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Quest Means Business
O.J. Simpson Has Died; ECB Holds Rates Steady, Expects Inflation To Fall; Biden Hosts Historic Leaders' Summit With Japan And Philippines; O.J. Simpson Dead At 76 From Cancer; Instagram To Crack Down On Teen Sextortion. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired April 11, 2024 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:08]
RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: Closing bell ringing on Wall Street, cheering on the podium, and as we get ready, there we go. Let's have a --
that's see also the gavel we get. One, two, three. Three strong gavels, in a market that has very little change.
If you look at the numbers. The Dow Jones virtually unchanged, but just off -- just nipped into the red at the close of play.
Those are the markets and the main events of today: The end of a turbulent life that captivated the public and changed the course of television. O.J.
Simpson has died.
Europe is still hoping to cut interest rates in June. President Lagarde says the decision will be based on data, not the Fed.
And a diplomatic show of force against China. The leaders of US, Japan, and the Philippines hold their first summit.
Live from New York on Thursday, it is April 11, you're most welcome. I'm Richard Quest and I mean, business.
Good evening.
O.J. Simpson has died of cancer at the age of 76. The all-American football stars to trial in 1995 for the murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown-Simpson
and her friend, Ron Goldman. He was found not guilty, although many still believe that Simpson was indeed the killer.
His televised trial captivated the United States and took on broader cultural significance.
Stephanie Elam reviews the life of O.J. Simpson.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): O.J. Simpson soared to fame as number 32 for the Buffalo Bills ...
O.J. SIMPSON, FORMER NFL PLAYER: I'm sorry for all of it.
ELAM: ... and plummeted to infamy as inmate number 1027820 in the Nevada Department of Corrections.
In between, Simpson led a life filled with more surreal drama than all of his various film and TV projects combined.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: O.J., are you a suspect?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on. Come on.
ELAM: Mass media experts say Simpson's sensational televised low- speed chase ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have O.J. in the car.
ELAM: ... arrest and murder trial...
JOHNNIE COCHRAN, ATTORNEY: If it doesn't fit, you must acquit.
ELAM: ... stand as the first reality show and perhaps the greatest three-ring television phenomenon ever.
At one point, the world heard O.J. Simpson's ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, say --
NICOLE BROWN SIMPSON, EX-WIFE OF O.J. SIMPSON: I don't want to stay on the line. He's going to beat the sh*t out of me.
ELAM: Then later, Simpson was charged with the horrific murders by knife of Nicole and her friend, Ron Goldman.
FRED GOLDMAN, FATHER OF VICTIM: Ron and Nicole were butchered.
ELAM: The trial made lawyers and even witnesses household names.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Orenthal James Simpson not guilty of the crime of murder.
ELAM: When the jury freed Simpson, celebration erupted in parts of Los Angeles.
But Simpson would never recapture his idle status. Simpson first sprinted into the national spotlight as the Heisman Trophy-winning running back at
the University of Southern California. Then, 11 spectacular years with the NFL vaulted him to the pro football Hall of Fame.
Simpson cashed in on the popularity.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: Go, O.J., go!
ELAM: becoming a pitchman for Hertz and an actor, becoming well-known for the "Naked Gun" movies.
NARRATOR: O.J. Simpson as you have never seen him before.
ELAM: Simpson played a lawman on screen and ran into trouble with the courts off-screen. He lost the multimillion-dollar wrongful death suit
brought by the families of his ex-wife and Ron Goldman, then moved to Florida.
In 2000, Simpson was accused of assault in a road rage incident in Miami. He was found not guilty. In 2005, he was found guilty and fined for
stealing satellite television. Then, in 2007, in Las Vegas, police arrested him on several felony charges, including kidnapping and armed robbery.
In that case, Simpson and armed accomplices raided a hotel room in what he called an attempt to just get back some of his stolen belongings.
O.J. SIMPSON: And I didn't know I was doing anything illegal. I thought I was confronting friends and retrieving my property.
ELAM: The Nevada jury never bought his story and instead sent him to prison. He was released on parole nine years later in the dead of night,
with no fanfare and no bright future, just the distinction of arguably the greatest rise and fall in pop culture history.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: Well, the coverage of that murder case left a lasting mark on television and the way we go about our affairs. It starts with the famous
low-speed car chase that brought a new standard of rolling coverage for major events, tens of millions of people, I am included, watched it unfold.
[16:05:00]
The trial verdict drew in more than a hundred million viewers. The trial also contributed to the rise of reality TV. Robert Kardashian was part of
his dream team of defense lawyers. His daughters, are of course now, households names.
Elizabeth Wagmeister is in Los Angeles.
It sort of began there and it fueled it, didn't it, in a sense, there is an entire genre and yet at the same time, a lot of the people who are
following it and are part of it now weren't even alive, including half of my producers when all of this actually began.
ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: Absolutely.
This has fueled not just really the genre of reality TV and as you said, Richard, this rolling coverage and the live court coverage, but there is
this during fascination with O.J. Simpson. I am glad that you brought up that some of your colleagues weren't alive because I am born and raised in
LA. I was four years old when this happened.
But I have to tell you, living in LA, growing up here, you felt like you were a part of it. My parents were always talking about it. You remember
seeing the coverage, every time I walk or drive by in Brentwood, you think of that famous house on Rockingham.
So this has really been an enduring fascination to the American public and globally, and people are still talking about it as evidenced by this
coverage today, right, about his death.
QUEST: And the decision itself, the popular wisdom is that the jury came to a decision for other reasons, for race reasons, arguably. But to give you
the fair -- they did sit through a nine-month trial and my experience of juries is that, once they'd been through -- they've heard the evidence,
they come up with something more than just a gut feeling.
WAGMEISTER: Absolutely and this was an incredibly long trial and with cameras in the courtroom, it brought everybody inside that courtroom. So
everybody, of course, formed their own opinion and to your point, the verdict continues to be shocking.
Today, people at their kitchen are still talking about, did he do it? Did he not? And of course, you bring up an excellent point which was the
backdrop of what was happening in LA with the riots and many race tensions. But this is still a conversation about, did he do it? Did he not? To the
point where there is still content being created about this.
You remember in 2016, the excellent show, "The People Versus O.J. Simpson," which won nine Emmy Awards, and that's years and years after this trial in
a recreation still brought in millions of viewers and won tons of awards.
QUEST: All right, grateful for you tonight, Elizabeth. Thank you very much, particularly interesting that you were born and raised in Los Angeles, it
gives us an interesting and different perspective. Thank you.
Professor Stanley Goldman covered the Simpson trial for the national media outlets and he has no relation, I say this because of the name. He has no
relation to the murder victim, Ron Goldman.
The professor is with me now.
Did Judge Ito, Lance Ito, did he just lose control of it? Did he allow this to become a media circus?
STANLEY GOLDMAN, LAW PROFESSOR, LOYOLA LAW SCHOOL: Well, one point by the way, although I am not related when we used to go sit in on the trial, the
sheriffs with sit me with the Goldman family because they would see my name and I'd end up sitting next to them, so I did have a feeling of a lot of
emotion for what the family was going through, sitting right there in the trial, listening to the evidence at one point when the autopsy picture of
their son was projected on very large screen in the courtroom at the time.
I am sitting next to his sister and she couldn't look at the screen and was simply crying, so I wasn't a member of the family, but there were times
when I thought I was.
But I don't know if Lance Ito lost control. Look, I'd gone to college with Lance Ito. He was best friends with one of my best friends and it is not
that I add any particular sympathy for and beyond any other judge. I had appeared in that courtroom myself in the eight years I've done a public
defender in downtown Los Angeles. I tried murder cases in that courtroom.
Lance, if he had any fault, it was that he tried to be fair, impeccably fair. You wonder why the jury came back so quickly after an eight-and-a-
half month trial. I think one of the reasons was the prosecution believed jurors had lied in order to get on the jury and were actually pro defense
when they wouldn't admit it.
So during the course of trial, they tried to remove one at a time jurors they felt were pro defense jurors and they were allowed to let them, but
what they forgot was that Ito was trying to be so fair and balanced, the defense would come up with some argument about someone who they thought was
pro prosecution, had done something wrong and then they throw them off.
[16:10:10]
And by the time you got to the end of the case, there was only one alternate left, almost out of a mistrial, but also a lot of the strong
personalities on the jury had been removed, and you came up with a very quick verdict at the end, I think because of a couple of strong people who
believed the defense.
QUEST: So this is an awful question to ask anybody who after a jury has given a verdict, but it is a long time ago. Did the jury, in your view --
did the jury come to a verdict that was justified on the evidence?
GOLDMAN: Today? No. I say this because we forget, 30 years ago when this case was tried, it was the first case I had ever sat through with DNA
evidence and the prosecution had done such a thorough job that they had sent the same pieces of DNA evidence to as many as three completely
separate and distinct processes, and by using the product theory, multiplying those out, which you can, you'd come out with one in six
billion chance it wasn't the person they identified as being.
And back then, the jurors didn't understand the compelling nature of DNA evidence, which now has been used to release hundreds of innocent men and
women from prison for crimes they didn't commit, but back then it was a foreign thing just to be sort of taken in the balance.
So if that trial were taking place today, it would clearly be a miscarriage of justice, I think in terms of a guilty man being acquitted.
I think at the time, it didn't seem as great a problem.
QUEST: So were you in court at the moment of the gloves?
GOLDMAN: One of the great disappointments in my life is, I was supposed to be in court that day. I was on my way to court. I turned around and said,
you know, it looks like a boring science day. I think I'll go to my office and get some work done.
I've got to tell you, I've never said this on broadcast television. I worked with the defense. One of the defense lawyers was a former colleague
of mine and he called me up early in the case and said, you know, they found this thing, this bloody glove on O.J.'s property. We are trying to
keep it out of evidence. Could you review what I've written -- because that was my specialty at the time, that is what I was teaching.
So I spent a couple of days with them on this and then they contact me later and said, by the way, would you like to do more for the defense team?
And I said no, no. I'm happy not being O.J.'s lawyer.
But what happened in that case was they were trying to keep it out of evidence, the bloody glove, and it was a very close call and Ito ruled it
admissible and talk about unintended consequences.
QUEST: Right.
GOLDMAN: I think the prosecution would have had a much better chance of winning on trial had that glove been excluded and my motion granted.
QUEST: Final thoughts, this case defined in many ways, social, the way in which court TV, the way in which we now are obsessed by these things. Did
you get the feeling at the time that this was a groundbreaker?
GOLDMAN: Yes, because TV had been not just "Perry Mason," but "LA Law" and this this demystified a lot of those on the courtroom.
It made it wall-to-wall, gavel-to-gavel, night, day, didn't matter.
I would say I am not making this up, because a number of my appearances on television would be repeated in the middle of the night, sometimes twice or
three times on various different shows, I must myself, a lowly law professor in Los Angeles have been on TV explaining this stuff, perhaps
2,000 times during the course of the Simpson trial.
I mean, it was unbelievable the amount of coverage and the public, a lot of prosecutors told me they found it difficult to win cases afterwards because
if the DNA evidence wasn't enough to convict O.J., how could this evidence in this case, a criminal defense lawyer be enough to convict my client?
QUEST: 2001 performances, you just added another one to your roster, sir. I am grateful to you, professor. Thank you very much indeed.
As we continue tonight, well, perhaps I will give me something a little more, no, it is just an exciting in its own way.
The European Central Bank is leaving the idea of a June rate cut on the table.
Christine Lagarde's outlook, and why the president says, she is not waiting for the Fed.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:17:09]
QUEST: The president of the European Central Bank says its timeline for cutting rates will be dependent or independent from the US Fed.
The ECB held rates steady at four percent and President Lagarde went on to say that the inflation picture in the eurozone is becoming clearer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTINE LAGARDE, PRESIDENT, EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK: We are data dependent. We are not Fed dependent. That was not the Fed, that was CPI numbers.
And obviously, anything that happens matters to us and will, in due course be embedded in the projection that will be prepared and released in June.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: Now, the CPI number she was talking about is on the US caused some worry. Headline inflation was hotter than expected. That is in contrast to
today's reading on wholesale prices, which rose slower than expected.
Paula Newton has been looking at the data.
Paula is with me now.
The ability of the ECB to wait longer bearing in mind the situation now, there had different issues. They have different concerns, but ultimately,
they are going to have to decide when to cut.
PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST AND CORRESPONDENT: Yes and she definitely hinted a woman, you know well, Richard. She is shrewd, she is
smart, and she in fact did say that hinted that perhaps that rate cut in June in the ECBS would happen, and why? It is her opportunity to give some
much needed juice to that European economy if she is convinced that inflation has slowed to a point that she likes it and crucially, Richard,
as you know, it brings down the all-important euro, which has been really too close to parity for the Eurozone's comfort right now. They want to
boost some of those exports. So another good reason that Madam Lagarde may get that opportunity.
I want to talk about the opportunities though that the Fed does not have, right, when we talked about that CPI number versus PPI number, I want to
bring up a graph here.
If you look at both of them, and even though the wholesale prices today came in a little bit lower than expected, the point is they are both ever
so slightly trending up and that is what is worrying the Fed.
Now look, what is there to worry about, right, Richard? The economy is doing very well. They do feel though that they want to put a rate cut in
there and it looks like three are off the table and perhaps only two if two by the end of the year.
QUEST: Right, but I am just looking at the quote from Larry Summers yesterday.
Larry Summers basically said -- former Treasury Secretary -- he basically said that it would be unwise to do so that to cut rate sooner rather than
later, would not be a good idea because it will be sending the wrong message that the Fed was prepared to, if you will, take a risk with
mounting inflation again.
NEWTON: Yes, and you're not wrong. A lot of people are asking the same question that Larry Summers is saying. What's the rush when you see that
data really on a heater?
[16:20:02]
And also, now remember, Larry Summers, right? He was the guy who said no, no, no inflation is not transitory. Thank you very much. It will be here to
stay.
And look who ended up being at least on that zero point.
QUEST: Right.
NEWTON: I also want to point out, Richard, unfortunately, once again, I am going to talk about are ages. You and I covered the financial crisis
together. This is not that, right?
We are still going through what are those post-pandemic jitters when it comes to a lot of the economies around the world. I will say Ken Rogoff,
former chief economist for the IMF. And in fact, now a professor at Harvard co-authored a study just a few weeks ago saying, look, maybe we are not
going to get to two percent, and that is something people are really looking at.
Check it out, Richard, on the Brookings Institute, very good, it is backed up quantitatively really interesting, which tells you and me because we
remember the high interest rates and the high inflation that may be two percent is just -- it is just not going to happen.
QUEST: No. Are you talking about the crisis of the 70s or the 80s or the 90s?
NEWTON: Oh, unfortunately, all of the above. I don't think you and I can really take credit for understanding the 70s so much, but again, think
about the oil price shocks in the 70s, right?
QUEST: Yes.
NEWTON: I mean, I don't know what you, Richard, I was just looking at the price of oil. It doesn't give me a lot of comfort. And when you look at the
risk on, right, of even the geopolitical mess that we find ourselves in, I think it is a miracle that we haven't had more of an energy shock to the
economy quite frankly, between the Middle East conflict and Ukraine.
So, yes, I hit that button on the old age with some facts. I do not remember the 70s, I've only read about it.
QUEST: Unfortunately, I do and I do remember those price shocks. Thank you. Paula. I am grateful.
Now at the moment, President Biden is hosting a historic meeting with the leaders of Japan and the Philippines. It is the first time that the three
have all come together for a Leaders' Summit. It has taken place in Washington.
It follows the US and Japan announcing a new military agreement aimed at countering -- let's have a listen to the president.
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: . the future together.
To build an Indo Pacific that is free, open, prosperous, and secure for all.
This afternoon, we will discuss a few key areas for our nations deepening ties. First technology and clean energy. We are securing our semiconductor
supply chain -- securing our semiconductor supply chain to expanding trusted telecommunications in the Philippines. To build a clean energy
workforce, to expanding our cooperation across the entire board.
Second, we are deepening our maritime and security ties. This is something I know you've discussed with Vice President Harris during her travel to the
Indo Pacific.
I want to be clear. The United States -- the United States Defense commitments to Japan and to the Philippines are ironclad. They are
ironclad.
As I said before, any attack on Philippine aircraft, vessels or Armed Forces in the South China Sea would invoke our mutual defense treaty.
Finally, I am proud to announce we are launching an economic corridor in the Philippines as part of the G7's partnership for global infrastructure
and investment.
This is the first corridor in the Indo Pacific. It means more jobs for people across the entire region. It means more investment in sectors
critical to our future, clean energy, ports, railroads, agriculture, and much more.
I am looking forward to discussing all this with all of you. But first, Mr. President I am going to hand it over to you, President Marcos.
FERDINAND MARCOS, JR., PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES: Thank you very much, Mr. President, and once again, allow me to thank you for hosting us, Prime
Minister Kishida and myself, in the White House for this very important agreement, which we are going to formalize today.
We meet today as friends and partners bound by a shared vision and pursuit of a peaceful, stable, and prosperous Indo Pacific.
It is a partnership borne not out of convenience, nor of expediency, but as a natural progression of a deepening relation and robust cooperation
amongst our three countries, linked by a profound respect for democracy, good governance, and the rule of law.
Today's historic summit is a culmination of several preparatory engagements between are foreign ministries, our national security advisers and our vice
ministers, as well as the conduct of trilateral maritime exercises and joint development cooperation. But this meeting can be just a beginning.
[16:25:08]
Facing the complex challenges of our time requires concerted efforts on everyone's part, a dedication to a common purpose and an unwavering
commitment to the rules-based international order.
This is a meeting that looks ahead as we deepen our ties and enhance our coordination. We seek to identify ways of growing our economies and making
them more resilient, climate proofing our cities and our societies, sustaining our development progress and forging a peaceful world for the
next generation.
Today's summit is an opportunity to define the future that we want and how we intend to achieve it together.
Thank you and I wish us all a successful meeting.
BIDEN: Mr. Prime Minister, the floor is yours.
FUMIO KISHIDA, JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER (through translator): . Summit and I would like to extend my deep gratitude to President Biden for your
leadership and President Marcos, we met last year in December and what a pleasure it is to see you once again.
In the midst of compound crises faced by the global community, multilayered cooperation between allies and like-minded countries is essential if we are
to maintain an bolster a free and open international order based on the rule of law.
Today's meeting will make history as an occasion that significantly pushed forward such initiative.
Japan, the US, and the Philippines are maritime nations connected by the Pacific Ocean and our natural partners. We share fundamental values and
principles and have a supported regional economic development.
In order to secure peace and prosperity in the Indo Pacific, I hope to reaffirm our intention to further strengthen trilateral cooperation and to
present the specific way forward through today's meeting.
Thank You.
QUEST: Right, there we have had the president of US, president of the Philippines, and the prime minister of Japan.
Jim Sciutto is with me in Washington.
Firstly, I mean, this is really all about China. This is about, I mean, yes, trade, et cetera et cetera, but it is showing a united front to China
in a way that wouldn't have been possible with President Duterte of the Philippines, the previous one.
So that in itself is a dramatic change of events.
JIM SCIUTTO CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: It is a great point. He was forging a closer relationship with China, putting some
distance between himself, between the Philippines and the US and now under Marcos, a reversal of that.
So to see the three of them together here, that is significant. It is about China to some degree, North Korea as well. And we should note that both
these countries, Japan and the Philippines have very direct experience in recent months and years of what they view as Chinese aggression.
You have Chinese maritime vessels coming into conflict with Philippine ships around parts of the islands and the sea there, claimed by both
countries and China following a plan that it used in the South China Sea frankly to take away territory claimed by half a dozen nations and we are
seeing that taking place again in the East China Sea, then of course you see Japan, which has long been concerned about China's military rise and
seeking to solidify, right, long existing ties between the US and Japan, the US and the Philippines with, we should note, Richard, genuine concern
discussed more publicly now about what happens to the US if there is a new president in office after the November elections.
Because Trump, both as president and in the years since, expresses far more skepticism about these alliances and their concern is that under an America
First agenda, the US will pull back from some of these agreements and they're trying to lock them in in effect.
QUEST: Jim, yes, they are trying to do the three-card trick before it all changes arguably in November, but surely there must realize that if re-
elected, big if, let me caveat that, a second President Trump is not going to be too concerned if he steps on the toes of these people.
SCIUTTO: That's true. I had one foreign minister of a US ally describe it to me as Trump proofing some of these agreements, locking in agreement,
locking in military supply lines, for instance, for Ukraine, but you're right, the commander-in-chief is the commander-in-chief and if he or she
decides not to enforce, say, a mutual defense agreement regardless of what is on paper, the commander-in-chief has an enormous amount of power, as to
whether to deploy US forces into conflict.
[16:30:24]
So, you know, the fear, and it's interesting, Richard, that fear used to be one I heard only privately from officials in Europe and Asia, leaders of
America's allies. You're now hearing it more in public. You had the Japanese Prime Minister Kishida there say on the floor of U.S. Congress
today, urging Republicans and Democrats in that body that he fears the U.S. is backing away from this challenge right now. They're saying it publicly.
QUEST: Jim Sciutto, of course, is an expert on the region. I'm grateful to you, sir. Thank you.
SCIUTTO: Thank you.
QUEST: OJ Simpson remains a polarizing figure even after his death. He's being remembered today in the legal and sports world and by Kato Kaelin,
his former live-in house guest.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Hello, I'm Richard Quest. A lot more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS together.
And more on the death of course of O.J. Simpson, the former athlete who's murder trial captivated a global audience, and Instagram introducing new
tool to prevent sextortion on its platform.
[16:35:02]
We'll get to that only after we've the news headlines because this is CNN and on this network the news always comes first.
The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says his government is preparing for scenarios in locations other than Gaza. His comments are
raising concerns about a broader regional conflict after U.S. officials warned Iran could attack U.S. or Israeli targets. Iran is blaming Israel
for a deadly strike on its consulate in Syria this month.
Mexico is planning to ask the U.N. to suspend Ecuador until it apologizes for a peace raid on its embassy in Quito. Ecuador's former vice president
was seeking asylum there when the police came in and arrested him. He's now in prison. He's been accused of corruption but denies any wrongdoing.
The baseball star Shohei Ohtani's former interpreter has now been charged with bank fraud. He's accused of impersonating Ohtani in order to make more
than $16 million in unauthorized bank transfers. The ex-translator could face up to 30 years in prison if convicted.
Out top story tonight the death of O.J. Simpson at the age of 76. His televised murder trial shocked and divided the U.S. public with incredible
moments like this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNNIE COCHRAN, O.J. SIMPSON'S DEFENSE ATTORNEY: O.J. Simpson in a knit cap from two blocks away is still O.J. Simpson. It's no disguise. It's no
disguise. It makes no sense. It doesn't fit. If it doesn't fit, you must acquit.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: In life and now death, the former NFL star remains a polarizing figure. Kato Kaelin was living in Simpson's guesthouse in the time of the
murders. Here's what he's saying today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KATO KAELIN, O.J. SIMPSON'S HOUSEGUEST: I've been asked to comment on the death of O.J. Simpson. Foremost, I'd like to express my condolences to the
children, to Sydney and to Justin, to Jason and Arnel. They lost their father and that is never easy. I wish to express my love and compassion to
the Goldmans, to Fred and to Kim. I hope you find closure. And finally to the family of the beautiful Nicole Brown Simpson, may we always cherish
your memories Nicole was a beacon of light that burn bright. May we never forget her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: The attorney representing Nicole Brown's family is also weighing. Gloria Allred released a statement saying that Nicole was victimized by her
former husband. She also said Simpson's death reminds us that the legal system, even 30 years later, is still failing battered women, and that the
power of celebrity men to avoid true justice for the harm they inflict on their wives or significant others is still a major obstacle to the right of
women to be free of the gender violence to which they are still subjected.
Jean Casarez is with me.
Twice in a week, we're talking about trials that you have covered. Great trials of all times. Now you covered the kidnappings-slash-robbery trial,
2008, I believe it was when he was convicted and sent to prison for 30 odd years. He served nine. What was that like?
JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that was the trial in Las Vegas and, you know, the O.J. Simpson criminal trial in Los Angeles, I mean, that set
the stage for cameras in the courtroom. And there were cameras in this courtroom, too, in Las Vegas, but I was the correspondent. I was there. It
was O.J. Simpson, I remember, Richard, when the preliminary hearing took place which is at the beginning of the trial, I thought this is like a red
carpet event. I mean, it was like, it's not supposed to be that way.
QUEST: Right.
CASAREZ: These were criminal charges. He was facing life in prison with this kidnapping charge. Well, then when the trial came, he'd been let out
on bail and he was walking the hallway during the trial. He was in the courtroom. He was talking to everybody. Very nice, very down to earth,
pleasant to anybody.
QUEST: Right.
CASAREZ: Sometimes he ran out of talking to people, he'd just stand there, but I graduated from USC in Los Angeles. And so he loved talking to me
because that was his school, USC, and he had such passion for his time there. But he -- the jury convicted him of everything.
QUEST: Right, but, Jean.
CASAREZ: The judge couldn't stand him, Richard.
QUEST: Right. OK. Just quickly, did you get -- I guess this is -- you know, did you get the feeling he was going to be convicted?
CASAREZ: I felt like he just sort of took it the way it was, took it as it came, but I will tell you, you know, I'm licensed in Nevada as an attorney.
And so I know the legal community, they could hardly wait to have that trial because they said, you know, California, they don't know what justice
is.
[16:40:05]
But here in Nevada, we're out west and we have law and order and we have justice. And they convicted him. Many people believed that that acquittal
led to this conviction here because the case itself.
QUEST: Right.
CASAREZ: You know, no one was hurt, and kidnapping, they were in the room just because the door was blocked and they couldn't get out for a few
minutes. So it was not that serious.
QUEST: But the sentence was huge. The sentence was huge.
CASAREZ: Yes, 33 years. 33 years. He went up to northern Nevada, Lovelock. He mentored young men, we understand, in prison while he was there of how
to lead the right road in life and then he got out after nine years. Appeared before the parole board. Everybody thought, you know, this is a
big conviction to get parole on after only nine years, but he did it. He was O.J. Simpson.
QUEST: So, look, what, I'm looking forward to discussing your next trial.
CASAREZ: Thank you. Me too.
QUEST: Good to see you, Jean. Thank you, Jean.
CASAREZ: Bye.
QUEST: Right. Instagram is pushing back on so-called sextortion schemes, the criminal behavior that preys mainly on teenagers and the platform's new
tools to prevent it.
QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: The waters off the southern coast of Australia once teeming with giant kelp, the type of brown seaweed critical to healthy oceans. Now all
that kelp just about disappeared. So today on "Call to Earth," we're going to head to the Tasmania where researchers are using AI powered technology
to regrow and restore the underwater forest of kelp.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR (voice-over): Sunlight streaks through the kelp canopy on Australia's Great Southern Reef, an over 8,000-
kilometer-long temperate ecosystem that wraps around the country's southern coastline. It's a quiet and private world far from its famous cousin to the
north, the Great Barrier Reef.
SCOTT BENNETT, MARINE ECONOLOGIST: Just have immense diversity that we just don't find anywhere. 70 percent to 80 percent of species that we find on
that reef are unique to the Great Southern Reef. They're not found anywhere else.
STOUT: The giant kelp anchor this environment, building a nourishing and underwater forest. And it's all but disappeared in Tasmanian waters, an
issue that has scientists concerned.
BENNETT: In Tasmania, we've lost around 95 percent of our giant kelp forest over the last five decades. Failing squarely because of climate change.
[16:45:10]
STOUT: In the capital city of Hobart, marine ecologist Scott Bennett sets out to the mouth of the steel grade Derwent River searching for a healthy
canopy and a chance for the species to survive.
BENNETT: We've had that strong selection pressure from marine heatwaves and warming over the past five decades. So there's 5 percent that remain have
been through a lot already. And it's our hope that the resilience in that remaining 5 percent that hold the key.
STOUT: Back on shore, scientists are taking a closer look at the hearty survivors, hoping to unlock their secrets.
ANUSUYA WILLIS, DIRECTOR, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL ALGAE CULTURE COLLECTION: So we're trying to understand through genomics what it is about those
individuals that allows them to withstand these warmer temperatures. And then we will take those individuals and in the lab where we'll breed new
kelp that carried that trait of thermal tolerance.
STOUT: At Australia's State Science Agency, the CSIRO, Anusuya Willis and her team have identified the genetic markers that may make them more
resilient to climate change. Through selective breeding, the scientists are able to maximize the effectiveness of that trait in the kelp that will
eventually be introduced back into the ocean. But the sheer size of the Great Southern Reef makes it difficult to determine exactly where this
strengthened kelp is most needed.
LEAH KAPLAN, APAC SUSTAINABILITY BUSINESS LEAD, GOOGLE CLOUD: We don't have a baseline and you cannot protect what you can't measure. So we can't get
in place conservation programs until we've had that baseline.
STOUT: Google Australia is now working alongside the CSIRO, the Nature Conservancy, the University of Tasmania, and the Great Southern Reef
Foundation tooling up the scientists with new tech.
KAPLAN: For this project, we are analyzing 7,000 square kilometers of satellite imagery, which just would have been incredibly difficult to do
with traditional computers.
STOUT: Google's geospatial technology is creating the first ever map of Australia's giant kelp forest. Researchers will then use the company's A.I.
tools to analyze the kelp that has survived.
BENNETT: There is no natural regeneration anymore. Unless there's human intervention into the restoration, it will be lost.
STOUT: Augmenting that human intervention with A.I. gives these scientists a better chance of saving the giant kelp and with it the Great Southern
Reef.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: When you do dive down to the kelp, I did some free diving down there, it's quite extraordinary when you actually do it.
Now, let us know what you're doing to answer the "Call to Earth." It's the hashtag, "Call to Earth."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:50:34]
QUEST: News into CNN, the U.S. State Department has now restricted personnel travel inside Israel because of the threat posed by Iran. United
States has been warning Iran is planning to retaliate for the strike on its consulate in Syria, which it blames on Israel. And now the U.S. is telling
its employees and its people not to travel outside certain areas in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and the like.
Instagram is introducing new features designed to protect teenagers from what's known as sextortion. It's where scammers coerce their victims into
sending explicit photos and then demand money to keep them hidden. In the coming weeks, they will blur nude photos that are sent in direct messages.
It will also push users to reconsider if they're asked to send explicit content. These features will be the default setting for those under 18.
Clare Duffy is with me.
So I don't -- so how does this work? I'm not sure I understand.
CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: Well, so like these social media platforms have just made it so much easier for these kinds of scammers to
reach young people who might be vulnerable.
QUEST: Right.
DUFFY: They gained the trust of these young people, coerce them into sending these explicit images, and then threatened to release them publicly
to put them on news feeds were their friends can see it. And if they don't send them money, that's what they're going to do. So Instagram has been
facing increasing pressure to crack down on this issue, to do more to address this threat.
And a key part of these Instagram features that they're rolling out here is that they'll create a bit of friction. They'll prompt young people to think
more about who they're messaging and what they might be sending. So, for example, that notification that you showed that will ask teens to
reconsider if the app notices that it's about to send -- that they're about to send an explicit image.
The app also says that they're working to identify the accounts that may be engaging in this type of scam and to make them harder to interact with. So,
for example, by making it so that those accounts that they suspect might be engaging in these scams can't outbound message other users. And then some
of these things, it's interesting that they're only just getting to this. You know, this thing about blurring nudity in DMs, Instagram already
doesn't allow nudity on the public parts of its platform.
So it seems sort of like maybe they should have thought of this before, but certainly on this issue better late than never, Richard.
QUEST: Yes. Better late than never, but what do the other side say about this, to those who have been lobbying for, do they think it is -- they
would probably say it's not sufficient, although they would probably say it's necessary.
DUFFY: Yes. I think it is both of those things. You know, parents were really frustrated.
QUEST: Yes.
DUFFY: You'll remember that Mark Zuckerberg was sort of forced in Capitol Hill earlier this year to stand up and turn around and face families and
apologize for issues like these that have harmed their children. Another really prominent example of this is South Carolina lawmaker Gavin Guffey,
who has spoken out about the tragic death of his 17-year-old son, who in 2022 committed suicide after being threatened by these sextortion scammers.
So certainly these platforms are facing really significant pressure to do perhaps even more than this. You know, certainly a good first step from
Instagram, but you do have to ask why it took so long to get here.
QUEST: OK. Yes. Yes. Have we put the cart before the horse in a sense? Shouldn't we be asking or teaching or encouraging not to send these
pictures in the first place? The warning about don't do it.
DUFFY: I think that is -- you know, that is important, Richard, and I think this is something that parents should be having conversations, open
conversations with their teenagers about these kinds of risks.
QUEST: Right.
DUFFY: The FBI is now warning parents about this. But look, it's sort of a cultural thing that young people send pictures on the internet and they may
not be aware that the person who they think is their friend, who's gained their trust on this platform is actually a scammer. And so I think
certainly there is some responsibility on the part of the platforms to try to block this from happening.
QUEST: Clare, as always making good common sense to us. Thank you.
Finally, Wall Street finished mostly higher. The latest CPI report showed a slight gain in wholesale prices. Nasdaq get a fresh record, the S&P also
gaining. It's just the Dow that was off. Basically it was tech stocks which was shining. That's the way the market was looking. On the Dow 30 Apple at
the top and the United Healthcare at the bottom.
We'll have our profitable moment after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:57:26]
QUEST: When O.J. Simpson's first trial took place, I was a medium age correspondent based in the United States for a different organization. And
I remember very clearly the circus atmosphere that took place. And then in the civil trial that I also remember being there, that happened, if you
remember the civil trial the night when the civil trial or the civil case came to an end, you had -- it was Yom Kippur, and it was also the State of
the Union, the same night, and O.J. Simpson. And it was almost like we had reached the epoch, if you will, of media life.
The president delivering the State of the Union, split screen with awaiting for a civil jury to give their verdict in the O.J. Simpson civil trial. And
then you go onto 2008. By now, I'm based in London and it's another case of O.J. Simpson and I've seen over all of this period, I've seen time and
again the way in which we have allowed circus atmospheres in court to get out of control. The pursuit of justice to be derailed. The entire morass to
go over the cliff.
And why do I mention that now, because next week of course starts Donald Trump's first trial here in New York. And it's the unsavory one. It's the
Stormy Daniels, and it's all about did he pay off and then falsified figures as a result. And in this case, it's really going to be up to the
judge, which we've seen so far, to ensure a tight rein so that what should be the pursuit of justice plain, simple, not that difficult to achieve,
doesn't become a three-ring circus, which just becomes a mess. We shall see.
And that's QUEST MEANS BUSINESS for tonight. I'm Richard Quest in New York. Whatever you're up to the hours ahead, I hope it's profitable. I'll see you
tomorrow
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: -- O'Brien comes here on THE LEAD. The major new project he's about to launch. Plus what he made a returning to the set of
"The Tonight Show" last night years after all that late-night drama. Plus with the clock ticking, Donald Trump is running out of time to find another
path toward an appeal. Can he get out of his first criminal trial or at least delay it before jury selection starts on Monday. Coming up, the
options still on the table.
And leading this hour, the death of O.J. Simpson today. His life and successes overshadowed, of course, by murders and a trial and that
controversial acquittal, not to mention is hypothetical, probably not hypothetical, murder confession written out in a book. Who can forget?
END
