Return to Transcripts main page
Quest Means Business
Trump Clinches Republican Nomination; Obama: World Leaders Rattled by Trump; Rudd: Protectionism Would Be a Mistake; French Labor Protests Turn Violent; Valls: Major Points of Labor Bill Will Stand; Sadiq Khan Encourages Britons to Vote; Thiel: Funding Gawker Lawsuits about "Deterrence"; Fighting Online Misogyny; Oil Prices Hit Seven-Month High; Greg Norman Looks to Change Golf's Image. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired May 26, 2016 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:00] ZAIN ASHER, CNN ANCHOR: And with that sound marks the end of yet another trading session on Wall Street. Stocks have been pretty much
hovering around the flat line all day. It seems as though after two days of big gains, the DOW's rally had now ran out of steam. Trading as you can
see is coming to an end. It is Thursday, 26th of May.
Tonight, get ready to be wrestled. Donald Trump says things are going to be different as he wraps up the Republican nomination. A report of Egypt
said signals are picked up from the missing EgyptAir plane. And protests in Paris turned violent as strikes continue to grip the country. I'm Zain
Asher and this is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
Good evening, everyone. Tonight, what looked impossible has now happened. Eleven months and nine days after announcing his candidacy for the
presidency we can now say Donald Trump has officially clinched the Republican nomination. CNN count of delegates shows that Trump has 1,238
at just over the threshold, literally 1 delegate over the threshold.
In Japan President Obama said world leaders were "rattled by Trump's campaign." Speaking a short time ago, Trump made no apologies.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He used to a bad word because he knows nothing about business. When you rattle someone
that's good. Because many of the world, as you know, many of our -- the countries in our world, our beautiful world, have been absolutely abusing
us and taking advantage of us. So if they're rattled in a friendly way we'll have great relationships with these countries, but if they're rattled
in a friendly way, that's a good thing, John, not a bad thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: All right. Joining me now is S.E. Cupp to talk more about this. S.E. just explain to us how significant is it the fact that Trump had now
reached this milestone? Is it purely psychological?
S.E. CUPP, CNN REPUBLICAN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: No. It's a big deal. A lot of us had assumed he was going to clinch the nomination before the
convention, but just a month ago we were talking about a potential contested convention. Where, you know, Ted Cruz and maybe John Kasich were
going to give him a real run for his money at the convention. If he didn't clinch the delegates before then, his ground game on second round ballots
was going to be pretty bad. So this is, you know, this is good for Donald Trump, obviously. He can put all of that behind him. Go into the
convention. There's not going to be any drama about who the nominee is. Now we just get to wait and watch the theatrics that are sure to follow at
a Trump-led convention.
ASHER: But just explain to the international audience, in theory, I don't mean to get into a minutia too much. In theory the unbound delegates who
say they're supporting Donald Trump in theory could still change their minds, correct?
CUPP: Well, unbound, yes. But going to whom? You know? No one else can probably get the delegates even in a second round ballot. So it really --
I mean, you know, I guess you could sort of hope for a miracle if you're in the never Trump train, but I think it's pretty clear he's got it and he's
going to go into the convention uncontested.
ASHER: So for traditional conservatives like yourself, S.E. what do you do now? What happened to the anti-Trump movement? Does it have any steam
whatsoever?
CUPP: Well, there's really sort of two anti-Trump camps. One is anti- Trump because they, you know, they didn't think that he was going to win the nomination. And then there's the anti-Trump camp that I'm in just for
personal reasons. I can't vote for to him. I can't explain to my 18-month old son in 20 years how I voted for a guy that wanted to bring back
internment camps. So for me, there's nowhere to go. I'm not voting for either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. But I'm also not fighting to sort
of stop him.
I think for lot of establishment conservatives who said they could not get behind Donald Trump. You will start to see them come on board. Because at
the end of the day a lot of us are just partisans. And you have to remember, Hillary Clinton is so unliked by so many people in this country,
I know she has a great, you know, reputation abroad, but she has really high unfavorable. So a lot of Republicans are going to make the
calculation that Hillary Clinton is worse than Donald Trump. So they'll sort of pinch their nose, bite their tongue and take the bitter pill and
support Donald Trump just to keep Hillary Clinton out of the White House.
ASHER: But you say that Hillary Clinton is so disliked, but given when's happening on the Republican side with Trump getting the 1,238 delegates,
how much pressure does that put on Hillary Clinton on the Democratic side to sort things out and come up with a nominee once and for all?
[16:05:0] CUPP: Yes. She is in a fight and a lot of people discredited Bernie Sanders and how far he would go in this. But they really
underestimated the anger of the progressive left. We talk about the anger on the right, but there are a lot of angry progressives in the country who
don't think another, you know, third term of Obama policies, which is what Hillary is talking, is the answer. And Bernie Sanders is saying he's
committed to going all the way to the convention. Now, look. Where do those people go when she becomes the nominee? Do they say home or get on
board? A lot of that has to do with the way Bernie Sanders handles this. He's driving a car right now and I'm not sure he knows where to. But at
the end of the convention he needs to know where to park that car and the passengers on it with him if he really is serious about supporting Hillary
Clinton eventually if she's the nominee.
ASHER: You know, that's an interesting analogy there. He has nothing to lose, I guess. S.E. Cupp, always a pleasure to talk to you, thank you so
much for joining us, appreciate it.
CUPP: Sure.
ASHER: A few hours before Trump clinched the Republican nomination for the White House and President Obama in Japan right now for a G7 summit, said
many world leaders find Trump unsettling.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, U.S. PRESIDENT: They're rattled by him. And for good reason. He does a lot of the proposals that he's made display either
ignorance of world affairs or a cavalier attitude or an interest in getting tweets and headlines instead of actually thinking through what it is that
is required to keep America safe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: And speaking of world leaders, are Eleni Giokos, we spoke to Kevin Rudd, the former Prime Minister of Australia and President of the Asia
Society Policy Institute. She asked him how China and the world would be impacted if the U.S. adopted protectionist trade as Donald Trump has been
suggesting. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KEVIN RUDD, FORMER AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER: If the U.S. were to unilaterally embrace a protectionist trade policy, the unraveling of the
international trade agreements right across the family of the World Trade Organization, which the U.S. is engaged in for decades, would, frankly,
take years and probably decades. But as a consequence you would be sending not just a huge level of new complexity into global markets, you would be
turning the clock back to a mercantilist past. And in the age of great protectionism that we saw in the 1930s, as a response to the economic
crisis of the late '20s, that was precisely the wrong decision to take by the countries of the world at that time. We should not repeat that mistake
today.
ELENI GIOKOS, CNN MONEY AFRICA CORRESPONDENT: Does it worry you that it could be a possibility that could be a scenario that we should be preparing
for?
RUDD: What I see across the world is a weakening of political sentiment in support of open trade and free trade arrangements. It's not just the
United States. We see this passion, political passion, rising partly in response to the hollowing out of the middle class. But you also see the
same occurring in many countries in Western Europe, as well. And I think progressively in other countries of the world, as well. The tough thing on
free trade is the need for continued strong political leadership. Because it's not immediately apparent what the advantages are to consumers and to
households. But the real advantages have been, one, it boosts growth. Two, it creates new job opportunities elsewhere within the economy. Three,
it helps living standards often by bringing the price of consumer goods down. I think it is a cause worth arguing. Because if one major economy
heads in the reverse direction, I fear the avalanche it then brings about.
GIOKOS: Are we talking about major global imbalances? Would be the reality.
RUDD: Well, trade is no small factor in global economic growth. It is a very big factor. And, therefore, if we were to take the meat hacks to it
in the name of fair trade, in the name of putting one particular country first, then I really do fear the catastrophic consequences. If you want
the economic textbook read that of the first half of the 1930s. It makes very grim reading.
GIOKOS: Let's talk about The Transpacific Partnership deal. Sweeping across 12 countries. Does America lose out when it comes to that deal?
What is your prognosis?
RUDD: Well, I know the United States trade negotiators very well. We in Australia have negotiated a bilateral free trade agreement with the United
States. And we in Australia concluded our own negotiations with our American friends in The Transpacific Partnership. They're very tough
negotiators. They're very good at sticking up for the American national economic interests. If the United States proceeds -- with the ratification
of The Transpacific Partnership -- I do not see the U.S. economy losing at all. Otherwise trade negotiators would not have done it. It's as simple
as that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[16:05:00] ASHER: In the past few hours, investigators looking for EgyptAir flight 804 have detected signals from the missing plane. That's
according to Egyptian state media. The news agency, Al-Ahram, says signals have been received from one of the plane's emergency locater transmitters.
Signals from those transmitters are usually picked up a few hours after an impact, not after several days. These developments dramatically decrease
the search area down to a radius of about 5 kilometers.
International diplomatic editor Nic Robertson is joining us live from Cairo. So Nic, just explain to us. What can we learn from the condition
of the fuselage about how and why this plane crashed?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, what we're learning from state media, the head of the investigation has said he was
contacted by Airbus and Airbus have told him that they have been able to give a more precise location of the impact. Because they have received a
signal from one of the ELT's, Emergency Locater Transmitters, that was picked up by a satellite. What is interesting is that normally these
transmitters, they're designed to go off on impact. There are three on board on this Airbus A320. But they would normally -- the batteries would
expire after about 48 hours. So it is strange that it's seven days later that we're learning about this.
And what precisely has caused this delay isn't clear at the moment. But what is clear it certainly refines and narrows the search and makes it much
more possible that the black boxes can be found in a timely manner before their batteries on the beacons die off. Because the search area is now
down to a circle of a radius of about 5 kilometers and that means the acoustic detectors can be put in the water with a greater degree of
certainty of hearing the beacons on the black boxes and then relatively quickly thereafter it should allow the investigators and those doing the
search to precisely pinpoint the fuselage on the bed of the ocean.
ASHER: So the priority is actually finding the black boxes. Do authorities believe that the fuselage can actually definitely lead them to
the black boxes, as well?
ROBERTSON: Well, that would be the assumption that if you can find the most significant part of the wreckage then you can hope that the other
pieces are scattered within a fairly close radius. This is going to be the key thing. The black boxes are going to be setting off the -- have these
beacons on them. And the acoustic detectors home in on those beacons. What they'll do. And saw them do with it mh370, is use a triangulation
system, take three different readings with the acoustic detection. Hearing the beacon and be able to pinpoint where that beacon is, so it takes them
to the black box per se rather than the fuselage itself. So this should accelerate the process. Remember, just two days ago, an Egyptian airlines
-- EgyptAir official said the area searching was a size of Connecticut. Now it's down to a circle radius 5 kilometers and this is much more precise
and should really speed things up from here, Zain.
ASHER: Nic, just to sort of zoom out a bit, what have investigators learned from the wreckage that's already been found?
ROBERTSON: Well, so far, they're trying to identify the passengers on board the aircraft. They're recovered we've been told so far, 18 bags
containing debris. They've also received the forensics laboratory here, that received 15 bags containing human remains. We're told that the human
remains are relatively small size. But of course when they do the DNA tests it helps identify who those remains belong to, and there because they
have the passenger manifest and who was sitting where on the plane. It allows them to sort of pinpoint on the plane where people were sitting, and
then the next thing would be the forensic testing that allows you to sort of analyze whether or not there's any explosive residue or anything else to
give key and critical information of what brought down the aircraft, Zain.
ASHER: All right. Live for us there in Cairo, thank you so much. Appreciate that.
Still to come here on QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, labor protests in France turn violent. As motorists feel the pinch from fuel shortages. We'll explain
coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:16:36] ASHER: Tonight, it's confrontations in Paris. Protests against the French government's economic reforms, have turned violent. Nearly
20,000 demonstrators are on the streets of the capital with smaller demonstrations in other cities. Police in Paris say they have arrested
about a dozen people as protesters blockade oil refineries. The government forced to dip into its emergency fuel reserves. Media reports say up to a
third of the gas stations low on fuel or, or completely dry. At the same time capacity at nuclear power stations has been reduced, and some rail
services have been canceled, as well. The protests also threatened Euro 2016 Football Tournament due to be held in France in about two weeks' time.
Unions are demanding the government withdraw a controversial labor reform bill. It would allow employers to extend France's famous 35-hour work
week, basically extending their hours. It will also make it easier for businesses to lay off workers and reduce overtime pay. So no doubt workers
are unhappy about this. Prime Minister Manuel Valls, said the government will not back down on the main points of the bill. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MANUEL VALLS, FRENCH PRIME MINISTER (through translator: I respect the CGT union. I know about its history. It's total involvement in the history of
our country. The resistance, the desire to give rights to the workers. But the CGT cannot halt the country. The CGT cannot impose a law.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Christian Malard is an international diplomatic consultant. He joins me live now from Paris. So Christian, I want to get your take on
this, because President Hollande from his perspective, he would argue that labor preforms would makes France competitive and lower the unemployment
rate, which as we both know is hovering around 10.5 percent. Is he right?
CHRISTIAN MALARD, INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC CONSULTANT: Well, at the very beginning this reform was understandable. And I think it was a kind of an
agreement between the right wing and left wing representatives of the various parties saying, well, we have nice interesting elements. And there
have been adding substance from this reform all of the time. And now everybody's is very confused and doesn't understand what's kept in this
reform. And the result is we have a weak government, the one of president -- Prime Minister Valls and President Hollande who is facing demonstration
as I have seen for long, long time in this country. It is unheard of.
The government is at war with the main unions, especially the CGT which is the communist unions. Which ask the government to withdraw the old labor
law and the government says, no. And there is amongst that -- midst of that, big confusion inside the government. I give you a quick example.
This morning, on various TV networks you had Prime Minister Vall saying, it's unbeatable to block this country. Then you had the Secretary of
Finance, Mr. Sapin, saying, well, maybe we should withdraw part of the reform. And then he was denied by Prime Minister Vall on another TV
network. So there is no way. So, the confusion is everywhere. With the public opinion, with the unions, with the government.
France is a messy country which doesn't accept the reforms. Zain, you have to understand one thing. People in the country, you hear them tell you, we
want reforms. When time comes for reform, the people say, no, I don't want the reforms. We demonstrate. Come on. Let's be serious.
[16:20:00] ASHER: So then, Christian, how does this end? Do you -- I mean, is your prediction that eventually President Hollande and Manuel Vall
will have to back down?
MALARD: Well, in the past two or three different cases we had the governments stepping down for the reform on education, the reform on
retirement. And now it is the big, big fight. The government says we stick to our position, no way. If you do it, I get the impression we will
be in a pre-insurrectional period. And it's not good for the very coming future. At the time, Zain, when you know we have the Euro soccer period
for one month and we have the people starting -- canceling the trip to France saying, what the hell is going on in France in this crazy country?
ASHER: so, I'm just curious. What is president Hollande's strategy here? Is he trying to become more center, more pro-business because of the
elections next year?
[16:20:00] MALARD: Ask the French where Hollande is. They'll tell you, we won't know. He promised so many things he could not deliver. The question
is, Hollande is already campaigning for the next presidential election, which is less than one year from now. And it's so crazy. A lot of people
charge Hollande with maybe being too much on the right or center right and we don't know where we go. The polls are very bad for Hollande. The
question is today, the French people, 16 percent are only favorable to Hollande. But the majority don't want Hollande anymore. Neither do they
want Sarkozy, the former president. This is where we are.
ASHER: Extremely unpopular, President Francois Hollande. OK, Christian Malard, thank you so much. Appreciate that.
Now the strikes have caused headaches for French motorists. CNN's Jim Bittermann has the report from a petrol station near Paris.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Zain, what you see here is about when's happening all over the country. In fact, they have
just run out -- the manager just took down the signs that have the signs for diesel fuel. They have just run out of diesel fuel and now going
around telling the motorists they don't have the possibility of fueling up as they want diesel. About a third of the filling stations, somewhere a
quarter to a third of the filling stations in the country partially out of fuel or totally out of fuel. This fuel supply crisis has been -- kind of a
self-fulfilling prophesy, because as the supplies tightened up, motorists began to think they weren't get gas for their car. And so in fact they
have led to this kind of a situation of we see here with people trying to fuel up before they go.
And other fronts across the country, in fact the energy supplies are tightening in the electrical area, because the nuclear power plant people
have voted do go on strike. And doesn't mean a whole lot in the sense to reduce the output of the plants and can't just turn them off entirely. Not
for security reasons. But they can reduce the output, which would force the French government to either go turn to other forms of energy like
hydroelectric or other kinds of things. Or to borrow and buy electricity from the European neighbors.
So definitely putting pressure on the government here to withdraw this labor reform law which is so controversial. One union in particular, the
CGT which historically has been linked to the communist party here is fearful of this law, because in fact it may reduce their powers. Other
unions are, in fact, in favor. At least one other union in favor of the law, because what they see will be some advantages to workers. In any
case, the government under pressure. Where they continue to insist that they will persevere. The prime minister in front of the senate today
talking about it and he said the union does not set the laws in the country. The government does. Zain?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: European stocks saw small gains on Thursday. The major indices all rose. In Spain, though, shares of Banco Popular fell 26%. The bank
announced it would sell $2.8 billion of new shares. It's raising money to build a bigger cushion against losses from bad property loans.
The head of the European Commission says Boris Johnson needs to come to Brussels and get his facts straight. As the Brexit campaign grows
increasingly nasty, Jeanne Claude Junker said the former mayor of London was campaigning for Britain to leave the EU, is not being realistic with
the British people. Juncker's chief of staff called the idea of Johnson becoming Britain's Prime Minister a "horror scenario." Lumping him in with
figures of other countries like Donald Trump and Maureen Le Pen. Boris Johnson successor as London mayor, Sadiq Khan, is urging people to resist
the calls for Brexit. He says there's strong economic and patriotic case to remain inside the EU. He spoke to CNN's Phil Black about the importance
of strong voter turnout.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SADIQ KHAN, MAYOR OF LONDON: The national polls are very close. I think they're too close to call. What's clear for polls in London is that
majority of Londoners want to remain in the European Union. I'm worried, though, about low turnout. I'm worried about the campaign being negative,
pulling people off taking part in the referendum vote. So I want a high turnout in London, particularly amongst young Londoners to see the benefits
of cultural exchanges, student exchanges. Fashioning their London, us being an open city and between now and June 23rd I'm trying to persuade
Londoners why it's in our interest to be in the European Union.
PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Something you didn't touch on in the speech is London status as a financial center. Other people on your side have
done so and wasn't something you gave time to today. Why is that?
KHAN: When Mayor Anne Hidalgo from Paris came to see me, shortly after I was elected. She was teasing me saying, should the U.K. decide the leave
the European Union, she'd run out the red carpet and welcome the financial institutions to Paris. I don't want that to happen.
[16:25:00] And when's important is that we recognize that actually 60 percent of the world's leading companies have their European headquarters
here in London. The GDP of the EU is bigger than China and the U.S. So there's an economic case to remain in the European Union. But my point
today is also a patriotic case to remain in the European Union. We have always been an open city. Walk down any street and you'll see a Spanish
tap house bar or an Italian restaurant. You'll see fashion in London, which is from London, but also from Paris, from Milan and from Barcelona.
We are an out word looking open city. That's always been the London that I know and love and hoping it's the London of the future, as well.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: All right, coming up next on QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, a tech billionaire says he's been paying for Hulk Hogan's war on Gawker media.
That revelation is worrying some journalism advocates. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: Hello, everyone. I'm Zain Cash Asher. Coming up on the next half hour of QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, a Silicon Valley billionaire admits that he
bankrolled Hulk Hogan's legal battle with Gawker. British lawmakers want to reclaim the internet from online misogyny. But before that though,
these are the top headlines we're following for you at this hour on CNN.
Donald Trump has won the delegates he needs to become the Republican Party's nominee for president. The news came just hours after U.S.
President Obama said world leaders had been rattled by the rise of the billionaire businessman. At a news conference Trump criticized Mr. Obama's
comments.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Well, look. He is a president who's done a horrible job. Everybody understands that. He's a president whose allowed many of the
countries to totally take advantage of him and us, unfortunately. And he's got to say something. And it's unusual that every time he has a press
conference he is talking about me. So, you know, it is just one of those things. But I'll say this. He is a man who shouldn't be really, you know,
airing his difficulties and he shouldn't be airing what he's airing where he is right now and I think that you're going to see it stop pretty soon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: A report by an Egyptian state media said Airbus has detected signals from the Mediterranean Sea where EgyptAir's flight 804 crashed just
one week ago. According to a report the signals are coming from the plane's emergency locater transmitter. In the past few minutes, French
investigators at the BEA say a submarine search for the plane will begin in the coming days.
Labor protests in France turned to violent. Police fired tear gas after clashes with demonstrators in Paris. The protesters are calling on the
government to change a controversial bill that would make it easier for businesses to lay off employees.
[16:30:00] All right. Well it is a somewhat unusual tag team but get this, a billionaire board member at Facebook admits that he bankrolled Hulk
Hogan's lawsuit against Gawker. Peter Thiel founded of PayPal and was an early investor in companies like Facebook and LinkedIn. In a statement he
said, "Freedom of the press does not mean freedom to publish sex tapes." Hulk Hogan sued Gawker for invasion of privacy. A jury in Florida awarded
him $140 million. On Thursday Gawker said it had hired bankers to advise it on a possible sale, but added that was just contingency planning. But
why is Peter Thiel financing Hulk Hogan's lawsuit? Joining me now to discuss this is Laurie Segall, CNNMoney tech correspondent. Laurie, just
explain to the audience who exactly is Peter Thiel and why does he have this personal vendetta against Gawker?
LAURIE SEGALL, CNN MONEY SENIOR TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: Zain, he's huge heavyweight in Silicon Valley. He's a billionaire. He's part of the
PayPal Mafia. So one of the co-founder of PayPal. He's invested in LinkedIn and Yelp. He was one of the first outside investor in Facebook.
And he's always had some controversial views and doesn't come as a complete surprise. Although it obviously raises a lot of questions. But what he
said in an interview with "The New York Times" is this isn't about revenge, it's about deterrence.
But let me give you a little bit of history on his hatred of Gawker. In 2007, they actually published an article outing him and I have spoken with
Peter Thiel before. I've interviewed him before and he's talked to me a little bit about the challenges of not wanting his sexuality to be the
story. So in 2007 it did become the story. And I'm told also by folks that know him that they actually for a couple of years threatened to out
him. Threatened to put even more salacious stuff out there. So I think, you know, while he says this isn't revenge, but deterrence, you know, he
definitely has his reasons for not liking Gawker for not liking them for putting this out there, Zain.
ASHER: If he has a personal, as you mentioned, hatred of Gawker, why didn't he sue Gawker himself for invading his privacy?
SEGALL: I get the feeling that Peter is little more calculated than that. And what he said in this interview is that he actually put together kind of
a plan to fund lawsuits against the company. I think he found a better lawsuit, a lawsuit that has legs. The publishing of private sex tape with
Hulk Hogan, I think this has more legs. I think this is probably why he decided to put the weight behind. Although he hasn't really spoken
publicly about it.
ASHER: Is there some irony, though, Laurie, the fact that Peter Thiel has previously come out and talked about how much he champions journalism
rights and then now you have this?
SEGALL: But I'll say he was asked about this and said journalism doesn't mean massive privacy violations. He also said that he believed Gawker was
different. Gawker was unique and if all media companies were like this he wouldn't have gone after them. Now with that being said, obviously, this
could potentially set a dangerous precedent. It raises questions about the first amendment. So is the start of this really interesting dialogue and
also you look at the distrust of Silicon Valley. There's a lot of money and a lot of power there. So when we learn things like this it gets people
really talking. So if this can happen, what next?
ASHER: What has been the response to this in Silicon Valley? Peter Thiel on the board of Facebook, so I imagine people are talking about this.
SEGALL: Yes, a lot of people are kind of interested in taking a step back and I'm, you know, friends with a lot of folks on Facebook from Silicon
Valley, a lot of entrepreneurs, and it's funny to see their reactions. These are people that Gawker maybe went after. And a lot of them are
pretty much singing his praises right now. Because when you look at the tech press, the tech press has always celebrated technology to a degree.
and what Gawker and Valleywag did is they really kind of went after certain figures in Silicon Valley. So there's a lot of resentment against Gawker
in Silicon Valley.
So you know, while people, and as journalists are really kind of questioning and asking the larger questions, a lot folks in Silicon Valley
are pretty happy about it. I spoke to a friend of Peter Thiel's, and what he said to me was, even someone as rich as Peter Thiel, couldn't do
anything to an enemy unless they violated a law. So he thinks that, you know, going after this particular case was a good idea for Peter Thiel,
Zain.
ASHER: OK, but they say that he can't do anything to an enemy, but how likely is it that this could lead to Gawker being put out of business. I
hear they hired an investment banker to possibly test a sale. Although there walking that back a bit.
SEGALL: Yes, look, I think this is certainly on the table. I think that's a very interesting reality here. A Gawker confirmed that it has hired
bankers but in a statement they say, listen, take a breath. They've had bankers engaged for some time. Now that being said, you look at trial and
to raise funding to help pay for the trial. They were also surprised at the size of the award that the Florida jury decided on. So you know, they
really taken a hit because of it. I think there's no question about it. They're certainly at risk.
ASHER: All right. Laurie, live for us there, appreciate it, my friend.
[16:35:00] Now, some journalists say that the Thiel actions send a chilling message about freedom of the press. Making the story far more complicated.
The Thiel foundation, as Laurie was talking about that's just there, donated more than $1 million to the committee to protect journalists. The
group responded to Thiel's revelation with this statement. Take a look here. They are saying, "We support the right of individuals to seek civil
redress in cases of defamation. However, we do not support efforts to abuse the process by seeking to punish or bankrupt particular media
outlets." Joining me now to talk about this is Laura Coates, a CNN legal analyst who served as a federal prosecutor. So, Laura, thank you so much
for joining us.
I'm just curious though. In your opinion, how ethical is this? This idea of financing a lawsuit because you have some kind of personal vendetta.
LAURA COATES, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, interesting to talk about ethics, Zain. One of the principles that Mr. Thiel is talking about is unethical
journalism that's being used by Gawker. Frankly, here on stateside, you know, the idea that you can have these kind of class-action suits, where
one person is trying to rally the troops against a particular cause. trying to find plaintiffs who can actually be the perfect person or the
perfect poster child for an invasion of privacy can be difficult. In walks Hulk Hogan with the very, very key case. And he will talk about ethics but
it's not illegal here in the United States to actually finance a particular lawsuit. It's becoming more and more common practice and I think that
because he has -- there's no insinuation that he had any influence over the jury's actual decision, then his ethics really aren't in question.
ASHER: I mean, but what is the domino effect, though? Are we going to see more media organizations perhaps censoring themselves out of fear that
billionaires like Peter Thiel could come after them through third-party lawsuits?
COATES: I think you are going to have a real cooling effect. Because, you know, the idea of the internet and the idea of the United States when you
do have in other countries, you have a much more robust privacy laws. In the United States you have the first amendment, and there is the little
sticky situation of trying to figure out what is of the public interest. And when there's a public figure, is it really anything goes?
Here we're seeing in this lawsuit and in this very, very crucial jury verdict that there is an actual limitation. And that things like sexual
conduct and nudity and even social security numbers or other health information are really kind of sacred ground. And that's what they're
saying right now. So I think you are going to have a domino effect of people being very, very cautious about what they publish. And then
celebrity does not mean that you can do anything you'd like in terms of publishing otherwise private information.
ASHER: So what happens next? I mean, are we going to see this becoming more common in your opinion?
COATES: I think we will. We'll see it in terms of whether or not people are almost censoring themselves in the publication of material. Keep in
mind, the first amendment is alive and well in the United States. And one of the keys of the first amendment is that if it's a matter of public
interest or the celebrity or a public figure or person has already put it out there in the public side, they're not going to have the same level of
privacy that other people would have.
But here's a very clear message. It is a clear message that Hulk Hogan saying, listen, "What I do in my public life versus what I do in my private
life are very different things." And the court has essentially said that although you may publish certain details about somebody's private life, if
they're a public figure, the journalists on guard. It is not a free carte blanche to do anything you'd like.
But I think there is some questioning about the impact of a billionaire venture who although we're talking about not being just a vendetta and not
a venture capital vendetta, there is a real domino effect and a silencing on a lot of tabloid-esque journalism and we would otherwise see a free for
all on celebrities. It will be a cooling effect. Especially knowing that the average person, even if they don't have the resources, will have
financiers like Peter Thiel and other organizations.
ASHER: Well the cooling effect, especially because the amount that Gawker might have to pay, although it's being appealed, could be $140 million.
COATES: Right.
ASHER: Laura Coates we have to leave it there., thank you so much for joining us. Much appreciated.
COATES: Thank you.
ASHER: A group of British MPS are launching a campaign to reclaim the internet, after a new study shows the extent to which women are targets of
abuse. A recent study counted 2,000 misogynistic tweets internationally over the course of just three weeks. It said about half of that abuse
actually came from women. I want to talk about this with Joe Swinson, she's a former liberal Democrat minister. She joins me live via skype from
London. So, Jo, as a former sort of public figure, you're a former minister, just explain to us first of all, your personal experience with
misogyny on Twitter and other social media sites.
[16:40:00] JO SWINSON, FORMER UK GOVERNMENT MINISTER: I think all -- all women in public life experience this kind of online misogyny. Not just
politicians but journalists. I'm sure it's something, which you have been familiar with, sports stars, celebrities. And it's where it's not about
discussing the issues and the ideas, but it's bringing everything back to appearance, to sexist insults, but in some cases threats about sexual
violence. And that, you know, that's something which, you know, I was a member of parliament for ten years so I experienced a lot of that. And I
know that some of my colleagues experienced a lot worse. I was speaking last week with one of the few black women in the U.K. Diana, and she was
talking about the -- abuse she was receiving and clearly not just -- sexism and misogyny going on but I would say you get racism and homophobia, anti-
Semitism, lots of different prejudices layered on top.
ASHER: In terms of specific misogynistic tweets, this study found that half of all misogynistic tweets actually came from other women. I was
shocked when I heard that. How surprised were you about that?
SWINSON: It was an interesting piece of research. What it hadn't necessarily gone into was whether the most aggressive tweets were also
equal in their men and women. But I think this is not -- this is not just man v. woman thing. It is the spaces we have online and the way that
people will often say things in an online forum that they would never dream of saying to somebody's face. The level of casual abuse it seems like it's
just different rules and that has a really, really damaging silencing effect on people who ought to be able to participate in that debate
publicly. But feel they don't want to because of the fear of their being harassed because of their anticipation to then be subject to that kind of
sexualized abuse.
ASHER: All right, Jo Swinson, appreciate you giving us your thoughts on this. It's extremely frightening, especially for women in the public eye
to deal with this. Thank you. Much appreciated for joining us, thank you.
The oil cartel OPEC is scheduled to meet in Vienna next week following failed talks to freeze production earlier this year. We'll discuss how the
market is reacting after this quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: Oil prices hit $50 a barrel earlier today for the first time in about seven months. Brent crude has since dipped dropping now to just
under $50 a barrel. Prices have risen in recent weeks boosted by a drop in U.S. production. Earlier I asked CNN money's emerging markets editor, John
Defterios, if the oil rally is due to disruptions in supply or an increase in demand.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[16:45:00] JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN MONEY EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Well, it's both, actually, Zain. What we're starting to see is that supply and demand
are coming back in to balance, which mean that is the fight for market share led by Saudi Arabia and some of the other Middle East producers is
finally paying off. We've had short term disruptions, of course, with Nigerian production. The wildfires in Canada, of course, and the strikes
we have seen in France.
But this is a look at the last six months. We were at $27 a barrel for North Sea brent on the third week of January during our coverage. I
remember then that chairman of Saudi Aramco, who is now the oil minister, saying that Saudi Arabia could live with low oil prices for a long, long
time. So now let's fast forward to May of 2016. Hovering around $50 a barrel. It's not $115 a barrel where we were 2 years ago, but it's a
better than 90 percent recovery, which is impressive.
Inventories are falling pretty quickly in the United States. That's saw the spike higher in the U.S. market. 4 billion barrels just last week
alone and U.S. production is down for 11 weeks in a row, down to 8.7 million barrels. That means we've knocked out nearly a million barrels a
day of U.S. production and we're just getting started. Probably another half a million barrels in the second half of the year and that's why the
markets are starting to recover. Although, I think $50 a barrel is going to be hard to hold knowing the pressures in the overall market and the
supplies coming from OPEC.
ASHER: So then what happens next? Some of the disruptions you mentioned, particularly in Canada and Nigeria seem to be just temporary. So what
happens next? As the price fall back down again?
DEFTERIOS: I don't think we're going to see a steep fall lower right now. But I think this discussion that we had a month ago to have OPEC and non-
OPEC producers come together and freeze output is now off the table. In fact, a Gulf source that I spoke to this week suggested so. Another
interesting spin for the Middle East leading CEO here for a Gulf state producer told me, he thought this recovery was coming too fast for them.
Don't forget, they're in a fight for more market share. If oil goes to $55, $60 a barrel, the U.S. shale production, the deep-water production of
the Gulf of Mexico even in Latin America and Africa, could come back onto the market and create that oversupply yet again.
Don't forget, we have about 3 billion barrels of oversupply. It's starting to come down. Demand is holding up rather surprisingly. We don't hear a
panic within the G7 countries or in India and China right now. So if demand stays where it is, rising slightly in the second half of 2016, the
U.S. production comes off in the second half, OPEC production stays where it is. We could see $50, maybe $60 by the end of the year. But not
easily. Not that fast recovery that we saw in the first half of 2016, which I think surprised nearly everyone including the big producers here in
the Middle East, Zain.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: Stock markets and oil have been moving largely in tandem for a few months and the DOW also broke the winning streak on Thursday's trade.
Ended the day 23 points lower. The Nasdaq managed a very small gain. Shares in Abercrombie fell some 16 percent after the clothing chain
admitted that fewer people visiting its stores.
All right. Coming up next on QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, getting golf out of the rough. Legendary, Greg Norman, is marketing the sport to millennials.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: Maggie Lake caught up with him for a round in New Jersey.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MAGGIE LAKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On the golf course, Greg Norman's ruthlessness and hunger for victory, earned him the nickname, the
shark. Now he's using that same tenacious spirit to try and boost the popularity of the sport with few people playing and watching the game,
Norman is looking to millennials to take golf out of the long grass.
GREG NORMAN, GOLFER: Now let those arms just a little bit more relaxed. There. There you go. OK, contact.
LAKE (on camera): At least I got it off.
LAKE (voice-over): Teeing off with golfing legend, Greg Norman, is a humbling experience. 61 years old and still in fighting shape, Norman is
winner of over 90 professional events including two British opens. In the '80s and 90s he held the title of the world's best golfer more than 300
weeks. Normans newest challenge to boost the popularity of the sport during tough times.
LAKE (on camera): We have seen that is that viewership's down. Playing is down. Why do you think that golf is experiencing this decline?
NORMAN: Well, time has a huge bearing on what's happened with golf. It's taking too long to play golf. And people now when you have families
running with two businesses or people working two jobs, it becomes a little bit more of a pressure on spending time with the family and friends.
LAKE (voice-over): Norman says the financial crisis trigger a drop in the number of people able to afford plane golf. He says the best hope of the
future lies with millennials.
NORMAN: We have to understand how we get out of the old way of thinking about golf. Get out of this box. The kids who are passionate about what
they have on their devices and communicating with each other almost every second of the day when they have it. So we have to understand how do we
tie into that? Evolving my brand to get it more trendy, more youthy, get more of the attraction to the kids to say, "Oh my god, yes, this guy's in
his 60s but he gets it. He understands where we the millennials want to go."
LAKE (on camera): How do you get around the time problem? I mean, that is I think it's at what everyone grapples with. Are we talking about speed
golf?
NORMAN: Maybe it is a 12-hole golf course or maybe it's a variation of. There's a whole new viewpoint that I see taking place. I have seen as a
player, when I was professional. I've seen it now in business and I definitely see it now in golf course design business.
LAKE: Does it have to be more affordable?
NORMAN: I think so. Affordable with time. Affordable with money. You know? I feel for the families. You know? A lot of us are very, very
lucky what life has given us. But you feel for the person who's living on the edge, but still want their son or daughter to experience a sport.
LAKE: What do you think of the young players out there? It seems to me that you have the up and coming stars like Jordan Spieth, who have the
potential to be ambassadors for the game.
NORMAN: I have never seen the game of golf as healthy as what it is today at the professional level, the top echelon. You take the top 20 players in
the word, I would say 12 to 13 of those are all good enough to carry the number one --
LAKE: On any given day.
NORMAN: Any given day.
LAKE (voice-over): My game leaves a whole lot to be desired, but for the man they called the great white shark, future of golf looks better than
ever.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: Our Maggie Lake having lots of fun there. Time for a quick break. We'll be back with more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:56:58] ASHER: End of the day that Donald Trump will likely never forget, the billionaire businessman finally wrapped up the Republican
nomination, securing enough delegates to be on the ticket in November. And if you at home have ever felt like debating with Donald Trump on politics,
well, today, he actually named his price. Bernie Sanders campaign says he's up for debating the Republican rival after Trump had joked about it on
late-night TV here in the United States. And a news conference today moments after he wrapped up the nomination, Trump said he'd do it if the
Sanders campaign paid for it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I'd love to debate Bernie. But they have to pay a lot of money for it because, look. I'm in first place. I have won I'd say something over
$10 million.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Raise $10 million you'll --
TRUMP: I would love to, yeah. I would love to.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's the likelihood --?
TRUMP: I love debating.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: And if $10 million sounds like a lot, it's not too much for the Senator from Vermont. Sanders who is behind Hillary Clinton in the
Democratic race tweeted in response to that statement saying, "I am delighted that Donald Trump has agreed to debate. Let's do it in the
biggest stadium possible." No word yet on whether Trump will take him up on the offer. But, of course, Trump is fantastic being a businessman at
making deals.
Now, if you want to digest all the top daily business stories delivered straight to your inbox, subscribe to the QUEST MEANS BUSINESS newsletter.
Featuring Richards Profitable Moment and the top headlines from the rest of the CNN Money team. Today's newsletter is all about Trump, trade and
China. Just go to CNNmoney.com/quest to subscribe. OK, everyone. Thank you so much for being with us. That's QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. Thank you for
joining us. I'm Zain Asher here at CNN center. Richard willing back in New York tomorrow. You're watching CNN.
END
