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Quest Means Business
Trump Seeks More Authority Over Cultural Institutions; L.A. Artist Turning Destroyed Cars into Stained Glass Art; National Guard to Expand Presence in Washington, D.C. Trump Speaks with European Leaders Ahead of Putin Meeting; Trump Says He Hopes to Schedule Putin-Zelenskyy Meeting; Port of L.A. Says July Was its Busiest Month Ever. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired August 13, 2025 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:08]
ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: Opening bell on Wall Street at this hour, as you can see, a nice finish there for the Dow, up one percent on the day, just over
450 points. That's a quick look at the markets. These are the main events.
Sources telling CNN in a call with European leaders, President Trump said Ukrainian territory is not for him to negotiate.
Coindesk owner bullish raising over a billion dollars in its IPO.
And the Godfather of A.I. argues the technology needs a built-in maternal instinct toward humans.
Live from New York, it is Wednesday, August 13th. I am Erica Hill, in for Richard Quest. This is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
Good evening, tonight, E.U. leaders are vowing to preserve Ukraine's borders ahead of Donald Trump's summit with Vladimir Putin on Friday.
European leaders and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy holding a call with the U.S. President earlier today. According to French President
Emmanuel Macron, Mr. Trump stressed only President Zelenskyy could negotiate Ukraine's territory.
The German Chancellor striking a similar tone, saying legal recognition of Russia's occupation was off the table. President Zelenskyy himself saying
the Trump-Putin Summit must be followed by another meeting, one that includes Kyiv.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Everything about Ukraine will be discussed with Ukraine. We have to get prepared for a
three-sided format of the conversation.
We have to combine the negotiations with pressure against Russia. Sanctions should be strengthened if Russia will not agree to a ceasefire in Alaska.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: President Zelenskyy also reaffirming today he will not surrender territory in the Donbas region of Eastern Ukraine. U.S. officials say
Vladimir Putin has proposed a ceasefire plan that would require Ukraine to give up the Donbas, an area that includes Donetsk and Luhansk. That region
is partially occupied now by Russian troops.
Moscow also has its sights on Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.
Nick Paton Walsh is in Kyiv at this hour, with more including the reaction as to how this calling these readouts are being received -- Nick.
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, it is important to stress the difference between what we heard from
Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, the suggestion that legal recognition of parts of Ukraine occupied by Russia is "off the table" and
the slow change in tone from some European allies over the past weeks of the possibility that they may end up finding the current line of contact as
the starting point for negotiations.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy today reaffirmed the Ukrainian rejection of the idea that it would cede parts of Donetsk, as it seems to
have been something suggested to U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff in his recent visit to Moscow. That's not something Ukraine will entertain, but
also Friedrich Merz, the German Chancellor, saying after 24 hours of the White House playing down the Alaska Friday Summit as a listening exercise,
trying to feel Vladimir Putin out, Merz said that serious decisions could be made in Alaska and he was essentially casting the summit that he hosted
virtually with Zelenskyy.
He had flown to Berlin to be by his side as a bid to try and prepare President Trump for success in Anchorage. Now, Trump himself has struck a
different tone just today, talking about the Summit, everything changing day by day here.
It is remarkable to see how organic the preparations for a Summit of such magnitude that you'd normally expect months of preparation and agenda,
practically pre-decided before the meeting, how this is changing so fast, hour by hour.
Trump said that if he doesn't get an indication that Putin wants peace, not quite clear what the threshold for that is, that there would be very
serious consequences. I understand from a European official familiar with the call that Trump had with European leaders and Zelenskyy that they
believe "the threat is on" of secondary sanctions against most likely India and China, the major customers of Russian oil and gas.
India's threat of sanctions, according to that European official, has had an obvious impact they believe, on Russia's thinking. Obviously, Russia
doesn't want to inconvenience its major customers and major bankrollers of its war effort here, with those secondary sanctions.
But there is a wider anxiety here despite all the variegated messaging we've heard, united as it sounded from European leaders, as exactly what
will happen when Trump and Putin find themselves in a room together, their relationship often impenetrable, often radically veering in the favor of
the Kremlin. Do we, as Trump has suggested, see Trump emerge dissatisfied, implying secondary sanctions immediately. Does he then call an immediate
meeting between Putin, Zelenskyy or Putin, Zelenskyy and himself if he likes what Putin is saying. Zelenskyy held out the possibility of attending
something in Alaska when he spoke today as well.
[16:05:17]
Huge amounts are still moving here, but there is ultimately one thing moving to possibly of more consequence, and that's Russia's positions on
the front line where they are making incremental progress for months. In the last weeks, it is turning more strategic, a breakthrough in the last
days north of Dobropillya, in the very area that potentially is under discussion in Donetsk, has left many anxious here, although there have been
indications that Ukrainian officials feel they've got that under control.
But things moving incredibly quickly, I think that increases the pressure on Friday.
I think there is very little sense here that we will get a sudden ceasefire declared out of Alaska. That's really what Europe and Ukraine want as the
basis for any further talks.
But this, I think, has been a bid today to try to influence President Trump, it appears to have changed what he said in terms of expectations for
the meeting. But then there are many who have seen him change back again after an audience with Putin and there are great anxieties about what
Friday really brings, and there are massive consequences here -- Erica.
HILL: Yes, absolutely.
Nick Paton Walsh live in Kyiv at this hour. Thank you.
President Trump, meantime, is threatening to hit Russia's economy hard if President Putin does not agree to stop the war. He was asked specifically
about the Summit during an event at the Kennedy Center in Washington earlier today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: Will Russia face any consequences if Vladimir Putin does not agree to stop the war after your meeting on Friday?
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Yes, they will.
REPORTER: What will the consequences be? Sanctions? Tariffs?
TRUMP: There will be consequences. There will be -- I don't have to say. There will be very severe consequences.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: "Very severe consequences," though not clear exactly what those would be. Russia's momentum on the battlefield could make it more difficult to
secure a ceasefire. Russian troops, as Nick was just talking about, have pierced Ukraine's defenses in the Donetsk region, making a strategic push
right now toward the city of Pokrovsk.
President Zelenskyy says Russia is preparing an offensive in three directions that Moscow has a three to one manpower advantage.
Stephen Sestanovich is a senior fellow for Russian and Eurasian Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, and also served as U.S. Ambassador-at-
large to the states which were previously part of the Soviet Union. It is good to have you with us this hour.
You know, I just want to pick up on a point that Nick was just mentioning, and the fact is, we had this call today, and that was largely an effort, of
course, by European leaders, by President Zelenskyy to get in Donald Trump's ear, to make very clear what they believe the message should be.
The reality is he will be essentially alone, except for translators with Vladimir Putin. That is a far different dynamic. What do you make of the
fact that at this moment, that is what we know about the members or the attendees, I should say, of this meeting?
STEPHEN SESTANOVICH, SENIOR FELLOW FOR RUSSIAN AND EURASIAN STUDIES, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: Well, your reporter in Kyiv is exactly right.
Every day brings a different theme in the way President Trump talks about this meeting. Today, it is severe consequences. One could interpret that as
a desire to build leverage toward Putin. You could also interpret it as just a desire to look like a tough guy before the meeting for European and
domestic audiences.
You know, yesterday's formula about the meeting was the President was going to be in listening mode; the day before that, he was talking actively about
land swaps. I think it is clear that the president could play this in any number of ways, and that gives Ukrainians and Europeans many reasons to
worry.
HILL: Yes, and when we look at where things stand, I just want to take almost point by point if we could, in terms of these "severe consequences,"
which are the words that the President used earlier today, what do you see that would actually fit that bill at this point?
SESTANOVICH: Well, one of the things that has been mentioned and that came up apparently in the meeting with the Europeans is sanctions on countries
that import Russian oil and energy. That means, in particular India and China. I think, it is going to be extremely hard to do that.
The one alternative is, of course, to tighten sanctions on Russia itself, on you know, financial sanctions, attempts to get at some of these energy
transactions through pressure on foreign banks, but then there is in addition to the sort of economic grab bag of policies, there is just a
question of military assistance to Ukraine.
[16:10:05]
And for some reason, the administration has shied away from that and has treated that as something that's over. But if there is a clear enough
message from Putin that he is driving forward with his military campaign, I think that's something that the United States is going to have to revisit,
not just a willingness to sell weapons that you Europeans will pay for, but a resumption of the direct military assistance that until the beginning of
this year and continuing to some degree now was what defined American policy.
HILL: There are a lot of questions about -- and there is certainly a fair amount of speculation about why Putin would agree to this meeting now. Does
it give him an upper hand? Does it serve as a helpful distraction, right, to try to continue the war?
I am also fascinated at the idea of who Vladimir Putin is, right, coming up through the ranks, given his background in the KGB and the way he
approaches a meeting with a foreign leader, specifically the American President and this President, right, who does enjoy flattery and stroking
of an ego. How does someone with his background approach a Donald Trump? What is that dynamic like?
SESTANOVICH: Well. Putin, I think, has a slightly overrated reputation as a master manipulator of people that he is sitting across the table from to --
you know, to be manipulated that way, you've got to be somewhat willing to do it and unfortunately, President Trump has told Putin -- has shown Putin
over the years that he is willing to have that kind of manipulation.
What is a little different now is that the costs are pretty great. I mean, I think the President knows that looking as though he has been manipulated
by Putin is -- it is a bad look. It is dangerous for him politically. It undermines his ability to, you know, work with other governments if he
conveys that kind of weakness, we don't really know whether Trump is worried about that perception. But I think the evidence is he is at least a
little bit worried about it. And that's something that you know, Putin is going to have to reckon with, too.
He can't go into this meeting assuming that the President is quite as easy a mark as he has seemed in the past.
HILL: Well, as we all count down, we will certainly be watching for what we get out of that meeting on Friday.
Stephen, great to have your perspective. Thank you.
SESTANOVICH: Thanks.
HILL: Just ahead here, shares in crypto exchange, Bullish soaring in its market debut even after raising its IPO price. We are going to dig in next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:15:31]
HILL: The Port of Los Angeles says July was its busiest month on record when it moved more than a million containers, and more than half of that
volume was generated by imports. This is a far cry from a few months back, when steep tariffs brought trade between the U.S. and China to a
standstill.
Businesses are now hoping that a trade truce could lead to a lasting agreement, and that is particularly true for companies selling games and
toys. Most of their products, including this board game, which I have with me here, Wingspan. This one made in China.
Jamey Stegmaier is the President of Stonemaier Games, which makes Wingspan. He is actually part of a lawsuit as well, suing the administration over its
tariff policy and joins me now.
Jamey, it is really good to have you with us. I mean, first of all, just walk us through. I mean, I think it is so important for our viewers to
understand what it is like to be a small business and how you're navigating this moment when it comes to the tariffs. What's your daily reality?
JAMEY STEGMAIER, PRESIDENT, STONEMAIER GAMES: Yes. Thanks for -- thanks for asking about that.
Our daily reality is, our job is to serve our customers. I am trying to serve my customers and my coworkers on a daily basis and what the tariffs
have done is that for every $10.00 that we spend to make a game at our longtime 13-year partner in China, we have to pay an extra $3.00 in tariff
taxes to the U.S. government. So it is a direct hit on Stonemaier Games as a small business on really a daily basis at this point.
HILL: Have you started passing that cost on, that direct hit, passing on to your consumers?
STEGMAIER: That's a great question, and I think we've seen less inflation than I expected at this time of year, and I think businesses like mine are
really trying hard to serve our customers by not increasing prices if we can, and eating those extra costs ourselves. The only thing that we've
really done is on our U.S. web store, we now have an option at checkout where a customer can add a $3.00 tariff offset gift card if they want,
$3.00 representing the 30 percent tax on goods imported from China now, if they want. It is an optional expense that they can add to their cart if
they want or they cannot do that. It is their choice. We are trying to put that in the hands of our customers at this point.
HILL: You have also, as I noted, you joined this lawsuit with a number of other companies. Customers tend to be pretty vocal. Whatever they may want
to express in terms of their opinion. What are you hearing from your customers about the fact that you joined that lawsuit?
STEGMAIER: Well, we've heard a variety of opinions from customers. Those who support President Trump's efforts and those who don't and what I've
tried to emphasize to everyone who has paid attention to these lawsuits is that no matter the political party of the President, we would have pursued
this lawsuit because we strongly believe that tariff taxes aren't in the power of the President, they belong in Congress, where we can have that
check and balance of Congress making sure that tariffs are applied, if applied at all, are applied for the right reasons and not for political
reasons or whimsy, as we saw back in April when tariffs escalated from zero all the way up to 145 within a matter of days.
HILL: You know, I am educating myself a little bit on your company, I mean, this really seems to be that this grew out of a -- not only a personal
passion, but really a labor of love.
You are a small company. You're based in St. Louis, based in Missouri. The fact that you're at this point and that your main manufacturer is in China,
I know, I am sure you hear it from people, but we know that part of the push by President Trump is that he wants to either bring manufacturing back
or just to have it happen more often and have more of it happen in the U.S. on a regular basis. Is that an option for you? Could you switch your
manufacturing to the United States at this point?
STEGMAIER: I think it would be incredibly difficult to do so. It would require us to significantly change any new products that we make in the
future, and it would basically make it pretty much impossible for us to make anything new that is compatible with any of the products that we
already made. You mentioned Wingspan.
Wingspan has very specific card stocks, very specific curvature on the cards. Even the material we use for the rulebook is very special. We
selected this from a number of different options presented to us by our longtime partner in China. All of those options would go away if were in
the U.S. We would be heavily limited based on what we can make, how customized we can make it.
And again, coming back to how we want to serve our customers with premium products, we can do that best with our long-time partner in China and not
as well, unfortunately, here in the U.S.
HILL: As I know you're well aware, there has now been an extension, right, another 90-day extension into November as the United States and China try
to come to an agreement here.
[16:20:10]
Let's say these tariffs stay at the 30 percent that you're dealing with right now. Can your business survive?
STEGMAIER: At 30 percent, it is sustainable. It is definitely a hit. There is tariff taxes. These are taxes that we weren't paying to the government
before. We were already paying all of our other taxes to the government as a company, but 30 percent is manageable; 145 percent, which it briefly was
back in April, that is not sustainable.
So we can we can manage with 30 percent. We have actually moved a small portion of our manufacturing to a partner in Brazil. But then Brazil was
hit with 50 percent tariffs, which is less sustainable than 30 percent. So that has made things more complicated as well.
HILL: Yes, I was going to say Brazil, maybe not the best option in this moment either.
Listen, Jamey, we really appreciate you taking the time to talk to us and to just walk us through. Again, it is so important to understand the impact
on businesses across the board. So thank you again. And you know, keep us posted.
STEGMAIER: Thank you.
HILL: This was a pretty big day for crypto exchange, Bullish making its market debut. The company's CEO, Tom Farley right there ringing the opening
bell. He was at one time the president of the New York Stock Exchange where he guided major IPOs. Bullish shares soaring on their first day of trading
there. The stock jumped from its IPO price of $37.00 per share. You can see there closing about 89 percent higher.
Allison Morrow is joining me now from New York with more.
I mean, talk about a strong showing. This also -- it is a strong showing for the company, but it also, I would think, says even a little bit more
about crypto in this moment in the crypto exchange.
ALLISON MORROW, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR EDITOR: Absolutely, Erica.
Bullish really lived up to its name today. You know, it closed up as you said at 89 percent or so. It was up -- it tripled in intraday trading. You
know the enthusiasm was really there from the beginning. And that has a lot to do with the enthusiasm for crypto right now. The industry just got a
bunch of regulatory clearances through congress and that has -- and the President's embrace of crypto has also just kind of laid into that
enthusiasm and made it seem like a promising investment.
I will say it is also a very risky investment, but that's one of the things that Bullish has going for it. It is a name like Tom Farley that a lot of
investors know and trust, and Bullish focuses its platform on Bitcoin and Ether, which are kind of the two household names in crypto that are seen as
less risky.
HILL: And it is also bit of a moment for IPOs in general lately, right? I mean, there have been some fairly significant ones, in the short term. What
can be read into that when it comes to the health of the market?
MORROW: It is always in the eye of the beholder. In some instances, this kind of exuberance is seen as a high risk market. People are throwing money
around and kind of ignoring the risks to the broader economy. I've had a lot of analysts tell me that tariffs and the threat of inflation and, and
problems in the economy are kind of just getting ignored on Wall Street because they are laser focused on the Fed cutting rates, which is expected
to happen next month, and keeping their focus trained on that, it is easy to kind of lose sight of some of the broader, longer term risks.
HILL: Allison, really appreciate it. Good to see you. Thanks.
MORROW: Thanks.
HILL: So the best way to prevent A.I. from ever turning against its creators could come down to instilling it with a basic human feeling. The
so-called Godfather of A.I., Geoffrey Hinton, telling an industry conference in Las Vegas that technology will become smarter than us. He
says the tech industry's current efforts to keep A.I. submissive, he doesn't believe that's going to work.
His solution, build maternal instincts into A.I. models so that they care about people and have a sense of compassion.
Here is CNN's Clare Duffy with more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: An alarming warning from one of the original and leading voices in the A.I. space. You'll remember that
Geoffrey Hinton has been warning about some of these existential risks that he sees from A.I. since he decided to leave his job at Google two years
ago, but now he is sort of taking shots at what he calls the tech bros that are leading A.I. companies right now, saying they are taking the wrong
approach to A.I. safety by trying to ensure that humans remain dominant over A.I. systems.
Instead, in his mind, as or if I should say, A.I. becomes smarter than humans, which many people think that it will, he worries that it will be
able to manipulate us and prioritize its own interests and ability to function over humans needs. Instead, he thinks that humans need to be
training A.I. systems to be more like our mothers, to prioritize our well- being even when they are smarter and more powerful than us.
Let's take a quick listen to some of the comments that he made at this A.I. Conference in Las Vegas on Tuesday.
GEOFFREY HINTON, "GODFATHER OF A.I.": I think people have been looking at this all wrong. So people have been saying because their tech bros, they've
been saying we have to stay in control of these A.I.s. We've somehow got to be stronger than them. We've got to be dominant and they've got to be
submissive.
That's not going to work. They're going to be much smarter than us. They're going to have all sorts of ways of getting around that.
[16:25:21]
So we need to reframe this problem. It's not that we have to be stronger than them in staying control of them. We have to make it so that when they
are more powerful than us and smarter than us, they still care about us.
So the right model is the only model we have of a more intelligent thing being controlled by a less intelligent thing, which is a mother being
controlled by her baby.
DUFFY: Now, he doesn't necessarily make clear how he thinks these tech companies should be training A.I. systems to have that maternal instinct,
and I do think it is worth noting that there are leaders in the A.I. space who disagree with Hinton about how much of an existential risk A.I. truly
poses to humans. Certainly, at this point, A.I. systems continue to get sort of basic tasks wrong. So it is still rather hard to think about them
being that much smarter or that much more powerful than humans. But certainly, a stark warning from one of the most prominent voices in this
space.
Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HILL: Clare, appreciate it.
Mexico has transferred dozens of high ranking cartel members to the United States to stand trial. Mexico's Security Secretary says the Justice
Department agreed not to seek the death penalty in their cases. Among those now in U.S. custody, the leaders of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel,
which the U.S. has designated as a terrorist organization and a suspect accused of killing a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy.
Valeria Leon joins us now from Mexico City with more on this deal.
So what more do we know about these individuals and the deal itself -- Valeria.
VALERIA LEON, CNN EN ESPANOL CORRESPONDENT: Erica, well, the Mexican government just said that it decided to hand over these 26 high ranking
cartel members to the U.S. because they continued operating their criminal organizations from inside Mexican prisons. This was revealed just a few
hours ago by Security Secretary Omar Garcia Harfuch during a press conference in Mexico City this morning.
While it is no secret that Mexican prisons can be a school for crime, the prominence of the criminals sent to the U.S. raises questions about cartel
operations in the country. Also, Mexican authorities confirmed today that it was for security reasons they decided to send these criminals, along
with meeting Trump administration demands.
This morning, President Claudia Sheinbaum talked about this issue. Let's take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLAUDIA SHEINBAUM, MEXICAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We can say that in all of these cases, the cases of extradition or the transfer of these
members of organized crime, the decision is for our country's safety.
These are sovereign decisions and are not related to a request from the U.S. government, although many of them do have such requests and there are
many others who still have request.
The decision made by Mexico's National Security Council is intended to help ensure the security of the country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEON: And this marks a new way of securing relationships between the U.S. and Mexico. These extraditions to the U.S. may alarm drug kingpins in
Mexico because they are used to the corruption of the country's prisons. However, there is no indication that any of this has had any real impact on
the cartel's business, but the suspects were flown north on Tuesday and this move came in lockstep with ongoing negotiations between the two
countries in the midst of near constant tariff hike threats by the Trump administration while Mexico has managed to fend off the latest round of
tariffs by a month-and-a-half, it is now taking a more cooperative stance in response to pressure from The White House.
Even the U.S. Embassy in Mexico emphasized that this new transfer of criminals marked a new era for U.S.-Mexico relations, and it was the U.S.
Ambassador to Mexico, Ronald Johnson, who put out a message thanking Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum yesterday, saying that he is deeply
grateful to President Sheinbaum and her administration for demonstrating determination in the fight against organized crime.
Meanwhile, yesterday, the U.S. government updated its travel advisory for Mexico, warning its citizens to stay away or use caution in 30 out of the
32 Mexican states due to serious security issues, including terrorism -- Erica.
HILL: Valeria, really appreciate it. Thank you.
Still to come here, President Trump paying a visit today to the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts as he further puts his stamp on the nation's
capital.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:33:04]
HILL: President Trump's effort to put his stamp on Washington led him today to the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, where he said he'll oversee
a sweeping revamp of the center and its programing.
He announced plans to personally host the annual award show in December. The next recipients of the Kennedy Center Honors, which were announced at
the event today, include country music star George Strait, the actors Michael Crawford and Sylvester Stallone, singer Gloria Gaynor, and the rock
band Kiss.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I would say I was about 98 percent involved. No, they all went through me. They came over, Rick and
Sergio and everybody. They said, I turned down plenty. They were too woke. I turned them -- I had a couple of wokesters. No, we have great people.
This is very different than it used to be.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: Trump is also taking a personal interest in the Smithsonian Institution. The White House on Tuesday ordered the Smithsonian to review
eight of its museums. It wants to make sure they present American history in an uplifting way, as required by an executive order signed back in
March.
Kristen Holmes joins us now from the White House.
There are also questions about just how much reach the White House would have when it comes to the Smithsonian -- Kristen.
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And, Erica, there's a lot of questions as to what this means for history. There's one
thing if you are putting your stamp on culture or trying to impact culture, but it's quite another if you are trying to impact or change history in any
way.
So as we know, the White House is conducting this extensive review on these Smithsonian museums and according to a letter, it said this, that, "This
review aims to ensure alignment with the president's directive to celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives, and
restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions."
Of course, again, the big question there is, what exactly does it mean when you're talking about removing divisive or partisan narratives? What kind of
content is that? How far does that go?
[16:35:02]
So you're hearing a lot of people be deeply concerned as to what this is actually going to mean for the Smithsonian Institutions, particularly when
it comes to them putting history on display. There, of course, have been reports that President Trump and the White House wants to remove a display
about his impeachment, that goes through his impeachment while he was in office the first term.
That's one thing to do while he is in office. But again, if you're trying to rewrite a narrative when it comes to some of the things that really
helped shape America, including slavery, for example, that is something that is going to impact a lot of people and likely face a lot of blowback.
HILL: Yes, absolutely. Slavery, the Native American, the indigenous experience, a lot of important moments that may not be perhaps the best
moments of the United States but certainly important in shaping where we are.
Kristen, appreciate it.
Well, a number of Californians at this point are reeling from the wildfires that scorched greater Los Angeles earlier this year. Those fires, of
course, destroyed homes, businesses, cars, frankly, entire neighborhoods. An artist from the area saw an opportunity to make something beautiful,
though, out of those ashes.
Ben Tuna is working to transform now some classic cars that were torched in those fires with his stained glass artwork. So one of those cars, a
Porsche, is part of a project aptly named "Resurrection."
Ben Tuna joins me now from the Motorlux Auto Show in Monterey, California.
And as I understand it, Ben, this is the first of these cars that you have on display there at this at this art show. Tell me a little bit more about
it. What's the inspiration for this?
BEN TUNA, ARTIST: Hi. Well, I am a stained glass artist, and I've been working in this field for 15 years now, and I also love cars. And I have
been kind of bored with my architectural work. So I decided to do something kind of fun and different. And this opportunity came up. I saw this shell
of a car, and I thought it shouldn't go to waste. This still is so beautiful. And these old church windows combined in the car turned out
really neat. So.
HILL: So are these all -- so the car itself was damaged in the fires. You saw that. We're seeing some images of the car there and of you at work, and
these gorgeous stained glass windows. Are these all windows that you designed specifically for that car or are parts of them from reclaimed
stained glass windows as well?
TUNA: So the windows all come from old churches that are decommissioned. So old, 150-year old churches all across the country. And the glass was
originally made in Europe, mostly in Germany, late 1800s. So I take old salvaged windows from churches that are closing down and then take them
apart. And then I re-mosaic the pieces back together and then apply it to a lot of architectural projects. And now this car and the next car.
HILL: Yes, I mean, they're really -- they're really gorgeous as we're looking at some of these images. You know, noting that this is a car, and
"Resurrection" is the name of the project. These cars damaged in the California wildfires. They're obviously here -- this car is here as part of
the art show. What is your ultimate goal? Is it selling them to art collectors and to those who appreciate the art? Is it -- is a portion of
that to give back to people who are impacted by the fires?
TUNA: Yes, we're definitely going to do a car for auction. And my goal is to -- is to sell these cars as art pieces. I am trying to make the
transition with my knowledge and with my experience in the trade, make a transition into the art world, because for so long, stained glass artists
have been not really focused on and not really thought about as artists, mostly as tradespeople and craftspeople.
And the truth is, is that they're great artists and they have been great artists this entire time, and often they don't even sign their own work,
which I think is really interesting being so talented and creating such incredible works of art. So, yes, I think the goal is to -- is to shed some
light on the stained glass industry and on the talented people that have been working in this world for thousands of years.
HILL: Yes, one of them, of course, your dad, you're following in his footsteps, so you certainly know of what you speak.
Ben, really appreciate you taking the time to join us. Best of luck with everything.
TUNA: Thank you. I appreciate it.
HILL: Well, as we look at things that are shaping up in the nation's capital, White House official now says the National Guard will expand its
presence tonight in Washington, D.C. It's now been three days since President Trump ordered troops to patrol the streets of the capital. And he
claims crime there is on the rise and that is why he felt it necessary to make this move. The Army says National Guard troops are backing up other
law enforcement officers in the city.
Gabe Cohen has more now from Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, President Trump now says he plans to extend his order federalizing D.C.'s police force well beyond the 30 days
that the initial order called for. The president claiming he can do it through executive order if he wants, although he may go to Congress for
approval.
[16:40:05]
The president also criticizing the police statistics that the Metropolitan Police Department here in D.C. keeps, which show that violent crime over
the past couple years has been dropping pretty significantly after a severe spike back in 2023. The president saying that that data is incorrect and
that violent crime in D.C. is at an all-time high.
Here's what he had to say a little bit earlier.
TRUMP: We've worked with the mayor for six months, and she's been here for many years, and the numbers are worse than they ever. Don't let anyone tell
you they're not. And the whole statistical charts that they made, the whole thing is a rigged deal. They got rid of the guy that --because he didn't
want to do the numbers the way they wanted to, and they put their own numbers out. They said it's the best in 20 years. No, it's the worst in 20
years.
COHEN: President Trump also criticized D.C.'s Mayor Muriel Bowser, saying that the two have a fine relationship, but that the mayor has not really
been doing her job.
Bowser was a fierce vocal critic of the president during his first term. But since Trump took office again in January, Bowser has really tempered
her language, toed the line, trying not to antagonize the president, although last night she gave really her stiffest criticism yet of President
Trump's actions federalizing the police force here, saying that it is an authoritarian push, although just this morning, both the police chief here
in D.C., as well as the mayor, said that perhaps surging federal law enforcement resources here could benefit the district.
I did reach out to the mayor's office after the president's criticisms today, and they declined to comment.
Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HILL: Gabe Cohen reporting for us there in Washington.
Well, Wall Street closing higher on growing hopes of a federal rate cut coming at their meeting next month. The Treasury secretary even suggesting
a half point cut may be possible. The Dow ultimately gaining 463 points on the day, finishing just off the session high.
Let's take a closer look at some of those Dow components. UnitedHealth Group at the top up nearly 4 percent. Merck not far behind there. Nvidia,
down 0.8 percent after CoreWeave, which is a data center operator, reported a larger than expected quarterly loss. Walmart off 2.5 percent after Amazon
expanded own food delivery service, creating some competition with Walmart Plus,
That is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS for this Wednesday. I'm Erica Hill. Thanks so much for joining me here. Up next, "MARKETPLACE ASIA."
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[16:45:33]
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