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Quest Means Business

Trump Slams Expansive Probe as a Big, Fat Fishing Expedition; Civilians, Fighters Pour Out of ISIS Enclave; Macron Calls Brexit a Lesson for Europe; U.K. Prime Minister May's Party Suspends 14 Members for Racist Remarks; Small Explosives Sent to Three London Transport Centers; UN Report Cites London HIV Patient is "Functionally Cured"; Target Posts Biggest Sales Growth Since 2005; Kohl's Plans Share Buyback After Q4 Earnings Beat; Russia to Germany Pipeline Nears Completion; Trump Lashes Out at Germany Over Pipeline Project; Kylie Jenner Becomes Youngest "Self-Made" Billionaire; New York Regulators Issue Subpoena to Trump Organization's Insurance Broker Aon; Investors Await Progress on Trade Talks Between U.S.- China; Investors React to Retail Earnings and GE CEO's Warning; European Stocks Close Higher. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired March 05, 2019 - 15:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

ZAIN ASHER, ANCHOR, CNN: And this is how it's been pretty much all day. Not exactly wild swings here. We've been bouncing in between positive and

negative territory all day, but overall pretty much flat. On the one hand, you have a little bit of trade concerns, when it comes to China, but also,

you did get some pretty positive retail earnings.

My friends, it is Tuesday, March 5th, a hard struggle ahead. China cuts taxes to stop its economy slowing too badly. And bail granted, the former

Nissan boss, Carlos Ghosn, is coming out of jail in Japan. And the world's youngest self-made billionaire apparently, Kiley Jenner's runaway makeup

success at the grand old age of 21.

Hello, everyone, I'm Zain Asher in for my colleague, Richard Quest and this my friends is "Quest Means Business."

All right, welcome, everybody, I'm Zain Asher. Let's start with our top economic story when it comes to slowdown in China. China's leaders are

warning of what they call a hard struggle ahead. The government says economic growth will slow further this year even though last year's was

already actually the slowest in three decades in over 30 years. This as the annual Parliamentary meeting got under way in Beijing. You're looking

at pictures here.

So let's take a look and see how the actual gears slowed and how China's leaders want to actually speed them back up. So the government focused on

making the economy sustainable, crackdown on corruption had the unintended side effect of hurting lending, and of course the trade war with the United

States hasn't exactly helped either.

Officials have a three-part strategy to get the gears moving again. So that strategy actually involves cutting business taxes, spurring lending to

small firms and spending on infrastructure as well. However, many economists warn that those measures are not going to be enough for the

economy to hit even the more conservative targets.

So much to talk about here. I want to bring in Patrick Chovanec, he is the chief strategist with Silver Crest Asset Management. Patrick, thank you so

much for being with us. So just walk us through how exactly all of this when it comes to slower growth in China is feeding into Xi Jinping's

negotiating strategy when it comes to the trade war with the United States.

PATRICK CHOVANEC, CHIEF STRATEGIST, SILVER CREST ASSET MANAGEMENT: Okay, well, first of all I'd say that there are no quick fixes to the Chinese

economy and in fact, the Chinese leadership sort of acknowledged that as long ago as five years ago when they came up with a whole list of things,

significant structural reforms that they would need to make in order to get the Chinese economy moving in the right direction. Very few of those

things have been delivered.

So things like cutting taxes, things like trying to direct some loans to small businesses, it might provide a little bit of a boost, but it is a far

cry from the sort of things that they have long said needed to take place.

ASHER: Well, what about things like allowing foreign investors to have better access to the Chinese markets, how is that going to impact slower

growth?

CHOVANEC: So China - if China opened up some of its industries, for instance agriculture, you could see significant growth if they imported

more foreign technology, they allowed larger land holdings, things like that. There is a whole list of different things that they could do to

drive growth again. But they have shied away from those things because they have just tried to pump up the growth that they have had, which is

primarily driven by investments and by easy credit.

ASHER: When people think about slow growth in China, I mean, let's put this in perspective. We're talking about 6.5% is what they are saying.

When you compare that to the rest of the world that is still pretty good. Isn't this what happens, the slower growth, isn't it what happens when

economies sort of grow, settle and mature? Isn't this normal to be expected?

CHOVANEC: A couple of points there. First of all, it is. A lot of low hanging fruit is gone. They have to win their growth much harder ways

through productivity growth. But a lot of people think that the Chinese economy slowed a lot below what they are claiming.

ASHER: Of course.

CHOVANEC: The growth was a lot slower.

ASHER: Right, right, right. Where would you put your estimates at? If not 6.5%. It's impossible to say.

CHOVANEC: It is hard to tell.

ASHER: Yes, of course, okay.

CHOVANEC: But a lot of people think it grew like more around 2% this year, and there is even some evidence to say that it might be a manufacturing

contraction, that's the same as it was maybe two or three years ago. So this has been a recurring issue.

But I even think that setting the growth target is a mistake because a few years ago they talked about we shouldn't be setting growth targets because

we should be focused on the right policies even if they mean slower growth, and every time that every year comes around and they set a growth target,

in fact that growth target instead of facilitating the changes in policy that they need, actually stand in the way of that.

ASHER: Okay.

[15:05:07]

CHOVANEC: And so --

ASHER: Because they end up scrambling trying to fixing it.

CHOVANEC: Because they have to hit that target or at least that is the goal that they set for themselves and the easiest way to do it is to keep

doing the things that they have been doing even if it digs a deeper hole.

ASHER: Patrick Chovanec, live for us. Thank you so much. Appreciate that. Okay, so major carmakers are warning of the dangers as they have

been for quite some time of a no-deal Brexit with one saying that production of the iconic mini, which is owned by BMW could end up moving

overseas.

The BMW Board member, Peter Schwarzenbauer told Sky News that no-deal scenario would be a huge burden on the mini brand. Crucially, he headed

for mini, this is really a danger. Meantime, Toyota Europe's President was asked if production at their factory at Burniston could actually end up

drying up.

He said the long-term effects could be that it is very negative that that outcome is certainly possible. Brexit continues to be the big talking

point for Europe's auto bosses as they gather in Switzerland for the Geneva Motor Show.

Among them is the CEO of Citroen. He spoke to our Julia Chatterley earlier about the risk Brexit poses to her business.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LINDA JACKSON, CEO, CITROEN: It is extremely frustrating because we don't know what the answer is going to be. So we've developed Plan A, Plan B,

hard Brexit, soft Brexit, all of the potential opportunities of what we would say the potential outcomes, but until we know what it is actually

going to be, we can't put any of them in place.

And clearly, as you said, the U.K. is my fifth largest market so it's a really important part of my business and I want to make sure I succeed over

there. But the instability we've currently got makes it impossible to be able it plan.

You're right, I import, so clearly what is the question in terms of tariffs? Is it a single market? Is it free? Supply? All of those things

really will have a major impact on my business, particularly for Citroen. At the same time, as you quite rightly say, we have got two factories over

there, so what do we do in terms of how does that work for the group?

So, so many questions but no answers. So it is extremely frustrating - extremely frustrating and, you know, we are very concerned.

JULIA CHATTERLEY, ANCHOR, CNN: Have you been given any assurances by the U.K. government that even in a no deal scenario, they will suspend tariffs

for imports into the U.K. even for just a short period of time?

JACKSON: No, and I can't comment because obviously anything like that would be done at a much higher level in terms of the PSA group, but

obviously, I can't really comment on what discussions or if any discussions have taken place between our companies.

CHATTERLEY: But you're making your frustration very clear.

JACKSON: I am making my frustration very clear. Exactly.

CHATTERLEY: And how long do you think it takes the industry to recover in the U.K., whatever the situation in March even if there is a postponement,

how long in terms of months, years do you think it actually takes to recover, does it ever recover?

JACKSON: Well, I mean, I think we have to be optimistic about whatever comes out at the end of March will give us an ability to be able to come

out of something, but how long that will take, I mean that is impossible to say. That is impossible to say.

You know, I mean, I look at what happened last year even though we had the uncertainty, we managed to grow market share, so okay, but what happens now

after March, I really don't know. I think that is a question that is impossible for me to answer and I'm not sure anybody can answer that

question right now because we don't know what is going to happen.

Obviously, as a British person, I want Britons to succeed, but how long that will take, and based on what, well, we have to see.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: The Citroen CEO there speaking to our Julia Chatterley. Let's bring in Bianca Nobilo who is joining us live now from London. So Bianca,

obviously, you heard there the stakes are extremely high for car companies that are exposed to Brexit. What should the U.K. government be doing to

assuage their concerns just given the level of uncertainty?

BIANCA NOBILO, CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Well, it doesn't seem like they are doing enough things because just today, we had warnings from BMW and Toyota

both saying that in the event of a no-deal, they would have to consider moving production from plants within the U.K. which are almost totemic when

it comes to the British car industry.

Like where the mini, which is a symbol of British culture around the world that is made by BMW in Oxford in the U.K., their CEO admitted that it might

need to be moved in the event of a no-deal and that comes after both Nissan and Honda have also dealt blows to the British car industry.

So in terms of what the government is doing, there simply aren't enough reassurances at this point and the reason for that is because this entire

process, just 24 days out is still shrouded in uncertainty. It is so difficult to predict what the outcome is going to be and that is because

plenty of lawmakers in the U.K. still haven't decided if they are going to back the Prime Minister's deal.

[15:10:03]

NOBILO: But I think that it has buoyed the industry somewhat to know at least that Parliament is likely to vote for an extension as opposed to that

cliff edge on the 29 of March.

ASHER: We know that the U.K. Attorney General was actually in Brussels. I mean, what is he doing to actually figure out? Just working out the Irish

backstop issue because that is a major point of contention.

NOBILO: Yes, I mean, what is he doing? That is the question on so many MPs lips that I speak to, and what can he really achieve. Look, what the

Brexiteers within the Prime Minister's own Party have asked for on that most contentious issue of avoiding that hard border between the Republic of

Ireland and Northern Ireland, which is part the U.K., they have asked for a time limit on the backstop so that Customs Union encompassing the entirety

of the U.K., or they have asked for a unilateral exit mechanism.

So the U.K. could declare that it wants to withdraw and then it would be able to do so.

Now, the E.U. have been uncompromising on both those accounts saying neither of those things are possible because there simply won't be a

backstop. So the E.U. has said that they are open to perhaps an interpretative document that is released jointly between the U.K. and the

E.U. to clarify and flesh out their intention to avoid a permanent backstop and that it would in fact be temporary.

There is also some potential around these so-called alternative arrangements. So that is like potential technological solutions to the

backstop instead, however, there hasn't been much confidence on either side that they would be able to solve this issue at this point.

So who knows what the Attorney General is going to be able to come back with, but everything is riding on it because Theresa May's deal, the first

time around was defeated by an overwhelming 230 votes. A historic margin, so he is going to need to deliver something in order to give May's deal any

chance of getting across the line.

ASHER: Right, so the pressure is certainly on. Bianca Nobilo, live for us there. Thank you so much. Appreciate that.

For the first time in more than three months, Carlos Ghosn is set to walk out of a Japanese prison. His lawyers says that he has faced dehumanizing

conditions. Also ahead, with apologies to Oscar Wilde, to lose one Cabinet minister may be considered misfortune, losing two looks like carelessness.

That is what has happened to Justin Trudeau as Canada's big political scandal gets even worse, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:15:04]

ASHER: Well, welcome back everybody. Carlos Ghosn has vowed to defend himself as he appears set to walk out of a Japanese prison. Anna Stewart

has the latest developments in the spectacular downfall of an auto industry titan.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

ANNA STEWART, REPORTER, CNN: He's been in jail for three months pending trial but know Carlos Ghosn has been granted bail. Previous bail attempts

have failed and prosecutors appealed this latest decision. But it was rejected by the Tokyo District Court.

Now, the bail is set at an eye-popping $9 million and comes with some strict conditions. Ghosn must remain in Japan. He will be under

surveillance and his communications will be limited.

Ghosn is charged with understating his income and abusing his position by transferring personal investment losses to Nissan. He has denied the

charges and says he is the victim of a plot by Nissan executives who he says opposed his plan to deepen the company's integration with the French

carmaker, Renault. Nissan denies this.

The company says their internal investigation uncovered substantial evidence of, quote, "unethical conduct." And say further discoveries of

misconduct continue to emerge.

Now, today, Ghosn released a statement, the most substantial message we've had from him since his arrest in November. He says, "I'm extremely

grateful for my family and friends who have stood by me throughout this terrible ordeal. I'm also grateful to the NGOs and human rights activists

in Japan and around the world who fight for the cause of presumption of innocence and a fair trial. I am innocent and totally committed to

vigorously defending myself in a fair trial against these meritless and unsubstantiated accusations."

This week, Ghosn's lawyers in France say they have submitted a report to the U.N. claiming violations of his fundamental rights during detention

under what they called dehumanizing conditions. This case has drawn international attention to Japan's criminal justice system under which

suspects can be detained for a prolonged period of time while authorities build a case against them.

Both Renault and Nissan declined to comment on the news that Ghosn has been granted bail today. Renault's internal investigation hasn't yet concluded.

Meanwhile, Ghosn may be released on bail, but this case is far from over.

Ghosn must await trial in Japan under strict conditions while prosecutors continue to build their case against him. Anna Stewart, CNN, London.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

ASHER: Well, the Carlos Ghosn saga sent shockwaves across the global car industry in part because he was the face of not just one, not just two, but

three companies that formed an alliance. I'm talking about Nissan, Mitsubishi and Renault as well.

Together, those companies sell one out of every nine cars in the world and they employ over 500,000 people. Ghosn's downfall now calls into question

the future and the stability of that alliance.

Renault's new CEO, Thierry Bollore, spoke to CNN at the Geneva Auto Show, he says that now more than ever, he plans on strengthening that alliance

with Nissan and Mitsubishi. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THIERRY BOLLORE, CEO, RENAULT: All the actors of the alliance, the three companies are repeatedly saying we need the alliance. For us, it is vital.

We need more alliance. We need better alliance and this has nothing to do with the latest events.

Even before, we knew we permanently have to improve the alliance to make it more efficient for the sake of the three companies. Why? Because the

landscape is changing permanently. The automotive landscape is in disruption today. And can you imagine what I have just said about the -

what is embedded in TO-5. It is amazing for a car which is accessible to be able to bring so much innovation which is requested by our customers and

by our stakeholders.

So because of this incredibly fast changing landscape of the automotive world, we need an alliance which is stronger, better, faster. And that is

what we are going to do.

We are permanently changing. We are permanently thinking and discussing about which adaptation we should do and this is exactly the specific

mission of Mr. Senard, who joined as the Chairman of the Board and it is too early to talk and to disclose, but for sure, we think about many

possibilities.

We spent almost the last full week with Mr. Sagawa and Masuko san as well from Mitsubishi. We were two days in China together and now we have the

China Summit sharing with our partner, Dongfeng, and then two more days in the same week dealing with our current business of the alliance in Paris.

So we have been spending almost four days out of five together last week.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: All right, turning now to another story that we are following as President Trump and Kim Jong-un met in Vietnam, North Korean hackers were

apparently very busy trying to break into American businesses and American infrastructure as well, that is according to a new report from the internet

security firm, McAfee.

It is not just the U.S. that is under threat. A lot of other countries as well including various allies of the U.S. like Germany and the United

Kingdom as well. Donie O'Sullivan is following the latest developments for us.

[15:20:07]

ASHER: So Donie, obviously, North Korea with this is trying to further their own national interests, they are desperate for money and willing to

go about it or get money anyway possible. They have been targeting financial institutions specifically. Just walk us through what they have

been doing.

DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Sure. I mean, North Korea is very different to other nation state hackers in that Russia and China and Iran,

when they tried to get into America's systems, it is often to steal intellectual property or to just gather information.

In the North Korean's case according to a U.S. Department of Justice official we spoke to yesterday, they are looking for hard cash. They need

money and they are engaged in what is just traditional cyber theft.

Now, in terms of what McAfee found, we don't know what these hackers were able to access or if they were able to get into any systems. But what we

do know is that the targeting they were doing was pretty sophisticated.

When they were reaching out to individuals and these organizations in the U.K. and U.S. and Turkey and in Germany, they were sending them crafted

messages that were specific to those individuals so that they could have tricked them into clicking on a link that would have had a malware or

viruses.

ASHER: So I guess my question is two-fold. Number one, how does the United States hold North Korea to account, hold them responsible; and

number two, how can the United States protect itself from further attacks?

O'SULLIVAN: Well, in this case, the cybersecurity firm, McAfee worked with an unnamed government entity, we're not even quite sure what government or

country they had worked with to get access to North Korea's servers. The fact that they were able to track this and then presumably warn these

companies, these businesses both financial critical infrastructure and others that the Koreans are trying to get into their system - that is a

positive thing from the point of view of the United States.

I don't think that it is particularly surprising that the North Koreans were trying to hack during the Summit. This is a campaign that has been

going on -- this specific hacking campaign has been going on for over 18 months. And absent any agreement between the U.S. and Korea, I don't think

that you would expect North Korea to stop, you know, these attempts. Particularly when they could use it as a bargaining chip in their

negotiations.

ASHER: That's really interesting because these attacks were happening even while Trump and Kim Jong-un were meeting. Donie Sullivan, live for us

there. Thank you so much. Appreciate that.

All right, so President Trump is trying to end special trading rules that benefit India and Turkey. In a letter to Congress, Mr. Trump accused India

of unfairly shutting out American business and in terms of Turkey, Trump said that Turkey is now too developed and doesn't need special access to

the United States. Here is John Defterios with more.

JOHN DEFTERIOS, EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR, CNN: Zain, a final trade deal with China is still hanging in the balance, but that is not deterring the

U.S. President from taking on India and Turkey. This boils down it duty free access for goods from auto components to textiles.

Bilateral trade between the U.S. and India has doubled in the last decade, but Washington is eager to correct a $20 billion deficit and is now looking

to remove India from a program that gave duty free access for goods worth almost $6 billion.

President Trump said he finds India as being unreasonable with tariffs on goods such as American whiskey and price gaps on U.S. medical devices.

An official statement from Delhi noted it was able to offer a meaningful way forward on almost all U.S. requests, but some were not doable at this

time.

Turkey case is different and politically complicated with Trump suggesting the country has moved to middle income status and therefore does not need

trade relief. Turkey says it will not be threatened.

There is however a commonly link between India's Prime Minister, Narendra Modi and Turkey's President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, both face upcoming local

or national elections.

Perhaps, the U.S. President sees this as an opportunity to turn up the heat -- Zain.

ASHER: All right, so across the U.S. border, the northern border, one of Canada's biggest political scandals in decades is getting deeper and that's

because a second minister has resigned adding to the instability in Justin Trudeau's government.

Jane Philpott, most recently, the Treasury Board President said that she has simply lost confidence in the way the government has handled

allegations of improper influence in a corruption case.

Philpott joins the former Justice Minister and Attorney General, Jody Wilson-Raybould. She said that she faced pressure to intervene in a case

of SNC-Lavalin, which is a major construction company.

This is certainly a very complicated story. There is lots to explain. I want to bring in, Robert Fife, Ottawa Bureau Chief at "The Globe" and

"Mail."

[15:25:01]

ASHER: So Justin Trudeau certainly has a reputation of being -- he has a sort of golden boy reputation across the world, just given that there are

elections in Canada this year, several months from now, does all of this affect him politically do you think?

ROBERT FIFE, OTTAWA BUREAU CHIEF, THE GLOBE: Well, he has taken a major hit for sure. I mean, you have political interference in the criminal

prosecution of a large construction company which has been facing charges of bribing officials in Libya, the same company which by the way, a few

years ago had been also found guilty of providing illegal funds to the liberal party.

So the Prime Minister has taken a very big hit on that, his support has dropped to 9%. But election campaign is not until October. There is

plenty of time to recover from this and there are signs the Prime Minister is beginning to realize that this crisis is beginning to choke him right on

the throat and he has brought in Canada's Ambassador to Washington, David MacNaughton as a political adviser.

Now, he ran Mr. Trudeau's election campaign in 2015 and there are signs that we are going to see perhaps some contrition from the Prime Minister

and an acknowledgement on his part that he could have handled this whole affair much differently.

ASHER; So if pressure continues to mount on Trudeau, can you foresee some kind of public inquiry into this particular scandal?

FIFE: Well, I don't think he is going to have a judicial inquiry because that would require people in his office to testify under oath and provide

all the e-mails and documents and tax records.

Right now, the Ethics Commissioner is looking into it, although he is very limited in what he can rule on and there a House of Commons Committee that

is looking into this as well. But it is dominated by the Liberal Party and they have kept witness list to a very small group of people.

Mr. Trudeau's principal secretary and right hand man will testify tomorrow and they were actually forced because of public pressure to allow Ms.

Wilson-Raybould, the Justice Minister who happened to be Canada's first indigenous Attorney General and Justice Minister to testify and she gave

explosive testimony last week which really blew this whole story right out into the open and the kind of detailed political pressure that she endured.

ASHER: All right, Robert Fife, we have to leave it there. Appreciate you being on the show. Thank you.

FIFE: You're welcome.

ASHER: Okay, so after the break, the U.N. is calling it a functional cure. Others sounding a bit more skeptical, but as a second man appears to be

free from HIV. What does this mean in an industry where treatments cost a fortune? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:30:00] ZAIN ASHER, HOST, QUEST MEANS BUSINESS: Hello everyone, I am Zain Asher, there's more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS in a moment. When a

potential cure might have been discovered for one of the most devastating and costly diseases on the planet.

And "Forbes" declares Kylie Jenner to be the youngest self-made billionaire ever. The rest of the internet is not social about that though, but before

that, these are the headlines for you at this hour. U.S. President Donald Trump calls it a disgrace. He's slamming the sweeping new congressional

investigation into his campaign administration businesses and more.

Mr. Trump says Democrats are on a big, fat fishing expedition, accusing them of desperately searching for a crime. And people are streaming out of

an Eastern Syrian enclave by the thousands. There's more pockets of land, is all that's left of the self-proclaimed caliphate of the ISIS terror

group and is expected to fall any day now.

Hundreds of ISIS fighters are said to be among those fleeing. And the French President Emmanuel Macron says Brexit is a lesson about the danger

Europe faces from fake news and nationalism. His comments come as Britain attempts last ditch negotiations with the European Union on a Brexit deal.

Britain is expected to leave the EU in just over three weeks.

And British Prime Minister Theresa May's conservative party has suspended 14 members for islamophobic and racist comments on Facebook. The members

had called for a ban on Mosques in the U.K. and said Muslims should not be allowed to serve in public office.

And Scotland Yard is looking into three small explosive devices that surfaced around London today. They were mailed to Heathrow and London City

Airport and the Waterloo chief station as well which you can see here in this video. One ignited, but no one was hurt. Irish police are also

assisting in the probe.

All right, a new development in the treatment of HIV has sparked a fierce debate as to whether the disease could finally, eventually at least be

cured one day. A patient who received a stem cell transplant has been in remission for 18 months and the UN says that he is functionally cured,

those are the words that they're using, functionally cured.

They're not going as far as to say that the disease has been eradicated from his body. HIV and AIDs of course remain a global problem with huge

costs associated with them according to the UN and medical journal, "The Lancet" by 2017, nearly 37 million people were living with HIV, in that

year, nearly a million people suffered AIDs-related deaths as well.

From 2000 to 2015, over half a trillion dollars was spent on care, treatment and prevention. Next year alone, the UN estimates $26 billion

will be required for the global response. CNN's senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us live now.

So, we've got two people that are being referred to as the London patient and the Berlin patient who were effectively and I use this word very

carefully, effectively cured from HIV. Just walk us through what was it about their specific cases that allowed them to be treated?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right, Zain, these two patients were definitely unusual for one reason. They had both HIV and

they also had cancer. So as cancer patients, they needed to have what's called the stem cell transplant. And so their doctor said if we're going

to give them a transplant, give them someone else's stem cell, why don't we choose someone who has a rare genetic mutation that makes them resistant to

HIV and we'll see what happens.

So in these two patients, they tried that and it appears to have worked. The doctors are actually using the word effectively cured. Now, what that

means for the first patient, for the Berlin patient who we now know what his name is, his name is Timothy Brown.

[15:35:00] He has been HIV free for 12 years and he's not taking HIV drugs. It is from that stem cell transplants. The other patient whose

name we don't know, but who has been called the London patient, he has been HIV free for about 18 months without taking HIV drugs. So that really is

remarkable, but I do want to point out, saying, they did try this treatment out on a number of other patients, and it didn't work. So this doesn't

work for everybody.

ASHER: So how hopeful should we be that one day -- I mean, you know, this is -- it won't work for everybody as you mentioned, but this is certainly a

step in the right direction. You've got two people in the world, of course, it's only two people out of 37 million who have been effectively

cured from this infection. How hopeful should we be that these new developments could one day lead to a cure for everybody?

COHEN: So Zain, I think a step in the right direction is really the best way to put it. So right now, they can't -- yes, they can't give this to

any -- just any HIV patient. They want to give it to HIV patients who also happen to have cancer and here is why? A stem cell transplant while it can

be enormously helpful, it can also kill you.

It's a very risky procedure. And so an HIV patient who does not have cancer, they should not be getting the stem cell transplant. They wouldn't

want a stem cell transplant, it could kill them and the HIV drugs that they can take right now that have been around for decades are very safe and very

effective.

So right now, this actually really doesn't mean anything for today's HIV patients. What it is, is it's a step down the road. It's doctors saying

this did work for two people, this was not this weird anomaly just in the Berlin patient 12 years ago, but you can see it's taken us 12 years to get

to patient number two. It will be years before this can be something that's used on a massive scale. And it may never work out, I think that's

important to say, but if it does, if it works out as a standard protocol, it will be years and years.

ASHER: So, you know, when I read the story, I really wasn't sure whether or not we should be using the word "cure". Because cure obviously implies

a lot more hope than effectively what you're saying, which is that it worked for two people, that doesn't mean it's going to work for the 36.9

million others. So, should we be using the term "cure" to describe this do you think?

COHEN: Well, these are the doctors that we talked to, all but one used the term "effectively cured". The one doctor who didn't use that term is the

London patient's own doctor. He said that the patient was in remission. He said look, 18 months is not all that long, let's use the term "in

remission" before we jump to the word "cure".

However, the other doctors we talked to did use the phrase "effectively cured". So I think we can use it about these two patients, but we know

that it hasn't worked on many others. And we know that we can't even experiment on the vast majority of HIV patients. So I think you're right

to be cautious, we should use that term "effectively cured" for these two patients, but really not for anyone else.

ASHER: So with the Berlin patient, I mean, it's been many years, you know, he is "effectively cured" of it, but for the London patient, is there fear

that the infection could actually end up coming back?

COHEN: Sure, it's absolutely possible. I mean, 18 months is not 12 years as we have for the first patient, so sure, there's that chance that it

could come back.

ASHER: All right, Elizabeth Cohen, live for us there. Thank you so much - -

COHEN: Thanks --

ASHER: Appreciate that. OK, so still to come here from Russia with gas, the pipeline the U.S. president loves to hate nears completion. We take a

closer look at the controversial project, that's next.

[15:40:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ASHER: OK, so it's essentially been a relatively quiet day in terms of trading on Wall Street, not much going on, let's take a look here, the Dow,

the S&P and the Nasdaq all relatively flat, we are up about 30 points which pretty reminds me -- we've been bouncing basically between positive and

negative territory all day.

But effectively, as Paul La Monica is here to tell me nothing much has been going on. So Paul, what we do have to report on is earnings. Let's start

with Target, they actually did relatively well, they've been investing heavily in delivery services, you know, making their stores sort of nice

and fancier, that sort of thing and it appears to have paid off.

PAUL LA MONICA, CNN BUSINESS REPORTER: It is, I think digital is really what is paying off --

(CROSSTALK)

Or more than 30 percent, really does go to show that for all the talk of this being a retail world, where it's Amazon versus Wal-Mart, don't forget

companies like Target, they are still doing quite well particularly with online, and I think that is a credit to CEO Brian Cornell who has had a

great strategy of, you know, turning Target into an online destination, not just bricks and mortar.

ASHER: But they -- Target has actually done a pretty good job of trying to pick up customers from Babies "R" Us, Toys "R" Us down for the thing --

LA MONICA: Yes --

ASHER: And so the retailers have been sort of left behind, Target sort of stock -- thought ten steps ahead and thought, OK, well, we can take their

old customers.

LA MONICA: Yes, Target, Wal-Mart and Amazon, those are three retailers that obviously have a very big presence with toys and they are definitely

thriving and profiting from the sad demise of Toys R Us.

ASHER: And Kohl's, Kohl's did -- I mean, this is just incredible because you have two retailers, we always have sort of dismal news to report when

it comes to retailers, not today.

LA MONICA: Especially the department store chain --

ASHER: Exactly, so how has Kohl's managed to do well when you think about why J.C. Penney and Macy's are suffering.

LA MONICA: Yes, Kohl's has been very smart, Zain, they've had that kind of if you can't beat them, join them sort of strategy. So they've partnered

with Amazon, they're increasing this partnership to 200 stores where you'll be able to buy Echos and other Amazon devices in Kohl's stores.

Kohl's also doing a new deal with Planet Fitness where Planet Fitness, the gym owner is going to open up a couple of its gyms nearby Kohl's locations.

So that's an interesting thing. Kohl's is dealing with weight watchers in Chicago as well. So Kohl's really seems to be recognizing that

partnerships with big brand names are a way to get people to come into the stores. And again, with Amazon, you're not going to beat them, let's be

honest.

ASHER: Yes, you've got to be --

LA MONICA: So, partner with them.

ASHER: You can't lie to yourself. So just in terms of the future, why do I look at this as being, oh, this is just a sort of short term bright spot,

this isn't necessarily -- I mean, long-term in 2030 years from now, can any of these retailers rival Amazon?

LA MONICA: Yes, that is a fantastic question. Obviously, I think that there are many concerns that unless you are a specialty retailer, if you're

a big box company selling things that Amazon is going to sell, then it's really going to be about price and convenience.

And I think that's why Wal-Mart and Target, we shouldn't rule them out as long-term winners, obviously, they're huge companies and they really are

doing a good job of getting people to buy online at home or on their phones, then go and pick up.

Because a lot of people still are OK with driving to a store to get something that they just ordered on their phone because then they get it

immediately. I mean, for all the virtues of Amazon, you're very rarely getting same day delivery from a lot of these places --

ASHER: Exactly, you know, it is so funny because for me, when I have the choice of either ordering on Amazon and waiting two days to get it or

literally putting on my coat and walking across the street, I still choose Amazon, I still choose to shop online. That's just me --

LA MONICA: No, I think a lot of people --

ASHER: Most people are not as lazy as I am.

LA MONICA: That's beyond -- I'm in the same --

ASHER: You're in the same -- that God, OK, Paul La Monica live for us, thank you so much. OK, so let's take a look and see how European markets

faired. They actually closed some mostly higher actually, green all across the board, FTSE 100 up about more than half of a percent, DAX up about a

quarter of a percent as well.

[15:45:00] The FTSE is actually the best performer on what was a quiet session, investors still await concrete news on a U.S.-China deal. That

will certainly move the markets. One of Europe's recent headaches is sustainable and affordable energy.

Nord Stream 2 was supposed to be the solution, it's the longest offshore pipeline in the world and will transport natural gas from Russia to

Germany. Its route runs more than a 1,000 kilometers and will supply enough energy to meet 13 percent of Europe's energy needs.

But critics of the project, the most high profile of which is U.S. President Donald Trump say that collaboration with an unpredictable Russia

could create more problems than it solves. Here's our Atika Shubert with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN EUROPEAN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nord Stream 2 is vast, at a 1,200 kilometers, it is longest sub-sea gas pipeline in the

world with an $8 billion price tag. Together with the already completed Nord Stream 1, the project promises to bring 110 billion cubic meters of

Russian gas to German shores for a distribution across Europe.

(on camera): This is the building site where the gas will make the first landfall in Germany before it is distributed across the EU. And as you can

see, building is well underway, there's more than 300 kilometers of this pipeline already laid down.

And in fact, they are expecting the first delivery of gas from Russia by the end of 2019. Karl Housemann(ph) is the site manager and he is happy

that the project is on schedule.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We know what to do, and so we are very optimistic all will be finished and the gas will be -- next European gas pipeline systems.

SHUBERT (voice-over): But as the pipeline nears completion, it is sparking opposition from the U.S. government.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The U.S. has made very clear that we think the project should be delayed, that there is no reason to go forward with this. It

does not increase the diversity of gas supplies for Europe, it does not increase the diversity of the routes of supply or the means of supply.

It does however circumvent Ukraine and other countries in Eastern Europe, increases Russia's due political leverage on those countries.

SHUBERT: The Trump administration argues that Nord Stream 2 ignores Russian aggression. In 2014, Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine. The U.S.

also says that it rewards Russia's government majority-owned gas pump, which controls 100 percent of Nord Stream's shares.

But Germany and Nord Stream officials maintain the project is necessary to meet a shortfall in Europe's growing energy demands especially as Germany

is now ditching coal and nuclear energy, but doesn't have enough green energy yet.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are safeguarding European energy needs. We are safeguarding the needs of the private consumers, we are safeguarding the

needs of industry. We have an import gap, and we have to safeguard the change in the European energy system from coal and nuclear to renewables.

And the perfect bridge is gas, the air of the gas is coming from.

SHUBERT: For now, that real politic means Nord Stream 2 is going full steam ahead. Atika Shubert, CNN, Lubeck(ph), Germany.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ASHER: I'm coming to you live from the make-up room here at CNN. This is my make-up guru, Mitch Elli(ph), he's responsible for all of my looks, hair

and make-up here at CNN. After the break, we'll tell you how make-up made Kylie Jenner the world's youngest self-made billionaire or so they say.

Mitch, can I have another quick curl right here, please? Thank you.

[15:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ASHER: Welcome back, I've had my make-up adjusted and the "Forbes" billionaires list has also been adjusted as well. It now includes 21-year-

old Kylie Jenner, she replaces Mark Zuckerberg as the new youngest ever, youngest-ever self-made billionaire.

"Forbes" estimates her make-up line Kylie Cosmetics is worth at least $900 million and Jenner owns the whole thing. "Forbes" says the make-up empire

has just seven full-time employees and almost no overhead costs, and of course huge profits.

And the marketing, well, that's all free. New products are blasted out to Kylie's 128 million Instagram followers with nothing more than a selfie and

a few taps on her phone. We want you to join the conversation, get out your phones and go to cnn.com-slash-join with Kylie Jenner being born into

a life of fame and fortune.

There's been controversy over whether she can really be called a self-made billionaire. Should she be considered a self-made billionaire? That is

your question tonight, just go to cnn.com-slash-join, vote and you will see the results very shortly on your screen.

Let's talk about it here with CNN senior entertainment reporter Lisa France who joins us live now. So Lisa, how the hell did she do it? Oh, my God --

LISA FRANCE, CNN SENIOR ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: Well, you know the old adage that if you do what you love, it doesn't feel like work --

ASHER: Right --

FRANCE: Well, she loves make-up, she loves taking pictures of herself, so there you have it, she took the two and combined them. She's very social

media savvy, and everything when it comes to the Kardashians and Jenner clan, is all about aspiration.

So you know, she gets her lips done and her lips look puffy and beautiful and gorgeous, and of course her followers want the same look. So what do

you do? You naturally go and buy the make-up that she's wearing. So why not?

ASHER: But the fact that she is a belly -- I mean, listen, I knew that this was going to do well, I knew that her make-up line was going to be

successful. I never expected in my wildest dreams that she would then become the youngest self-made billionaire because of her make-up line.

What does this tell you about consumer culture in America?

FRANCE: It tells you that people pay a lot of attention to YouTube make-up tutorials, and also that she is extremely business savvy. I mean, look,

there was a major controversy in her family recently where her best friend Jordan Woods was accused of fooling around with Kylie's sister's daughter's

father.

And what did Kylie do? They reduced the cost of Jordan's lip kits and they sold out. So, I mean, if you can take controversy and the personal

troubles and make money at it, then naturally you're going to be become a billionaire if you have a family like the Kardashians. I mean, they mint

money, and they're constantly thinking how can we get paid, how can we get paid.

ASHER: So do you think -- I mean, I asked this question to our audience earlier, do you think that she should be considered self-made, given that

she was born into a ridiculously wealthy family?

FRANCE: Absolutely not --

(LAUGHTER)

Absolutely not, because if I got out here --

ASHER: Money breeds money, right?

FRANCE: Yes, money, right, exactly. And I mean, Kris Jenner is -- her mother is a genius when it comes to --

ASHER: Yes --

FRANCE: Marketing and making money --

ASHER: She is a hustler --

FRANCE: I'll give that -- she is a hustler --

ASHER: Yes --

FRANCE: She is a hustler --

ASHER: I'll give her that --

FRANCE: So there's no way, you know, she's money-made, she is not self- made, she's absolutely money-made. And I'm not even mad at her. I mean, make your money, Kylie, you're going to do what regardless. I mean, if she

was out here selling widgets, we could be talking about how in the world did Kylie Jenner make a billion dollars selling widgets.

If that's just in their family's DNA --

ASHER: Yes --

FRANCE: Then it's all about making the money --

ASHER: Yes --

FRANCE: I mean, all I can do is applaud them and say I wish I worked with them and maybe Kris will adopt me some day.

[15:55:00] ASHER: Well, listen, this is evidence that you get what you focus on, if you're focused on that, that's what you get. Look --

FRANCE: Absolutely --

ASHER: Twenty one years old, youngest self-made billionaire. All right, Lisa France, thank you. OK, so according to those of you at cnn.com, most

of you actually agree with my colleague Lisa. The majority of you say that Kylie Jenner should not -- 80 percent, should not be considered a self-made

billionaire because she was born into money.

All right, so we've got some breaking news to bring you. News into CNN, regulators here in New York State have opened an inquiry into the Trump

organization's insurance practices. They've issued a subpoena to the Trump Organizations long-time insurer Aon.

This follows last week's explosive testimony from President Trump's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen. A source told the "New York Times" that the

subpoena is demanding materials related to Aon's dealings with Mr. Trump and the Trump Organization going back ten years.

There's no indication that Aon or its employees engaged in misconduct. The Department of Financial Services doesn't have the ability to bring criminal

charges, but it can refer any findings to state prosecutors for further action.

Trading is coming about five minutes or so to go. Trading is coming to a close in New York, we'll have the closing bell and the final numbers right

after this, don't go away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ASHER: All right, so it's been a relatively quiet session on Wall Street, up about 23 points pretty much flat all day. Similar story for the Nasdaq

and for the S&P as well. Investors are waiting for concrete progress in terms of trade talks between the United States and China.

That is what they want, most stocks are moving in a fairly narrow range, but not all. Shares of two retailers specifically, I'm talking about

Target and Kohl's, are way up, both released earnings that beat expectations. At the other end of the spectrum, you've got GE, the

company's CEO says that he expects cash flow to be negative this year.

In Europe, all the major markets closed higher, the FTSE was the best performer on what was also relatively quiet session as well. Investors

still await concrete news on a U.S.-China deal. You're looking here, you see the FTSE 100 actually doing the best out of all four major European

indices, up about half a percent or so.

The DAX up a quarter of 1 percent, the CAC Quarante one-fifth of 1 percent. And that is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS on a relatively quiet day in terms of

trading on Wall Street. I am Zain Asher, "THE LEAD" with my colleague Jake Tapper starts right now.

(BELL RINGING)

END