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Quest Means Business
Trump Media Announces Merger with Nuclear Fusion Firm; Embattled BP Replaces CEO with Woodside Energy's Meg O'Neill; U.K. Wines Make Gains with Critics and Consumers. White House Celebrates Annual Inflation Cooling to 2.7 Percent; Bank of England Cuts Rates to Lowest Level Since 2023; Police Turn to Community for Evidence in Brown University Shooting> Aired 4:00-5p ET
Aired December 18, 2025 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:17]
RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST, "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS": Closing bell ringing on Wall Street. It is the Bowery Mission, who do marvelous work for
the homeless in New York.
Food and shelter from the Bowery. The market has been a bit all over the place, but not terribly exciting market. And one, two, three and a good,
strong -- thank you, sir.
Looking at the market, that's a bit of a dip, all interest rate related. We will get to all the details as we move through the course of our program,
but those are the markets and these are the main events that we are talking about.
The White House is celebrating better than expected inflation numbers. Economists say you need to take that number with a grain of salt. We've
also got the ECB and BOE.
Money today or blood tomorrow, that's the choice that's laid out by the Polish Prime Minister as E.U. leaders decide whether to use frozen Russian
assets to help Ukraine.
And a tipple or two, English winemakers are hoping to compete with the giants in France in Italy this festive season. Chapel Down will be with us
with a bottle or two. Let's see how we get on with that one.
We are live tonight in London. It is Thursday, December the 18th. I am Richard Quest. Where is the bell? And I mean business.
Good evening.
We begin tonight with new inflation numbers in the United States that were welcomed by The White House and it followed last night's fiery speech by
President Trump on the U.S. economy.
On national television, he defended his record. He shouted, he claimed, he ranted that he has brought prices down. He also aired his usual grievances.
He attacked illegal immigration, Democrats and of course, the Biden administration.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Eleven months ago, I inherited a mess and I am fixing it.
I am bringing those high prices down and bringing them down very fast. Inflation has stopped, wages are up, prices are down. Our nation is strong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: Well, that's what he said. The latest report shows inflation indeed slowed to 2.7 percent. Many economists warn that the number is distorted
because of the shutdown and all of that.
Phil Mattingly is with me now. There are two -- I mean, I could ask you, Phil, to fact check last night, but I think we would be still here well
into Jake Tapper's program if we go down that road.
Instead, talk to me more about the delivery, the way it was presented. The inflation numbers that we are seeing.
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CHIEF U.S. DOMESTIC CORRESPONDENT: Richard, this doesn't apply to you, but sometimes when you come to work and you're not
necessarily thrilled about your assignment or what you have to do hypothetically, this obviously doesn't refer to me, that was very much kind
of the tone, tenor and overall posture that you saw from the President last night.
And he said as much when he finished and looked at the reporters who were in the room and basically said he had been told to give that speech by
Susie Wiles, it is not his typical format or kind of production in terms of where he likes to talk, how he likes to talk, and the kind of stem windy
nature within which he bases his remarks.
It also underscores, though, in the fact that he did, underscores that The White House sees, knows and obviously can read the polls saying that he has
a very real problem on this issue.
Now, to your point, when it came to economic data, inflation is not gone. Prices in various critical sectors are up, not down entirely, and the
economy right now is certainly on an individual household basis, but also on a macro basis, uncertain as it has been throughout the course of the
year, which is why The White House is so keen on highlighting this CPI Report that came out this morning.
Expectations were 3.1 percent, came in way under that, but the market reaction, Richard, as you know better than anybody is a good tell here.
Had this been a normal report that everybody said checked out and aligned with what the usual processes were, markets would have soared all day.
There was certainly a relief rally. Markets ended up, up, I believe. I was looking shortly before the show, but there are caveats. The grain of salt
you mentioned, which is really critical to understand, and that is there was a government shutdown. October data was not collected at all. The
November data was collected starting much later than usual, I think November 14th is when BLS employees actually started going out and getting
that.
That means that the November data was collected at a time where there are sales and cost reductions tied to the holidays that are fulsome throughout
the market.
QUEST: All right, can I --?
MATTINGLY: Yes, go ahead.
[16:05:09]
QUEST: Can I jump in there? Because looking at the comments, if I just look on my news feed or my phone, the headlines about last night all seem to say
this was the President sounding desperate. This was the President trying to make an argument that doesn't hold water. There is a sort of view that me
think you doth protest too much.
MATTINGLY: I think that that is essentially what the sharper, less dim, windy way to get it. What I was trying to say, which is there is a
recognition inside The White House when you talk to advisers, not on the record, on background, or when they are trying to contextualize things,
they see what is happening.
They understand particularly the political advisers who are looking at the cross tabs of the polls and are looking at even members of their own base,
saying, we have an issue with affordability, we have an issue with prices.
You made a lot of promises that have not been delivered upon. And while we are willing to give you all the benefit of the doubt and all the time in
the world, it is starting to run short and get a little thin in terms of patience. That was why that speech happened in the first place, against
what President Trump wanted to do.
His ability to connect on issues that he feels make it look like he is not doing as well as he thinks he is, has always been an Achilles heel for him,
and that really complicates the matter.
QUEST: I am grateful. Phil Mattingly, thank you.
Two major Central Banks delivered interest rate decisions today. The ECB held steady at two percent and revised its growth and inflation projections
upwards. That seems to perhaps rule out further cuts, maybe.
Meanwhile, the BoE, Bank of England cut a quarter. However, it was a very, very tightly done thing, five to four. The Governor was in the majority,
barely.
I spoke to Andrew Bailey earlier this month, and he said he was skeptical about rate cuts.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDREW BAILEY, GOVERNOR, BANK OF ENGLAND: I will be looking very carefully at all the evidence that has come in since then when we start the rounds
next week, because my view was and we are now publishing each of our views, so you can see my view in there, was that it was premature at that point to
reach a conclusion that we had enough news to confirm another step downwards.
But I will come back to that when we start around next week.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: Which was it? Paul Donovan is with me, chief economist for UBS Global Wealth Management. What was it do you think of all the data that he
saw since then that twisted his arm?
PAUL DONOVAN, CHIEF ECONOMIST, UBS GLOBAL WEALTH MANAGEMENT: Well, I think if you look at the inflation numbers in particular, they are confirming
that they were generally in line with the Bank of England's projections of further reductions in inflation as we go into next year.
Service sector inflation, a little bit lower than the Bank of England was projecting, not massively, but you know, the trend is down.
QUEST: What about the uptick in unemployment?
DONOVAN: That I think we've got to treat with a bit more caution.
So in the U.K., unlike the Bureau of Labor Statistics in the States, the Office for National Statistics is being very honest and saying, look you
know what? We don't really trust these numbers, and so we've got a lot of complications on the unemployment side.
I think it would be foolhardy to place too much emphasis on the uptick in unemployment, because it is not a very reliable figure, and I think the
Bank of England is taking that into account with its sort of softly, softly approach next year, the signals are to be moderate in terms of any further
rate cuts.
QUEST: Right. So we've got the Fed wait and see, the general consensus seems to be. The ECB on today's statistics not going to cut further and may
even well --
DONOVAN: Raising I think would be unlikely. I have to say, I think, but steady as they go.
QUEST: And the Bank of England is going to wait and see until it gets more data, which is of course what we would expect. But inflation in all cases,
I noticed that the U.S. is sort of heading more towards trend and towards target than the others, but inflation is still up there.
DONOVAN: Well, yes. The U.S. is a bit of an outlier here. So Europe hasn't really had an inflation issue. The U.K. has had an inflation issue, fair
amount of that is government controlled prices which are now starting to come down.
In the States, inflation is going back up. Today's number was weird is the technical economics term, so we had the biggest drop in housing inflation
in almost 40 years. That's not real.
You've got probably issues with inflation perceptions as well, people believe inflation is higher than it actually is because beef prices are
through the roof, fish prices are through the roof, electricity prices are through the roof. You know, all-time highs, never seen anything like it.
That's what people are going to focus on.
QUEST: So talking about this never seen anything like it. If we look at what President Trump said last night, worst inflation in 48 years, blah,
blah, blah blah. And if you look at it, what did you make of his defense of the economics?
DONOVAN: Well, on some of the prices he cites, he is right. I mean, egg prices, which were pushed up by avian flu are coming down again. Now,
that's a supply shock which has been corrected. It has nothing to do with supply and demand balances in the economy.
[16:10:10]
But if you look at the broader range of prices, the pass through of tariffs, which we are saying, this takes about six months for a tariff to
work through, that is adding to inflation. It is hardly Weimar, Germany.
You know, we are looking for inflation to tick up to probably 3.5 percent, something like that. It is not out-of-control, but it is going to be going
up before it comes down reliably.
QUEST: So I know you don't forecast the stock market per se, so do forecast the stock market for me, please. In a sense, what Mohamed calls the
rational bubble we could expect it to sort of deflate a bit next year, but the market still seems solid on these economic numbers.
DONOVAN: Well, and that, I think, is reflecting the growth story. We've got fairly solid growth coming through. So what has been happening this year is
the middle income consumer, you know, very critical to the economy. They have been reducing their savings rate, putting away a little bit less each
month and doing that in order to afford the higher prices. So that's allowed the consumer to keep on going.
European consumer doesn't have an inflation issue. In Asia, Japan's consumer is doing okay. So we are seeing sort of trend like rates of growth
emerging. And I think that will continue as long as we don't get a disaster in the U.S. labor market. That's my main risk factor would be a problem
around the fear of unemployment in the States. That would be a potentially quite a nasty threat.
But as long as we avoid that, I think we are okay.
QUEST: Well, have a good year ahead.
DONOVAN: Thank you.
QUEST: Thank you very much indeed. Thank you for coming tonight. Thank you.
A news conference on the Brown University shooting that was scheduled for this hour has been delayed. Of course, we will bring it to you when it does
happen. The police are now looking into potential ties between Saturday's shooting and the killing two days later of a Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, MIT professor at his home in Massachusetts.
The two locations about 50 miles, 80-odd kilometers apart. The police have not yet named a suspect in the Brown case, and they are asking for help in
gathering evidence.
Law enforcement contributor, Steve Moore is with me, retired supervisory special agent for the FBI.
The one thing, Steve, I noticed when the second murder, the second set of murder, continued, the MIT murder. At the time, everybody was very careful
to say there was no connection. I am wondering what has changed the thinking on that, that they are not actually saying there is, but are
keeping that option open?
STEVE MOORE, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CONTRIBUTOR: I don't know, Richard.
I've been in cases where there was an ongoing crime, like a mass shooting, and then there was a shooting nearby and people didn't want to say that
they were potentially related and it turned out to be, so I think it is probably caution on the first part or the second part. I don't know which
one is they are putting the brakes on, but it is possible that there is some kind of common factor in that case, say just the caliber of the
weapon, the type of weapon. It doesn't have to be the exact same weapon for them to be concerned about it.
So there may be some similarities that they are trying to suss out.
QUEST: Right. How much -- I was going to say, how much trouble, I mean, sort of difficulty, do you think the authorities are in on this one? So
many days after and they haven't even really got a peg to put their hat on.
MOORE: Well, without criticizing them for where they are, because it seems like they don't have a lot of evidence, at least I hope the reason is they
don't have a lot of evidence, I think, Richard, what really hurts not only is the amount of time it is taking, but the fact that they made a jump to
an earlier suspect without fully vetting the subject before it got out into the press. That was very unfortunate.
So, yes, they are feeling the pressure. I can tell you, they are feeling the pressure and they're feeling much more than simply the pressure of how
long it is taking.
When you lead off with a mistake like that, then everything seems to increase.
QUEST: One of the things I was particularly taken with yesterday's news conference was this warning, this caution that people must not use or take
in any way seriously the A.I. memes or A.I. pictures or A.I. supposed people of interest. In other words, the public is being told only stuff
from authorities. This is new that the A.I. generated rubbish could be interfering in the legitimate investigation.
[16:15:10]
MOORE: That is absolutely true, Richard, and you may be the first one to point that out.
This is, you know, since "CSI" and all the crime show television shows, it has put a huge burden on law enforcement. You know, when you come in with
what used to be a slam dunk case with circumstantial evidence and fingerprints, juries are saying, but what about DNA? Well, we don't need
DNA. We don't need it. We've got fingerprints in this.
With the rise of the CSI culture and the rise of the internet and internet sleuths, what we are having now is people taking investigations into their
own hands and believing that in the absence of police or FBI discoveries, that they know better.
QUEST: Well, there we go, sign of the times. An added bit of A.I. and it is not surprising that we end up with chaos, confusion and mayhem.
Thank you, sir, very grateful.
MOORE: Thank you.
QUEST: When there is more, if we hear any more, we will come back to you for some analysis. Thank you.
As you and I continue tonight on QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, European leaders, it is a council at a crunch summit in Brussels. They are deciding whether to
help Ukraine from using frozen assets.
Clare Sebastian is in Brussels for us tonight. She will be with me in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: European leaders are in Brussels for a crucial summit where they are deciding a controversial decision on whether to use frozen Russian assets
to finance the support for Ukraine.
If they do, it is unprecedented and it follows and comes with risks, arguably retaliation from Moscow. President Zelenskyy of Ukraine appealed
to the E.U. to approve the plan, saying without the money, his country will be forced to significantly reduce its drone production, and the Polish
Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, said Europe needs to rise to the occasion.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TUSK, POLISH PRIME MINISTER: Now, we have a simple choice, either money today or blood tomorrow, and I am not talking about Ukraine only, I
am talking about Europe and this is our decision to make, and only ours. I think all European leaders have to finally rise to this occasion.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[16:20:08]
QUEST: Clare is in Brussels. Money today or blood tomorrow. There is a great, awful sound bite for you, but it is a clarion call to the rest. And
yet they still can't agree tonight.
This is another marathon.
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is going to be a marathon, Richard. We understand that they are now back in discussing this issue of Ukraine
funding. It took the best part of the day to get to the point of the leaders actually discussing it. They had a couple of other issues on the
agenda, but we know that there has been a lot of work going on behind the scenes, and they may now have come up with some kind of new proposal that
the leaders are discussing.
But obviously the key point here was to try to present something that would be palatable to Belgium, where, of course, most of these foreign assets are
held in Euroclear, that Belgian bank.
And as of this morning, Bart De Wever, who is the Prime Minister of Belgium, was saying that he hadn't seen a document at this point that would
meet his criteria, that would essentially satisfy his concerns, which are, of course, that Belgium would face disproportionate legal and financial
risk if this was done. They are worried that it would not only amount to the sum of the reparations loan that was provided to Ukraine based on the
cash balances at Euroclear, but that there would be sort of unlimited legal risk on top of that, if Russia were to come after these funds.
So those were his concerns. We don't know what they have got as of this point. There were other European members who also were upset about it.
Viktor Orban, the Prime Minister of Hungary, being the main one. But there is a will here, I think, a political will to get to some decision and not
leave Ukraine in the lurch -- Richard.
QUEST: Okay, but the Euroclear one is somewhat sui generis in the sense that they are technical, practical difficulties of worried about liability.
They are not philosophical difficulties about doing this. On the philosophical question of doing it, is there sort of general agreement or
not? Is Orban once again being the enfants terrible at the council?
SEBASTIAN: Well, yes. I mean, I think that's true. They haven't had an agreement on Ukraine involving the backing of Hungary for a while here at
the European Union. But aside from that, if we just put that to one side, Richard, yes, I think there is philosophical agreement, including from
Belgium, frankly, that something needs to be done to fund Ukraine.
Europe has already committed to fund Ukraine. This is just now a question of how they do it. And when it comes to that philosophical angle, we had
the presence here today of the Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, who presented his arguments in the form of the real urgent cash crisis that Ukraine will
face next year, up to 50 billion euros, some $60 billion, which will mean eventually, he said, that they would have to cut drone production, which
would have a real and present impact on the battlefield and he also talked and I am going to play you a clip here, Richard, of just what kind of
impact this would have on the ongoing peace talks that are happening.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): All of these questions are intertwined. Money is needed so that Russia and other
countries in the world does not use these assets as leverage against us.
We are more confident at the negotiating table if we have these assets.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SEBASTIAN: And obviously, they will be back, the Ukrainian delegation at the negotiating table with the U.S. starting Friday, tomorrow into Saturday
and he doesn't want to go into those negotiations weakened by this very public knowledge that Ukraine is going to struggle to fund its defense
going into next year -- Richard.
QUEST: Clare Sebastian, I hope -- well, it is more than hope than expectation that it is not going to be a very late one, but knowing the way
that place works -- sandwiches, coffee and a sleeping bag in the corner. Thank you.
Clare Sebastian in Brussels.
Now to an exclusive investigation where Western and Ukrainian intelligence sources telling us how Russia is using its shadow fleet of oil tankers.
They are doing so not only to evade Western sanctions, also as cover for espionage in European waters.
CNN's Katie Polglase with this report.
KATIE POLGLASE, CNN INVESTIGATIVE PRODUCER (voice over): Looking out over the English Channel, this narrow stretch of water between the U.K. and
France at points just 20 miles wide, is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world.
POLGLASE (on camera): Now, CNN can exclusively reveal that there have been ships, ordinary looking cargo ships that have sailed right past here with
Russian personnel on board, who, according to Western intelligence sources, are conducting espionage on behalf of the Russian state, and that includes
taking photos of European military installations, they say.
POLGLASE (voice over): The men on board belonged to the Moran Security Group, the sources said, a maritime private security company set up over a
decade ago to defend against piracy.
Last year, the U.S. sanctioned them for providing armed security services to Russian-state owned businesses. These ships, Moran Security are on, are
not usually Russian, nor are the crew, but they're known as Russia's shadow fleet, as Western authorities believe they secretly serve the Kremlin's
interests like carrying Russian oil despite Western sanctions.
[16:25:11]
We asked Ukrainian foreign intelligence, who have been tracking the group, why they think these men from Moran Security were on board.
OLEKSANDR STAKHNEVYCH, UKRAINIAN FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE: For our information, this Moran Security Group is connected to Russian special service, GRU,
military intelligence and its coordinated by them.
POLGLASE (voice over): He said the men are tasked with keeping an eye on non-Russian captains, but that is not the only role.
STAKHNEVYCH: They can be involved in like covert information gathering during the like, traveling during the routes of this vessels.
POLGLASE (voice over): And a job application form on the Moran Security Group's website makes it clear what skills they're looking for, stating
preference is given to former officers who have served in Special Forces Units, including the GRU. That's Russia's military intelligence agency.
We tracked with shipping data and satellite imagery. One of the ships Western intelligence sources told us, Moran Security were recently on
board. This ship, The Boracay is a crude oil tanker. It appears at the Port of Primorsk in Russia on September 19th. We obtained the crew list showing
the boat left Primorsk the next day, and after a long list of non-Russian sailors at the bottom are two Russians, listed only as technicians. But
Western intelligence sources told us they are Russian contractors, acting in line with the Kremlin's interests, and that one is a former member of
Wagner, Russia's most notorious mercenary group.
The cargo ship then sailed through the Baltic Sea and around the Coast of Denmark. Mysterious drones were seen over Danish military air bases and
airports at the same time.
After the ship passed Denmark off the coast of France, it was detained by French authorities for not providing proof of the boat's nationality. Even
President Putin was following the news.
VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIA'S PRESIDENT (through translator): They were apparently searching for some kind of cargo, maybe military equipment,
drones or something similar. There is nothing there, and there never was.
POLGLASE (on camera): But actually the two Russian men from Moran Security were still on board according to Western intelligence sources, and the
French authorities questioned them in private.
POLGLASE (voice over): They were later let go, and the ship sailed on to a port in India, where the ship unloaded Russian oil, according to a maritime
analytics firm.
CNN was unable to contact the management of the ship. We called Moran Security's Deputy Director, Alexey Badikov about the fundings, he said: "I
am not in a position to confirm whether the two men worked for the group," and said it was "... crazy to suggest the Boracay launched the drones,"
adding "If you would like to use drones, you will use fishing vessels or something like that, not from the big oil tanker."
When asked about the claim they are spying for the Russian security services or working for the Russian state, he said "no comment."
Whatever Moran and Russia are doing at sea, their presence on board these boats is a sign of how brazen Russia has become in the face of their
European neighbors.
Katie Polglase, CNN, Dover.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: Trump Media, the company behind Truth Social is now branching out into the world of nuclear fusion. You heard me right, nuclear fusion. I
will give you the details of a merger on the horizon in a moment.
QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:31:33]
RICHARD: Hello, I'm Richard Quest. Together we'll have a lot more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. We'll tell you why. Trump Media is merging with nuclear
fusion company and, nearly Christmas, how about a, this is a Magnum actually. It's English winemakers hoping to make it into your Christmas
basket this year. Assuming this stays closed. Well, we'll actually get to talk about it, but we'll only talk about it or slur our words after the
news because here on CNN, the news always comes first.
E.U. leaders are debating whether to use billions of dollars in frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine. The plans to loan Ukraine the money until
Russia repays reparations for the war if indeed it ever does. The E.U. is committed to funding Russia for the next two years regardless. So if the
proposal fails, the money must come from somewhere else.
It's believed six people were killed when a small plane crashed in the U.S. state of North Carolina. A lawmaker there says one of the people on board
was the former NASCAR driver, Greg Biffle. He was with his family. It was a Cessna 550. It had just taken off from the regional airport near Charlotte.
The NTSB, the investigative authority, is looking into the cause.
House Democrats in the U.S. have released a new batch of photos from the Jeffrey Epstein estate, including more celebrity photos, including one with
the philanthropist Bill Gates and Epstein alongside Noam Chomsky. The Justice Department is facing a Friday deadline to release its files
relating to the convicted sex offender.
Trump is diversifying his social media firm Truth Social with a big bet on nuclear fusion. Shares of the Trump social soared more than 40 percent,
look at the graph, on news that it will merge with TAE Technologies. That's about a $6 billion deal. Trump Media is the parent company of Truth Social.
It's been investing in crypto and A.I. TAE is a private firm seeking to produce fusion power on a utility scale, something never done before.
Clare Duffy is with me now.
What is this really all about?
CLARE DUFFY, CNN TECH CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Richard, I mean, I think that was the question we all asked when we saw this. And I think we quickly need to
take a step back and talk about what nuclear fusion really is. This is an unproven technology. There are members of the energy sector and in Silicon
Valley who believe this is a potentially lucrative, cheaper energy source that could fill the energy gap that America is increasingly desperate to
fill as it builds out more A.I. data centers.
But this is something that most people you talk to say is decades away from potentially, potentially becoming commercially viable. So this is a really
speculative bet on the part of Trump Media. For TAE Technologies they are going to get an infusion of cash from this deal. Trump Media is expected to
invest $300 million in cash. That is something that they're going to use to try to bring this vision to life.
QUEST: Right.
DUFFY: But I think there are some real conflict of interest questions given, again, that this is an unproven technology that is going to rely on
approval from the federal government if it's ever going to get off the ground. And now they've got this, this very convenient tie to the Trump
administration.
QUEST: I mean, the whole thing is awash with conflict of interest to the nth degree.
[16:35:03]
But why is it doing it? If it's unproven and its profitability is God knows when down the road, why is -- what are people saying in New York about why
Donald Trump is doing it?
DUFFY: I mean, I think there's sort of two ways that you could look at this. On one hand, you could look at it sort of from a more charitable
perspective that Trump Media has made a number of these sort of speculative bets on things like crypto. It talked this year about diversifying its
portfolio into artificial intelligence. There is this desire to look at new types of technologies. And fusion is viewed as this very sort of
potentially promising new type of nuclear technology, energy technology.
But then I think you could also ask the question of whether this is the president picking winners and losers in this space where, you know, it is
very important. The country needs more energy. And he's talked about wanting to remove red tape and speed up development of new nuclear
facilities. And I think there is a question about whether, you know, this is going to benefit TAE over the other players in this space.
QUEST: All right. Grateful. Thank you very much. There in New York.
Now BP, British Petroleum, has named a new CEO and it signals an end to its green energy efforts. The new boss is Meg O'Neill, and she replaces Murray
Auchincloss, who was on the job less than two years. She's the first woman CEO of a major oil company. O'Neill has been with Australia's Woodside
Energy and then before that spent more than two decades in Exxon Mobil. Her experience is upstream, not downstream retail, which of course is where BP
is both as well.
So it could begin BP's pivot back towards the core business of oil and gas, O&G, and the speculation that the oil giant is a target for takeover.
Anna Cooban is with me.
What are we making of all of this?
ANNA COOBAN, CNN BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Richard, I think the timing of this is particularly interesting. We've got this new
chairman of the BP board in July, and then really, within a blink of an eye, you now have this CEO, Murray Auchincloss, tender his resignation,
bringing in this new CEO. But yes, he was there for less than two years. And his predecessor, Bernard Looney, was there for about three years. He
left after it was found that he hadn't disclosed personal relationships with employees to the board.
So it's been a bit of a mess at BP. Four CEOs in six years. And now really the kind of -- it looks like an episode of "Succession" almost. And so
really, the whole point of bringing this new person is, can there be stability?
QUEST: Right. But her experience is upstream. The actual excavation or the extraction of oil and gas. And she comes from the majors and she's not
exactly known for green energy or green transition.
COOBAN: No. And that is BP's strategy. BP has really already been making this pivot away from green energy towards oil and gas. It sort of ditched
lots of renewable targets. It's upping its spending in oil and gas. And Meg O'Neill seems like the perfect person to continue with that strategy.
She's, you know, been a target for climate activists in Australia. But, you know, you're right. She really has had most of her experience, direct
experience, upstream in production drilling, not downstream with fuel at the pump, selling to millions of consumers around the world. And that will
be the big test for her.
QUEST: The BP, there's been so many stories about BP being lost, lost in the wilderness, not sure what, but then I reading this morning in my
morning reading Shell ain't doing that much better. The same issues about how much of all of this is predicated by the Trump administration, and it's
sort of go health leather for fossil fuels and denigrating off green.
COOBAN: Well, this is all happening within that -- within that context, you know, you've got this drill, baby drill. That was a big slogan of the Trump
campaign. There was a huge global push away from green energy transition or at least decelerating. It's not going as fast as people thought it was
going to go. And BP is jumping on that train because really the focus for BP is profits and upping the share price.
QUEST: I'm very grateful. Anna Cooban, thank you very much.
Breaking news. Law enforcement sources are telling us they believe they've identified a suspect in the deadly Brown University shooting. Officials
have delayed a news conference, it was supposed to happen at the top of the hour. When we get more, we'll know and we'll let you -- and we'll bring it
right to you. But the breaking news is that it's believed the authorities in Rhode Island are now saying they have a person of interest. We'll talk
about it after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:42:31]
QUEST: "Call to Earth," deforestation and climate change threaten biodiversity across the Amazon from the biggest animals to the smallest
insects. So today on "Call to Earth, we're in Peru, and there scientists are joining forces with indigenous communities to protect a disappearing
species crucial to the health of the rainforest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At first glance, the bees swarming around Peruvian scientist Rosa Vasquez Espinoza may not
look much different than most, but these prolific honey-makers are what she calls one of the most ignored and fragile species on the planet. The
stingless bee.
DR. ROSA VASQUEZ ESPINOZA, FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, AMAZON RESEARCH INTERNACIONAL: These bees are key to life in the Amazon, which means they
are the most efficient pollinator of the most important crops we have here. But they are also indirectly contributing to carbon capture by keeping our
forests and our trees alive and regenerating. They are also so central to the indigenous cultures and stingless bees also play such an important role
in local economy.
WEIR: While it's true they don't sting, the bees actually have a stinger. It's just very small and not functional for self-defense.
VASQUEZ ESPINOZA: Globally, we have around 600 documented species of stingless bees. In Peru we know we have at least 175 species. That
positions Peru as such a biodiversity hotspot for stingless bees, which means we need to be driving the change in the actions to help bring back
the stingless bee.
WEIR: Rosa and her organization, Amazon Research International, work with indigenous communities, educating them on the importance of these
pollinators.
Teaching the youth scientific methods to help collect data, and families how to build livelihoods from beekeeping.
VASQUEZ ESPINOZA: Stingless bee honey has been used for generations across different indigenous cultures for many uses. Upper respiratory infections,
bronchitis, infertility, eye cataracts, wounds, burns, and this was deeply known within communities, but there was no scientific basis.
WEIR: Along with her colleague, Dr. Cesar Delgado, they conducted the first chemical analysis on stingless bee honey.
[16:45:08]
VASQUEZ ESPINOZA: We ended up detecting hundreds of medicinal molecules that are known in the literature to have the properties that communities
were describing. These science data helped really bring the value up of these native products, really opening the doors to sustainable economies.
WEIR: Currently, Rosa's focus is on creating the first distribution map of the bees across the Peruvian Bolivian Amazon.
VASQUEZ ESPINOZA: We are heading deep into the jungle to look for the stingless bees, and it's become harder to find them because of
deforestation. We want to know what trees they're nesting in so that we can understand how deforestation and climate change are impacting them. But
also what actions can we take to actually help mitigate and regenerate them. And so we need a union of modern science with traditional knowledge
because it is through these ancestral wisdom that people know how to even find the bees in the wild. It is really difficult.
WEIR: Rosa hopes this mapping will eventually lead to the creation of a natural bee corridor, and says her team is also working on a declaration of
rights for these highly social creatures.
VASQUEZ ESPINOZA: Without stingless bees, we don't have Amazon rainforest. We don't have the fruits that keep people healthy and alive. We do not have
the trees that capture carbon. And so if we truly want to protect the lungs of our planet, the Amazonian forest, let's protect the stingless bee.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: Now let us know what you're doing to answer the call. It's the -- the hashtag, #CalltoEarth.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: It was the Irish poet Oscar Wilde who once quipped the English have a miraculous power of turning wine into water, essentially changing
something refined into something boring. Well, the English wine industry seems to be doing the opposite these days. After years in the shadow of the
French, the German, the Italian, even the Spanish.
Now, one U.K. industry report shows wine exports grew by 35 percent last year, and world class winemaking is no easy task.
[16:55:03]
You remember I was in Bordeaux and got a lesson during my trip with a "World of Wonder." As they said at the chateau, when I said to them, I
remember I was saying to them, look, it's a very, you know, it's a business. And the guy said, no, it's not. It's a way of life. Well, James
Pennefather is the CEO of Chapel Down.
Oh, here we go. Get out. I suspect you would agree with him that it's a way of life now, when you grow this stuff, and you create sparkling wine.
JAMES PENNEFATHER, CEO, CHAPEL DOWN: Yes. Certainly it's an English wine revolution. There are now 12,000 acres of vineyards planted in England. 100
years ago, that would have been zero. But now English sparkling wine can stand shoulder to shoulder in terms of quality with some of the world's
finest high value sparkling wines. And that gives us enormous opportunity for global growth.
QUEST: How much of it is prejudice? I'll just say straight now. I won't be opening bottles because I don't drink alcohol. But those who will sort of
sneer at an English wine or sparkling wine have never tasted it. They just sort of want to snobbishly talk about French.
PENNEFATHER: Yes. So, we're very proud of the quality that we're now producing. If you look at what's causing that quality, we've got
exceptional terroir. We've now got the winemaking expertise, but also we have a cooler maritime climate, and that makes our wines fresher and
crisper, which mean that they are -- they're better for a broader range of occasions.
QUEST: Yes. I feel like we're going down the road of wine snobbery, talking about sort of crisp and fruity, but that's all because of the weather.
PENNEFATHER: Yes. That's --
QUEST: I mean, have English wines got better because of climate change, technique, grape, experience?
PENNEFATHER: It's a combination of all those things. Plus the passion as well. And so last year in the world decanter -- Decanter World Wine Awards
our rose won the best in class up against 268 other global sparkling roses that were entered. So it really is a revolution for English sparkling wine.
QUEST: You're a sort of distillery man. You're a hard liquor man by trade. It seems a bit, how do you adapt to the lighter stuff?
PENNEFATHER: It's very similar. It's about brands and quality. I went around the world selling single malt. It's the same technique. Here with
Chapel Down, we have associations with the Oxford Cambridge Boat Race, with Royal Ascot, with England Cricket as a way of driving that really strong
modern luxury that's linked with Britain.
QUEST: And the ability to export, where are your markets for this and are you hit particularly for the U.S. by tariffs?
PENNEFATHER: The U.S. is the priority market for us. Earlier this year we agreed a distribution partnership with Jackson Family Wines and Chapel Down
is now in 24 states across the U.S. We're really excited by the potential there. It's the biggest export market for champagne in the world. And what
we have found is that U.S. consumers enjoy our fresh, crisp wines as well.
PENNEFATHER: So you've got -- but has do tariffs affect you?
PENNEFATHER: It's quite limited actually.
QUEST: Right. So let's not waste time on that. The traditional idea of if you can't call it champagne, you sort of don't mind that in a sense,
because you recognize the significance of geographical proprietary rules. But you go for sparkling wine. What else?
PENNEFATHER: Yes. English sparkling wine is what we have as our geographical indicator.
QUEST: When -- this is coming home with me, by the way, so even though I may not drink a tipple or three. What does it pair nicely with, your
English sparkling wine?
PENNEFATHER: My favorite pairing is smoked salmon. And I will actually be drinking the Kits Coty Long de Blanc, which is from our single vineyard.
It's 100 percent chardonnay before Christmas lunch with my family while we open our presents, eating smoked salmon as well.
QUEST: So you'll do this? And was this year a good year?
PENNEFATHER: 2025 has been exceptional. It was the highest amount of sunshine during the year here in U.K. And so the wines, the grapes that we
picked have very strong levels of fruit in them. But also still with that lovely natural acidity.
QUEST: But if you take an average year of rain and an average year of gloom, can you still keep the standard up?
[16:55:01]
PENNEFATHER: Yes, we can, because what great sparkling wine needs is natural acidity. And so what that -- what that gives is a very long
ripening season that we have in England. And so you get complexity that is quite different from sparkling wines that you find in other regions. But
that said, I'm really excited about the 2025 vintage. I think it's going to be amazing.
QUEST: Good one this year.
PENNEFATHER: Yes.
QUEST: All right. Thank you very much. I'm very grateful to you. Have a good Christmas. And you'll forgive me if I just put these over here. I
think you've got one or two bottles of your own. You don't need mine back. Thank you very much, sir.
PENNEFATHER: Thank you, Richard.
QUEST: All right. We will take a "Profitable Moment" after the break. QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Tonight's "Profitable Moment." Money now or blood later. It was a very strong phrase, sound bite, warning from Prime Minister Donald Tusk of
Poland, but it got the message across, The E.U. is pretzeling itself trying to find ways to use those Russian assets for loans for Ukraine. The truth
is that everybody knows they've promised to fund Ukraine, and if they can't do it this way, then the countries will have to come up with another way of
providing the money.
This is a classic case of put your money where your mouth is, but there are problems with Hungary, there are problems with Belgium and many other
countries in the E.U. u who either on philosophical grounds or practical grounds or legal grounds, don't want to do it. The reality is, though,
every time that the Europeans fail to reach agreement, it just sort of boosts Russia's position.
Even more so when talks are going to be held on Friday towards peace talks with the United States. It is a mess. And as President Zelenskyy said, if
you don't provide the money, then we will have to cut back on our drone production. This is not some idle threat. It's the reality of a war taking
place at the moment.
And that's QUEST MEANS BUSINESS for tonight. I'm Richard Quest in London. Tomorrow we are at Highclere Castle. We are "Downton Abbey." So whatever
you're up to in the hours ahead, join me at Highclere.
END
