Return to Transcripts main page
Quest Means Business
Minnesota Officials Give Update on Deadly School Shooting; Police: Shooter Died of Self-Inflicted Wound; At Least Two Children Killed and 17 Injured in Shooting; At Least Two Children Killed and 17 Injured in Shooting; Make the U.K. Great Again; Nvidia Reports Quarterly Earnings; Okta Shares Soar After Q2 Earnings Beat; Rheinmetall Opens New Ammunition Factory in Germany. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired August 27, 2025 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:00]
ARCHBISHOP BERNARD HEBDA, CATHOLIC ARCHDIOCESE OF ST. PAUL AND MINNESOTA: Certainly that the bell in a Catholic Church is always a call to prayer,
and so it is a reminder for us for sure to be praying, and we have to recognize that it is through prayer and through that prayer of the feet,
through that action, that we can indeed make a difference. That has to be the source of our hope.
I was particularly pleased today to receive a message from Pope Leo, if you'd bear with me, I'd like to share that with you.
It comes directly from Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who is the Secretary of State, and it reads like this: "His Holiness, Pope Leo XIV was profoundly
saddened to learn of the loss of life and injuries following the shooting that took place at Annunciation Church in Minneapolis, and he sends his
heartfelt condolences and the assurance of spiritual closeness to all those affected by this terrible tragedy especially the families now grieving the
loss of a child. While commending the souls of the deceased children to the love of Almighty God, His Holiness prays for the wounded as well as the
first responders, medical personnel, and clergy who are caring for them and their loved ones."
"At this extremely difficult time, the Holy Father imparts to the Annunciation Catholic School Community, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and
Minneapolis, and the people of the Greater Twin Cities Metropolitan Area, his apostolic blessing as a pledge of peace, fortitude and consolation in
the Lord Jesus."
My brothers and sisters, that gives me some hope. We know that the Holy Father, Pope Leo, did his hospital training right here in Minneapolis, so
he knows our community and he has been reminding anybody visiting from Minnesota that he spent some time here. we are very grateful for his
blessing, but I, like those who have spoken before ask that you would continue to think -- look for those ways of supporting those who have been
impacted today, not only with your prayers, but also with your action. Thank you.
And, Chief, I now turn this back to you for your questions.
CHIEF BRIAN O'HARA, MINNEAPOLIS POLICE DEPARTMENT: Thank you, Archbishop.
As I mentioned, obviously the investigation continues in its preliminary stages. I will take some questions now. And additionally, we will let you
know when we can provide some updated information.
REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE)
O'HARA: The question from Matt was how are the injured students doing? I believe all of them have their parents with them now, and they are all
expected to survive. All of the remaining victims are expected to survive. There is a range of injuries, however.
REPORTER: Chief, you said the records were that the weapons were acquired legally. Do we know when and where they were acquired?
O'HARA: Yes. I can tell you they were purchased recently.
REPORTER: Chief, can you tell us anything more about a Possible motive here? We've also heard reports that the suspected shooter's mother was
employed here at some point. Can you confirm that as well?
O'HARA: Okay, so the question was on a possible motive and a relationship to the church or to the school? I cannot -- I have no information to share
on a motive other than saying, again that there was some sort of manifesto that was timed to come out on YouTube. It has been taken down, and our
investigators are going through that to try and develop a motive from that.
Additionally, there are these three search warrants happening in residential locations, and we may very well, you know, find more
information or writings that could give some sense to that, but we don't have that now, and I cannot confirm, a relationship between the suspect or
his family and this church at this time, but that's obviously something were looking very closely at.
REPORTER: Can you confirm at this point whether it was in fact by the suspect or the believed at this point that it is, in fact, from him? And
second question --
O'HARA: What was by the suspect? I'm sorry. Okay. Yep.
So the question was about the manifesto. We do believe it was by the suspect. Yes.
REPORTER: We understand that you've seen some documents about the name change that somebody with the same name as the suspect, has filed for a few
years ago. Do you believe this to be the same person that Robin Westman was, in fact, born with a different name at this point? And can you speak a
little bit more about the identity?
O'HARA: Yep. So the question was about the suspect, and he had had a name change at some point in the past. I cannot confirm that, other than
confirming the identity, the name that I gave you, the age that is the suspect. That's the person that we believe has caused this.
REPORTER: Chief, you mentioned these videos posted on YouTube seemingly scheduled to be posted right after the shooting. Is there anything that the
suspect posted days prior, months prior, that could shed any light on your mindset?
[16:05:00]
O'HARA: Yep. So the question was we mentioned that the YouTube videos were scheduled to be posted. Is there anything else in social media that may
shed some light into this?
We do not have information on that at this time that I am able to share. However, our investigators and our law enforcement partners are definitely
looking at that.
REPORTER: How many children and parishioners were in the church when this happened?
O'HARA: So the question was, how many children and parishioners were in the church when this happened?
This was towards the beginning of mass. So some of the children were already filed into the church and were seated. Others were coming in. I've
heard estimates, but we will release a more definitive number.
REPORTER: Minneapolis Police officers have had a tough couple of days. I know were talking about the children this incident, but there were several
shootings yesterday.
O'HARA: Yep.
REPORTER: How is the resourcing going for you? Are you getting help from other places?
O'HARA: Yep. So his question was resources for Minneapolis Police. Due to the other challenges we've had the last 24 hours, obviously, this has been
the most difficult. The dozens of officers that responded to this scene, many of them are deeply traumatized by what they saw as are obviously, all
of the children, all of the staff members, Father Dennis, everyone who was at mass this morning.
So obviously that has been our number one priority is to care for the health and wellness of the officers that responded here.
Additionally, obviously, we have responded to other challenging situations, and other acts of violence. I can say in regard to the shooting that
happened outside of the high school yesterday, we have arrested two people for assisting in that shooting. We have not gotten the shooter yet, but we
believe we have two people under arrest that were present with the shooter when that happened and we are making significant progress.
There was an additional arrest at a homicide last night that happened on the 2700 block of Third Avenue South. That person has not been booked
specifically for being responsible for that murder, but we believe -- we believe that is the person who caused that, so --
REPORTER: -- had to deal with him?
O'HARA: No. No. Unfortunately not.
REPORTER: A lot of the top politicians here, the principal and others have said that this can never happen again. I am just wondering if you have a
suggestion for where we start to make sure it doesn't ever happen again.
O'HARA: Yes, so the question was, where do we start to make sure this doesn't happen again. I don't have an answer for that at this time.
REPORTER: -- from the federal that there is an idea that this might be investigated. I am asking you, perhaps, Archbishop, is this investigation
that you have -- open to comment on that?
O'HARA: So the question is, is this an investigation into a hate crime against Catholics? We don't have a motive at this time. Obviously, we are
open to any possibilities at all, but we don't have a motive or anything to suggest that.
REPORTER: Is there any more safety -- any more protective measures that are implemented at other Catholic schools throughout the Twin Cities or
churches? I am sure there are masses going around right now this afternoon.
O'HARA: Yes.
REPORTER: It's just a week out from or a few days before the start of school.
O'HARA: Yes. So the question is, the concern for other churches, other schools around the Metro? Unfortunately, this is something that our
community has been dealing with for some time. You know, the threat of active shooters, the threat of hate crimes at houses of worship,
unfortunately, is not something new here.
And of course, our precinct inspectors, our crime prevention specialists are available to work with both houses of worship, churches and schools
that do reach out to assist in any additional security measures or advice that we can offer them.
REPORTER: To follow up, are you aware if this is the first time that actually a Catholic mass has been targeted and there have been victims
inside a Catholic church during mass in the Twin Cities.
O'HARA: In the Twin Cities --
HEBDA: I am unaware of any other.
O'HARA: Yes. From the Archbishop -- the question was, is this the first time that there has been attack of Catholics at mass in the Twin Cities
area? The Archbishop is unaware of any other attack.
REPORTER: Are you saying that this is being investigated as domestic terrorism? Are you also tracking this --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So last question --
O'HARA: The question was, is it being investigated by the FBI?
REPORTER: This is domestic terrorism. Is that what you're tracking?
O'HARA: Well, the FBI is here with us and has been a part of this entire investigation, as well as the ATF, other law enforcement. It is being led
right now by the Minneapolis Police Department and we are looking at obviously any possibilities from wherever the evidence will lead us from
what we recover. Absolutely.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you all again so much for your time today, for your support. Thank you.
[16:10:10]
Yes, I think there's probably two names you would like spelling for. It is Principal Matt Deboer -- M-A-T-T-D-E-B-O-E-R.
RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST, "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS": All right, so there we are. That all came to an end a little bit quicker than I was
expecting. The officials in Minneapolis of varying types, giving updates on a shooting, the like of which is just almost beyond the ability to describe
in words. It is a deliberate act.
Two children are now dead and 17 people are injured after a gunman opened fire through the windows. Now, that would be bad enough, but the details
then sort of take it into a great deal worse. It was during a mass that was being held at the Assumption School marking the first day of the Catholic
school, the Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis.
The two children killed were aged eight and ten. A ten-year-old told reporters that his friends protected him from bullets and bear with me,
bear with us all -- it is unspeakable the horror that they witnessed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WESTON HALSNE, FIFTH GRADER, ANNUNCIATION CATHOLIC SCHOOL: I was like two seats away from the stained glass windows, so they were like -- the shots
were like right next to me.
I think I got, like, gunpowder on my neck. I just ran under the pew, and then I covered my head. My friend Victor, like, saved me, though, because
he laid on top of me, but he got hit.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: Now you heard law enforcement there has named the shooter as Robin Westman, and the shooter is, well, the whole shooting is being investigated
as an act of domestic terrorism and hate crimes targeting Catholics.
Isabel Rosales is tracking developments. Isabel is with us now.
We will get to the shooter and what we know about him and the difficulties with the name and all of that. We will get to that in just a second. Let's
just focus on the victims of what we know about, the number of people who are in hospital, the number of people dead. I mean, what can you tell us
about what we know.
ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, if I can start on something good, if anything can be said out of this entire scenario is the fact that we
heard from the Police Chief. We heard from --
QUEST: I am not sure I am hearing you, perhaps your mic may have just fallen off. While you just check, possibly your microphone had just slipped
off.
Charles Ramsey is with us, our senior law enforcement analyst and retired police chief.
Charles, you and I have spoken on many occasions. I mean, where does one even begin with this one?
CHARLES RAMSEY, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Yes, it just doesn't stop and this is horrific in so many different ways. But it is what we deal
with now in this country and in our society, the kind of gun violence, the senseless killing all those kinds of things, you know, listening to the
latest press conference, there was more information that was provided. They did have the name of the suspect quite early on, but in any investigation,
you want to get a jump on others. So you want to be able to check for that social media footprint, get search warrants together, execute those search
warrants, do all of that prior to the name being released and all of that is happening.
Now, there was a manifesto associated with this videos and so forth. We don't have a lot of information about that right now, but I am sure that
both the Minneapolis Police Department and the FBI are going through that very carefully.
QUEST: Stay with me, Charles. I am going back to Isabel now who we hopefully we will be able to hear.
Bring us up to date on what you know of what is happening in Minneapolis.
ROSALES: Richard, my apologies for that audio issue.
QUEST: Yes, please, please.
ROSALES: Let me give you an update now from the Police Chief, Brian O'Hara, who said that if there is any good light news that is coming out of this
horrible scenario, is that all remaining victims are expected to survive. So that's great news.
We are getting more information about those that have been injured and those that have been killed. So there are a total of 19 victims, to give
you kind of the numbers and the humanity behind those numbers, 19 victims in total, two children have been killed, the ages of eight and ten, as they
were sitting there in the pews praying, first week of school.
Fourteen children in total have been injured between the ages of six years old and 15, three adults in their 80s were also injured. But again, all
remaining victims are expected to survive.
[16:15:02]
QUEST: Charles, there is no way, as I understand it, stay with me as well, Isabel, as I understand having listened to the police chief and listened to
all the others, this person, Robin Westman, whatever his name is not known, no criminal background, but the gun was purchased recently, we believe
where there is obviously no reason to suspect. So what -- this is unfathomable in terms of prevention.
RAMSEY: Well, you know, the FBI does a lot of research in in terms of mass murderers, serial killers and the like and they are of the belief and I
agree with it and the evidence over time has really shown that this isn't a situation where people just wake up one day and decide they're going to do
something like this. They call it leakage.
There are very -- there are different things that happen along the way that a person starts to display certain tendencies and many people, including
family members, you know, hope for the best and don't think they are going to go quite this far, but we have to start paying close attention and not
take anything for granted. If you start to see changes in behavior, you start to see writings on social media or conversation or what have you that
would be an indication that this person is suffering some kind of mental health crisis that could turn violent.
QUEST: I want to go back to you, Isabel. There is -- I heard briefly in the press conference, but it wasn't referred to much more about potential name
change or anything like that. When I was listening to that and the police officer wasn't able to, to go into any more details, do we know anything
about this? Because it is adding an element of confusion to the whole matter.
ROSALES: Certainly, we don't have CNN reporting on this supposed name change yet, so we are asking those very same questions, trying to piece
together what is known about the shooter. But all that we have confirmed from authorities are that the shooter's name is Robin Westman, 23 years
old, dead by a self-inflicted gunshot wound. No prior criminal history, to the point that the chief was making there.
So they're investigating this motive and something that could be really eye opening here, provide them those details, are these search warrants that
they're filing and the chief said that they are filing four of them in total, one at the church to go in there and then three associated with
prior residences for this shooter.
Another thing that kind of caught my attention there as well is that the chief mentioned there was a manifesto that was published onto YouTube, a
video showing the shooter there at the location at the school, and writings as well, before they got YouTube to take that down.
QUEST: Charles, factor all that in. Where do we go from here?
RAMSEY: Well, I mean, obviously, you know, there is going to be a lot of conversation around, you know, the typical things -- gun control and all
those kinds of things.
Listen, and I realize that, you know, this is just me personally. Nothing is going to happen. Our elected officials won't do a damn thing other than
say, oh, this is horrible. This is terrible. But there are some steps that could be taken. There is nothing that would prevent us from really taking a
deep look into this or we can protect Second Amendment rights for those that should have guns, but keep guns out of hands of people who are
suffering from mental health type issues, people who have criminal backgrounds, all of these kinds of things and assault weapons.
I mean, we've got to have serious conversation. Why do we need those kinds of weapons on the streets of our city? I know a lot of people don't want to
hear that, but to me you know, we've got to have the conversations because this is going to happen again. It is only a question of where it is going
to happen.
QUEST: And while we were talking, I am hoping our producers will find me the clip of the mayor who was speaking earlier, the Mayor of Minneapolis,
Jacob Frey, who was extremely -- well, obviously upset and distressed by it all because, Isabel, you know, I was also listening to Kevin Liptak earlier
talking from The White House, and Charles makes the point, there is a depressing reality for all three of us here. We cover this all the time.
We all know what statements are going to come out. We could write them before -- you know, before we go to bed, and nothing will change -- Isabel.
ROSALES: Right. It is thoughts and prayers, sending the deepest condolences, all as we know as a fact from the CDC, the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention that gun violence is the leading cause of children's death here in the United States, and now, this one marking yet another
number, the 44th school shooting in the United States this year, and that's exactly you know, what we heard in this press conference -- condolences and
sympathies.
But you also heard a mayor pissed off, if I can say that, Richard --
QUEST: Yes.
ROSALES: -- at this situation.
[16:20:10]
QUEST: Let's have a listen to him. We have the mayor. Have a listen to him, then follow up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR JACOB FREY (D), MINNEAPOLIS: These were Minneapolis families. These were American families. And the amount of pain that they are suffering
right now is extraordinary and don't just say this is about thoughts and prayers right now. These kids were literally praying.
It was the first week of school. They were in a church. These are kids that should be learning with their friends. They should be playing on the
playground. They should be able to go to school or church in peace without the fear or risk of violence and their parents should have the same kind of
assurance.
These are the sort of basic assurances that every family should have, every step of the day, regardless of where they are in our country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: Isabel, continue where you left off.
ROSALES: Right, saying, hey, no more thoughts and prayers. What more can you ask than children sitting in pews praying? I mean, this is a Catholic
school, and yet, even if it is a school, if it is a grocery store, if its anywhere out in public, no one seems to be safe from gun violence that is
occurring and he is calling for gun reform.
QUEST: Charles, before we take a break, I just want to refer back to -- I remember very clearly President Obama after one of the mass shootings,
saying other countries don't have this. This is not normal. Yes. You get isolated incidents. Dunblane, Tasmania, whatever. But by and large, other
countries don't have this level of mass shootings, and the only difference seems to me is that you have the amendment, Right to Bear Arms.
RAMSEY: Well, you know, it has been normalized here in this country, unfortunately. You know, we do this over and over again. In fact, whether
it is a school shooting or just a mass shooting or whatever, and, you know, I am one of the folks that winds up on CNN to talk about it. But most
people in the public know the police procedure as well as I do, because we talk about it so much.
And it is just it -- the frustrating thing is, it is just the reality and this is just not going to change. But it doesn't mean that we are helpless
as a society. We are -- we can do something about it. Kick those politicians out of office that refuse to do anything about this problem and
replace them with thoughtful people that will sit down and have those conversations and come up with a plan, a strategy. Can we protect people's
rights to bear arms? Yes, we can do that. And at the same time, keep guns out of the hands of people that don't need it. And then realistically think
about what kind of weapons do we really need to have available to the public?
You know, they're trying to push through legislation now for suppressors, silencers for guns, as if we need silencers for guns here in the United
States. It is absolutely insane. It is not going to change until we kick them out and put people in there that are thoughtful, that will come up
with solutions.
QUEST: Well, stay with us. We will take a short break.
It is CNN, our continuing coverage of the shooting in Minneapolis, in Minnesota.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:26:11]
QUEST: The top story at this hour: Two children are dead and 17 people injured after a gunman opened fire through windows during a mass marking
the first week of school at the Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis. Now, the two children who were killed were sitting in pews
praying. They were aged eight and ten. Thankfully, we've heard that from the police that the wounded are all expected to survive.
Law enforcement has named the shooter as Robin Westman, but we don't know more details than that, 23-year-old I believe, but we don't know any
further details.
The shooting is being investigated as an act of domestic terrorism and hate crimes targeting Catholics. CNN's Isabel Rosales is tracking the
developments and joins me now.
Well, the latest please.
ROSALES: Richard, we have brand new information in just from our CNN reporting that the shooting suspect, Robin Westman, 23 years old, actually
graduated from Annunciation Catholic Grade School back in 2017. That's according to a yearbook that was obtained by CNN, and that Westman's
mother, the suspected shooter's mother, also previously worked at that school from 2016 through 2021 according to social media posts.
So for the first time, we are getting an inkling here as to a potential motive, a connection here between the suspected shooter and the school that
they targeted.
QUEST: Interesting. And obviously, this will be something that the authorities, Charles Ramsey, if you're still with me, obviously the
authorities will take that connection very seriously.
Of course, you know nothing justifies this, obviously, but that connection will need to be explored in great detail, Charles.
RAMSEY: Yes, I mean, they are going to take a deep dive into all of that, but clearly he knew the layout of the --
QUEST: Are you there? We seem to have --
RAMSEY: Yes, I thought I lost you there for a minute.
QUEST: No. Carry on. Please, Charles, you're still with us.
RAMSEY: Okay clearly, you know, he knew the layout of the of the church of the school. He did try to barricade people in so he could maximize the
number of injuries and deaths that would take place as a result of his actions, and now we know he graduated from that school. His mother worked
there.
Whether he had a personal beef with that particular school, I mean, all of that's part of the investigation to find out exactly what drove him to do
it. I don't think they have enough to know a motive yet, but they will put one together between all the information that they're collecting now, I
think we will get a clearer picture of exactly why.
QUEST: Isabel, as we get more information. I mean, there is a horrible reality to -- a rhythm to these things, isn't there? We will get more
information, the funerals, the services, the testimonials to those who are dead and injured.
But at the moment, this is -- when I say I tis over. I mean, there is no one -- there is no one in great threat at the moment.
ROSALES: Correct. This is -- the community is in the clear. There is no threat to the overall community, but the heartache and the pain is really
just starting to set in.
I mean, we saw live images from our CNN affiliate, WCCO, and we could see parents coming out of there, crying, visibly distraught over what they were
seeing, covering their mouths.
At one point, we saw a woman and a man go in to the school being led in there by police, and then less than a minute later, screams of "Oh God! Oh
God! Oh God!" is what one of our CNN staffers heard there on the ground. Don't know if that was related to one of the two that were killed, but this
is a community that's going to be deeply impacted by this. The pain will be lasting forever.
And as the police chief also said, not just these parents and community members, but also the police officers who will be deeply traumatized by
what they witnessed.
QUEST: Completely, Charles, thank you. Isabel, thank you, both of you for being with us, and I was going to say, making sense of what's happened. Of
course, there is no sense that can be made of it. The best we can do is just put the facts in front of people, and we've done that. Thank you. I am
grateful.
Now, when we come back after the break, we will turn our attention to our normal diet, if you will, and the signs of a weakening economy of the
United Kingdom.
In a moment. The former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt will be with me. He has got a new book out. "Can We Be Great Again: Why a Dangerous
World Needs Britain." He will be with me after the break.
[16:30:57]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Hello, I'm Richard Quest. A lot more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS tonight.
The former British foreign secretary and chancellor of the exchequer, Sir Jeremy Hunt, joins me in just a moment. The CEO of Okta, Okta Verified,
will explain how A.I. can both cause and defend against cyberattacks. We'll only get to it after the news because this is CNN and on this network, the
news always comes first.
An investigation is underway after a shooting at a church in Minnesota. Officials say at least two children are dead and 17 people injured. The
Minneapolis police chief says the shooter approached during mass, which was marking the first week of school. The shooter then fired through the church
windows at people sitting in pews.
President Trump is holding what his special envoy is calling a large meeting at the White House to talk about the war in Gaza. Steve Witkoff
says U.S. officials will discuss a very comprehensive plan on Gaza. Earlier, the Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with the with Israel's
foreign minister.
[16:35:03]
The restaurant chain Cracker Barrel is bringing back its old logo only a day after it got rid of it. The old logo featured the man known as Uncle
Herschel sitting next to a barrel. Last week, it unveiled a new minimalist design with just the name. Well, the shares tanked 12 percent following the
change and now is back.
There are new signs that the U.K. has not yet won its fight against inflation. Wholesale and factory gate inflation rose to a two-year high.
The latest numbers show it reached 1.9 percent from a year before. One more concern for the Bank of England and its governor, Andrew Bailey. He told
central bankers last weekend that the British economy is facing an acute challenge. Weak growth and low workforce participation. And he said the
emphasis needs to be on productivity as the population ages and more working age Britons opt out of the job market.
Sir Jeremy Hunt spent two years steering the British economy as chancellor of the exchequer. Before that, he was Theresa May's foreign secretary. But
this is the interesting bit. He poses the question, "Can We Be Great Again? And Why a Dangerous World Needs Britain," saying the U.K. can best reclaim
its global influence through economic renewal and growth.
Sir Jeremy is an MP in parliament. What's gone wrong?
JEREMY HUNT, BRITISH CONSERVATIVE MP: Well, I think the same things have gone wrong with us as with many other Western countries but put in a
nutshell, we've lost our confidence. And if you look at the rise and fall of great civilizations through history, a lot of it boils down to
confidence. And in this day and age, confidence boils down to your economic strength.
Why does everyone think China is growing in power? It's because of the Chinese economy. So my argument in this book is actually we are, the U.K.
is in a much stronger position than it thinks. The Brits are the best people in the world at doing themselves down. But if you look at the
experts with the sixth largest economy now and in 15 years' time, we'll still be the sixth largest economy.
QUEST: So that all sounds great, but what does it mean in practical terms of policies that have to be put into place?
HUNT: Well, what I say in the book and frankly, Richard, your news coverage this evening demonstrates just what a dangerous world it is, whether
domestically in the U.S., with the tragedy in Minnesota or what's happening in Israel or Ukraine. And what I say is with a very dangerous world, it's a
big mistake for countries with influence to underestimate that influence. Not just Britain. I'd say the same to Australians or Canadians or even
Americans.
I remember Henry Kissinger saying to me that his biggest worry about America was America losing its self-confidence.
QUEST: But it hasn't now. MAGA has come in, which is a version of that, whether we like it -- whether you like or not, the way it's been put into -
- executed. MAGA is bringing back the confidence make America great again. Can we be great again? Do we need a -- you'll launch yourself out of your
chair at this. Do we need a Donald Trump, which arguably might be Nigel Farage?
HUNT: Well, I think the answer to that question is that, you know, there are lots of things that you and I would disagree with Trump on, whether
it's what he said about Zelenskyy and Ukraine or --
QUEST: Tariffs.
HUNT: Or tariffs. Profoundly disagree with that. But he is at least determined to turn things around. And that is a good thing. And I think
that those of us who say, well, other policies would be more appropriate in this or that situation, we need to recognize the strength of that movement
and his determination to bring back confidence into America. So it doesn't have to be the same policies as Donald Trump.
But, you know, Britain, if you look at the surveys as to who has, let's just take Europe, for example. We have the biggest military in Europe. We
have the biggest technology sector, we have the biggest university sector. We have more soft power, more hard power than any other European country.
Now, lots of problems, lots of things we need to fix. But, you know, let's not lose our mojo. And that's the argument I make in this book.
QUEST: Right. But you further in the book, you have this letter to Sir Keir Starmer in which you basically say what he should -- you give him sort of
the idea of, you know, get on with it if you do. You want to make Britain a force for good, a smart approach to policy. This current prime minister has
a thumping, huge majority, the like of which most prime ministers would salivate for. And yet the government is in a mess.
HUNT: Yes. And you know, the reason is because he does not realize just how much power and influence he has sitting in Downing Street. I mean, I've
been in Downing Street with governments that didn't have a majority at all. And he has this enormous majority.
[16:40:02]
He didn't need to back down on welfare reform. And as a result, he's going to have put taxes up. It's going to make him even more unpopular.
I think the biggest single thing that he needs to sort out, and there's a whole chapter on this in the book, is the illegal migration crisis that we
face in this country. And, you know, people say, oh, well, Labour is hopeless at dealing with this. I'm not a Labour supporter. It goes without
saying. But Keir Starmer is a human rights lawyer. There's literally no one better suited to ripping up and rewriting the European Convention on Human
Rights, which was brilliant for its time in the 1950s, but rapidly has run out of steam and needs rewriting.
QUEST: Do you think there is a deficit of leadership at the European level? And I ask this because I look at Ursula von der Leyen and I look at Costas
and I think to myself, you know, is that sort of the best we've got running Europe? Should Europe be playing -- I mean, they rolled over on tariffs.
The U.K. was in a slightly different area. Got a great deal early on, but the rest all just rolled over.
HUNT: They had to.
QUEST: Did they?
HUNT: I mean, they had to because Donald Trump is defending Europe. And they knew that if they had a big trade war with the U.S., the ultimate card
he could play is he could say, I'm going to stop defending Europe.
QUEST: Right.
HUNT: So, you know, that's why they agree pretty rapidly to increase defense spending.
QUEST: Do you --- you're still in the House. You still harbor for the top jobs.
HUNT: I think that ship has well and truly sailed.
QUEST: Well, you know, I was going to ask it.
HUNT: But I'm enjoying writing fabulous books, and I think we should be a bit more optimistic. We've got a great country.
QUEST: Thank you. Please come back again. And thank you very much, Sir Jeremy. Good to talk to you. Thank you.
Now, the highly anticipated Nvidia earnings have been released. I'll have the numbers for you. And Clare will tell you what they mean after the
break. QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Nvidia has just released its highly anticipated results. $47 billion. Get the numbers right, Richard. $47 billion in the past quarter in
revenue, slightly more than expected, 56 percent increase from the year before. After hours the shares are down marginally, but this is really
because of high expectations.
Clare Duffy is in New York.
And Clare, go into the numbers for me, please.
CLARE DUFFY, CNN TECH CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Richard, I mean, these are good results. These are results that most executives would be thrilled to be
reporting. But good results may not be good enough for Nvidia at this point.
[16:45:01]
The company's revenue that you talked about there, $46 billion, was essentially in line with what Wall Street had expected. They posted a
slightly bigger beat on profits. This is $26 billion in the quarter compared to the $24 billion that Wall Street had expected. But I think the
bigger story here is that Nvidia is seen as this bellwether for the larger A.I. ecosystem. And a lot of people have been watching these results
closely because there have been these warnings in recent weeks about a potential A.I. bubble and whether this market is due for a correction.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman even said he thinks that there is an A.I. bubble. And what we're seeing from these results is that Nvidia, the largest player in
this space, is indeed seeing a slowdown. The revenue grew about 50 percent. That's down from about 168 percent year-over-year growth that it saw in the
prior quarter.
QUEST: Right.
DUFFY: Of course, there's only so long that a company can double its earnings every quarter. But I do think that this is potentially a troubling
sign for this larger market.
QUEST: You know, but the difference with Nvidia is sort of they make the hardware. So, you know, there are two warnings going on here, aren't there?
One is that the industries can't continue to grow at this speed. The other warning is that a lot of the A.I. stuff won't be profitable, but that bit
won't really affect Nvidia because, you know the A.I. needs the chips regardless. You see what I'm saying?
DUFFY: That's right.
QUEST: If you're making the hardware, there's always a fool who's going to need it.
DUFFY: Yes, I think that's right. I mean, I think Nvidia clearly, I mean, it's making $46 billion a quarter here. It is not going to be running out
of money anytime soon.
QUEST: Right.
DUFFY: But I do think these warnings about an A.I. bubble, you know, a lot of that is focused on how many A.I. startups there are right now.
QUEST: Yes.
DUFFY: You know, earning these huge valuations. But at the end of the day, if those startups go out of business, don't succeed, get acquired by bigger
players, they may not be buying some of these Nvidia chips or the sort of Cloud storage, the use of the data centers that other companies manage that
rely on these Nvidia trips. So I do think that there is some sort of trickle down to Nvidia here, and that is why everybody looks to the company
as this bellwether for how the larger industry is performing.
QUEST: Grateful to you, Clare. Thank you very much. Thank you.
Now Okta, the shares soared after the cybersecurity firm raised its annual profit and revenue forecast, one half up following Q2 earnings. It reported
a 13 percent jump in revenue. Subscription revenue rose 12 percent. Okta expects growing demand for identity verification tools as companies brace
for A.I. powered cyberattacks.
Todd McKinnon, always glad to have him verified on this program. Okta Verified from the CEO, joins me from San Francisco.
Sir, I put the right numbers in and it seems to manage to connect to you, and look, this, it's A.I. and the beauty of A.I. is it's going to work both
ways. You're going to use A.I. to improve your cybersecurity, but you have to protect against other people's A.I. hitting your cybersecurity.
TODD MCKINNON, CEO, OKTA: That's true. And we're very -- thanks for having me on. We're very experienced with this. We've been in business for 17
years, and this A.I. revolution, it is truly all right evolution. It's the latest technology wave that is driving demand for identity products and
platforms. Just like 10 years ago when it was the Cloud transition and we had to figure out how to move everyone to the Cloud and make sure they got
all the benefit from that. And we're also secure.
Same thing with A.I. Everyone wants to do A.I., and it's really an identity challenge. What is an A.I. agent? What is a human? What's fake? What's
real? We're positioned right in the middle of this trend, and it's really driving these results.
QUEST: How do you use A.I. yourself?
MCKINNON: It's across the company. Everything from internal operations, automating, making engineers more productive. Our engineers are more
productive than they've ever been. In fact, we're -- they're so productive we're hiring more of them. We think more productive engineers using A.I.
tools is better. And we have a lot of great innovation to build. So we're doing that in the support center.
Our support agents are more effective, and we're using it across the company to be more effective and to grow faster.
QUEST: So when you see this debate taking place, you know, some of this word saying it all go faster. It's all going a bit too fast and a bit too
frothy. At the same time, you're at the position where you see the reality. It's just very difficult for people like me to understand where we are.
MCKINNON: I think it's -- one way to think about it is that we are the industry as a whole is aggressively investing in the core infrastructure.
You commented on Nvidia's results and the expectations there. The infrastructure buildout is underway. Where Okta lives is really up at the
software level, at the application level, and actually taking these products and services and then connecting them to people and then
connecting A.I. agents to the data they need to be successful.
So it's almost like we're seeing off in the distance the swell coming. We see that people are prototyping A.I. agents and automating business
processes, but they're yet to see the full value of those things. But everyone knows it's going to be there.
QUEST: Exactly.
[16:50:07]
MCKINNON: But we're still trying to actually -- figure out exactly what the concrete business benefits are going to be, but there's enough indications
that everyone is very bullish.
QUEST: I'm grateful to you, sir. You've put it up beautifully tonight. Thank you very much. Forgive me, cutting it slightly short. As you're well
aware, it's a busy day in the news and I will return with more on the shooting in Minnesota after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Our top story, two children are dead and 17 injured after a shooter opened fire through windows during a mass, marking the first week of school
at a Catholic school in Minneapolis. The two children who were killed were aged eight and 10. Police say the wounded are all expected to survive. The
state's governor, Tim Walz, spoke a few moments ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. TIM WALZ (D), MINNESOTA: And we often come to these and say these unspeakable tragedies are there's no words for this. There shouldn't be
words for these types of incidents because they should not happen. And there's no words that are going to ease the pain of the families today.
On behalf of all the people of Minnesota, our deepest sympathies. A wish that any of these words would make what you're feeling now better, but it
won't.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: The NATO secretary-general has been speaking at the opening of a massive new ammunition factory in Germany. Mark Rutte said the Rheinmetall
factory showed that Europe is not slowing down when it comes to security. The plant is now the largest ammunition factory in Europe.
Sebastian Shukla reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEBASTIAN SHUKLA, CNN FIELD PRODUCER (voice-over): Europe is forging ahead to tackle dwindling ammunition supplies. In Central Germany Rheinmetall,
one of the largest contractors in Europe, has just opened this cavernous ammunition factory. Spread over the size of five football fields, it aims
to produce 350,000 rounds of ammunition by 2027.
The Lower Saxony plant has been finished in record time just 18 months, and it has already started churning out NATO standard 155-millimeter artillery
shells.
ARMIN PAPPERGER, CEO, RHEINMETALL: Well, I think it's very important to give a signal also how fast we are able to be so we can react. Europe is
able to react. NATO is able to react.
[16:55:07]
SHUKLA: The opening of this factory is symbolic, if not significant. It's also very serendipitous. Europe is looking to replenish its ammunition
stores, and the idea of security guarantees for Ukraine is also back on the table.
(Voice-over): NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, alongside German vice chancellor and the German defense minister, putting on a show. But the
question of security guarantees for Ukraine is still largely unclear.
MARK RUTTE, NATO SECRETARY GENERAL: This is detailed, difficult stuff. You have to hammer it all out. So the fact that nine days later we have not
agreed on everything is not a bad signal. It means that we are working hard and I'm absolutely sure we will get there.
SHUKLA: While the future of European security was on show in Lower Saxony in Berlin, Germany was shaping its new security and defense posture.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz held a symbolic cabinet meeting inside the Defense Ministry, the first in 20 years, from a room known as the U-Boat,
German for submarine. The reintroduction of voluntary conscription and the formation of Germany's first ever National Security Council all discussed
and approved.
FRIEDRICH MERZ, GERMAN CHANCELLOR (through translator): Russia is and will remain the greatest threat to freedom, peace and stability in Europe for a
long time to come. And the German government is responding to this with determination.
SHUKLA: Europe then is making serious strides in its own security posture and capabilities, but tangible details on their support to end the war in
Ukraine is still lacking precision.
Sebastian Shukla, CNN, Unterluess, Germany.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: And we will take a "Profitable Moment" after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: A final thought for you tonight. I've been struck in the last hour or so listening to my various colleagues and correspondents talking about
the shooting in Minnesota. Kevin Liptak at the White House, talking about how the politicians are all coming out, saying that the dead and injured
are in our prayers. We are praying for you, et cetera, et cetera. Even the mayor of Minneapolis talking about prayers and everybody is in -- the only
problem was here, the actual victims were praying at the time.
And I don't want to be weird or funny about it, but that does sort of make a big difference in one sense because here you have people actually praying
at the moment in which they are murdered, and everybody else comes out saying, you're in our thoughts and prayers. And that's why listening to all
my colleagues, they all say the same thing, which is fascinating. Charles Ramsey said it as well. Nothing is going to change.
But please, at the same time, don't keep giving out the old, same trite phrases when at the end of the day, you know nothing is going to change.
And that arguably is the most depressing part about of today's horrible, horrific news.
And that's QUEST MEANS BUSINESS for tonight. I'm Richard Quest in London. I'll be here tomorrow. Whatever you're up to in the hours ahead.
END
