mogul of running a criminal enterprise over decades.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Between at least 2008 and the present, Combs abused, threatened, and coerced victims to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his
reputation, and conceal his conduct.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Combs was seen dining out in Manhattan Friday before his arrest on Monday night in New York. According to the U.S.
attorney prosecuting the case --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Combs allegedly planned and controlled the sex performances, which he called freak offs. And he often electronically
recorded them.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Hotel surveillance footage obtained exclusively by CNN back in May appears to corroborate some of the allegations of abuse
against the rapper, now cited in the new indictment. The video, captured on multiple cameras, shows Combs wearing only a towel, assaulting his then
girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, at a Los Angeles hotel in March 2016.
Combs has repeatedly denied multiple allegations against him, saying that his accusers are looking for money, but he issued an apology for his
conduct on the video only after it came to light.
SEAN "DIDDY" COMBS, RAPPER: My behavior on that video is inexcusable. I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. Disgusted. I was
disgusted then when I did it, I'm disgusted now.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): His attorney responding today.
AGNIFILO: He's going to fight this with all of his energy and all of his might and the full confidence of his lawyers.
We're appealing the decision to hold him without bail.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Combs faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years imprisonment and could face life in prison if convicted.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In addition to the violence, the indictment alleges that Combs threatened and coerced victims to get them to participate in the
freak offs. He used the embarrassing and sensitive recordings he made of the freak offs as collateral against the victims.
[18:05:00]
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): The criminal charges come as homes faces 10 civil suits, all filed over the last year, nine of which accused him of sexual
assault. He has previously denied the accusations of abuse, saying I did not do any of the awful things being alleged.
In March, authorities searched Combs' homes in Los Angeles and Miami as part of a months' long federal investigation by a team that specializes in
human trafficking crime that led to today's indictment. Among the items seized, firearms, including three AR-15s, ammunition, more than 1,000
bottles of personal lubricant, such as baby oil, and video evidence of freak offs, according to the indictment.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: Our legal analyst is Michael Moore. Michael is with me now. Let's just deal with the -- if you will, the logistics before we turn to the
grabberman (ph). And the refusal of bail in these circumstances, bearing in mind he'd flown to New York to turn himself in. So, he was preempted by the
police. Are you surprised that he was refused bail?
MICHAEL MOORE, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, I'm glad to be with you. I'm not surprised at all. I mean, the nature of these charges are so serious, the
allegations are so serious, that it's not surprising that this hearing he was denied bail. The judge has to look at things like whether or not he
could be expected to return to court, does he have the manner and means to perhaps evade law enforcement and not appear? Is he a flight risk, in other
words?
And so, I think at this point, the judge has decided that the fact that he was doing these acts in secret did not obviously lend much to his
statements that he will be open and available. So, I'm not surprised at all. But, again, we will see what the judge -- the district judge now does
since the case has been there or the decision has been at least appealed up, whether or not there are some terms of bail that might make the court
comfortable that he will show up for court.
QUEST: Now, turning to the charges themselves, they are amongst the most serious, which, you know, would involve very long periods of incarceration
if convicted. But it also raises the question, if there was a plea deal at some point in the future, to plead down from these very serious charges.
The lesser accepted offenses would also be serious and could end up in prison.
MOORE: I think any plea discussion of the case, because you have such significant impact on the victims of the case, would necessitate that he'd
be sentenced to prison in some way. I just don't think that a judge would take and place him on probation or some type of house arrest, given the
allegations that were made, no matter what the plea discussions were.
And remember, the prosecution and a defendant can negotiate a plea amongst themselves, but a court has the decision, finally, on whether or not to
accept that recommendation and ultimately, has the authority to make a decision about whether or not a prison sentence is appropriate.
We operate under the federal sentencing guidelines, those give the judge some parameters to consider. Things like whether or not somebody accepts
responsibility, whether or not they have been an adverse impact on victims, whether or not there's been excessive fraud and deceit through the
investigation of the case, those things come into play as we talk about what might happen if there is a plea agreement that's ultimately reached.
QUEST: It's important to remember (INAUDIBLE), as obviously, he's innocent until proven guilty at the moment, but it's also important to remember that
being an -- not being a nice person, being an un-nice person, if you will, is not a crime. They're going to have to prove the elements of the offenses
in these cases. Just because you might not be likable is not enough to get you locked up.
MOORE: Well, I mean, that's exactly right. And this is an indictment. These are merely allegations, and he has a right to have this case tried in
court, and the government has to prove that he's guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
The indictment, the allegations, what we heard from the United States attorney in New York, these are sorted details, they are particularly
troubling as it relates to whether or not the allegations are true and whether or not certain people, victims in the case were given drugs at the
time to get them to do these sex acts, whether or not there's been some effort to blackmail or extort or silence victims in the case by the use of
videotaped and to call it pornography would probably be too nice. I would just say dark type of pornography, it sounds like. You know, these are
things that the judge is going to have to consider as we go forward.
[18:10:00]
QUEST: Finally, back to the logistics, if you will, he was prepared to turn himself in today. So, we understand. The arrest removed from him the
almost right to bail, since I was going to turn myself in, I'm entitled to bail if I'd had turned myself in. By arresting him, the prosecution removed
that possibility?
MOORE: Well, they certainly removed the argument for him to make that he had turned himself in. It's mighty hard to -- when you fly into town on a
jet and you're there to argue that there's no possible way you could be a flight risk. And that's one of the things the judge would consider. Another
thing would be the nature of the charges. The allegations that were made, they expand a long period of time. There were efforts to influence
witnesses, it sounds like, at least that's been an allegation that has been made. These are all things that get put into that decision.
The fact that he just would have turned himself in, that would have been in his favor, but there are so many other factors at play that it wouldn't
have surprised me to see a court dig into those a little bit in making a decision whether bail would be appropriate. And at this stage, a judge has
determined that bail is not appropriate.
He has a right and has done apparently so to appeal that decision and have another hearing on it. At that time, his lawyers would have a chance to
make these arguments about, you know, the efforts that he was making to cooperate and to get there. The term cooperation, frankly, sometimes gets
to be a little loosey-goosey, depending on who's -- you know, who's wanting to use the argument to their benefit.
QUEST: We'll talk more in the future. I'm grateful, sir. Thank you. I want to now turn our attention to the Middle East and the facts of what we're
going to talk about are really quite extraordinary. Lebanon says at least nine people are dead and thousands of people are injured by exploding
pagers.
The attack apparently targeted members of Hezbollah. Just watch the video. There's the pager that's exploded just in a shop. Amongst those who are
also injured is the ambassador, the Iranian ambassador was injured. Hezbollah and the Lebanese government have blamed Israel for them. Israel
is declining to comment.
The emergency services were overwhelmed with the sheer number of calls. Lebanon's health minister says an eight-year-old girl is amongst those who
have been killed. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh has more, and I need to warn you the video here is pretty graphic.
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Look, Richard, staggering, really, how widespread this attack was. Thousands of
people injured, caught up in it, potentially hundreds now critically injured, and a hugely strident move against the Lebanese Hezbollah militant
group. They're -- I mean, they're now going to be wondering who they can call safely, who might still be left uninjured at the end of a phone line?
Israel, their key suspect. They've declined to comment on this so far. But at a real moment, again, of a region on tenterhooks. Here's what we know.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WALSH (voice-over): At the fruit display. At the checkout. In the street. Hard to overstate the psychological impact of hundreds of blasts across
Lebanon. Mostly in Hezbollah areas, pagers exploding at about 3:30 according to the group.
Security forces asking Lebanese to stay off the road so the sheer volume of emergency vehicles could get to hospital. Nearly 3,000 patients, at least
170 critical.
Easily the most widespread moment of violence to hit across Lebanon since the 2006 war with Israel, who Hezbollah is now firmly blaming for these new
attacks on their TV channel.
We blame the Israeli enemy with full responsibility, the TV anchor said, for this criminal attack that also harmed civilians.
Israel themselves declined to claim the attack. To blame, perhaps these tiny devices, according to posts on social media, CNN can't verify. The
race now, to work out how. Was it just one type of device? A cyber-attack? A battery bomb? Did they just hit Hezbollah areas?
It comes at yet another critical time. Monday, Israel's defense minister hinted, meeting the U.S. envoy, that the time for a diplomatic solution of
how to get tens of thousands of Israelis home to the war plagued north had mostly passed. That a military option is all that remains.
The hope had been for calm after the death of Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr, also killed in a violation of Hezbollah's stronghold in Southern
Beirut, led to great fury but minimal fire. With Hezbollah's retaliation restrained, perhaps by pre-emptive Israeli strikes, many felt the moment of
conflagration had passed. Now, it seems back again, with Hezbollah once more under pressure to hit back hard. But only because another
sophisticated attack has made them look weak.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[18:15:00]
WALSH (on camera): Now, a Lebanese security source has said, Richard, that these devices were bought in recent months by Hezbollah, which essentially
suggests a very long-term operation here. You'd have to, whoever carried this out, have ascertained what devices were favored by Hezbollah, worked
out how they got them, intercepted that shipment months ago and then, it looks like here from the force of the blast, you can see in those videos,
inserted some kind of explosive and then triggered them all at roughly the same time.
Great sophistication to this operation. Some brutality too. Look, civilians caught up in this as well. Hezbollah saying, in fact, some of the victims
were quite young. And so, I think a lot of questions here as to how this happened in so many of Hezbollah's stronghold, but also too, what does this
mean? Is this the prelude to something potentially that Hezbollah's foes are planning or is it a singular operation designed to show their weakness?
Richard.
QUEST: Nick Paton Walsh reporting. Emily Harding is with me. Director of the Intelligence, National Security and Technology Program at the Center
for Strategic and International Studies. Let's test the line to make sure you can hear me. You can hear me and I can hear you. Are you there?
EMILY HARDING, DIRECTOR OF INTELLIGENCE, NATIONAL SECURITY AND TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM, CSIS AND DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY PROGRAM, CSIS:
I can hear you. Yes, I'm here.
QUEST: Excellent. Good. I mean, let's sort of -- first of all, I'll preface my first question with, this is a very serious matter. However,
sort of comedic the idea of exploding pagers might be, people were killed, hundreds were injured, thousands were injured. But the level of
sophistication and the supply chain attack to get to those pagers before they were distributed, this is remarkable.
HARDING: Absolutely. I mean, human death and injury is never a good thing, but from a professional standpoint, this was a really impressive operation
that someone pulled off. I think it's pretty obvious that most fingers are pointing to the Israelis. Hezbollah certainly blamed Israel. But this was a
complex operation that required probably months and months of preparation, and it will throw Hezbollah into a lot of turmoil.
QUEST: How did they do it? I mean, you've got to know that they're buying pagers, you've got to know where the pagers are coming from, you've got to
intercept them at some point in the supply chain, you've then got to work out how you're going to detonate them. Assuming they didn't -- we're just
relying on the battery overheating, and judging by those pictures, they didn't. How do you do it?
HARDING: Yes, it is an impressive amount of work. First, from a collection standpoint, you're absolutely right. You've got to know where the pagers
are coming from. You have to be able to find the right access point in that supply chain so that you can seamlessly insert whatever was inserted, some
small form of explosives, I'm guessing.
And then, those pagers have to look perfect as they come out the other side and then go on their merry way so that nobody expects that anything was
tampered with. It's really quite delicate, and it shows both a really impressive intelligence collection capability and then, also, the ability
to execute seamlessly.
QUEST: So, now let's look at the political or the geostrategic aspects of this. Why and why now? I mean, yes, I know obviously the war in Gaza and
Hezbollah being part of it, but this is so inflammatory on top of the various assassinations of Iranian and Hezbollah leaders that there is
nothing other than a dramatic response likely.
HARDING: Absolutely. I think the why is really a morale disruption and then, also, a practical disruption. From a morale standpoint, what
Hezbollah is going to be doing now is questioning everything. They're going to question whether they can trust their own communication systems, they're
going to question whether they can trust each other, they're going to be hunting for a mole somewhere inside the network. It's going to be really
disastrous for morale.
From a practical standpoint, you have several thousand people injured, at least several hundred of those are Hezbollah operatives. And there are some
reports that that people pulled out their pagers to look at them right before the explosion went off. So, we've gotten reports of some people
losing their eyesight, and that will be a literal disruption for Hezbollah capabilities.
On top of that, we also saw reports that Hezbollah was telling all of their fighters to throw away their communications devices. That makes it much
more difficult to mobilize fighters. It also makes it hard to coordinate fires. And Hezbollah generally likes to shoot and run, and they can't do
that if they can't organize their fighters into certain patterns.
QUEST: But is there an argument of this old one of, you know, winning the battle, losing the war? Might -- whoever did it, and just for arguments,
humor me with Israel, might they have just won, if you will, a tactical victory here, but longer-term this could come back to rue the day?
HARDING: I'm going to give the classic intelligence officer answer to that, which is, we'll see. It may very well be that Hezbollah decides they
want to retaliate with a huge salvo, and then Israel will be prepared for that. It may be that this disrupts them enough that it buys Israel several
months to do things, like try to move their people back up north, like they just said they wanted to do.
[18:20:00]
QUEST: OK. Give me sort of the intelligence officer answer, if you will. And again, I'll preface it with nine people have been killed, thousands
have been injured. But amongst your sort, the intelligence community, is everybody sending texts to each other and WhatsApp-ing each other saying,
bloody hell, just look what they do, that was clever, oh, I'd to know how they did that. Whoa. That was -- this is one for the textbooks.
HARDING: It definitely is one for the textbooks. There's a lot of professional respect. At the same time, as you recognize though, the
weightiness of the actions and the death and the injuries, including some innocent people, that is truly tragic. But you do have to respect the
amount of work that this took and the way that somebody pulled something off.
QUEST: Emily, I'm very grateful for the frankness and discussion tonight. It's what we expect from intelligence officers. Thank you very much indeed.
HARDING: Thank you.
QUEST: It is "First Move." Instagram was rolling out new safety features to better protect teenagers online. The social media critics now have to
determine whether it's enough. And that's what we're going to talk about.
They're being called the Teslas of the developing world. EV enthusiasts just loving their tiny tuk-tuks.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Today's Money Move, the day before the main event on Wall Street. There we go. Remembering, we're expecting the Fed to cut interest rates
tomorrow. Well, I say we're expecting because that seems the way it's going to go. You can see the sort of moves we saw on Wall Street ahead of that.
That now is easing from record highs and the U.S. Fed.
So, the meeting of the FOMC's kicked off a closely watched two-day policy meeting. The Fed's likely to cut rates. It'll be the first time in four
years. Bearing in mind you have cuts then you have interest rate cycles, and the futures are pricing in a jumbo half a percentage point. Major
brokerage firms still believe it'll just be a quarter percentage.
To Asia, where the Nikkei will start the day having been falling on the previous session. And the Heng Seng rallied. That's where you start the day
at those numbers.
The Chinese appliance maker, MideaGroup, rose almost 8 percent in its Hong Kong market debut. It's the largest IPO in the region -- in that market for
three years.
[18:25:00]
The social media app, Instagram, has been rolling out new teen account settings to protect teens from harmful and online content and limit their
screen time. Under the new rules, teenagers accounts -- or teen accounts will be private by default. Messages will be private and restricted and it
will be easier for parents to monitor what their children see.
Lawmakers in the United States are moving forward with Kids Online Safety Act, which would force more of the same. The bill has passed the Senate.
It's being debated in the House. Lance Ulanoff is with me, the editor at large at TechRadar. Good to see you, Lance, as always.
I guess the -- you know, one thinks of the phrase, too little too late. Is this about right and just at the right time?
LANCE ULANOFF, EDITOR AT LARGE, TECHRADAR: Well, you know, there's a lot of talk right now about how damaging social media has been for young
people. You know, countless studies, but no conclusive proof. But I think everybody has a sense that things have gone a little awry.
And, you know, these social media companies have been under very close scrutiny. And, you know, we all remember the moment when Mark Zuckerberg
stood up and turned around and apologized for people for what the platform may have done to their children. And so, it feels a little late. But it
definitely feels necessary. There are a lot of big questions here.
You know, one of the really big ones is that they say they're going to identify teens who are masquerading as adults. Now, they won't do it this
year. They're going to try it out next year, but that means, suddenly, kids who managed to create an account and the parents didn't realize may find,
if they can find them, that suddenly, their accounts are really locked down.
QUEST: OK.
ULANOFF: I don't know exactly how to do this.
QUEST: What more could they do? I mean, I keep -- I sort of get frustrated with the critics, in a sense, because short of -- you know, if a child is
going to log on and create an account and lie about their age and the parent's not supervising, what more would you like Instagram to do?
ULANOFF: Right. Well, look, I think this is what they can do. They have to offer the tools, the guideposts. You know, it's sort of a -- look, the
horses have left the barn, right? They're running. They're trotting over the hills. They're way gone. You know, we didn't create these things with
the understanding of how they would affect anyone, and especially, the youngest people.
So, now it's like, this is going to not necessarily help the teams who are currently on Instagram as much it's going to help the next generation of
people who come through these platforms. But it is -- you know, one of the things that's really important here is the conversation that must happen
between parents and teens about social media, about the use of it, what it means, what they're going to see, because even with these guideposts, even
with these tools, they're still going to run into things that are going to shock them. It's still -- and it's not just, you know, this is for 16 and
under. Well, guess what? It's still hard after 16.
So, people need help. They need these conversations. These tools are a start. I don't know if they're enough.
QUEST: OK. If we look at the regulatory environment between the E.U. and the U.S., different ways of doing it, U.S. tends to do more regulation,
E.U. tends to do more entry barriers. But who do you think now really is the dominant regulator that these companies are most frightened of?
ULANOFF: Well, the E.U. seems to be setting the tone here. I mean, they're doing things -- I mean, it's -- you know, they're doing things on the
right, you know, like control side, they're doing things on the hardware side. You know, they're making big tech companies quaking because basically
they say, you have to do this. You can't sell it here. You have to make sure that all of the ports are the same. You have to make it parity. You
can't say that you have proprietary technology that people have to pay for.
So, they're making those changes that, by the way, come right back to the U.S. Because the companies want to make it simple. They want to do one for
all. And I think it's harder on the software side. But I think that the idea of what's happening in the E.U. is what you're going to see more in
the U.S.
QUEST: Can I just show you some of your own material, Lance you're A.I. still --
ULANOFF: OK.
QUEST: Yes. Well you may well say that, sir. Oh, dear. Yes. I'm not sure You can see how this, but look at it. There you are.
ULANOFF: I know what it is. I know.
QUEST: Yes.
ULANOFF: That's A.I. me, that's A.I. me.
QUEST: And I don't know --
ULANOFF: What would you like to know?
QUEST: I don't know whether it'd be impressed or horrified. I mean, it's the reality.
ULANOFF: I mean, look, this is the thing, we have this collision of technologies. We have social media and A.I. happening at the same time, but
A.I. is moving faster. And of course, all of these companies are giving us the ability to use these tools on the platforms.
QUEST: And we're grateful for you for letting us show those. Put me off my dinner. Thank you, sir. Grateful to you. Very kind. Thank you.
[18:30:00]
It's "First Move." To Shanghai, China's financial capital still reeling from the effects of Typhoon Bebinca and another storm is expected to hit
this city later this week. How much more can this place take? Chad Myers is with me.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Pulasan, here we go. This is the next storm that will go towards Shanghai. May not be a direct hit like the last one,
but you know what? We have Shanghai as a dot on the map. Shanghai is not a dot. It is a big, sprawling city.
So, yes, we are going to see this now 120-kilometer per hour storm make an impact, especially on the south side of the city, somewhere probably around
100 kilometers per hour at the time. Didn't even think this was going to get to be a typhoon today, but it is. So, it's already overachieving. We'll
have to see if that continues.
Something else going on here as the rainfall comes in, this is where the heaviest rainfall did come in before. So, we may be adding 250 millimeters
to 250 millimeters that they already had. The next storm system here is going to be very close to Da Nang, that's not that far away from where we
had a very large Yagi move on through not that long ago, 250 more millimeters for them.
Now, back to Europe where it has been raining now for days. This is what many of the streets are like here in parts of Poland, Austria, Czechia.
These are the areas that hit so much rainfall over the weekend. And it's still raining, but it's at least moved a little bit farther to the south,
into parts of Italy. Even into parts of Portugal.
And this is the area that really needs rain because the areas here, 5,000 firefighters in Portugal trying to get the area put out, over 20 large
wildfires, mainly in rural areas, but they're really working hard on this because it has been so very dry for so very long.
Now, there will be some wind, but not significant wind here, probably only 10 to 15 kilometers per hour. That will help firefighters at least get a
handle on it. What they really need is rain, they're going to get sprinkles, but that's about all we can offer. Richard.
QUEST: I'm grateful, sir. More than enough, thank you very much. Thank you.
You and I continue today. Donald Trump is returning to the campaign trail. After the apparent assassination attempt. We'll go live to Michigan ahead
of the former president's rally.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:35:00]
QUEST: I need to bring this to your attention. Japan's defense ministry says North Korea has fired what it's calling a possible missile. Reuters
saying that the rupture (ph) has already fallen citing Japan's Coast Guard. As I get more information, I promise you, you'll get it first.
Kamala Harris says she's fighting to win the support of black voters rather than relying on her own identity to sway them. The Democratic candidate
spoke on Tuesday to the National Association of Black Journalists and made it clear she's not taking any voter for granted.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT AND U.S. PRESIDENTIAL DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE: I think it's very important to not operate from the assumption
that black men are in anybody's pocket. Black men are like any other voting group. You got to earn their vote. So, I'm working to earn the vote. Not
assuming I'm going to have it because I am black.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: Now, Donald Trump is going to hold a town hall in Flint, Michigan. That'll kick off in about half an hour. His first campaign event since
Sunday's arrest of a man authorities say wanted to kill him. Kristen Holmes is with me in Flint. Going to be interesting this, Kristen, because we're
going to look closely -- I mean, not that Donald Trump has a stump speech per se, but how he plays the event of the weekend into what would probably
be a long rally.
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Richard. So, we actually are expecting him to not speak that long tonight. So, they're
putting this as a town hall, not as a rally. He's likely to speak for about five to 10 minutes. Well, that's what the campaign says. And knowing Donald
Trump, it'll probably be more like 20 to 25 minutes. And then take questions from the crowd. But I am told that he is going to directly
address what happened over the weekend on Sunday.
Now, if it's any indication of how he's going to handle what happened, it is likely he is going to blame Democratic rhetoric. Even just moments ago,
we saw the Trump campaign release a statement on the interview that Kamala Harris did with NABJ. Obviously, Donald Trump himself did a very tense
interview with NABJ at least a month ago, and it did not go well.
Now, Donald Trump's campaign is essentially saying, not only was she given a softball interview, but saying that she continued with this violent
rhetoric, this kind of incendiary anti-Trump rhetoric.
We had been wondering whether or not this is something Donald Trump was just going to harp on and continue to repeat, or if this was going to be a
larger campaign strategy, and it certainly looks as though it's going to be a larger campaign strategy.
Of course, as we know, Donald Trump himself has never shied away from incendiary or violent rhetoric. So -- but this is something that they have
turned to. This is something that they're looking at. And clearly, we believe it'll be something he touches on tonight and going into November.
QUEST: Kristen, when there's more to talk about, you'll come straight back. Thank you. Very grateful. Thank you.
Donald Trump met some of the sheriffs and the deputies who arrested the man the police say wanted to kill him. In a video posted by the Trump campaign,
the former president shook their hands and called them good looking human beings. Both the FBI and the governor of Florida are both investigating on
what happened. CNN's Randi Kaye has the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Next time Donald Trump hits the links, there may be substantially more security around him. That's what
Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe told Trump this week, according to three people familiar with the meeting. Rowe told Trump there were
concerns about securing his private courses, given the large amounts of space and proximity to public roads, sources said.
GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): The State of Florida has jurisdiction over the most serious straightforward offense, which is attempted murder.
KAYE (voice-over): This as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis adds his name to the dueling investigations into the apparent attempt on Former President
Donald Trump's life. A staunch Trump ally, the Republican governor announced a state probe and injected politics into the investigation,
repeating his often-used attack line against the federal government.
DESANTIS: In my judgment, it's not in the best interest of our state or our nation that the same federal agencies that are seeking to prosecute
Donald Trump leading this investigation.
KAYE (voice-over): DeSantis also revealed the investigation into Ryan Routh is expanding in the State of Florida, where he says the suspect is
believed to have broken state laws in three counties. And as authorities work to track the stolen license plate found on his black Nissan, and that
could really speak to his whereabouts.
[18:40:00]
SHERIFF WILLIAM SNYDER, MARTIN COUNTY FLORIDA: They'll go back now to the scene of the crime where the tags were stolen, and they'll look at video
camera. I think they're going to find his digital fingerprints all over the place. They'll go back to the registered owner, say, where was the last
time you saw your tag on there?
KAYE (voice-over): The investigation is also heating up in Hawaii. The FBI searched Routh's home in Hawaii on the east side of the island of O'ahu.
Agents executed a court authorized search warrant. Ryan Routh's mugshots are a roadmap of sorts to his criminal past.
Court documents obtained by CNN show in 2002 Routh was charged in Greensboro, North Carolina with possessing a weapon of mass death and
destruction, a binary explosive device with a detonation cord, and a blasting cap. He pleaded guilty.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: Coming up next, pressure is on Canada's prime minister. Why Justin Trudeau's prime ministership could be in jeopardy.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is facing calls to step down after a huge political defeat. His Liberal Party lost a special election in
the District of Montreal that they traditionally always been considered a safe seat. And the result comes as Canada gears up for its next general
election.
Canadians are also keeping an eye on the southern border come November, with many concerned about the potential economic impact of the U.S.
election. The U.S. and Canada are, by far, each other's largest trading partners. Nearly two -- nearly $3 billion worth of goods and services cross
the border every day.
Oxford Economics says Donald Trump's proposed 10 percent tariffs on imports would negatively impact Canadian manufacturers. A couple of hours ago I
spoke to Canada's ambassador to the United States, Kirsten Hillman, and asked the ambassador if the current government can survive.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KIRSTEN HILLMAN, CANADIAN AMBASSADOR TO U.S.: I think that the Canadian political environment is lively, as is the political environment down here.
Canadians are coming back from their long summer holidays and getting into the issues that matter for them. So, we will watch and we will see.
[18:45:00]
But what I think is important is, you know, people are talking about the issues that matter and our political leaders are trying to respond to that.
QUEST: I think I'd probably buy you a decent meal at the best restaurant you can think of if I could see your private Telegrams back to Ottawa on
what you think's happening in this election at the moment. How are you viewing the election process?
HILLMAN: Well, you know, I think for Canada, we pay a lot of attention, obviously, to the election that is happening for the White House. But we
pay an awful lot of attention to the whole country. You put up the figures a minute ago about the trade between our two countries. That trade doesn't
happen in Washington. That trade happens all around the country.
So, we spend a lot of time with the states for whom -- all of the states, but the states for whom we are the number one export market of which it's
over two-thirds of the states in the United States, building those relationships, deepening those relationships. So, we have resilience. We
have resilience to deal with challenges, but also resilience to move things forward together.
QUEST: We can't ignore the tariffs that would come on from one party, from Donald Trump. Now, there are plenty of economic models now that show what
the effect would be. You'll have seen them. You know that in some scenarios Kamala Harris' policies gives Canada a small economic boost, Donald Trump's
causes some problems on the tariff front.
Even even handed, you have to sort of say there's a downside. You must be worried if 20 -- 10 percent, 20 percent tariffs are introduced.
HILLMAN: Well, I guess you know what I would say to this, is I was here and was ambassador under the last Trump administration. And during that
administration, we renegotiated the NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement. Under that agreement, Canada and the U.S. trade is 99 percent
tariff free. That's the arrangement that abides between our two countries.
If the U.S. -- a new U.S. administration chooses to unilaterally change that, yes, I think that's bad for Americans. I think it'll raise costs for
Americans, but it will also be an action that will be hard for other countries to not react to. And for Canada and the United States with this
trillion dollar a year trade relationship that we have millions of Americans depend upon, you know, some of those customers that they have up
north may choose to look to other suppliers. So, there are important effects for our very much joined up economies.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: Ambassador -- the Canadian ambassador to the United States. As you and I continue tonight and today, old dog, new tricks. Tuk-tuks, a familiar
sight across Asia are now expanding into Europe and the U.S. with the green bill of health. I'll tell you how and why in a moment
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:50:00]
QUEST: A warm welcome back. It's "First Move." And I'm talking tuk-tuks. Around 20 million of these are still in service across Asia as you're well
familiar. And one of the world's most iconic vehicles could soon be trundling for the rest of us.
If like me, you're of a certain age, remember James Bond making his getaway in the tuk-tuk in the 1983 film, "Octopussy." Tuk-tuk. There you go. Around
the corner up the street. Slightly more sedately, I enjoyed my own tuk-tuk in Bangkok when I was there to film World of Wonder some years ago.
Now, the new version carries packages, not passengers. It's a two-stroke engine replaced by clean electric motors. And as micro EVs, they're being
used for the last mile deliveries. They've already been bought by Ikea and Amazon and the company's gaining a foothold in the United States.
Raja Gayam is the co-founder and CEO of BILITI Electric, U.S.-based, manufacturing based in India. He's with me now from Hyderabad. Good morning
to you, good day to you, sir. Thank you for joining us.
This is -- you know, when I look at it, the obviousness of the tuk-tuk as an EV becomes clear and I'm just wondering why no one's done it before.
RAJA GAYAM, CO-FOUNDER AND CEO, BILITI ELECTRIC: So, I think it's a relatively new form factor in the U.S. Richard. And like you mentioned,
it's a very popular form factor for crowded city environments in Asia. Now, we are bringing that experience to the U.S. We have our deployments in
various cities across U.S., including New York City.
QUEST: What are they best for? What would you say is the archetypal perfect use for your vehicle?
GAYAM: So, I think as the e-commerce penetration is increasing across the world there are a lot of micro hubs, which are coming into picture. And for
deliveries from the micro hubs, which are located inside the dense urban environments, the three-wheeler along with a swappable battery becomes the
perfect form factor.
I think the key enabler of deployments is mostly the swappable battery, which is UL certified safe swappable battery that lets you refuel your
vehicle in less than five minutes.
QUEST: Now, that's key because, you know, the ability to recharge, particularly for delivery vehicles, but at the same time, all the companies
you're selling to are putting in place electrical charging stations for larger, more traditional fleets. Can they use the same facilities for your
machines?
GAYAM: So, I think most of these facilities are located outside cities. And what usually happens is they use large trucks for deliveries inside
city. And if you have seen New York City, you would see a lot of trucks, which come in from New Jersey or other locations. So, that adds a lot of
traffic to the city environment.
So, the model that we are currently working on with most of our customers is where we work with the third-party logistics providers who have small
warehouses, micro hubs inside cities. So, the large trucks come and deliver the packages to the micro hubs and our vehicle pick up the packages from
the micro hub and deliver to your homes.
QUEST: But is it the same charging mechanism, the same type of battery, maybe bigger, maybe smaller? Is it the same infrastructure so that you're
not having to buy two or three different charging things if you're a company?
GAYAM: So, you don't require any additional infrastructure for deploying our vehicles. The regular 110-volt socket along with a battery --
additional battery inventory is able to serve their needs for 16 to 18 hours on a daily basis.
QUEST: Right. Now, how much is it going to cost me? Assuming -- I'm not buying a fleet, I'm not buying a thousand, I'm just going to buy a couple
of dozen, or maybe half a dozen, how much are you going to charge me for one of these contraptions?
GAYAM: So, the price starts at around 10,000 USD, and depending on the customizations required, some of them require a reefer truck, some of them
require a coffee shop on it, some of them require just the regular a delivery van and some of the municipalities use our vehicles for waste
collection and disposal.
QUEST: If this works and is successful, how do you prevent the me toos from China and elsewhere? India is a relatively -- I mean, it's increasing
in the cost of production. It's not the low-cost market that it used to be for high-tech stuff. So, how do you prevent somebody else stealing your
lunch and riding off with it in a tuk-tuk?
GAYAM: So, I don't think we are the first tuk-tuk in the world. There have been multiple electric tuk-tuks from China and other countries as well. I
think the key enabler here is the swappable battery that we have perfected over a period of time in harsh urban environments.
[18:55:00]
So, when I talk about this, you are talking about batteries being thrown around, batteries being stacked on one top on top of each other, them being
left in the range. So, that kind of rigidity to the battery is what is required for operating a swappable battery. And that is what we have
perfected with customers such as Amazon, Ikea, Big Basket, Flipkart in India, and we are bringing that to the world now.
QUEST: I'm grateful to you, sir. I look forward to riding with you in a tuk-tuk. Thank you, sir.
GAYAM: Yes.
QUEST: Finally, tonight, from me, we've learned -- CNN's learned, Israel was behind the attack that caused thousands of pagers to explode
simultaneously in Lebanon. The operation left thousands of people injured across the country. It was the result of a joint operation between Israel's
intelligence service Mossad and the military of Israel.
The country placed explosive material in a batch of Taiwanese-made pagers which were imported into Lebanon and destined for Hezbollah. According to
The New York Times, citing American and other officials who were briefed on the operation.
According to The Times, the explosives were planted next to the battery and switch were embedded to detonate them remotely. Hezbollah and Lebanese
government have blamed Israel for the attacks, would appear to be that's exactly what happened.
And that's our program for tonight. I'm Richard Quest. Julia, thankfully for you, is back tomorrow.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:00:00]
END
