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Quest Means Business
Iranian State Media: Explosions Heard In West Tehran; Uncertainty Remains Over How Many Missiles Iran Has Left; Retail Sales Drop Sharply In May; 67 Meetings Continue In Canada Despite Early Trump Exit; Iran's Missile Stockpile Challenged As Strikes Continue; Oil Market Weighs The Risk Of Israel-Iran Conflict; Kraft Heinz To Remove All Artificial Dyes From Its Products; Microsoft Data Reveals A "Seemingly Infinite Workday." Aired 4-5p ET
Aired June 17, 2025 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ELENI GIOKOS, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: A down day for the market. Middle East tensions and weak economic data are hanging over investors. The Dow
losing just under 300 points, down seven-tenths of a percent. It is all about the conflict here in the Middle East. Those are the markets and these
are the main events.
Explosions in Tehran as Israel threatens to strike significant targets in the Iranian capital.
U.S. shoppers pulled back on spending amid high economic uncertainty.
And new data from Microsoft shows work days keep getting longer.
Live from Dubai, it is just past midnight here on Wednesday, June 18th. For most of you, it is still Tuesday, June 17th. I'm Eleni Giokos. I am for
Richard Quest and this this QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
A very good evening and welcome to the show.
Tonight, Iranian state media reporting intense, continuous explosions in west Tehran. Israel's Defense Minister said today the IDF planned to strike
very significant targets there. The Israeli Air Force has expanded its operations, releasing this video, which it says shows it destroying Iran's
missile defense batteries.
Meanwhile, the chief-of-staff of Iran's Armed Forces is calling on residents of Tel Aviv and Haifa to evacuate, saying a punitive operation
was about to begin.
Now, U.S. President Donald Trump is urging Iran to surrender unconditionally. Mr. Trump says he knows where the Supreme Leader is, but
that he doesn't want him killed, at least not for now. Now, it is one of the latest signs the U.S. may be considering directly entering the
conflict. This as the Pentagon moves more assets into the region.
We learned a short time ago, a meeting in the White House Situation Room has just ended. President Trump is convening his National Security team to
discuss what comes next.
Jeff Zeleny is at the White House.
Jeff, good to have you with us. Very significant, the Situation Room meeting ending. President Trump's language has shifted dramatically. And
the big question is now, is the U.S. going to enter this conflict in a more direct way?
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: That certainly is the central question, and the meeting, as you said, did end about 15
minutes ago. The meeting ran about an hour and 15 minutes or so. And look, this is a very consequential moment for President Trump. There is no doubt
about that.
The biggest decision of his foreign policy, certainly in this term, and perhaps in his entire tenure as President. And this is why, I mean,
President Trump has campaigned, has really embodied the idea of America First, not engaging in a deepening Middle Eastern war, not talking about
regime change, being very critical, of course, of the Bush administration, as well as Democratic administrations as well.
But now he is faced with the challenge here and the opportunity potentially to forever cripple the Iranian nuclear capability, and that is something
that many of his allies are urging him to do. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, of course, a noted hawk in the Senate, has been telling the
President to act fairly soon. He believes that now is a historic opportunity for the U.S. President to essentially lend its military might
to Israel to complete the job, if you will, on the Iranian nuclear program and the ambitions.
But a central question hanging over all of this is this is not a simple military operation. Never mind the geopolitics of all this, just the actual
nature of bombing the Fordow nuclear facility is very much a risky operation. So we do not know the outcome of this meeting in the Situation
Room. We will be learning that in the hours to come.
But all the Cabinet Secretaries have now left the White House, but Vice President Vance, earlier today essentially acknowledged the controversy
here inside the American Republican Party, but also said that Donald Trump alone had the ability to make this decision. And now the burden is indeed
on him to do so -- Eleni.
GIOKOS: Yes, absolutely. Yes, really important. I mean, President Trump was talking that he didn't want to get into foreign entanglements and wanted to
be a peacemaker and a dealmaker. So we will see what happens.
Jeff Zeleny, thank you so much for that update.
I want to take you now to Tel Aviv. We've got Jeremy Diamond standing by. And Jeremy, from what we understand, Iran has warned and said that the
residents of Tel Aviv and Haifa should evacuate. The IDF in the meantime, is talking about striking significant targets in Tehran.
[16:05:03]
Tell me the situation on the ground right now in Tel Aviv.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, this still remains an incredibly volatile situation amid those threats, as you just mentioned,
from the chief-of-staff of the Iranian Armed Forces. But there is also a sense here that the Iranian threat has diminished over the course of the
last 24 hours. I mean, we have gotten several waves, quite a large number of waves, in fact of attacks from Iran, but what is notable is that those
waves of attacks are carrying fewer and fewer numbers of ballistic missiles.
And the result of that is that those missiles are increasingly being intercepted in larger percentages than they are when Iran fires, you know,
these much larger volleys of dozens of ballistic missiles at the exact same time. And that's because of the Israeli military's striking of those
ballistic missile launch sites inside of Iran, destroying about a third of all of those ballistic missile launchers, according to the Israeli Air
Force.
Independent analysts at the Institute for the Study of War have also said that it appears that those Israeli military strikes are indeed degrading
the ability of Iran to fire these large barrages of ballistic missiles. But it is also, of course, important to note that Iran does take kind of a
strategic view of things at times, and that it is possible that they are saving some of their fire as well.
The bottom line here is that there remains a lot of uncertainty about what tonight will bring. We are here, in fact, with Israel's elite search and
rescue unit and I can tell you that while they are also watching this same picture of, you know, a decreasing number of missiles being fired by Iran,
they certainly are prepared for worst case scenarios to be able to go out there and try and rescue people should any of those missiles strike, in
particular, should they strike residential buildings, as we've seen over the last few days.
GIOKOS: Yes and those images are scary and unprecedented, frankly, of those strikes within Tel Aviv in particular.
Jeremy, I want you to give me a sense of whether the residents of Tel Aviv are heeding the call for evacuation, and also the residents of Haifa and
just give me a sense of the atmosphere.
DIAMOND: No, they certainly are not heeding calls for evacuation. What they are doing, though, is they are certainly following the instructions from
the Israeli military, the Home Front Command, as it is known to shelter in place when those alert sirens come in. Israelis are certainly taking those
warnings much more seriously now, amid this, you know, the last few days of attacks between Israel and Iran than they ever have because of how deadly
they have been compared to any missiles that have been fired by Hezbollah or by Hamas.
And certainly, you know, I was in Tel Aviv throughout the day. I can tell you that it is much quieter than it is normally on a weekday, as people are
certainly on edge about the possibility of these -- more ballistic missiles coming in, and the question, of course, of how much longer this will last
as the Israeli Defense Minister today said that Israel is going to continue to strike very significant targets in Iran and also vowing to ultimately
destroy Iran's nuclear program, even amid questions of whether or not that can actually be accomplished by Israel without the United States coming in.
And so tonight, there are certainly a lot of Israelis watching closely to see what will happen in Washington, what the results of that Situation Room
meeting that President Trump just had will be and ultimately, whether or not President Trump will jump in, deploy U.S. assets to carry out those
strikes on that Fordow nuclear facility, and as many Israelis are hoping, finish the job -- Eleni.
GIOKOS: All right, Jeremy Diamond, thank you so much for that update. Jeremy Diamond there in Tel Aviv.
Well, the head of the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog tells CNN there is a lot we just don't know about Iran's nuclear timeline. Rafael Grossi serves as
Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and here is what he told Christiane Amanpour about the state of Iran's nuclear program.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAFAEL GROSSI, DIRECTOR GENERAL, INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY: Where we are on very solid grounds is when it comes to the material that Iran has
or had at its disposal to produce a nuclear device. Talking about here the enriched uranium. In terms of the material and this is something that I
have been reporting to the Board of Governors of the IAEA. They have enough material to, in case they decided -- this is a hypothetical construction,
of course -- in case they decided to develop a nuclear weapon, the material is there because they have more than 400 kilograms of uranium enriched at
60 percent, which is one step away from the 90 percent which is required for a nuclear bomb, for a nuclear weapon.
But of course, as you know, to have a nuclear weapon, you need more than the material. The material is, of course, extremely important. And this is
why there has been so much commotion and so much excitement and so much concern in the world about this issue of the material itself.
But then you need mineralize the uranium. You have to have neutron, you know, detonators, you have to have a number of things that go inside the
warhead to make it explode. Not to mention the fact that you may or may not wish to test it or to try it.
So I would say, I mean, there is this competition about who is wrong or right about the time that would be needed. Certainly it was not for
tomorrow. Maybe not a matter of years. I would there be perhaps more serious about this, and I don't think it was a matter of years, but this is
speculation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: Fawaz Gerges is the Professor of International Relations at the London School of Economics and he joins me now. Sir, great to have you with
us.
And so much changing and shifting today, particularly President Trump's language around what we have been seeing using the word "we" when he talks
about superiority over Iranian airspace, saying they know where Khamenei is, they are saying they don't want to take him out just yet. I mean, it is
really interesting to see this while he has just met with his National Security team in the Situation Room.
Here is my question: Do you believe that President Trump, despite everything he has been saying about foreign entanglements, will get
involved directly in this conflict?
FAWAZ GERGES, PROFESSOR OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS: Well, thanks for having me. I mean, there is plenty of evidence
growing that President Trump is considering joining Israel's war against Iran. In fact, Israeli officials believe that the United States will most
likely join the war tonight and start bombing Iran.
President trump explicitly called on Iran to surrender unconditionally, which is really, basically, it is a humiliating call to call on a
leadership to surrender unconditionally. And he basically tried to take ownership of the war itself, he said "we" control the skies over Iran. And
as you said, he implicitly threatened to kill the top leader, the Supreme Leader of Iran, which is basically illegal in the United States itself.
So my take on it, of course, I would say it is 50-plus that Donald Trump will likely -- most likely join the war against Iran, because remember,
Donald Trump loves raw power. Donald Trump wants love, success and victory. And he thinks that Israel is doing wonderfully against Iran, so he wants to
join the fray and take credit for the victory over Iran in his own mind.
GIOKOS: You know, everyone has been asking about the objective here, and clearly we've been hearing it is about taking out nuclear facilities and
that's the objective. But I want to ask you about regime change, because President Trump over the weekend said that he didn't want to get involved
in killing Khamenei. Now he is saying, well, we are not going to kill -- we don't want to take you out, not yet. Do you believe him? Do you think that
the U.S. isn't after regime change? And this is fundamental, because you've got to think about the day after should that happen.
GERGES: Well, I mean, I think CNN reported today that U.S. intelligence assessment found American -- the entirety of the American intelligence, a
dozen or so intelligence units and institutions found that Iran was not actively pursuing a nuclear weapon and was years away from being able to
acquire a nuclear weapon. This is the American -- the entirety of the American intelligence.
And this finding basically clashes with the Israeli claim that Iran was approaching a point of no return in order to acquire a nuclear weapon and
this reminds me, with the Iraq moment, when the neoconservatives in the Bush administration manufactured the lie of weapons of mass destruction
that Saddam Hussein supposedly had and used it as a pretext to attack Iraq in 2003 and it was a monstrous miscalculation.
[16:15:10]
What I see now is that both Israel the United States are really basically pursuing a similar monstrous miscalculation, not only trying to attack Iran
on a false premise that Iran has reached a tipping point, but basically to sabotage the talks that were taking place between Iran and the United
States in the past two months to divert attention from the catastrophic war in Gaza and to basically bring about a regime change, because what Israel
has been doing since Friday is not just target the nuclear program, it is targeting the industrial military complex, the economic infrastructure,
gas, oil, I mean, everything.
And now the Israelis, as they seem to be really becoming more ambitious by talking about killing the Supreme Leader and changing the regime in Iran in
the same way that the Americans did in Iraq in 2003.
GIOKOS: Yes, and a lot of lessons there, Fawaz.
I've got a question for you in terms of the line of expecting unconditional surrender, and the Ayatollah is looking at this language, but also Iran
does have leverage, and the leverage is in the Strait of Hormuz. Everyone is watching very closely to see whether they are going to pull that lever.
Is that your anticipation as well? Is there a point of return from the escalation that we've seen?
GERGES: First of all, I think what we are seeing now is strategic escalation. Iran now is pressed between a rock, an unconditional surrender,
humiliation and also a hard place, all-out-war, extermination. And if the United States joins the fray, my take is that Iran will most likely use all
its assets by trying to close the strategic waterways and basically destroy the oil industry, the supply chains of the oil industry.
This could be really catastrophic for the entire Middle East, in particular for the Gulf countries and the world political economy. This is the worst
case scenario. So in real terms, what we are talking about is that if the United States joins the war, if the United States basically go all the way
against Iran with Israel, this could really see major devastation, not just political and military and human devastation, but even wracking the
economic infrastructure, the oil and gas industry in the region on which most of the world depend at this particular moment.
GIOKOS: So, Fawaz, let me ask you this. I want to talk about regional impact here. You know, I mean, here in the UAE, everyone is watching very
closely, flights have been suspended into multiple countries within the region. What does this mean for other Arab countries, for countries here in
the Middle East?
GERGES: Well, I think it is the first time, I mean, in the past 20 years that most of the Gulf states do not really want all-out-war in the Gulf.
Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, they all have made it very clear they do not really want the United States to attack Iran. They
are focusing on the domestic agenda. They are focusing on economic prosperity. They are focusing on the mega economic, diversifying their
economies.
And also, I mean, ironic that most of the Arab states have criticized critically, I mean, radically criticized Israel's attacks. But at the end
of the day, despite the close relation between the United States and the Gulf State, he really does not listen, does not really care about the Arab
point of view. He obviously cares more about Benjamin Netanyahu, a war criminal who is committing really war crimes in Gaza, who is attacking
Iran, preemptive, a war of choice, an illegal war, as opposed to really listening to his closest economic allies in the Gulf.
GIOKOS: Fawaz, always good to speak to you. Thank you so much for your insights. Much appreciated, sir. Fawaz Gerges there.
All right, we are going to a short break and when we return, trade war uncertainty is causing U.S. consumers to tighten their purse strings. We
will be breaking down the worst retail sales drop in months. That is coming up right after this.
Stick with CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:22:05]
GIOKOS: Welcome back.
Tariff uncertainty led to a sharp drop last month in U.S. retail sales. Spending fell nearly one percent in May compared to the month before. That
is the sharpest drop since January. The falloff is partly due to a spending surge in recent months as consumers race to beat tariff deadlines,
especially for big ticket items like cars.
Vanessa Yurkevich is in New York for us, and breaking down the numbers. I mean, these are dismal. Is this showing signs of a weaker consumer, a
reticent consumer? What are we understanding about these figures that have come through?
VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, two parts but very much related. So you basically have a shopping spree pre-tariff
hangover that is happening -- that happened in the month of May and then you certainly see concerns in price pressures affecting consumers.
For the month of May, retail sales falling by 0.9 percent. We haven't seen a drop like that since January, and then that is now the second consecutive
month of a pullback in retail sales, because April actually was revised lower. And so you have two months of consumers pulling back on spending
after spending a ton in March.
If you look at this bar chart, you can see that in the month of March, consumers were spending. You can see it right there in blue to the right of
your screen, 1.4 percent uptick in retail sales as consumers were trying to get ahead of tariffs that were coming in April and May. They were spending
on big ticket items and they were spending a lot more. Then you can see right there, April, and look at May, declines in retail sales.
And ultimately there were some categories, though in this report that did pick up. We saw consumer spending more on sporting goods, on furniture.
Those are actually items that are highly produced in China and Asia. But you see a pullback in electronics also very much produced in China and
Asia. Cars and car parts, this was the biggest drag overall on the entire report. You basically had people buying cars in the month of March. So they
are not going to be buying cars again in the month of May. So that was a big drag on the report.
And then you see bars and restaurants. This was interesting because this, Eleni, has been consistently where people are choosing to spend their
discretionary money. There was a pullback in the month of May, down 0.9 percent. People may be indicating that they are starting to tighten their
purse strings a little bit, but worth watching that category in particular.
But I spoke to one industry analyst who told me that really the tariffs' bark has been worse than their bite. A lot of the other economic reports
that we have seen, like the Jobs Report, inflation, unemployment rate, holding steady at low levels, have shown a resiliency in the economy.
This report, though, does raise questions about how the consumer is feeling. Remember, we focus on these reports so much because consumer
spending, retail sales make up two-thirds of the U.S. economy.
[16:25:10]
That is why we put so much onus on this report.
Eleni, we will have to see what happens. Remember, in the later part of the summer, you have those pauses on the reciprocal tariffs and on the China
tariffs ending. What would that mean to U.S. consumers with prices and how of course, will they react.
GIOKOS: Yes, I mean, the consumer is just the lifeblood of the U.S. economy. But looking at those numbers, I noticed that bar and restaurant
spending is down and people maybe are sitting more on their couches because they are buying furniture and playing a lot more sports.
YURKEVICH: Perhaps, perhaps.
GIOKOS: I am making an assumption.
Vanessa, there we go. Those are the numbers. It kind of makes sense weighing it up.
YURKEVICH: Yes, yes.
GIOKOS: Vanessa Yurkevich great to have you with us.
YURKEVICH: Thank you.
GIOKOS: Thank you so much.
All right, India is hoping to develop a high tech economy as it seeks to compete with neighboring China. President Trump's trade war with Beijing
may be helping speed up that process. Companies like Apple have already committed to building smartphones in India to avoid U.S. tariffs.
Clare Sebastian visit a smartphone factory near New Delhi, where the transformation is taking place. Let's take a look.
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): For India's fast growing smartphone industry, every part matters.
SUNIL RAINA, MANAGING DIRECTOR, LAVA INTERNATIONAL: So this is the battery of the phone. Now earlier we used to import this. Right now, this is
totally localized.
SEBASTIAN (voice over): The battery is part of an ambitious plan by Lava International, one of India's biggest domestic smartphone brands, to build
the first hundred percent Indian phone within five years.
Right now, they still source about 60 percent of their smartphone parts from overseas.
RAINA: We import this part from China.
SEBASTIAN (voice over): And until 10 years ago, actually manufactured in China.
RAINA: India must come up and take a large share of the global market and for that, some companies have to take the leap.
SEBASTIAN (voice over): Now the momentum is building.
SEBASTIAN (on camera): India's smartphone ambitions were growing long before this latest tariff escalation from the U.S. This factory actually
opened in 2015, just a year after Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled ambitious plans to supercharge domestic manufacturing.
SEBASTIAN (voice over): You only have to drive around this city, Noida, just 30 kilometers south of Delhi to see the landscape shifting.
SEBASTIAN (on camera): There is this huge Samsung facility, which is actually one of the biggest mobile phone manufacturing plants in the whole
of India.
SEBASTIAN (voice over) There is also Dixon Technologies, an Indian company that assembles Google Pixel phones, as well as other big Indian names.
And now as U.S.-China trade tensions simmer and Apple promises to shift its entire U.S.-bound production line to India, iPhone manufacturer Foxconn is
also in talks to build a new semiconductor plant just south of here.
SEBASTIAN (on camera): And 20 years ago, what was here?
LOKESH M., CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, NOIDA AUTHORITY: It's all agricultural land.
SEBASTIAN (voice over): The CEO of the Noida Authority personally handles requests from foreign companies to come here.
LOKESH M.: I do get a lot of, you know, demand asking for huge chunk of land. So we are trying to acquire as much land possible, create land bank
and offer for all of these multinational companies.
SEBASTIAN (voice over): While some of India's edge may hinge on securing tariff reduction from the U.S., the official view is that government
incentives, as well as India's vast pool of talent and labor, are a much bigger draw.
AJAY SAHAI, PRESIDENT, FEDERATION OF EXPORTING ORGANIZATIONS: Apple is in India because of the strength of India. Probably, we are looking into a
kind of ecosystem where not only the Apple phone itself is exported, but probably the parts and components are also manufactured in the country.
SEBASTIAN (voice over): And for a lot of it, that makes their all-Indian phone ambition seem that much closer.
RAINA: For us, it is a huge advantage because Apple is a very large player, right? And when they start building phones in India, they also make sure
the ecosystem is also built in India and that means that we don't have to do that much amount of hard work.
SEBASTIAN (on camera): Do you see this as a sort of inflection point for this industry in India? Do you think this is a pivotal moment?
RAINA: Yes, yes of course. For the last six, seven years, you see a progress happening very slowly. You come to a point when things start to
change faster, right? So this is what is happening now.
SEBASTIAN (voice over): It is an opportunity, but also as for these phones in Lava's laboratory, a test of India's true manufacturing strength on a
global scale.
Clare Sebastian, CNN in Noida, India.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GIOKOS: All right, some critical energy infrastructure in Israel and Iran has been hit as conflict continues. We will tell you how the violence is
already impacting energy production and exports in both countries, and the wider impact on oil prices. That is coming up next. Stay with CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:32:57]
GIOKOS: Hello, I'm Eleni Giokos. There's more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
In a moment when Kraft Heinz says it will phase out artificial food coloring by the end of 2027 and workers are struggling to cope with
seemingly infinite work days. We'll look at why they can't seem to get a break from e-mails and meetings. Before that, the headlines this hour.
Israel's Defense minister says the country plans to strike significant targets in Tehran. His warning follows Tehran's threat of fierce attacks on
Israel. Videos posted earlier on social media and geolocated by CNN appear to show Iranian missiles hitting near a military site in central Israel.
Russia has launched its deadliest attack on Kyiv in nearly a year. Ukrainian officials say at least 14 people were killed and more than 100
hurt. Among the dead is a U.S. citizen. Russia fired 440 drones and 32 missiles into the country, according to the Ukrainian Air Force.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health says at least 51 people waiting for aid in Gaza were killed by Israeli fire today. More than 200 others were
injured. Hundreds of Palestinians have lost their lives near aid centers since Israel partially lifted its blockade on Gaza last month.
Right. The last day of the G7 meetings continued on today, despite an early exit by Donald Trump. The White House says the U.S. president left to work
on a solution to the conflict between Iran and Israel. On the way back to Washington, he said a ceasefire isn't enough.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What specifically is better than a ceasefire? What are you looking for here?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: An end. A real end, not a ceasefire. An end.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: So something that will be permanent?
TRUMP: Yes. Or giving up entirely. That's OK, too.
[16:35:03]
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Are you closer? Is that even possible? Is that a possibility?
TRUMP: Why not? Certainly possible. And complete give up. That's possible. Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: Meanwhile, the remaining world leaders turned their attention towards Ukraine. They welcomed President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the summit
and reaffirmed support for Kyiv.
Paula Newton is at the G7 summit in Canada and following all developments for us.
Paula, I mean, at the start of the G7 summit, everything shifted. The agenda shifted and focused on Iran and Israel. And then, of course,
President Trump having to abandon those meetings to head back to the situation room in Washington, D.C.
What was he able to achieve before he left?
PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, in terms of what the G7 leaders did themselves, if we quote Donald Trump, he said that he achieved all he
needed to, even in one day at the G7. He had certainly many discussions around the economic situation, specifically tariffs. He ended up signing a
deal with the U.K. and progressed a deal even further across the line with Canada.
It is unclear exactly what was accomplished with the E.U. partners, but really the crux of this is the issue of what he's missed out on, right? And
that would be Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who arrived this morning at this meeting to -- at the invitation of Mark Carney and was really looking forward to
having that one-on-one session again with Donald Trump, which did not happen.
He was again was going to stress to Donald Trump that Russia was still not coming to the table and try and impress upon the president that it was
important that he put all the pressure that he could on Russia.
I want you to listen now to Volodymyr Zelenskyy just discussing what it's been like, especially given the last 24 hours, have again had another
barrage of attacks from Russia. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: I need support from our allies, and I'm here and thank you for the military package. It's important for our
soldiers to be strong at the battlefield, to stay strong until Russia will be ready for the peace negotiations. We are ready for the peace
negotiations. Unconditional ceasefire. I think it's very important. But for this we need pressure. And, of course, I want to speak with prime minister
today about sanctions, additional sanctions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: You know, he was greeted with additional sanctions by Canada and as well, more commitments from those NATO members for more military aid.
There will be a NATO meeting in the coming days. He will again be able to press his case. But again, a bit of a disappointment especially, and if we
just quote Prime Minister Mark Carney here, he, speaking about what, in his words, was that barbaric attack on cities in Ukraine just in the last 24
hours.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, we expect to hear from him in the coming hours to see exactly what was achieved around the table. But again, at least a few more
weeks of diplomacy here, if not more, for him to really understand how much the United States is willing to help him.
GIOKOS: All right, Paula Newton, great to have you there on the ground. Much appreciated.
Now, as the conflict between Israel and Iran continues, questions are arising over how many missiles Iran has left in its stockpile.
CNN's Nick Paton Walsh reports for us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): The loudest clock ticking is how long this intensity of conflict can go on. Iran, under greatest pressure, may reach a breaking point. First,
they're estimated to have had a stockpile of up to 3,000 missiles, between 2,000 and 1,000 of them able to reach Israel.
BEHNAM BEN TALEBLU, SENIOR FELLOW, FOUNDATION FOR DEFENSE OF DEMOCRACIES: The best estimate we have is, at best, a back of the envelope calculation
of anywhere between 1,000 to 2,000 medium range ballistic missiles.
PATON WALSH: But those stockpiles were challenged before this phase of the conflict. Iran fired about 120 at Israel on the 13th of April, 2024, and
then another 200 on the 1st of October that year. And in the last five days have fired an estimated 380. 700 used in a year and at very best 1300 left.
Others less optimistic.
EYAL PINKO, PRESIDENT, INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR MIGRATION AND SECURITY RESEARCH: Take into consideration that they fired around 400, 500 in the
last four days, and Israel destroyed some of the arsenal of what they had, I believe they stayed now with 800, 700 more.
PATON WALSH: But Israel has claimed success in hitting the missiles launchers, releasing this graphic of targets including at least a third,
they say, of Iran's surface-to-surface launchers.
PINKO: Israel is trying now not only to hit or to defend the missiles in the air, to intercept them, but also to destroy the vehicles before
launching. Because this is the -- this is the weakest part of the chain.
[16:40:07]
PATON WALSH: Israel has claimed Iran could make 300 ballistic missiles a month like this Fatah One apparently used in the recent attacks. But on
October the 26th, three waves of retaliatory strikes by Israel hit Iran's air defense and missile production, in which the U.K. Defense chief said
only 100 bombs took down nearly the entirety of Iran's air defense system. It has destroyed Iran's ability to produce ballistic missiles for a year,
he said.
TALEBLU: I don't even think they want to go below four digits, but it's certainly a bind that the regime finds themselves in. You know, for the
Islamic Republic, quantity has a quality of its own, and having to expend these ballistic missiles during a time of war rather than a time of crisis
precisely puts it in this bind.
PATON WALSH: The mystery number of how many missiles Iran has left dictating its actions, and the outcome of this defining conflict.
Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GIOKOS: The exchange of airstrikes between Iran and Israel sent oil prices higher Tuesday. The price of Brent crude has now jumped 8 percent since the
conflict started. Energy facilities in both Israel and Iran have been hit, leading to disruptions in those countries.
The biggest area of concern is the Strait of Hormuz, which separates Iran and Oman. About 19 million barrels of crude oil and fuel flow through the
strait each day. That is, nearly a fifth of the world's consumption.
Helima Croft is the head of global commodity strategy at RBC Capital Markets, and she joins us now from Washington, D.C..
Helima, great to have you with us. I mean, we're trying to analyze and understand what is going to happen to supply. We're looking at the Strait
of Hormuz. And of course, for the first time since October 7th, and we've seen this kind of, you know, strike and counter-strike scenario playing out
between Israel and Iran. We're starting to see oil and energy assets being hit.
How much of this has been priced in to the number we're seeing now on Brent crude?
HELIMA CROFT, HEAD OF GLOBAL COMMODITY STRATEGY, RBC CAPITAL MARKETS: I mean, I think the rise that we saw today is based on concerns that we could
see the United States becoming involved in the conflict and intensification of the conflict. Right now, the attacks have targeted mainly domestic
energy infrastructure in both countries. So targeting refineries, oil depots, Iran South Pars gas field, which is used for domestic consumption,
was targeted.
We have not seen export terminals hit. We have not seen any real action in the Straits of Hormuz. You mentioned the importance of this choke point.
For now, that has not been hit. But we had a precedent in 2019 after the U.S. re-imposed maximum pressure sanctions. The Iranians did target tankers
off the coast of Fujairah in the UAE. Key pipelines. And then they hit Saudi Arabia's Abqaiq facility, the world's largest oil processing
facility, temporarily taking off half of Saudi Arabia's oil production.
So that would be the concern in an expanded war scenario. Would Iran potentially revive the 2019 playbook?
GIOKOS: Yes, I mean, that's a really important point. I'm sure that we're looking at all probabilities in terms of possible scenarios in a time where
it feels like things are going to escalate. And I'm wondering how market participants are viewing the current situation. We're waiting to hear about
whether President Trump wants the U.S. to get more directly involved. You know, how are they weighing up the risks right now?
CROFT: I think market participants are very much in a wait-and-see mode. I mean, a lot of people expected to see a significant supply disruption after
Russia invaded Ukraine, expecting sanctions, potentially losses of millions of barrels of Russian production. That did not happen. And this, you know,
since October 7th, we have had missiles fired back and forth between Iran and Israel. And yet no major supply disruption.
So we've seen this rise in oil prices, but not as high as you might expect, given the importance of these critical waterways, given the importance of,
you know, potentially Iraqi production being caught in the crosshairs, Saudi production. So I do think if we saw anything to indicate that energy
facilities were going to be targeted, we'd rise substantially higher from where we are in terms of price. But right now, everybody is waiting to see,
do we get some type of diplomatic off ramp?
GIOKOS: Yes. I mean, you know, how much spare capacity does OPEC have right now to put into the market if we do start seeing, as you said, the 2019
playbook being reignited, for example, or any disruption in the Straits of Hormuz?
CROFT: Well, the OPEC has said that they are going to really wait to see if there is a supply disruption. But it matters what type, what order of
magnitude of the disruption. So certainly there are several million barrels a day they could use if you had a disruption. But again, if you had
something very serious in the Straits of Hormuz, again, we don't think you can block the Straits of Hormuz, you know, for a long period of time.
[16:45:05]
But the Iranians could target tankers. They could make it difficult for ships to go through there. If you did have the Iranians turn their
attention, for example, to Iraq's facilities, there are militias there that are backed by Iran that could have easy access to Basra, for example, the
production of four million barrels.
I think OPEC would be challenged in the event that you had major facilities hit, and then the United States would have to think about going back to the
strategic stockpiles that we have here. That's what we drew on during the Russia-Ukraine war. We'd have to have to go back to the SPR again here if
that was the case.
GIOKOS: Yes. Just very quickly, where do you think Brent crude is going?
CROFT: Again it really matters what happens with this conflict. We are a pretty well-supplied oil market right now. So if we have a situation where
we get a diplomatic settlement, if we have the United States come in and, you know, we have a turn in the war, but no supply disrupted, I think
prices will fall back.
But if you have any type of attack on a facility in this environment, prices could go significantly higher if you had real action in the Straits
of Hormuz, that's back to triple digits.
GIOKOS: Triple digits. Helima Croft, it sounds like we're going to have a lot more conversations in the coming days. Thank you so much for your time.
CROFT: Thank you.
GIOKOS: All right. We are going to a short break. And when we return, we'll tell you why. Kraft Heinz plans to remove all artificial food coloring from
its U.S. brands. We'll explain after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GIOKOS: In the United States a glass of Kool-Aid or a bowl full of Jell-O might soon look a little different. Kraft Heinz, one of the biggest food
manufacturers in the United States, says it will phase out artificial dyes from all of its food products by the end of 2027. Now, it's a big win for
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who is moving to ban artificial food coloring.
Meg Tirrell has more on this story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kraft Heinz is making this announcement, of course, after the FDA in April announced a plan to try to
phase out synthetic food dyes over the next two years. Now, some critics of that announcement pointed out that it was really voluntary, that food
companies will have to go along with what the FDA was suggesting. And so now we are seeing the first major brand coming out saying that they are
going to do this.
Kraft Heinz saying that it will remove all artificial colors from its brands sold in the U.S. within the next two years, and also that it won't
release any new products with artificial colors starting immediately.
[16:50:03]
Of course, the company also notes, though, that almost 90 percent of its brands or products already don't have artificial food dyes in them, so this
will really only affect a sliver of its portfolio. But some really iconic brands like Kool-Aid and Jell-O, which we all associate with those really
bright colors. So those over the next two years will be getting a makeover.
But the company has already done this with some other really iconic brands, things like Kraft Mac and Cheese. A decade ago, the company switched to
natural colors to give it that really bright orange color we associate with Kraft Mac and Cheese. So they use things like turmeric, annatto, and
paprika, which we all know from our own spice cabinets have these really bright pigmented colors.
And so they're going to be working on how to do this over the next few years. And we will see what they end up actually looking like.
Now the companies have argued generally that these colors are safe, but have been moving in this direction already. Some of the health concerns
around artificial food colors have to do with things like cancer risk, that's particularly been seen in animals, as well as neurobehavioral issues
that have been suggested in kids who are more sensitive to these things.
So some states, like California, have already moved to ban artificial food dyes, and more than half of states have some form of legislation on the
table looking at that as well, according to the Environmental Working Group. A lot of these forms of legislation really target food dyes in
school foods, for example. So we'll see if other big brands follow suit. But we're going to see Kool-Aid and Jell-O potentially looking a little
different over the next two years.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GIOKOS: Microsoft says workers are facing what it calls an infinite work day. We'll talk about how floods of messages, distractions and late
meetings are weighing on the workforce. That's coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GIOKOS: Microsoft says more and more workers are holding meetings after 8:00 p.m. based on data from its workplace software. The company says
flexible hours and teams working across time zones are responsible for the trend.
This very program is a perfect example. I'm here in Dubai, where it's nearly 1:00 a.m. The rest of the team are either in London, where it is
almost 10:00 p.m., or on the U.S. East Coast, where it's almost 5:00 p.m., a more, you know, a better hour.
We've got Anna Cooban, who is in London.
So very good evening to you, Anna.
[16:55:00]
Welcome to my infinite work day. I'm sure you can relate. So tell me what Microsoft is saying about this infinite workday. And why does the world
always revolve around Eastern Time in the United States?
ANNA COOBAN, CNN BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, firstly, I think many people are very aware of what an infinite workday means, so
maybe this really isn't news for them. But yes, Microsoft has really put data to this very broad experience. It came out today to say there's been a
16 percent increase year over year in the number of meetings that are booked between 8:00 p.m. and midnight for workers that it's studied.
It's also had seen a 15 percent increase in the number of instant messages that workers are receiving outside of their core hours. And also it found
that workers are, on average, interrupted every two minutes by instant messages such as on teams.
And you're right, there is this focus on Eastern Time in the U.S. and that is something that we all have to, all have to get used to, Eleni.
GIOKOS: Yes. I mean, you know, why can't we just -- they should wake up earlier and we can, like, perhaps go to bed earlier. But here's the thing.
And I come from the generation where I remember when we didn't get e-mail on our phone and when that changed everything shifted. So here's my
question. Is there hope for workers because we were able to operate efficiently without being bombarded every second? But can we do it again?
Is that -- are those, is that a bygone era?
COOBAN: Well, my opinion is that, yes, it's a bygone era. There's been a fundamental structural shift in the way that the working world works. You
can't just shut your laptop because if you do, then you'll get messages on your phone. And so the cycle goes.
But Microsoft thinks that there is a solution and it's calling it artificial intelligence. It thinks that A.I. can be the thing that can help
automate certain tasks, mundane routine tasks, things that it thinks that people don't want to do, like admin tasks. And so that's, it's really
celebrating it as a potential savior of workers.
However, of course, we know that people have very, very well-founded fears about the potential for A.I. to push them out of their jobs. And in fact,
we saw only today Amazon came out to say that it would, it plans, or it can imagine its human workforce decreasing in the next few years because,
specifically because of the efficiencies that it's going to get from A.I.
GIOKOS: Fascinating. Well, listen, as journalists, we have to be on all the time and we absolutely love it. But anyway, that's a story for another day.
Anna Cooban, great to have you on the show.
Well, thanks so much for joining us. That's it for QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. I'm Eleni Giokos in Dubai. "THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER" is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
