Return to Transcripts main page
Quest Means Business
Iranian Media Mock Trump's Secret Flight from Turkey; Ukraine: Russian Drone Hit Passenger Train, Killing Two; Search for Karoline Leavitt Begins; Israeli Settlers Besiege Palestinian Homes in West Bank; Flock Adds Safety Measures After Surveillance Concerns; Iberia Charters Special Solar Eclipse Observation Flight; Exploring the "Proteinmaxxing" Trend. Aired 4- 5p ET
Aired August 13, 2026 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:19]
RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST, "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS": Closing bell ringing on Wall Street and the market comes to an end the day's trading, a
difficult day one way and another. Take a look at the Dow and you'll see how we are going to end the session, betwixt and between, and as the 4:00 -
- come on, Madam. A one and a two and a one, two, three, four.
Those are the markets just barely eking out a small gain and the events that you and i will talk about over the next hour.
Negotiations between the U.S. and Iran: No signs of progress as now Iranian media is mocking President Trump over his secret flight out of Turkey.
Hapag-Lloyd sees revenues recover and costs soar over the Middle East. I will be talking to the chief executive on this program.
And the CEO of Iberia will join me after the airline chartered a special eclipse flight.
We are live in New York. It is Thursday, it is August the 13th, middle of August. I am Richard Quest and I mean business.
Good evening. We begin tonight with the rhetoric between Iran and the U.S., which has reached new lows.
Iranian media now are sharing A.I. generated memes mocking President Trump's reported secret flight out of Turkey to elude a potential
assassination attempt by Tehran.
Now look, in one A.I. image, the U.S. President is depicted as a logo figurine, crouching inside a food truck; in another, he is surrounded by
McDonald's fries in a catering vehicle, an openly scornful reference to the security operation to get him home safely.
Iran is also demanding compensation for pollution from oil spills that are damaging its waters in the Gulf and the surrounding areas, and pressure is
mounting to reopen the Straits of Hormuz as global oil stockpiles continue to deplete.
CNN's Alayna Treene is at The White House.
I don't think I am being uncharitable here when I say the President is not the thickest of skins about these sort of memes and things, they won't like
this.
ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Absolutely, and it does appear, Richard, that the Iranian state media is barring a page out of this White
House's social media team. This is often these types of memes and mocking and trolling, you know, that is done on social media. This White House
press shop and their social media team loves to go in on this, but not necessarily always prepared to have the Iranian state media do it to them.
You mentioned some of these, you know, the Lego depicting President Donald Trump in the back of a catering truck. There is also another one of Trump
kind of hiding in an airport car and I do want to read to you what Iran's official state run news agency described.
They described the plot in a social media post yesterday as a, "... cowardly escape" that had become "... a topic of discussion for foreign
cyberspace users." Yet a number of others that are saying, you know how people in Iran were laughing about all of this.
I will note particularly on that McDonald's meme that we saw from that you shared, Richard, from Iranian state media. I will say some new reporting we
have this afternoon is actually the catering truck that the President was in was actually cleaned out before he went into it. But of course, these
memes definitely expected to strike a nerve with this President.
I think you're exactly right when you say he is not of the thickest of skins. He does react to some of this.
I am curious to actually see if he has even been shown this at all, because one of his key aides, one of them, Natalie Harp, who actually was in the
plane, the C-32 military plane that Trump actually flew on, not the decoy plane, she is the one who typically brings this stuff to the President to
have him look over. I am not sure if this is kind of the things that she had briefed him on in recent days.
QUEST: A quick question: I've just been on my travels. In fact, I was down in Johannesburg earlier this week, and time and again, people keep asking
me, what does The White House make of the fact that inflation is higher, oil prices are 34 percent at the gas pump and the one question I was asked
again and again on my travels is, how is the administration going to get round this difficult question of higher gas prices when it comes to
November?
[16:05:05]
TREENE: It is something they are deeply struggling with. I know from the President's political operation, which are planning the midterms, their
strategy on that, this is definitely something they recognize is a detractor for them, something that they have to work on, and the national
environment right now is not in their favor and not going to really boost them ahead of the midterm elections.
It is difficult because at the same time, the President is someone who does actually care about wanting to end this war, and he doesn't want to come
out of this war looking, you know, like a loser from it.
QUEST: Right.
TREENE: He wants to come out victorious. He wants to be the one to come out on the other side of this, to say we went in for a reason and we
accomplished our goals. The longer this drags out and the longer people are feeling the pain of this war, as you mentioned, at the gas pump, but also
at the grocery stores, the harder that becomes for them to sell it to the American public and it is a huge problem that they're trying to deal with
as we speak -- Richard.
QUEST: I am grateful. Thank you.
The Trump administration is responding to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's plea on CNN for more patriot missiles.
A White House official says the U.S. is exploring potential pathways for cooperation; but it is still stressing the U.S. must prioritize its own
weapons supply and production, and Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine, striking a train in Odesa, killing its driver and the assistant.
Ukraine struck an oil refinery in the Wildberries Hub deep inside Russia.
CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is in Kyiv tonight. He talked to President Zelenskyy about what he hopes for when this war is finally over.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: Thanks so much. No, I had too many meetings today with the soldiers, and will have after the interview,
the second military Cabinet.
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: So you have said in the past that when this war is over, you just want to sit on
the beach and drink beer.
ZELENSKYY: Yes.
WALSH: Is that still your abiding feeling, or do you know that there will be more work to do afterwards?
ZELENSKYY: No. I want -- I want, really -- I need some time. I need some time with my family and with the sea.
WALSH: I mean, that's the key question, because this must be for you physically incredibly exhausting to deal with the loss, the pressure. You
say every morning, phone calls about patriot interceptors, lives depend upon how you handle that particular stress.
Do you get to talk to your kids every day or --
ZELENSKYY: Every day, but sometimes by phone, of course, not every day I can see them, but I mean, I am very happy to --
WALSH: What do you say to them?
ZELENSKYY: To them? Good Morning. How are you? How are things? Yes. And they tell me what -- the dreams they had.
WALSH: You miss them?
ZELENSKYY: Miss? Of course, of course, miss. And of course, I always say how I love them. And it is like, you know, you physically need to hug them.
And you, so we understand it -- it is like big, big support, big energy support.
WALSH: Thank you, Mr. President. I have one last question. What is that?
ZELENSKYY: This elephant.
WALSH: The elephant with the cold. What is it?
ZELENSKYY: You know, this is a very historic building, you know?
WALSH: Sure. Sure. Thank you very much.
ZELENSKYY: Thank you. You gave me some moment to relax.
WALSH: Please have it removed. Spend time on the beach at some point somewhere, you know.
ZELENSKYY: After the war! After the war.
WALSH: You worry you might get trapped in, like, the political world of Ukraine after the war?
ZELENSKYY: Nobody can take my seat, right? Right. I will fight for this. I need it.
WALSH: Take care. Thank you so much.
ZELENSKYY: Thank you so much.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: Nick Paton Walsh reporting there.
The White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt is stepping down, becoming -- she is one of the most recognizable faces of the administration thanks
to her frequent fiery exchanges with members of the press.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: Why wouldn't Trump just take the call from Putin while the other leaders were in the room? He said it would be disrespectful to do that. Why
is that disrespectful?
KAROLINE LEAVITT, OUTGOING WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: With all due respect, only a reporter from "The New York Times" would ask a question
like that.
REPORTER: What did the President mean when he called a reporter "piggy"?
LEAVITT: Look, the President is very frank and honest with everyone in this room. So I think the President, being frank and open and honest to your
faces, rather than hiding behind your backs, is, frankly, a lot more respectful than what you saw in the last administration.
Of course, the President supports peaceful protests. What a stupid question.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: Now, speculation is rife about who might replace his messenger in chief.
Stephen Collinson is with me.
This is one of the most sought after jobs. I mean, let's just face it. It is a ticket to anything else you want afterwards. But even so, during that
period, Karoline Leavitt, first of all, how would you judge she has done? And secondly, who is the front runner?
[16:10:11]
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: So I think from the civic side of her role, the traditional White House Press Secretary role, someone
who conveys messages from The White House, information to the United States and the world that should be trusted, I think she is an aberration from the
traditional sense of the White House Press Secretary.
But that was not what she was there for in President Trump's mind. She was there to do exactly what you just showed her doing, having these showdowns
with the press.
She speaks fluent MAGA and fluent Trump. She is an expression of Trump's id almost. It is almost like you have Trump standing up there. So she was
sending messages to the President's political base, stressing to the fact that he was an insurgent against the Washington elites. That's the picture
they wanted. So at that, she was very successful.
Now, the question is, how do you replace that? And will Trump even replace it? Does he want someone to stand up there and give briefings, or does he
appoint someone who is not even famous from the inside to take over the job?
QUEST: Can I just ask you? Every time I've heard these frankly vulgar, rude exchanges or discourteous exchanges where she has been rude to a member of
the press. Does the press ever say back to her, ma'am, that is just rude. I am a professional doing my job. How dare you speak to me that way?
COLLINSON: Very rarely, I don't think -- I mean, I've watched countless briefings that she has done and I have never seen something like that. I
think one of the obvious reasons why is although she was performing on camera behind-the-scenes, she was also a conduit to information about what
was going on inside The White House.
She was deeply trusted by the President, so she was in a lot of those meetings. For example, the reporter there was talking about a meeting or a
call with President Putin. She was part of the U.S. delegation, so in that sense, privately, she could be a good source for reporters as they are
trying to work out exactly what is going on.
For instance, perhaps even during this, you know, flap over what happened in Turkey on Air Force One.
QUEST: Quick question: I wasn't going to throw -- a quick, quick question for a quick answer. Were you surprised by this? These shenanigans over Air
Force One? It is quite a remarkable tale in the U.S.
COLLINSON: I was surprised in one way that it seemed to be responding to in a rather ad hoc way. My experience of covering White Houses, is that the
Secret Service responds to events with great in-depth plans. This seemed to me to be something that was perhaps involving the political side of The
White House as well.
So the optics aren't very good. One thing I do wonder is whether this was partly also bound up in the desire not to insult the Turks, to give the
impression that they couldn't keep the President safe. So I think there are a lot of things about this happening that we don't know yet.
There is a brand new story up on cnn.com, and that has got a lot of new details. So that would be worth your viewers taking a look at.
QUEST: Indeed. Thank you, sir. I am grateful. Thank you for putting that out.
Between disrupted waterways, high fuel prices and the return of U.S. tariffs, running a global shipping company is not easy.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:16:18]
QUEST: Now, you are looking at a satellite photo of a massive oil spill off the Coast of Oman. The environmentalist, Greenpeace are telling us it
covers 1,300 square kilometers, a potential ecological disaster. The tanker was carrying around 800,000 barrels of oil when it reportedly came under
attack. It is believed to be part of the Russian Shadow Fleet.
Deteriorating security conditions in the world's busiest waterways are taking a major toll on global shipping giants. The container shipper,
Hapag-Lloyd says it took a $600 million hit from the Middle East crisis in Q2.
The company says it is paying more for insurance, storage, rerouting and inland transportation following the closure. And yet, the share price, as
you can see, has performed considerably better than expected because core business is holding up remarkably well, particularly from Asia.
Rolf Habben Jansen is the CEO of Hapag-Lloyd. Good to see you, Rolf, as always, thank you for taking the time to join us from Hamburg. It is an
interesting tale, isn't it? Because despite all of these tremendous difficulties, which we will get to in just a moment, the core business is
holding up quite well, and in some parts of the world is doing remarkably well.
ROLF HABBEN JANSEN, CEO, HAPAG-LLOYD: Absolutely. I think if you look back even a little bit longer, I mean, the last two, three years have been
remarkably strong. I mean, if you recall, three years ago, everybody was talking about a looming crisis in container shipping, and ever since,
especially the volumes on the dominant legs out of Asia and also out of some other places have just done really, really well if you compare 23 with
26 in three years' time.
Those dominant legs have grown close to 25 percent and that's actually quite remarkable and something we haven't seen for a long time.
QUEST: So let's talk to the other side. The Straits are still closed. The Red Sea is giving you all sorts of problems from the Houthis. So the
freight charges are still high. What are you doing to actually get transportation and containers through and around that area?
JANSEN: Well, of course, we try to at least use every possible asset that we have, and we try to use them as efficiently as possible. I think we've
been quite good at that this year because we see that we can use the slots more often than we typically did in the past.
But you are right, it is challenging. Hormuz are still closed. There are some services that were now starting to return through the Red Sea, but it
will take some time before everything goes through again. So one should still expect some disruption in the remainder of this year, and let's not
forget that also, some of the ports struggle with all the volumes that they need to handle, particularly in Asia.
QUEST: We know that the -- we know that the cost of insurance has gone up, and obviously, you have told me on this program that you're not going to
send a ship through the Straits until you're absolutely sure of its safety.
Where are you on that scale at the moment in terms of, you know, gut feeling that things are getting better or not?
JANSEN: I think it depends a little bit what you look at. I think if you look at the Strait of Hormuz, there the situation is still very, very
dangerous and so we will not go through there at this point in time.
When you look at Bab el-Mandeb and Suez there, you definitely see that it has been a while since something happened there. I would say that the
situation there today is definitely better than it was a year or a year- and-a-half ago and you also see that together with our partner, Maersk, we are starting to move some services back to Suez.
[16:20:10]
We will do that step by step also, because we need to avoid the ports in Europe are otherwise going to collapse and then you haven't really achieved
anything.
QUEST: On the demand question which is where we started this interview, the demand for shipping. Now, the slowdown supposedly that is taking place in
China, or at least the issues with China, I mean, this is all alleviated what is a deteriorating situation, but it can't go on forever.
For instance, we can't keep drawing down stocks of oil. We are going to have to, at some point find resolution or we will be looking at a serious
economic problems.
Where are you on that scale do you think?
JANSEN: No, I think when you look today at the markets, the markets have been remarkably robust. I mean, when you look at the trades and maybe some
of the trades to and from the U.S. are a little bit of an exception, even if they have also been fairly strong in the second quarter, most of the
other markets have been really, really strong.
I mean, if you look at Asia -- Europe has been good. Asia-Africa has really been booming already for longer. The trades into Latin America are strong,
and if you look a little bit further out, I mean it is always difficult to have visibility beyond several months. But when you talk to people today, I
would say that most of them are a bit more optimistic than they probably were some months ago, even if admittedly for us, it is not a complete
surprise that we had a decent peak season, also, because we saw that inventories, for example, in the U.S. were relatively low. So, restocking
had to take place at some point in time.
QUEST: Sir, I am grateful. Thank you. It is late for you, and I am grateful that you've stayed up and talked to us tonight here on QUEST MEANS
BUSINESS. Thank you.
Now, "The New York Times" is reporting that Forbes has fired one of its top editors after discovering that he had received a $6 million payment and
failed to disclose it. According to "The Times," Randall Lane received the money from the founder of Shook Research, which has worked together on the
magazine's rankings of top wealth advisors. It is not clear why he was given the payment.
In a statement, Lane said, "I made a mistake and I take responsibility for it. I should have disclosed the gift and failing to was a serious error in
judgment. I deeply regret it and I lost the job and the team I love because of it."
Sara Fischer is with me.
We don't know what happened here. So speculation is crude at best. But the $6 million number is huge. I mean, this is more than just here is a couple
of thousand for giving us a tip or for helping us through the front door.
SARA FISCHER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA ANALYST: That's right and one of the biggest red flags is any time you're receiving payment, you should be disclosing
that, you know, especially if it is something that's that large and you have that prominent of a position within the newsroom.
So the fact that it went undisclosed to a lot of the Forbes leadership and management is the problem. And then, of course, the scope of the payment
and the nature of the business relationship, it compromises what people have always thought to be very authoritative rankings across industries.
Forbes has made a lot of money over the years, Richard, for the Forbes 30 Under 30 list and all the summits that are surrounding that, and Randall
has been the face of all of those.
He started that franchise. He is the person on stage doing most of those interviews. And so the question becomes, how does it tarnish the brand from
here on out? And I would say, it is not going to be very good.
QUEST: I mean, you know, it is the money. It is the amount of money that's the extraordinary part. Because at some stage, I mean, this isn't like
taking a meal or, you know, doing what the normal sort of questions and accusations with transparency.
Do you think we will find out more about this or not? Or do you think that this is going to lock down in a sense of Forbes will give out as little
information as they can. Everybody will want to bury it as deeply as possible. He will disappear off into the yonder, and we will all be
wondering what on earth that was all about.
FISCHER: No, people are chasing it, and people are going to make calls and they are going to figure it out. I will say I did a lot of coverage,
Richard, when Forbes was its owners as a Chinese media company or investment company, was trying to sell it a few years ago, I did a ton of
reporting on it.
And the reason why I am kind of eye rolling at this is because I am not totally shocked by this. When I got into the digging around Forbes'
structure, a lot of the chaos around its ownership, who they were talking to about sales, it was so unbelievable to me that this does not feel as
shocking.
[16:25:03]
So, for example, they were in talks to sell Forbes just like three years ago to an investment group that was led by sort of an Indian firm that had
ties to the Kremlin. They went to great lengths to try to cover up some of that ownership structure by putting a 20-something year old CEO of a random
space tech company in as the figurehead.
So when I hear this coming out about Randall Lane, I can't say I am shocked because I have seen so many shenanigans over the past few years. I think
that the question becomes, can Forbes business survive this as a brand? And you know, when the folks that own Forbes were trying to get it sold, the
figures that they were trying to fetch were outlandish. I think it will be even harder now.
QUEST: It is the old story. Thank you very much. I am grateful, Sara. Thank you for joining us tonight. We will talk more.
Coming up, the camera company, Flock is responding to criticism over the alleged misuse of its technology by police officers.
QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Hello, I am Richard Quest. We've got a lot more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS together.
Wednesday's total eclipse brought millions of visitors to Spain. I will be speaking to the chief executive of the country's flag carrier, Iberia.
And consumer demand for protein products is soaring. Suppliers are struggling to keep up. We will only get to it after we've done the
headlines because this is CNN and here, the news comes first.
Two people are seriously hurt after a passenger train derailed in Southern England. It happened near Lewes, which is about 110 kilometers south of
London. Emergency officials on the scene say nine other people sustained less serious injuries. And as you can see there, several train carriages
are on their side. It is not clear what caused the incident.
The new Colombian government accepting rescue crews from four countries following this week's devastating earthquake. Colombia says teams from the
U.S., El Salvador, Ecuador and Israel are the only ones that have the required international certifications. Colombia's Foreign Ministry says it
has asked the United Nations for support.
A U.S. federal judge has dismissed the Trump administration lawsuit against Harvard University. It alleged -- the lawsuit alleges that the university
had failed to protect Jewish and Israeli students from harassment. The judge said the government's allegation is largely focused on a handful of
incidents amid protests over Israel's war in Gaza. The judge said they were too isolated and episodic to support a claim of ongoing civil rights
violations.
[16:30:52]
The United Nations says more than 3,000 Palestinians have been displaced from their homes in the occupied West Bank this year by ongoing settler
attacks and demolitions. In one town, Israeli settlers have laid siege to a hilltop where several Palestinian families are living. They've pitched a
tent, cut off water and the electricity, and blocked the roads.
CNN's Jeremy Diamond is there and visited the scene and sent this dispatch.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The view from this Palestinian home is the same from every angle. Israeli settlers
everywhere you look. For days now, they've set up camp and surrounded three homes on this hilltop in the occupied West Bank in a bid to force the
residents out and take over. They've cut water and power lines and have tried to stop anyone from approaching.
All of this is illegal and yet this is what happened when Palestinian residents first called the Israeli military. Soldiers joined the settlers
in prayer.
LOUI RIDI, PALESTINIAN-AMERICAN, OWNS HOUSE BESIEGED BY SETTLERS: They start hugging the settlers and they start praying with the settlers and
absolutely did nothing to protect my brother and his son.
DIAMOND (voice-over): Loui Ridi owns one of those houses. A Palestinian- American, he's watched all of this unfold from Ohio. And this is what he saw on Wednesday. The Israeli military trying and ultimately failing to
remove the settlers from the area. Hours later, we drive up the hill to see if anything has changed.
So these are actually the three homes that have been besieged by these settlers for four days now. We're going to try and climb up this hill and
see if we can get past the settlers who are blocking the area.
(Voice-over): The settlers are still there and so are two Israeli soldiers who order us to stop and turn off our vehicle. The soldier tells me this is
now a closed military area and that we're interfering with military activity.
(Through text translation): Why are we interfering and not them?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through text translation): I don't understand. You can contact the military spokesperson. This is a closed military area.
DIAMOND (voice-over): An IDF spokesperson said the order does apply to the settlers but it's clearly not being enforced.
They're telling us that it's a close military zone, that we're not allowed to be here. But at the same time we're seeing multiple Israeli settlers who
are here, who are not being made to leave and who are continuing to block the access to these homes.
(Voice-over): Down the hill, we call Loui's brother, Qusai, who's been staying in his home.
Qusai, this is the closest we're able to get to your home, unfortunately. How are you doing? Do you still have supplies?
(Voice-over): "The food I have is going to run out in two to three days. Beyond that, I have no food, nothing," he says. "But at the same time, even
if I run out of food, I will not leave the house."
So do you have any hope that these settlers are actually going to be kicked out of this area?
(Voice-over): "Honestly, from what I saw today, the settlers were monstrous," he explains. They even attacked the Israeli army, forcing them
to fire sound grenades and tear gas. They have their eyes set on the house and this hilltop. They want to take it."
The Israeli military says it is stepping up its efforts to rout the settlers, deploying an infantry battalion to the area to, quote, "protect
the residents and maintain security." But Qusai's fears aren't abstract. In recent weeks, settlers in this area have set fire to a mosque and besieged
this home.
This right here is why those families are afraid to leave their homes. You can see Israeli settlers on the rooftop of this house here. Three weeks
ago, Palestinians were living in that house, but it's been taken over by Israeli settlers.
(Voice-over): With a Messianic flag now flying above it, these settlers want their presence known from one hilltop to the next.
Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Qusra, the West Bank.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: Now last hour, Paula Newton spoke to the spokesperson for the office of the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and she asked him if the
Palestinians who have been forcibly kicked out of their homes can return in peace and be protected.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DORON SPIELMAN, SPOKESPERSON FOR OFFICE OF ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: We are dealing with this problem. It's clear to everybody on the Israeli side that
this is a problem. We understand that even though it is a limited problem with people who aren't even from there, it's being magnified and the
magnification is really creating a very bad image for a community of people, for half a million Jewish people who live in Judea and Samaria, who
are of the most law-abiding people in Israel.
PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Do you -- sir.
SPIELMAN: And they are being thrown in with this myth. Yes, sure. Go ahead.
NEWTON: Mr. Spielman, I'm going to interrupt there. So the U.N., the U.S., many of your allies do not think this is, you know, an isolated situation.
I'm going to quote the U.S. ambassador to Israel now, Mike Huckabee, saying that, "The actions of those who carried out this horrific act of terror
meant to intimidate and harass this family are disgusting." They said that they were in contact with you.
So my point is, OK, so you say the situation is under control now. What will happen going forward to make sure that those families are not
intimidated and that they're able to be in their homes and live in peace there, because we've seen for several days now that the IDF and the Israeli
police were unable to dislodge people from those areas.
SPIELMAN: Well, they dislodged them now. And as I mentioned to you, now, let me explain to you that they've already been distanced from the area.
Their outposts have been taken down, and now there's an enormous amount of military there. And as I'm trying to explain, Israel is a nation of law.
Israel has laws. This isn't the Wild West. And Israel has publicly come out and condemned this and made arrests.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: The camera company Flock is adding new safety measures after a backlash over its law enforcement technology. Flock's automated license
plate cameras load information about passing cars onto a database. The system has now come under scrutiny after a series of alleged misuses by
police officers. Flock does not release the device locations publicly. Crowdfunded sites like The Flocks are popular for self-reporting a camera's
presence. Here you can see the extent of its use across the U.S..
The chief executive, Garrett Langley, spoke to us earlier and apologized.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GARRETT LANGLEY, FOUNDER AND CEO, FLOCK: The short message, I'm sorry. I'm sorry that the system has failed you. I'm sorry that you no longer trust
the police department. That's job is to protect you. And for me, we believe at Flock that everyone has a right to feel safe. And whether you have a
badge or you don't, we don't believe that committing a crime is acceptable in this country.
And so for us, safety is a fundamental right, no different than clean water and the same electricity. And so I am so sorry to hear of her situation,
and I hope it never happens again and definitively not with our product.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: So what has happened and why? Clare Duffy reports.
CLARE DUFFY, CNN TECH CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Richard, we have seen over the past year this string of police officer resignations and arrests
over alleged misuse of the Flock license plate reader camera system. In just one example, a former Milwaukee police officer, according to court
documents, used the Flock camera system to stalk his romantic partner. He searched for her location information 124 times, and all of this has led to
increased concerns around surveillance and privacy from community members across the country, especially given that Flock has this nationwide network
of 120,000 cameras across 49 states.
So Flock now rolling out these new safety and accountability tools, trying to address that criticism and curb the misuse of its technology. The
company earlier this year rolled out a tool that it calls audit assistance that automatically flags unusual searches by users. It is now making that
tool mandatory for all agencies that use its cameras by the end of this year. And when an officer is flagged for an unusual search, they'll be
automatically suspended from the system pending an administrator review.
The company will also now require case numbers to be entered as justification for every search, so you can't, for example, have a police
officer searching randomly about a romantic partner, and the company is also reducing its standard data retention policy from 30 days, which is the
length of time that the ACLU and others had raised concerns about down to seven days. All of this, the company hopes, will reduce the likelihood of
misuse of its technology.
And it's interesting, Richard, I talked to the CEO of Flock, Garrett Langley, and he told me that part of this was motivated by him realizing
just how many people don't trust the police. And he said he realized the company needed to do more to set the standards for best practices of the
use of this very powerful technology.
QUEST: Clare Duffy reporting.
Parts of Europe admired a total solar eclipse. Iberia chartered a special flight to watch the event from the sky.
[16:40:03]
The chief executive of Iberia next on QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Stunning images. The total solar eclipse over Europe on Wednesday. What a front row view. It comes from the Iberia special flight over Spain,
chartered for a group of researchers observing the flight. The flight is a bright spot during a challenging summer for European airlines. Chaos over
the border control system, migration dispute between Italy and Spain, and jet fuel supply strains from the Iran war.
Marc Sansavini is the chief executive of Iberia.
Marco, it is good to see you, sir. Firstly, congratulations on your -- on the eclipse flight. I guess it was a no brainer when somebody came up to
you and said, hey, we want to put a plane in the sky to see this take place.
MARCO SANSAVINI, CEO, IBERIA: Well, in fact -- hi, Richard. Pleasure to be with you. You might think that it's a relatively simple thing to do. You
put a plane in the sky while there is a total eclipse, but to be honest, in fact, we planned that with the scientists and we wanted to produce the best
possible conditions to have the best possible image, and that required to have, for instance, a plan, to give you an idea, of three different
routings because depending on the circumstances, you needed to have the right angle. And so that also the images would not have a reflection in the
windows of the plane, for instance.
QUEST: Believe me, I've taken enough bad pictures out of the plane window that all I can ever see is my own nose because of it. Look, sir, let's talk
about how the summer is going. Air traffic problems, fuel problems, the fiasco of the European Entry System, and you've got this dispute with
Italy. How are you managing it all?
SANSAVINI: Well, first of all, I think what is really unique about the situation today is the fuel situation. It is important to stress the fact
that at IAG, you know that Iberia belongs to the International Airline Group, where also British Airways, where Aer Lingus belong to. We believe
that, of course, the situation is one where the fuel supply is not the challenge. We have a situation where we have guaranteed fuel supply in the
places like Spain and the U.K., where even self-supply were required.
[16:45:02]
The real challenge is the fuel price. And with the current volatility, just to give you an idea, when we started the year, our fuel bill at IAG was
projected to be seven billion. And now we are looking at the range we just presented half one result between 8.3 and 8.6. which we're benefiting from
the hedging, and of course our challenge is to be able to mitigate as much as possible that and we have announced that we are planning to mitigate and
we are succeeding to mitigate at least 60 percent of that.
QUEST: When I look at Iberia and the way you're going to grow, you know, Willie Walsh always used to say, we don't need a third runway at Heathrow.
We've got wonderfully long runways at Barajas Airport in Madrid. That's where the growth really is. So as you look to grow Iberia in the next five
years, where is your growth going to be?
SANSAVINI: Well, Richard, we announced our Flight Plan 2030, which is our strategic plan of development. And it's important to stress that that
development is only possible because Iberia went through the last decade through a profound transformation that has allowed to position Iberia as
one of the industry leading airlines in terms of profitability and operational efficiency. We are one of the most punctual airlines in the
world.
And on that base, we were able to then receive the confidence of an investment of six billion euros in the expansion of our fleet, our network
and our customer proposition on that base. Our plan is to develop our footprint primarily in our core markets, being, first of all, Latin
America, where Iberia is one of the -- is the leading operator. And also in North Atlantic. To give you an idea, just in the last 12 months, we
integrated our fleet eight new Airbus 321XLRs. As you know, we were launching customer. And also one additional 359 and with that we were able
to expand six new long haul destinations, two in the U.S., Newark and Orlando, two in Brazil, Fortaleza and Recife, one in Mexico with Monterrey,
and Canada in Toronto.
QUEST: Now you've just got to fill them with passengers.
I'm grateful, Marc. Always good to see you, sir. Thank you very much indeed for joining us on QUEST MEANS BUSINESS tonight.
SANSAVINI: Thank you very much, Richard. A pleasure being with you.
QUEST: Have a good summer.
Now, it is the great proteinification or as Gen Z's call it, proteinmaxxing. Everywhere there's a new protein product on the market.
It's raising the price of one of the key ingredients.
QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:50:10]
QUEST: Our frequent viewers will have notice I try to stay in shape and it can be a very challenging time given how much I'm on the road. So we go to
the local gym wherever possible, even when I'm traveling, and when I'm away I just sometimes get in to do a few pushups in the hotel of course. I have
to fuel these workouts by eating or drinking enough protein. Well, I certainly got my fill with a 72-ounce steak in Texas that you'll see this
weekend.
Now, recent fitness trends and the growing use of GLP-1 drugs has jacked up consumer demand for protein.
Matias Grez explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATIAS GREZ, CNN CREATOR: You've probably already noticed, but protein is everywhere. We've got protein, crisps, protein, water, and even protein
espresso martinis. Now, the rapid increase in demand for these products means that a pound of whey protein in the U.S. is roughly six times more
expensive than it was three years ago, from the low $2 mark per pound in 2023 to as much as $13 per pound in 2026.
In the past year alone, prices have jumped 250 percent. And the interesting thing is, or maybe the better word for Jim Gross is concerning, we can't
just produce more to meet this increased demand.
AMIR AKROUTI, SALES ASSOCIATE, FLEXZILLA SUPPLEMENTS: Nowadays people are more and more aware of the importance of living a healthy lifestyle. So,
yes, there has been an increase in prices in supplements, especially in proteins.
GREZ (voice-over): Whey is a byproduct of cheesemaking, which means if the world wants more protein, then the world needs to eat more cheese. And
while it might quickly be turning into liquid gold today, for the vast majority of cheesemaking history producers actually paid to get rid of
whey. They whey squeeze has been made worse by the recent growing trend of GLP-1 use like Ozempic or Mounjaro, with doctors increasingly prescribing
extra protein alongside the weight loss drugs to offset muscle loss.
Plus, there has been a rapid rise in young people, particularly Gen Z going to the gym and the protein maxing trend on social media is encouraging
people to up their daily protein intake. Although it's not just crucial for gym goers trying to get buff, preserving muscle mass is also crucial for
healthy aging and longevity.
DR. ANNALISA TERRANEGRA, PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR IN PRECISION NUTRITION, SIDRA MEDICINE: Good morning.
GREZ: Hi, good morning.
TERRANEGRA: Hi, Matias.
GREZ: Matias. Nice to meet you.
TERRANEGRA: Me too. How are you?
GREZ: I'm good. Thanks. How are you?
TERRANEGRA: Very good.
GREZ: I heard that you have had a lot of your friends in your social circle, your personal social circle, asking you about protein now. Is that
right?
TERRANEGRA: Oh, yes. Oh, yes. This is a very off topic. Let me show you the lab now and we can go deeper on that. Here where we basically do our
research and we look at the fact of food on, you know, genes and cells, especially, of course, on human research and human studies.
GREZ: I'm OK without a lab coat?
TERRANEGRA: Yes. You're OK.
GREZ: OK.
(Voice-over): Doctor Annalisa Terranegra is the principal investigator in precision nutrition at Sidra Medicine. So who better to explain the
importance of protein in our diets?
TERRANEGRA: We all have to consume protein on a daily basis. Because this is what our muscles are made of. Proteins, amino acids. This is essential
for our body to function. So of course we need to intake protein. And most importantly to replace the protein that we lose with the physiological
process. The right protein intake, which again depends on who you are, your age, the type of physical activity that you do, resistance versus
endurance, and the rest of your life is different so as to be calculated properly.
And the protein source is also important, right? Not only meat and chicken. And I know the steak and the breast chicken is in the brain, you know, in
the mind of every gym person, but no, but it is important.
GREZ: One of the big trends and one of the big reasons that the price of whey protein, for example, is going up so quickly is because in the U.S.,
for example, there are now a lot of adults that are taking these GLP-1 Ozempic Mounjaro, which, you know, not only helps you lose fat, but we also
see muscle wastage with that.
TERRANEGRA: Right. Yes.
GREZ: I mean, for those people on those medications, how important especially is it for them to be conscious of the protein that they're
having?
TERRANEGRA: These people may need to increase their protein intake or, well, I would better recommend to review their dietary intake. You don't
feel hungry, it doesn't mean you should stop eating. Then you have to be very cautious and have the right intake of food, which of course includes
protein, high quality protein, variety of protein. But never forget the rest.
[16:55:07]
GREZ (voice-over): While there is no replacement for a healthy, varied diet, people are still looking for quick ways to increase their protein
intake. Specialized plants that turn the liquid whey into consumable powder are expensive and time consuming to build, and in the U.S., for example,
have essentially been running at full capacity with end of month stocks down by half since 2023. The whey craze has now extended way beyond gym
goers and businesses are now investing heavily to keep up.
AKROUTI: The diversity, we can talk about snacks, we can talk about protein bars, about gummies, about water. There is a diversity in protein products.
GREZ (voice-over): Companies around the world are investing hundreds of millions of dollars into state-of-the-art plants that can produce
consumable whey powder.
This will be crucial to help alleviate the low stock manufacturers are experiencing for the rest of 2026 with stockpiles in the U.S. in the first
half of the year way below the average and if those stockpiles run out, expect the price of your whey to shoot up even more.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: Excellent stuff.
We will have our "Profitable Moment" after the break. QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Tonight's "Profitable Moment."
The greatest part of my job, by far, besides talking to you every night, is the ability to employ, to spot, to see new members of staff. Give interns
jobs that they then go on to produce and see their careers flourish. And that's the case of one of our producers tonight. His name is Joshua Gursky.
Now, dear Joshua joined us seven years ago after I appointed him as an intern. And for the last seven years, Josh Gursky has been part of this
program and working.
He's actually producing the program tonight, sitting in the control room somewhere with his fingers on the tiller. The reason I mention, he's
leaving us tonight after seven years' hard work, and after those seven years -- there he is. You can see Joshua -- oh, now I can see. Look to your
left, dear sir. Look to your left. Give us a wave.
Joshua, you have been a tremendous employee, a brilliant colleague, a great friend. I don't know why you want to go to business school and do what
you're about to do, but there you go. We all make our money in one way or another. But it does allow me to say thank you, Joshua, for the work that
you have done and for what you have brought to this program.
And that's -- stand by there, Joshua, because -- and that's QUEST MEANS BUSINESS for this Thursday. I'm Richard Quest in New York. Whatever you're
up to in the hours ahead, I hope it's profitable. I'll see you tomorrow. Good luck, Josh.
END
