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Quest Means Business
Donald Trump Shocked The Markets By Calling Off His Meeting With Kim Jong-Un; Car Dealers In The United States Warned Of Economic Disaster Over New Plan For Tariffs; Angela Merkel Turns To China In Her Search For A New Trading Partner; Investigators Say The Missile That Downed Malaysia Airlines Flight Mh17 Was Fired From A Launcher Belonging To A Specific Russian Brigade; North Korea Announces Destruction of Nuclear Test Site; Moon Jae-in: Deeply Regrets North Korea Summit Has Been Canceled; Rusal CEO And Directors Quit Amid Sanctions; Russia Oil Minister Cites Growth Optimism; CNN Questions Russian Oligarch Over Cohen Payments; France Fights To Become Europe's Tech Hub; Uber Invests Millions To Build Flying Taxis In France; Fauda Season 2 Returns Amid Inflamed Israeli-Palestine Tensions; Global Markets Fall After Trump Cancels North Korea Summit. Aired: 4-5p ET
Aired May 24, 2018 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN HOST: And stocks are still staggering from this morning's bombshell from the White House. It is Thursday, the 24th of May.
Tonight Donald Trump shocked the markets by calling off his meeting with Kim Jong-un. Car dealers in the United States warned of economic disaster
over new plan for tariffs. And Angela Merkel turns to China in her search for a new trading partner.
I am Bianna Golodryga and this QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
Tonight investors around the world are left stunned after Donald Trump's decision not to head to Singapore next month. Markets started to drop as
soon as that news broke.
In a letter to the North Korean leader, President Trump cites, "Tremendous anger and open hostility from the North Koreans" as his reason for backing
out. Trump says, the United States campaign of maximum economic pressure on the Kim regime will continue.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If and when Kim Jong-un chooses to engage in constructive dialogue and actions, I am waiting. In
the meantime, our very strong sanctions, by far the strongest sanctions ever imposed, and maximum pressure campaign will continue as it has been
continuing.
But no matter what happens, and what we do, we will never ever compromise the safety and security of the United States of America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: The Dow was down as much as 250 points at its worst. It slowly clawed its way back throughout the rest of the trading session, however.
Korean markets were already closed with Trump published his letter, but look at this index fund tracking South Korean stocks. It fell more than 2
percent.
Alan Valdes is at the New York City Stock Exchange. Alan, good afternoon to you, so the markets came off of their lows, was that a surprise for you
following this surprising announcement?
ALAN VALDES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Not really. I mean, the announcement was a surprise, but yet, it wasn't a shocker. I mean, down here, no one really
thought that it was 100 percent done deal that there will be a meeting in Seoul going on this summer.
But over all, it was a good to see the market back up only down about 75 points, like you've mentioned, we were down 250 points, so we did make a
nice come back this afternoon. On heavy volume, too. The volume was pretty heavy and we got some good news here in the market, too, and that
the energy companies sold off and in the long run, starting drive time here in America, crude fell over 1 percent, so that's a good thing for the
consumer today.
GOLODRYGA: Yes, many are wondering what tomorrow is going to look like. As we mentioned, the South Korean markets were already closed by the time
word of the President's letter came out. What can we expect to see overnight in Asian stocks?
VALDES: You could definitely see a follow-through, but even you do, I think it's going to be sure. I don't see this really weighing out stocks
for the long term. This is really a knee jerk reaction. I mean, fiduciary responsibility, not some of these big funds. They had to start dumping
stocks, but I think in the long run, the market gets its foot in again, and we will continue on this road path.
I mean, our earnings have been good, unemployment is great. So, overall the market for now is still very strong. This was a bad -- I mean, we'd
like to see a piece in that neck of the woods all over the world, and the fact that they are breaking away from these talks, not great.
GOLODRYGA: Potential tariffs are making headlines again, with the President threatening to impose tariffs on imported cars to the U.S.. We
saw that U.S. auto makers and auto makers around the world actually sold off today on the news. How concerning is that for the markets?
VALDES: That's more concerning than Korea to be honest with you. I mean, tariffs never work. A little tariff -- it's a bad thing, we believe down
here. We would like to see, you know, just normal trading. Tariffs never work. They never work.
GOLODRYGA: Actually, we see Ford and of course, General Motors, the two companies that would benefit actually from tariffs for the day, but the
most -- the others are already down. So, we will leave it there. Alan, thank you so much.
VALDES: Thank you. Thanks for having me.
GOLODRYGA: With Mr. Trump's decision, he adds a new wild card to a region already froth with uncertainties. It marks a return of the fiery rhetoric
on a possible --
[16:05:16]
GOLODRYGA: -- nuclear war between the U.S. and North Korea, and it comes as the U.S. and China are suck in thorny trade talks, which Donald Trump
has been openly skeptical about in recent days. Then there's a threat of new U.S. tariffs on imported cars as we just discussed which would hurt
many U.S. allies across Asia.
We will have more on those coming up later.
But China is already trying to get closer with Germany, promising stronger trade ties with Angela Merkel during her visit to Beijing today. Amid all
of this, remember, it was only Tuesday -- hard to believe -- when Donald Trump admitted that he was curious about China's motivations particularly
on North Korea.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You think China may be discouraged Kim?
TRUMP: No, but I think that President Xi is a world-class poker player, and I probably may be doing the same thing that he would do. But I will
say this, there was a somewhat different attitude after that meeting and I little surprised, now maybe nothing happened. I am not blaming anybody,
but I am just saying, maybe nothing happened and maybe it did.
But there was a different attitude by the North Korean folks when -- after that meeting.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Paul Speltz is here. He is the Chairman and CEO of Global Strategic Associates, and the former U.S. Ambassador to the Asian
Development Bank. Great to have you on, Paul. Thank you so much.
First of all, your reaction to the surprise news that the President has canceled this planned summit for June 12.
PAUL SPELTZ, CHAIRMAN AND CEO, GLOBAL STRATEGIC ASSOCIATES: I think join with many in stating that I don't think I was terribly surprised.
GOLODRYGA: Why so?
SPELTZ: Well, when he announced it originally, the President, we were pleased. We said, "Okay, that's a step in the right direction." We are
trying to get people together, a step towards peace, but also, my concern is -- as for many others, was managing expectations. So, the first step
was to see if there was going to be a meeting, and if it didn't happen in May, or didn't happen in June, when would it happen.
And it was going so smoothly for such a long period of time that when the rhetoric started, especially on the Libya comments and things of that
nature in the last few days. And then, Kim started threatening to postpone these meetings or cancelling. The President took a preemptive step.
GOLODRYGA: Yet, the President seems to be alluding and not subtly, I might add that China played a role in Kim Jong-un's decision. Now, that second
visit that Kim Jong-un made to see President Xi in China happened before the Bolton Libya comments started surfacing, so do you think that meeting
as the President seems to allude changed Kim Jong-un's mind?
SPELTZ: No...
GOLODRYGA: But why is the President constantly talking about China and in what role China may have had?
SPELTZ: I really don't know if we try to figure that out, but I think the important thing that people have to know, I think we have two ongoing
activities with China right now, and we have had for some times. One is one of quiet, and I stress quiet cooperation with China, especially on
military review and intelligence review as far as what is going on, on the North Korean border and areas to that, and the Chinese have been pretty
good with that.
On the trade front, that doesn't surprise me or many of my colleagues who have been in this for a long time, and so, I think they're just
disassociated. When Kim first went to China on his big train, what is it? A month or so ago?
GOLODRYGA: It seems like ages ago.
SPELTZ: Yes, it seems ages the way things are going now. You know, my personal belief on this was that this was an opportunity for him to sit
down with Xi Jinping to hear from a man, Xi Jinping, who knew our President Trump and who could speak with him one on one without worrying about
microphones everywhere and talking about what makes this man tick, meaning our President. I think that was probably a worthwhile visit.
There might have been other reasons for it, but the second trip where he flew to Dalian recently was a little bit surprising, but it may have been
that he was looking for further information, plus I think China was looking that to see they were beginning I think to believe that they were getting a
bit separated from what was being planned for these discussions in Singapore, so they wanted to have their word put in there.
GOLODRYGA: But it seems like at least in anticipating ahead of this summit that the President --
[16:10:16]
GOLODRYGA: -- the U.S. and China had put their trade wars on hold, right, that they were going to maybe reapproach the subject after the meeting. Do
you expect things to heat up an intensify now if the President does in fact believe that Xi Jinping played a role in this summit being called off?
SPELTZ: I don't believe that Xi Jinping has something to do with pulling off on the summit.
GOLODRYGA: But the President seems to. I mean, this is now the second --
(CROSSTALK)
SPELTZ: They're just comments. I understand that. I mean I read his letter which I understand by watching your news release just a few minutes
ago in the green room that he said very -- his letter was very polite. I was surprised at how polite his letter was and the report is that he
dictated every word himself. Whatever.
The letter is polite. He calls him "His Excellency." He does a lot of things in that letter that I was a bit surprised about, but it is not
coming across to me having been out there for a long time as a letter that is saying, "We're finished. We have nothing to talk about."
GOLODRYGA: A far cry from rocket man, right?
SPELTZ: Oh, yes, but the other point to is, there is a difference between a cancellation than a postponement. I view this as a postponement.
GOLODRYGA: Well, let's see how Kim Jong-un...
(CROSSTALK)
SPELTZ: Yes, let's watch and see what happens. Let's home.
GOLODRYGA: Great to have you on. Thanks so much and great afternoon.
SPELTZ: Thanks so much.
GOLODRYGA: Well, the Trump administration says the American auto industry is crucial for national security. The threat of new tariffs is spooking
investors and angering allies.
And CNN is on the ground with rare access inside North Korea. You will hear what the reaction was like as Donald Trump cancels that summit.
The Trump administration is gearing up for a new trade conflict, this time, over cars. The Commerce Department is launching an investigation into
other foreign auto imports for U.S. national security.
President Trump reportedly wants tariffs as high as 25 percent. Shares of foreign auto makers in Asia and Europe fell sharply on the news. Ford and
GM, two of Detroit's big three rose. Now, it's important to remember many foreign auto makers have factories in the U.S., while American auto makers
manufacture some of their cars in Canada and in Mexico.
America's trade partners as you would expect are furious. China says it's opposed to the abusive national security rules, and Japan's Trade Minister
warned of instability for global markets.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
HIROSHIGE SEKO, MINISTER OF ECONOMY, TRADE AND INDUSTRY, JAPAN: (Through an interpreter). If the U.S. import tariffs are executed, they would call
a great confusion in the global economy and give a negative effect to the multilateral trade framework under the WTO system, which is very
regrettable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Japan's auto makers have reason to worry. Japan is the biggest source of foreign cars in the U.S. after Mexico and Canada. An analyst
believe Mexico --
[16:15:16]
GOLODRYGA: -- and Canada could be exempt from tariffs. Germany and South Korea round out the top five. The relationship between the U.S. and those
countries is far from reciprocal. The U.S. imposes a 2.5 percent tariff on imported cars, a tire for light trucks. Now, compare that to Europe's 10
percent and China's 25 percent. China plans to lower its import duties to 15 percent later this year.
Clare Sebastian is following these development. Clare, you hear 25 percent that's a jaw dropping number.
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That is a really big number, now that is just reported from the "Wall Street Journal." That number came, we
don't know exactly what level these tariffs would be at, but certainly, 25 percent has been a favorite number throughout these various trade disputes
that we've seen from the administration, but you know, I suppose, I expect them to say, this is a huge earthquake, it could rattle through not only
global auto markets, but also the entire global trading system, which is the national security pretext to all of this is something that's really
seen as very serious in global trade.
Now, the President has power to do this however, to spend the best part of the last half century delegating power to the executive branch to enact
these kinds of actions. That was historically because the executive branch was more free trade minded.
But in this case, you know, the administration is saying, to quote from Wilbur Ross, he said, "There is evidence suggesting that for decades,
imports from abroad have eroded our domestic auto industry. Commerce will conduct a thorough, fair and transparent investigation into whether such
imports are weakening our internal economy and may impair the national security."
So, the suggestion here is that you know, because of more imported cars in the U.S., they have less R&D, less research and development, therefore less
technical skills and that is impacting the economy, and by extension, the military in a time of war, but experts I have spoken to have said, that is
a pretty weak justification and we could perhaps -- even with what we saw with the steel and aluminum tariffs.
GOLODRYGA: They were imposed also, announced under the auspices of a national security threat. It is all now Wilbur Ross said that he will
launch an investigation similar to the month-long investigation they launched with the steel and aluminum imports. Do we have any indication as
to how long this investigation may be?
SEBASTIAN: So, the experts I have spoken to have said, it can take about a year. These are quite long processes, and of course, there's a lot of
uncertainty while that's going on and as we saw with steel and aluminum, we may not even get these across the board tariffs. This may be partly a
negotiating ploy because we saw those exemptions within key allies, some of them are key -- also exporters to the U.S. as well.
And those have yet to expire to expire those exemptions and they actually expire on June 1st, so we are still all of these issues kind of tangling
together, but whether or not he wants to use this as a negotiating ploy to exact some other concessions from these allies, it will be lowering of
their tariffs, that remains to be seen. But overall, they are pretty angry today.
GOLODRYGA: Right, and as a President who has talked about trade wars and unfair trade tactics for years, he did surprise many by announcing via
tweet, I would say. It was the first time that he indicated that something of this magnitude would be taking place.
Are auto makers now, international auto makers -- have they been preparing at all for the possibility of a tariffs of this nature?
SEBASTIAN: I wouldn't have thought that they have been specifically for a tariff of this nature. Of course, no one that you speak to is really
shocked anymore from the trade actions that are coming from this administration, but the interesting thing, when you look at these
particularly foreign auto makers that sell in the U.S. a lot of them produce more of the cars that they sell in the U.S. locally than they do
abroad.
I think the numbers of Volkswagen is 45 percent, well, that's the international number. For Toyota, they only produce 30 percent
internationally and they have actually -- what's extraordinary is they have been investing in their U.S. manufacturing facilities. BMW is expanding in
South Carolina. We have got Toyota and Mazda setting up a joint facility in Alabama. Will this disincentive them if their business gets hurt by
tariffs or conversely, will it incentivize them to produce more locally?
GOLODRYGA: And one would expect that history is any indication that these countries will retaliate with tariffs of their own as well, and of course,
you want to avoid a trade war at all cost and then you've got U.S. jobs that are at stake potentially. So, a lot to consider. Clare Sebastian,
thank you.
Well, American International Auto Dealers Association says treating auto imports as a national security threat will be a disaster for American
consumers and dealerships. The CEO of the association spoke with me a short time ago. Cody Lusk said the President is proposing a solution for a
problem that doesn't exist.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
CODY LUSK, CEO, AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL AUTOMOBILE DEALERS ASSOCIATION: He has talked about his -- how he doesn't like auto imports, you know, quite a
lot. He has made no bones about being frustrated with Germany and the NAFTA negotiations, but to take it really a big leap to allege that
automobile imports are a national security threat, that's a whole new level that we weren't really certain we were ever going to get to.
GOLODRYGA: Why does that surprise you though? Because he used the same logic behind the latest tariffs that he --
[16:20:16]
GOLODRYGA: -- announced on steel and aluminum. He used that clause as well being a national security threat.
LUSK: He did do that, but that's because the steel and aluminum industries were looking for a remedy. They were looking for help. They were asking
the President to do whatever they could. In the auto space, no one asked for this. No one was pushing for this. In fact, the association that
represents, I guess, there's really two domestic auto manufacturers in the U.S. came out with a statement today that they didn't even ask for this, so
we really think this is a solution in search of a problem.
GOLODRYGA: And obviously, there is going to be an investigative period now as there was prior to the aluminum and steel tariffs being implemented even
though they were put on pause as well. What do you expect to unfold during this investigation in the next couple of months and what does your
organization hope that it can convince this administration of not doing?
LUSK: Well, I think we really believe that the facts are on our side. The automobile industry has been growing. International auto makers have been
investing in America with new plans. We are seeing new facilities being built. We are seeing our side hire people. We are desperately in need of
technicians to work on vehicles which are high paying quality jobs.
So, w see that as a real positive and the auto industry has been growing and as a result, the economy has been doing well. We are seeing that start
to soften a little bit and we are worried that if you impose 25 percent tariffs on top of that, it's really going to not only impact the automotive
sector in a really negative way, but could begin an economic disaster for the U.S. economy as well.
GOLODRYGA: How many jobs do you expect to be impacted?
LUSK: Well, just in our sector alone, I represent the dealers that sell these vehicles and they employ close to 600,000 Americans, so that's a
9,600 dealerships across the U.S.. Also, with the international auto makers employ close to one million people, so you're talking a lot of jobs
potentially and again, we think the auto sector is an area where the President could claim some achievement. They have got investment that is
continuing to come online. This has been a real bright spot for America and we think this is one thing where he could claim a win, but he doesn't
seem to think that way.
GOLODRYGA: Now, thanks to Cody Lusk. In other news, European markets closed in a sea of red. It pulled lower while President Trump cancelling
his historic summit with North Korea.
Stocks in Milan continued to fall over the prospect of a populist government and shares in Deutsche Bank closed nearly 5 percent lower in
Frankfurt. Germany's biggest bank says it will slash more than 7,000 jobs.
Paul La Monica joins me now for more on this. That seems like a rather significant number, 7,000 jobs. How big of a problem is this for the
company?
PAUL LA MONICA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Deutsche Bank has been struggling for some time. It's trying to return the profitability and point blank, it
just hasn't really been able to do as well on Wall Street as I think a lot of people had hoped, so that's why it is pulling back on a lot of
businesses in the U.S.. They have faced so much competition from the likes of Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase and Morgan Stanley, so it's really
going to be retrenching focusing more on Europe and unfortunately, that has led to these 7,000 job cuts at least.
GOLODRYGA: Could we see any management changes there long term?
LA MONICA: We already have had the new CEO come in, so I don't think we are going to see anything change just there yet. It will get a little bit
of time to try and fix things and they had their annual shareholder meeting today, and the Chairman did survive a vote of confidence at the General
Shareholder meeting, so he is safe for now as well.
So, I don't think we are going to see any shakeups at the top unless things get significantly worse.
GOLODRYGA: So, not an industry wide problem. This seems to be a company specific problem. Let me turn to another company that is not having many
problems right now and that's Netflix which continues to grow market share in particular, now surpassing Disney, is that right?
LA MONICA: Yes, market value. This is stunning. Disney is now worth less than Netflix. Netflix has a bigger market cap than Disney. Netflix
recently passed Comcast joins NBC, Universal that actually happened yesterday. So, it's already bigger than all of the major media companies.
Us, Time Warner, Fox by Rupert Murdoch, CBS Viacom, the only two if you want to call them media companies that it is still less than AT&T which is
trying to buy us and Verizon which owns AOL and Yahoo and even there, they are only about $50 billion or so less, which sounds like a lot, but Netflix
just keeps going up and up and up. That's the S&P 500 stock (inaudible)...
GOLODRYGA: Continues to grow, continues to produce new product, right? And new eyeballs, watching those products. It's incredible for a company
that is relatively just a few decades old.
LA MONICA: Yes, it's a company that now has 125 million subscribers worldwide and if you actually take a look back, the company's IPO, 16th
anniversary of its IPO was yesterday and the story on CNNMoney about Netflix going public referred to it as a leader in online DVD rentals,
which was true at the time, but...
GOLODRYGA: A lot more than a Blockbuster killer at this point.
LA MONICA: How crazy is it to think that yes, back then, it was just killing --
[16:25:14]
LA MONICA: -- Blockbuster, now it is killing traditional media, although it is partnering with traditional media.
GOLODRYGA: Incredible. What an American success story.
LA MONICA: Yes.
GOLODRYGA: Paul, great to have you on.
LA MONICA: Thank you.
GOLODRYGA: Thank you. Well, Donald Trump has backed out of his nuclear summit on the same day Kim Jong-un demolished one of his test sites. CNN
was there, stay with us for our report from inside North Korea.
Hello, I am Bianna Golodryga. Coming up in the next half hour of QUEST MEANS BUSINESS while Angela Merkel turns to China, Emmanuel Macron turns to
tech. France wins some big news investments.
And we told you how Netflix is now the world's biggest media company. We will hear from the creator of one of its most acclaimed four-language shows
founder. First, these are the top news headlines we are following this hour.
South Korea's President has been holding a late night emergency meeting with his Cabinet after the U.S. President called off the summit with North
Korea's leader. Donald Trump said, if and when Kim Jong-un chooses to engage in constructive dialogue and actions, I am waiting. No response yet
from North Korea.
Investigators say the missile that downed Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was fired from a launcher belonging to a specific Russian brigade. Nearly 300
people were killed when the plane went down in Eastern Ukraine in 2014. At the time, the area was under control of pro-Russian separatists.
A CNN investigation has uncovered a pattern of alleged inappropriate behavior by legendary actor, Morgan Freeman, both on his set and at his
production company, Revelations Entertainment. Eight women told us they were the victims of what some called harassment and other called
inappropriate behavior.
Freeman has issued a statement saying, "Anyone who knows me or has worked with me knows I am not the one who would intentionally offend or knowingly
make anyone feel uneasy. I apologize to anyone who felt uncomfortable or disrespected. That was never my intent."
Harvey Weinstein is expected to turn himself in to New York police over charges of sexual misconduct. The disgraced movie producer could turn
himself in as early as Friday. Weinstein's attorney declined to comment on those reports.
[16:30:00] We are turning to our top story tonight, Donald Trump's announcement that he was canceling his summit with Kim Jong-un came just
hours after North Korea said it had demolished a nuclear test site. That process was observed by CNN's Will Ripley, one of the few Western
journalists currently currently inside North Korea. As the news broke, he joined us on the line.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They were sitting around the table when I got the phone call and read out the letter from President
Trump, and I can tell you there was just a real sense of shock amongst the people that I was sitting with.
The North Korean officials, they didn't give any official comment, but immediately they got up and left, and I go now on the phone kind of
relaying the news dubbed to the top. And imagine how they're feeling at this moment, given the fact that they just blew up a nuclear site today as
a sign they say of their -- of their willingness to denuclearize.
So they were doing this to make a point. And as you mentioned ahead of the summit in Singapore on June 12 that was scheduled with President Trump, but
until literally minutes ago, they thought was still going to happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Ivan Watson is in Seoul for us. Ivan, so many now wondering what if any advance warnings the South Koreans received ahead of the
president's decision.
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it did not appear like there was much advance warning, Bianna, dawn is just breaking
here right now.
And when the letter was announced that the Singapore Summit would be canceled, we soon after -- we were not able to get any comment really out
of government officials here and then learned that there was an emergency gathering of the National Security Council which is led by South Korean
President Moon Jae-in, it was shortly before midnight that that was gathered.
A statement was put out saying that it was regrettable and unfortunate that the summit would not be held as planned in Singapore on June 12. Going on
to say that the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula that this should not be abandoned, peace should not be abandoned.
And going on to say, also quote, "it is difficult to solve sensitive and difficult diplomatic problems with the current method of communication",
urging all parties to improve this method of communication. Now we've since learned from a senior White House official that shortly after
President Trump's letter was made public that there were conversations just below the presidential level between the White House and the South Korean
government and the Japanese government, and then they were basically informed about this.
But the fact that they weren't told ahead of time is all the more striking when you consider the South Korean President Moon Jae-in was in the White
House on Tuesday discussing this very issue and pressing hard for President Trump to go ahead with the meeting with the North Korean leader.
Also South Korea disclose U.S. ally is so heavily invested in this process. The South Korean President Moon has put a great deal of effort and personal
political capital into this process, describing his own summit with the North Korean leader at the end of April as a stepping stone towards what he
hoped would be a U.S.-North Korean summit.
So this, I can only interpret as a serious blow for the South Korean president. The fact that Trump will not be meeting with Kim on June 12.
GOLODRYGA: Now, really funny --
WATSON: Bianna --
GOLODRYGA: If you think about the perspective from South Korea, specifically as you mentioned, less than 48 hours after he had been meeting
with President Trump, an anticipation preparing for the June 12 meeting, incredible.
Ivan, thank you so much for joining us, great to see you. Well, the CEO and seven directors of the Russian aluminum giant Rusal have resigned.
Rusal is the world's -- is the world's second biggest aluminum producer, it was founded by Oleg Deripaska; the Russian oligarch with close ties to
President Putin.
The company is trying to get out from under U.S. sanctions that were announced last month. Rusal warns the sanctions could make it difficult to
pay back its debt. Russia's Oil Minister Alexander Novak says demand for oil will grow at a healthy pace this year despite rising prices.
In an exclusive interview, Vladimir Putin signature economic forum -- our John Defterios asked Novak if it would be a wise move to provide the market
with increase supply this Summer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALEXANDER NOVAK, MINISTER OF ENERGY, RUSSIA: Or such decisions can only be made after a very careful study of the situation. And they cannot be
premature or rushed because for example the Iran situation, we won't even be living in this for the past few weeks and nobody knows what the real
impact would be.
[16:35:00] So I would like to once again stress that we need time to study the situation, we need time to understand the impact of this. At the same
time, if we come to the June meeting with a situation when the market is balanced, when demand growth is higher than expected, and all the other
factors are affecting the market positively, then of course, there would be reasons to discuss changes and amendments to the declaration of
corporation.
But the magnitude of these changes is something that I cannot comment on because it's just premature at this point.
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As we stand here, the U.S. shale producers are expanding their production and the two major exporters of the
world, Saudi Arabia and Russia are standing by, they're just going to take market share if you don't make a decision in June.
NOVAK: This isn't reality. I want to repeat that we're not afraid of competition with shale producers. The declaration of cooperation was
extremely successful not just for the economies of oil-producing states and call parties to this agreement, but for the whole global economy made it
healthier, it ensured that investment is coming back into the energy sector.
So I think we will need to exert extra effort or something together with the shale producers to not just satisfy the demand, the growing demand, but
at the same time to replace declining production at historic fields and to ensure that enough investment is being invested into the energy sector.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Relations between Russia and the U.S. have been a major theme of the St. Petersburg economic forum. One attendee was the Russian
oligarch Viktor Vekselberg. He was questioned by special counsel Robert Mueller over payments he made to Donald Trump's personal attorney Michael
Cohen.
CNN's Matthew Chance managed to track him down, of course he did in St. Petersburg.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Mr. Vekselberg, can you take a question from Cnn?
VIKTOR VEKSELBERG, BUSINESSMAN: Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, no problem.
CHANCE: Mr. Vekselberg, why did your company wire hundreds of thousands of dollars --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not now --
CHANCE: To President Trump's lawyer.
VEKSELBERG: No time, really appreciate it, just later, OK?
CHANCE: Yes --
VEKSELBERG: Really appreciate it --
CHANCE: Was it by access --
VEKSELBERG: Yes, I understand, I understand --
CHANCE: Was it by access?
VEKSELBERG: You are so aggressive --
CHANCE: No, I'm not at all --
VEKSELBERG: Yes -- no, listen, please, later --
CHANCE: Was it by access to the president's --
VEKSELBERG: Please, later.
CHANCE: You know, what did you get for the money?
VEKSELBERG: Please, later --
CHANCE: Another important question, sir, please answer them --
VEKSELBERG: No, I understand them, there were evidence --
CHANCE: One man --
VEKSELBERG: No --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) --
CHANCE: Thank you very much.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: We've got to say at least Vekselberg was a bit nicer to Matthew Chance than Oleg Deripaska was when he saw him, I believe that was last
year --
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: The low bar, yes --
GOLODRYGA: Yes, so my question is what do you think Vekselberg's response was to questions from Mueller's prosecutors? Please, not now, and later,
probably was not what he said.
TOOBIN: I don't think that would have been acceptable.
GOLODRYGA: Jeffrey Toobin by the way, did I not introduce you? Jeffrey Toobin, I am so sorry you're joining us, I'm so excited to see you on set,
Jeffrey Toobin --
TOOBIN: Yes --
GOLODRYGA: Is here with us.
TOOBIN: The question with Vekselberg, you know, it relates to the broader question of the Mueller inquiry is that what was the relationship between
the Trump campaign, people affiliated with Donald Trump and Russians; the Russian government, Russian oligarchs.
And here, what makes his role so particularly interesting is that in the immediate aftermath of the election, he -- a company affiliated with him
paid Michael Cohen who was President Trump's closest legal adviser several hundred thousand dollars.
And the question is for what? Where did that money go? For what purpose? Was it shared with anyone else? And I think that's what the Mueller people
wanted to know, it is not an answer that we in the news media know yet.
GOLODRYGA: And we found out about a month after he had been stopped by Robert Mueller's prosecutors at the airport that he was sanctioned as well.
When it comes to possible criminal liability for Michael Cohen and indictment against Michael Cohen, is it specifically because of these types
of relations where people have been giving him hundreds of thousands times millions of dollars -- people and companies.
TOOBIN: Not necessarily, and in fact, I mean, one of the problems with the American lobbying system is that people take money all the time for
influence peddling. And it is not illegal, and in fact, it is a business that many prominent people are engaged in, especially in Washington.
What the nature is of the criminal investigation of Michael Cohen is not really known at this point. He had business interests that were related to
the president and his world, but he also had businesses that were not related to the president at all.
He was involved in the taxi industry in New York, which is a notoriously corrupt business, but Donald Trump, we need to say in fairness had nothing
to do with that. So whether Michael Cohen's criminal exposure relates to his work for Trump or something entirely different is really not known at
this point --
[16:40:00] GOLODRYGA: You mentioned his connection with the taxi business, the taxi king as we just found out, Evgeny Freidman who had been facing
charges that could put him in prison for up to 100 years is not going to go to prison now because of a deal that he made with prosecutors.
What kind of a deal could he have made to take away a 100 years potentially serving in prison, a lifetime sentence.
TOOBIN: He cut a very sweet deal for himself, and part of his deal was he agreed to cooperate both with New York state investigators and federal
investigators like Robert Mueller.
When Michael Cohen's office was searched by the FBI, we all knew that meant they had probable cause to believe he had committed crimes. There will be
almost certainly an indictment of him, you don't search a lawyer's office without overly good reason.
The question that I think is enormously important to the president is will Michael Cohen plead guilty and cooperate? The taxi king's plea puts more
pressure on Michael Cohen because they were business associates and presumably, one reason Freidman got such a sweet deal was that he had
information to give on Michael Cohen.
Don't know that for sure, but it's a reasonable --
GOLODRYGA: Using your legal thinking process, Jeffrey, how plausible is it that the president was not made aware of the millions of dollars that
Michael Cohen was receiving because of his proximity and promises that he had access to the president and had the president's ear.
TOOBIN: Well, you know, it's a hard question because you know -- and one of the great advantages President Trump has in this whole investigation is
he doesn't use e-mail, there are no records of what he was informed about.
It is true that he was kept at a distance from some of the more seedy enterprises that his associates were involved in. But you know, the
question is, what is -- your question is, what did he know? The legal question is what can anyone prove that he knows -- that he knew?
And without Michael Cohen's cooperation, there's almost no chance anyone could prove that he had knowledge of improper activities. If Cohen flips,
if Cohen decides to cooperate, then the president is in a considerably more jeopardy.
GOLODRYGA: Fascinating conversation, we could continue for hours but unfortunately --
TOOBIN: Indeed, that's not how it works --
GOLODRYGA: Have to leave it there, Jeffrey Toobin; Cnn legal analyst, great to have you on set --
TOOBIN: Thanks --
GOLODRYGA: It's the first for me.
TOOBIN: I said --
GOLODRYGA: You made my Thursday night.
TOOBIN: A thrill for me.
GOLODRYGA: Jeffrey, good to see you. Well, a battle is underway to become Europe's technology hub. The man behind the VivaTech Conference in Paris
says an innovation transformation is underway in France.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:45:00] GOLODRYGA: Flying taxis are coming to France, well, that's if Uber can get its way. The company says it's investing more than $23
million in a new research and in development hub in Paris.
The facility will work on a fleet of all electric aircraft to launch by 2023. Uber's announcement comes during France's VivaTech conference.
Maurice Levy; the chairman of advertising giant Publicis is the man behind it all. He says there has been a fundamental shift among the French people
who embrace technology and innovation.
Levy revealed to Mark Zuckerberg at the conference today. Now, Melissa Bell asked him what's bringing about this change in France?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAURICE LEVY, CHAIRMAN, PUBLICIS: What happened is that since the election of the president, the people are pivoting a little bit. And they are
looking at the world differently with more optimism, there are more to work openness instead of being entrenched behind the borders.
And you see a lot of people who want to contribute to innovation, to be part of the new world of start-ups, et cetera. So we see a difference --
MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is very much the image that Emmanuel Macron is projecting, the other conference that you organized yesterday
with all those CEOs of those tech giants. France, that is a technologically friendly, that is right to start, and yet, this is also a
country still beset by strikes, by projects(ph).
I mean, there's a disconnect between the vision he seeks and the realities on the ground.
LEVY: It's not a disconnect, it's a country problems(ph), because what President Macron and the government are doing -- there is something which
is transforming the country. And you can't transform the country and you can't change the situation of the railway system and the civil servants and
changing the laws, et cetera, attending(ph) to taxes without having some reactions.
So it's not that people are striking as the way I am doing in the past because that we're not happy, they are striking because they are opposing
to the change that Emmanuel Macron wants to create in France.
And as always, people fear the change. And what we are seeing is that, nevertheless, it is being stressful, and nevertheless, change is going to
happen.
BELL: Now, Emmanuel Macron's other big message was directed to those tech giants, essentially, you have to contribute more, there's no free lunch,
you're going to have to pay more taxes in Europe, you're going to have to fight Paris policy online and you're going to have to help people protect
their data.
You just come out of a discussion with Mark Zuckerberg. Did you get a sense that that's a message being heeded.
LEVY: I think what's happened is Facebook has been such a shock for Mark Zuckerberg that he got the message before coming to Paris. And he already
started to do the right thing. So he got the message that there's no doubt, he is extremely sensitive to what happened and privately, he hasn't
mentioned what he's doing.
But he has also said very publicly everything about the services that he's implementing, the security, the guidelines and all the systems in order to
make sure that the people will notice and know the situation with Facebook as the one they face.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Interesting quote, change is going to happen. Well, it means chaos in Arabic. Now season 2 of "Fauda" has debut on Netflix, as the show
about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict returns, we hear from the show's co- creator and star coming up next.
[16:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GOLODRYGA: On a day of market milestone for Netflix, even more new shows are making their debut. Season 2 of "Fauda" is streaming now.
(MOVIE TRAILER)
GOLODRYGA: The political trailer is half in Arabic, half in Hebrew. The "New York Times" called the first season one of the best TV shows of 2017.
But it has attracted criticism as well. Palestinian protesters accused that they're glorifying Israeli actions.
Hollywood producers and the executives were moved to write a letter to Netflix supporting the show. Lior Raz is the co-creator and star of
"Fauda". Richard Quest asked him how hard it is to create a program that accurately reflects the violence in the region.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LIOR RAZ, ACTOR: It's difficult in one way, and in the other way we -- I think we bring hope to the people who live in Israel and Palestine because
we are trying to show the narrative of both sides during the war actually, and we show them what's going on and what's happening when you are in a war
zone and what the mental price that you're paying that your family, friends, everyone paying for the thing that you do as in a war zone as a
warrior. It doesn't matter from which side.
RICHARD QUEST, CNN HOST: You say it doesn't matter from which side, but inevitably, one side or the other will claim that you have not been true to
reality. That in some shape or form, you've either not properly portrayed the Israeli aggression as some would see it or the Guerrilla warfare from
the Palestinians.
How do you react when you do get criticized from both sides?
QUEST: First of all, we don't get a lot of criticism from both sides. But the narrative of the show is Israeli, because I'm an Israeli, I wrote an
Israeli TV show about the conflict. I cannot be a Palestinian writer who write a show about the Palestinian side.
But we really tried to give the Palestinians the fair and people to understand their side. And this is the first time, I think in the Israeli
TV, and I don't know if you saw it ever, that you see a terrorist who have kids and he loves his kids, he loves his wife, romantic scenes between
them.
And I can tell you that people in Israel feel compassion, after they see the show to the Palestinian side, and then also I'm getting e-mails from
all over the Arab world who is saying that this is the first time that they feel compassion to the Israeli side.
So I see though -- I'm optimistic and I see the positive side of it and not the bad side. Of course, people can criticize everything, but in this
show, we're trying to portray it to everyone in the same way, we did our best and this is what we're trying to do.
QUEST: Do you find any uncomfortableness in making a television program, a series where inevitably people are dying in real life around you on the
basis of that conflict.
I mean, at some point, a television program, whether it'd be yours or to some extent, any program has to have an element of drama about it, it has
to have an element of fiction about it.
And there will be those who say that the conflict is an inappropriate subject to make a television series about.
RAZ: I think it's -- this is why we're doing the show because of the conflict and we want to show people, both sides how -- what is the cost for
this conflict when people are dying, it's hard for everyone. It doesn't matter if you're Israeli or a Palestinian, we're showing the price of this
war and the price of this conflict that we have here.
And I think when you do a show on drugs, on police, on narco, it doesn't matter, people are dying because this -- what happened in real life and you
want to show it in your television show, and when you show it on television very closely, you understand how hard it is and what the price that the
people are paying for this.
[16:55:00] QUEST: When you do look at the current situation, how do you have hope?
RAZ: I have hope, I meet people, I meet Arab, I have a lot of Arab friends because of this show, and I have hope that people will understand the
things you do between people and you know what? When I see the U.S. and Japan, when I see England and Germany and I know that now they have peace
and they have great relationship, I wish and I pray that one day we'll have the same thing with the Palestinians.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: It is such a fantastic show, one of my favorites and I cannot wait for Season 2. It's now streaming worldwide on Netflix. Well, just
time for a quick check on how stock markets finished the day, the Dow was down as much as 250 points at its worst, but it slowly crawled its way back
throughout the rest of the trading session.
Korean markets were already closed when President Trump published his letter, however, this index on tracking South Korea's stocks fell more than
2 percent. The KOSPI itself reopens in a few hours from now.
European markets closed in a sea of red, pulled lower by news of President Trump canceling the North Korean summit. Stocks in Milan continue to fall
over the prospect of a populist government, German car makers struggled in Frankfurt and shares in Deutsche Bank closed nearly 5 percent lower.
Germany's biggest bank says it will slash more than 7,000 jobs. And that is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, I am Bianna Golodryga, the news of course
continues right here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
