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Quest Means Business

Trump Unveils New Tariffs On Pharmaceutical, Furniture; Delegates Walk Out Ahead Of Netanyahu Speech; Portuguese Foreign Minister Speaks To CNN; Former FBI Head Indicted On Two Felony Counts; Event Highlights Economic Power Of U.S. Latinos; Nobu Co-Founder's Book Details Career In "Restaurant Trenches". Aired 4-5p ET

Aired September 26, 2025 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:17]

RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST, "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS": Closing bell ringing on wall street. It is the Ronald McDonald House ringing the closing

bell. What a lovely sight to see and I am glad for them. They are ringing the bell on a good day. The market is up, all the indices are up. Strong

sessions across the board.

Careful, sir, when you hit the gavel next to those children. Oh, well, they were careful gavels. Strong, but careful gavels. Those are the markets and

the main events that we are talking about.

President Trump announces new tariffs on pharmaceuticals and furniture, but there are notable exemptions. Dozens of people, dozens of delegates walk

out of the U.N. General Assembly as the Israeli Prime Minister began his speech, and the New York restauranteur, Drew Nieporent is with me. His new

book is "Chronicles from the Journey from McDonald's Line Cook to the Heights of New York's Fashion Scene." But what did he learn? He will tell

us all in our program tonight.

Live from New York, end of the week, Friday, September the 26th. I am Richard Quest, and I mean business.

Good evening.

We begin with more tariffs from the U.S. President. Donald Trump unleashed a barrage of new tariffs targeting furniture, trucks and brand name

pharmaceuticals and it all comes in on October the 1st. Imported farmer is to be subject to a 100 percent tariff, unless certain specific conditions

are met. I will get to those in a second. Kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities, 50 percent; upholstered furniture 30 percent and so-called heavy

trucks at 25 percent levy.

The White House has yet to provide much information on it. All we've got to go on at the moment are the posts on Truth Social, where the Prime Minister

said drugmakers with a U.S. plant, in their words, under construction or breaking ground will be exempt from these new duties.

Now, no word on whether these tariffs override existing trade agreements. So, for example, the E.U. says its deal caps tariffs at 15 percent, nor

indeed whether or not if you're a U.S. corporation and you have a factory already in the -- you get the idea. The detail is lacking. But what is

interesting, these tariffs, although they are very, very seriously large headline numbers, I was speaking earlier this week to the IMF's managing

director, Kristalina Georgieva, and she said that when you look at the overall economic hit from such tariffs, it could be muted.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTALINA GEORGIEVA, MANAGING DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND: Nominal tariffs, 18 percent, but when you take all the exceptions, the

effective tariffs, they are about nine percent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: Jeff Zeleny, well, let me just close my water bottle. Jeff Zeleny is with me in Washington, Elisabeth Buchwald is in New York. I am going to

start with you, Elisabeth, because do we have any details, for instance, this example of a U.S. manufacturer that already has plants, but does

import from overseas, will those imports be subjected? Do we know anything more than the headlines?

ELISABETH BUCHWALD, CNN BUSINESS ECONOMICS REPORTER: We don't know much, actually, but I am happy to offer a few speculations based on what we've

seen in the past. So on the U.S. manufacturers, that could be a bit murky, but we've seen a bunch say that they're building new plants here. The other

thing that we've seen in the past is that sectoral tariffs are not stacked on top of existing tariffs.

And also the E.U. knew this was coming and part of their trade agreement, they negotiated that imported drugs or sorry, exported drugs to the U.S.

would stay at their overall minimum rate of 15 percent.

QUEST: So Jeff Zeleny, how much of this is politics and how much of it is economics as seen from The White House?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, I think, you asked that in the right order, politics before economics. Look one

thing we know a through line to all of these tariffs, which really have been a soundtrack of the Trump's second term in office, is that he does

believe in tariffs. There is no doubt about it.

The question is are these tariffs actually reaching the overall goal as we remember it to restore American manufacturing and there is very little to

no evidence to show that this has been effective in that front.

Yes, new revenues have been coming into the U.S. Treasuries, but Richard, you mentioned the caveat for pharmaceuticals. I think that is very

important.

[16:05:07]

What this is, I am told by The White House, is a way to really put a little more pressure on pharmaceutical companies to invest in the U.S. and start

building in the U.S., so we will see if that actually happens. But once again, this announcement was made just a few days before that, October 1st

deadline. As we've seen in tariff after tariff after tariff threat, oftentimes something has worked out or changed before they actually go into

effect.

QUEST: And Elisabeth, I was just -- while Jeff was speaking there, we are just looking at the share prices of the drug companies, which are -- some

of them are actually up. I guess that's because people have worked out that their drug pipeline, their factories, their whole manufacturing

infrastructure, they are likely to be less affected because they have strong U.S. manufacturing bases.

But you have this bizarre kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanities, which, by the way, is very bad news for me since I am about to do some bathroom

vanities at home. So 50 percent on that; upholstered furniture, no new sofa. I mean, why are these being, Elisabeth -- why have these been pulled

out?

BUCHWALD: Well, look, you can't ignore the fact that this is happening in an environment where the bulk of Trump's tariffs are being challenged in

the Supreme Court, in a case that's going to kick off November the 5th, and if the court rules that his tariffs, the ones that are country specific,

were illegal for him to impose, he is going to need other levers to impose tariffs.

Of course, tariffs aren't going anywhere. That is a key part of his agenda, but these tariffs that he proposed would be proposed under a separate set

of laws that aren't being challenged. So that's why I believe that's coming right now, and specifically when you look at the sectors that he is

targeting with this, the top two areas where we are getting cabinets from and when we are getting bathroom vanities, upholstered furniture -- China,

Vietnam and those are countries he has targeted previously before, too.

QUEST: Elisabeth, I will let you carry on. I will stay with Jeff for the moment.

Jeff, the capacity for this White House to come up with new policies on a daily basis. I mean, admittedly, some of them are half baked, like the

Trump visa, and that all had to be or indeed, the H-B1s, which all had to be rolled back. It is quite extraordinary the way they do this, isn't it?

Put it out, have to redraft it. I mean, it goes against everything we've ever heard.

ZELENY: It goes against the norms, as do most things in this administration. But again, there is a through line of that the President

likes tariffs. So what he does, he announces them and then his staff scrambles to figure out the details. So that is what they will be spending

the weekend doing.

But the reality here is, as Elisabeth was just talking about, I think she makes a very good point in terms of some of these tariffs that were done

under the emergency authority earlier this year, those are very much up in the air, depending on what the court rules on. But these -- the new round

of tariffs would not be necessarily subjected to that.

But one thing that is the same, regardless of how a tariff is imposed, that's prices. The prices that are imposed on the American consumer, on

furniture, on other things, on automobiles, on some drugs. That will be a political price to pay.

So that is what worries some Republicans about their fight to control Congress here in the U.S. in the next year. The fallout from all of these.

But there is no doubt, the President throws many things out on many days. Some stick, some don't.

QUEST: And we will talk about prices. Thank you elegantly for leading us into talking about prices. Thank you, Jeff. Have a good weekend.

Now these new tariffs could -- let me just get the -- look at this. We have our old good old friend the QUEST MEANS BUSINESS tariff basket. Tariffs

could add to sticky inflation. The Fed's preferred gauge rose in August to 2.7 percent, a good moment to revisit.

Let's start with coffee. Now, coffee back in April when Trump made Liberation Day announcement, it cost $8.00. Now, it is a whopping $9.49 and

now, largely that because of Brazil, and what happened, of course, where they grow a lot of coffee. And then you've got cheese that's gone from

$6.29 to $7.59.

The cost of some items has actually fallen. If you want a packet of t- shirts, that costs $3.00 less at $22.49, but who is buying those expensive t-shirts? And the overall packet, and this is significant, I think. The

overall tariff basket is $101.45 less than -- it is $101.00 less than it was back in April, because remember, we had some phones in there and all of

those other sort of things.

So the tariff basket has actually gone down.

CNN's global economic analyst, Rana Foroohar is with me.

[16:10:09]

I think that's significant in a sense. I mean, we could parse exactly whether it is because of the oil, the olive oil or the coffee or whatever,

but it is such a complicated picture. This idea of tariffs.

RANA FOROOHAR, CNN GLOBAL ECONOMIC ANALYST: Yes, no, it is interesting because as you were speaking to Jeff earlier, I was thinking, you know, we

try to look at this country by country, even industry by industry or product by product. Even within those categories, when you think about

trade relationships, you are talking about relationships.

I mean, this is -- you know, there is the supply chain issue. There is the technology, there is the energy, there are of all the things being

transported. But then there are relationships within countries, between companies and it is very, very difficult to tease out and that's why I

think we are not completely getting a clear picture yet on the impact of all of this, except one thing I will say, and I hear this, I am sure you

hear it, Richard, is that countries are increasingly looking for workarounds. They don't have them yet to the U.S., but they are -- boy,

they are looking for them.

And I bet you, if we have this conversation in three years, five years as we well may, we are going to see some new trading relationships.

QUEST: Well, you know, Ngozi who you know well from the World Trade Organization was saying exactly this has indeed -- the IMF -- new

relationships are being built, but the U.S. doesn't seem to care. The Howard Lutnick line, the Commerce Secretary line is, this is the largest

market in the world. People want to play in it. There is now a pay-to-play price.

FOROOHAR: Yes, and that is true for now, but the world is changing and you know, things -- paradigm shifts happen slowly and then all at once. And,

you know, one of the things I've been thinking about is whether or not the Xi-Trump summit is going to be a little bit of a tell where maybe the

world, the markets start to realize, you know what China is more in control of things than we thought.

I mean, we just saw what they did with rare earths. This kind of, okay, you're going to escalate, well, we are going to escalate times ten in a

much more strategic area. They have thinking about these things for years, if not decades.

QUEST: Do you find -- let's just go anecdotally, I am finding when I go shopping, grocery shopping, as I like to say in the U.S., I find the bill

is -- I mean, admittedly, we are in New York, but the bill is eye watering. Things feel expensive.

FOROOHAR: Oh, hundred percent.

QUEST: You see, I can have my tariff basket up the wazoo and I can prove that its $101.00 cheaper, but I don't buy an iPhone every week. I don't --

but I do buy coffee every month. And of course, our old friend the toilet paper, which is always a good barometer.

FOROOHAR: Well, yes, and I mean, these are standalone products, but let's talk about the price of a hotel, which actually includes all of those

supplies. Plus, you know, labor shortages, even as, as hotels are trying to pull in more technology, which we all feel, it is a less pleasant

experience now, they are double the price as they were a few years ago.

I mean, so many things eating out, prohibitive. Americans 100 percent feel this, and it is a big topic of conversation in in red states in Middle

America and it is in New York, too, but I think more so even in the interior of the country.

QUEST: Good to see you. Thank you very much, helping us understand tariffs and what is going on there. Thank you.

As you and I continue this Friday, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vows to finish the job of eliminating Hamas as scores of

delegates walk out at the start of his speech at the U.N.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed at the U.N. General Assembly to finish the job of destroying Hamas. He used props and

pop quizzes, and he hit out at those criticizing Israel's conduct in Gaza, accusing world leaders of caving in to biased media and antisemitic mobs.

As he began speaking, scores of delegates walked out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Please order in the hall.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: The Prime Minister also slammed those countries who have recognized Palestinian statehood, accusing them of giving the ultimate reward to

Hamas.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Giving the Palestinians a state one mile from Jerusalem, after October 7th is like giving al-Qaeda a state

one mile from New York City after September 11th. This is sheer madness. It is insane and we won't do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: Well, western nations are breaking with Israel and the U.S. on this issue. As you know, France, Britain, Canada and Australia are among those

countries who have recognized the Palestinian State ahead of the G.A., while Mr. Netanyahu accuses them of rewarding Hamas. Now, in an interview

with CNN, a senior Hamas official told us that the October the 7th attack created a golden moment for the Palestinian cause.

I am going to quote directly from Ghazi Hamad, who said: "You know, what is the benefit of October the 7th now? If you look to the General Assembly,

when 194 people opened their eyes and looked to the atrocity, to the brutality of Israel, and all of them, they condemned Israel. I think this

is a golden moment for the world to change the history."

Portugal is one of the countries to have recognized Palestinian statehood. The Foreign Minister, Paulo Rangel, is with me now.

Sir, when you hear what Hamas said, it validates the criticism that recognizing the Palestinian State without a ceasefire and without other

pieces of conditions in place, is rewarding Hamas for October the 7th, because Hamas certainly sees it that way.

PAULO RANGEL, PORTUGUESE FOREIGN MINISTER: Well, I have to say that is exactly the opposite. Hamas is one of the defeatists from the recognition.

You have to see that this recognition was decided in the framework of the Declaration of New York that was approved by the General Assembly by 140

votes, 42 votes in the 12th of September.

In this Declaration, Hamas is condemned expressly for the first time by the General Assembly. This is a huge defeat for Hamas. In this Declaration, we

say that Hamas has to be disarmed and that they cannot apply to any election in the future Palestinian state.

So this means that this is a defeat for Hamas. This is a position of despair.

QUEST: So what was the magic, if you will, of recognition at this most sensitive of times when clearly, the very act of recognition is pouring

petrol on the flames?

RANGEL: I have to say that this is the right moment.

QUEST: Why?

RANGEL: Because in this moment -- that is what I am going to explain, because in this moment you have three pillars agreement between some

western states that didn't recognize Israel till now, Palestine till now and they have done it on the verge or during this, General Assembly.

[16:20:11]

Then you have a lot of Arabic countries that showed the disposal, the will, the willing to recognize Israel and normalize relations. And the third

pillar is the commitment or the commitments of the Palestinian Authority that accepts to have a state where the external security will be provided

by an international mission, where they accept elections and institutional reform, where they condemn Hamas and all the terrorist attacks and they

forbid Hamas from being an electoral force in the future. These are achievements that were never obtained before.

At the same time, I have to say, and Portugal is a very good friend of Israel and we don't have anything against Israel, quite the contrary, but

what we have to say is that some declarations of some members of government claiming for annexation of West Bank, claiming for like Prime Minister

Netanyahu repeated today that there is no place for a Palestinian State, this also demands from us the recognition of Palestine because we were

always defenders, supporters, believers in two-state solution.

When you have some steps from the Israeli government that I believe is not from the Israeli people in the direction to avoid, to impede, to hinder the

Palestinian State, of course, the recognition is I'd say a useful instrument to stop this process of impeding the existence of a future

Palestinian State.

QUEST: Can I turn to Ukraine, if I may?

RANGEL: Yes, please.

QUEST: And the insistence by the president of the United States that the European Union countries stop importing oil and gas from Russia. Now, huge

strides, your own country, still I believe, imports a certain -- a limited, a very small amount from Russia of liquid natural gas, LNG. But is it -- do

you see this as being realistic or is it an off ramp for the President to basically say, well, look, I am not going to do anything until you do

anything and you haven't done anything, so I am not going to do anything.

RANGEL: No. Let me say, I think it is realistic to ask for that even if you need some time. If you look at the imports of, Russian oil, Russian gas,

Russian energy, it is a miracle. It is really amazing the way that European Union countries were able to reduce, but reduce dramatically in three years

their dependance on Russia -- on energy coming from Russia. Now we are speaking about very small amounts.

And so I think that is feasible -- is really, we can achieve that. This aim of having no dependance on energy from Russia. This is not I would say

something that is not possible. It is rather possible.

QUEST: But the problem is -- the problem, Minister, is that the -- that the President of the United States has made a sine qua non of actually him

doing the next step, and the reality in the Ukrainian-Russian war is that you need pressure from the U.S. now against Russia and the President is

basically putting it off until the E.U. does its bit.

RANGEL: Well, I have to say that we have to be patient in this moment, but I believe that the United States should give one step more, and we, as very

good friends of the United States, Portugal a very old ally of the United States, we really trust that this will be possible.

So what we have to look and I think that this is something that we can in our talks also underline and show is that we have reduced it in such a way

that dependance from Russia, that now is really something that is not -- is not relevant. Of course, we have still two member states where this is the

case, but I believe that here, the United States, they have leveraged to convince them and we have technical solutions to reduce dramatically their

dependance. That is the case of Slovakia and Hungary.

QUEST: Yes.

RANGEL: But let me say, in the other cases, the reduction is so, so big that I think that this won't prevent the United States to take the steps

that -- and here, I fully agree with you.

[16:25:10]

We need the United States' pressure to stop Russia and to convince Russia to come to the table of negotiations. This is very clear. We need really

these steps.

But look, the declarations that President Trump has made, the posts he has made this week is very encouraging because he is there saying that there is

a prospect of a victory of Ukraine and so this has changed in a certain way. Also the mood, and I would say we -- I am pretty convinced that we

will bring the United States to understand that the reduction of the dependency on oil and gas is so, so big that this will be achieved in the

next two or three years, and that will be enough to have the United States completely on the side of this necessity, this need, this urgency for

pressure over Russia.

QUEST: I am grateful for your time tonight. Have a safe journey home, back to Portugal when you fly back. Thank you for joining us tonight.

RANGEL: Thank you, Richard. It was a pleasure.

QUEST: Thank you.

Now, the Communications Minister for the Democratic Republic of Congo says that peace will unlock positive momentum throughout Africa. The country has

been in the spotlight since it signed a peace agreement with Rwanda in June. Many are hoping it will unlock further growth after three decades of

war.

The DRC is located -- well, just look, it is in the middle of Africa, it has immense mineral resources. Everybody wants a bit of it. Unfortunately,

in many cases, they're already taking it by force. President Trump has often taken credit for the peace agreement between the DRC and Rwanda off

the eastern border, I should say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I ended seven wars, and in all cases, they were raging with countless thousands of people

being killed. The Congo and Rwanda are vicious, violent war that was. No President or a Prime Minister, and for that matter, no other country has

ever done anything close to that and I did it in just seven months.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: Now the Minister, Patrick Muyaya tells me he welcomes President Trump's involvement. Still he says, there is more to be done. The Minister

says the rebel group M23 is continuing to cause great violence, and is accusing Rwanda of using M23 as a proxy.

So when you take the fact that there is still fighting, is the peace deal just a fiction?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATRICK MUYAYA, MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: Peace will come because peace cannot come just because you sign.

There is a lot of things we need to do in the ground. That's why it is required and that's what we've been seeing with the American

administration, and involvement to make sure what we put in the paper, each part will respect that.

We are doing our part, and I am not sure Rwanda is delivering the way it should deliver. It is not just because you have the process around

Americans, but there is a process in Doha with Qatari, where Rwanda is not playing his role with his puppet to make sure they are respecting what they

have to do in according to get the peace we want.

QUEST: The United States, the U.S. President is transactional, quid pro quo. Therefore, the price for greater involvement in the DRC is likely to

be greater access to your extremely valuable rare earth minerals, which everybody wants to get hold of.

Now we know China is already a major partner of yours.

MUYAYA: You know, in DRC there is a place for every country -- China, United States -- because the country is huge and there is a lot of

potential. What we've been seeing with the President Trump is not only, as you said, a transactional deal. No, first, I think he is working to bring

back peace, to make sure children can get to school, to make sure women won't be raped, but at the same time, we have a strategic partnership with

the United States for years now, and in between, we are talking about not only about mineral resources, we are talking about energy. We are talking

about environment. We are talking about infrastructure.

Because the DRC and I will finish there is one of the most important country in the world, not only because you have all of those strategic

minerals, because of our position in the middle of Africa, with nine neighbors, and we have the Lobito Corridor Project, which is funded by

Americans, which is a very good example of what we can do for us and for Africa.

QUEST: Finally, I want to come back to this idea of the eastern part of the country. People like myself who have covered Africa for decades get weary,

get weary with the wars that never seem to end. The corruption that gets a bit better but never really gets much better in terms of -- I am not

talking about your country, per se. I am talking about, you know, collectively.

I wonder at what point does Africa gain its potential? Does it rise? Africa -- you know the phrase Africa rising. It's been rising so long, you'd have

thought it'd have risen by now.

[16:30:24]

MUYAYA: You know, Africa is the youth of the world. Because you have these youth human resources first, we have those mineral resources.

When you have to look at the situation in DRC, or the potential in the EuRoC (PH), it's very huge. Just a small reminder, in 1942, when Manhattan

Project started, the uranium used for little boy came from DRC. Come from Shinkolobwe.

And I don't need to remember you what happened hundred years ago with the King Leopold of Belgium, because he was like the king. We've been using DRC

as for economic reason. And you remember Herbert (PH), etcetera, the countries of full potential.

But what we need first, actually, is peace. And if we want to achieve peace in that region, we should make sure we stop Rwandan activities.

Because after the genocide in 1994, since that period, Rwanda started creating proxies. M23 is a proxy, is a movement under sanction of United

States administration, even the leader with the pulpit, one of the most corrupted guy.

So, today, what we want the most is to see that the two processes, Washington and Doha, give us the result. So once we achieve the objective

of peace in that region, I can tell you, we can bet that not only the EuRoC will start the way consolidate his way for the development under the

presidential leadership, but the world, part of Africa, this part of Africa, will, at the same time, move in good way. That's why peace is

critical.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: That the minister. Now, following the historic indictment of the former FBI Chief James Comey, President Trump warns there will be others

and of the White House and the latest on QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:35:04]

QUEST: President Trump says he expects more of his political opponents will be prosecuted after the indictment of the former FBI Head James Comey.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There's not a list, but I think there'll be others. I mean, they're corrupt. These were corrupt

radical left Democrats. Comey, essentially, was -- he's worse than a Democrat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: A federal grand jury indicted Comey on two felony charges accusing him of giving false statements to a Senate committee in 2020. President

Trump insists the prosecution is about justice, not revenge.

Alayna Treene is at the White House. Everything I have read today, you know, I think the best of the comment I saw quoted in an article on CNN.com

was somebody said, you know, when we were law students, we were taught that this couldn't happen that the White House or the political process could

not influence the Justice Department in the way that some say it has now.

And so, to some extent, this is being seen as a Rubicon. Is that how they're seeing it there, a Rubicon crossed?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's not how White House officials, I think, are trying to see it. I mean, look, though, I think you

know, this was all kind of by design, Richard. We know that the President one of the most important positions when he was about to enter office, when

he was in his transition period after winning the election, but before being sworn in, the biggest position he cared most about was who he was

going to have serve as Attorney General.

He has stacked the Department of Justice and similar things. Of course, I think the notable thing is that recent placement of his former personal

attorney, Lindsey Halligan, into the role of the Eastern District of Virginia. All of that was by design that he wanted to put loyalists in

these positions, and I will say, I think the context that I have, and from my conversations with people here at the White House, is so important,

which is that the president, behind closed doors, and for months now, has lamented the fact that when he was out of office, in between his two terms,

he had faced several indictments, he was prosecuted, and he feels like it's now his opponents time to have that happen to them.

And he kind of said as much over the weekend on social media, saying that, you know, everyone is watching, and they're asking, why is this not

happening. And he's been putting pressure from our reporting, putting pressure on the attorney general and others to bring this.

But Richard, I also think one thing that was very important from those comments the president made this morning is that he said he wants others to

face similar charges. He said there will be others. He said he didn't have a list, but that Comey, essentially, is not the only one where this is

going to happen, who will be indicted.

And we know some other names going around that he's brought up, of course, have been the New York Attorney General Letitia James, Senator Adam Schiff

of California, all of them as well perceived political enemies of the president.

QUEST: All right, Alayna, thank you joining us from the White House. Thank you.

As the Trump administration pushes forward with its crackdown on immigration, one prominent businessman is highlighting the economic power

of U.S. Latinos, the media tech executive Sol Trujillo is the founder of the Velocity conference that's taking place in Los Angeles. It has revealed

data on how U.S. Latinos generate the equivalent of four trillion, that's with a T, in GDP, who's representing the fifth largest economy in the

world.

Gabriela Frias from CNN en Espanol joins us now from Los Angeles. There is this move, in a sense, to basically say whatever you may think on

immigration, the economic reality is that it is very significant and badly needed.

GABRIELA FRIAS, CNN EN ESPANOL ANCHOR: Absolutely, Richard, welcome to this conference. Its name Velocity and the name has a purpose. It highlights the

speed and the intensity at which this change is happening.

So, in the coming years, you and I will be talking about the largest economy in the world with increasing inputs from Latinos. And in this

cohort, what stands out is the young demographic with a median age of 31 years old, who is digitally savvy.

So, companies that are taking part in this conference do not want to leave money on the table. They want to be engaged with the Latino market, but to

do that, they need numbers.

And this booklet is kind of like a play book for the companies. This was put out by the Latino Donor Conference. It's a think tank that wants to

pretty much get rid of the stereotypes and the myths about Latinos, but doing it with math, with numbers, and not with only empty political

discussions.

In some of the stats that are also interesting, Richard, just two of them. 25 percent of the rental market. U.S. Latinos are accounting for that, and

also 18 percent of the furniture market.

[16:40:04]

So, what is being discussed here are the current trends and the future trends and how this will be driving the long-term prosperity, Richard.

QUEST: You see, the problem for the argument on this is, that nobody will doubt the significance of the Latino economic achievement or involvement.

It's the, if you will, undocumented or those, you know, the non-legal resident, that is suppose even the Republicans in favor of immigration

would say, yes, sure, we'll have as much of it as we like, or can have, provided it's legal. And isn't that the argument that those -- that where

the economics is going to have to be somewhat massaged?

FRIAS: Yes and no. The narrative about the Latinos has this -- has been always put towards the undocumented, but 94 percent of Latinos already in

the U.S. are born in the U.S. or children of natural -- naturalized citizens. So, that would be one stereotype.

So, the narrative is being told -- the narrative is the incorrect one. Pretty much. Why? Because CEOs here are, of course, worried and debating

how much the Trump immigration policies of the Trump era are hurting. They do not make economic sense to them. So, they need new rules. They need the

Congress to be active.

But let me tell you, I sat down with Sol Trujillo, who has been over 10 years, generations from New Mexico. He's originally from New Mexico, and he

says this country is ours also, let me just toss to what we had, a conversation, a very interesting conversation that we had earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SOL TRUJILLO, FOUNDER, VELOCITY: We can talk about Telecom, we can talk about automotive, we can talk about all of them. And there are market

leaders. And the reason why they're market leaders, in almost every case, is because they understand the Latino cohort.

So, if you're in the automotive industry and you sell one of every three or four cars and it's two Latinos, I want that business, and if it's mobile

phones, I want that business because Latinos are active social media technology adopters.

So, old stereotypes are irrelevant to 21st Century new mainstream economy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: That is fascinating. Gabriela, thank you for joining us from that, I appreciate it. Thank you. We'll hear more from you as you continue to cover

these important events. Thank you.

Now, as we continue tonight, where's the book? Ah, there it is. I'm Trying Not to Be Difficult. Stories from the restaurant trenches, from McDonald's

to no boy -- not no boy, Nobu. For the past half century, Junior Bond (PH) has played a role in some of New York's most influential restaurants, and

he's telling it all. He joins me. He's with me on QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:46:03]

QUEST: On this week on CALL TO EARTH, we are going on epic journeys with the world renowned photographer Chris Fallows, who utilizes his fine art

imagery to inspire change. And today, we join Fallows at home in South Africa and off the coast of Cape Town where he has captured some of the

most extraordinary iconic images.

(CALL TO EARTH)

[16:50:11]

QUEST: What does one say after that? Except, we'll have more at this weekend on the premier of the full documentary beyond the lens, it's here

on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: New York City's Nobu restaurant is amongst the most famous in the world, and it's only one of various three dozen Drew Nieporent opened over

the years and operated in his five-decade restaurant career.

He's calling began simply behind the grill at his local McDonald's. And in his new book, I'm trying -- Not Trying to Be Difficult stories from the

restaurant trenches, he details his rise from humble burger flipper to the head of one of the world's most legendary culinary empires, and his

adventures and misadventures along the way.

But I would say it is not just a book Drew about, you know, the good, the bad and the ugly. In a sense, there's an enormous amount of wisdom about

human character and human nature and how to run things.

And you know, when did you realize that running a restaurant and then running a chain was something you really wanted to do, not just, you know,

this was -- this was the goal?

DREW NIEPORENT, MYRIAD RESTAURANT GROUP: Well, actually, the word chain is a little bit like, that's a word we it's not in our lexicon, because Nobu

is always won, won, won, but I have partners who are in their 80s, and they still feel that they need to make a great deal of money. So that's when

something becomes a chain.

No, honestly, I approached every restaurant like a director approaches a movie, and I wanted everything to be separate individual, and that's why I

opened 40 restaurants in 40 years.

And but the Nobu specifically, I saw the need for that restaurant in New York City, and I made it happen in Tribeca. And as I tell it in the book,

it was -- it was extraordinary and an extraordinary experience.

QUEST: But you're not bitter about the way in which you were defenestrated, in a sense.

NIEPORENT: Well, Richard, you know, when you're 70 years old, which I just turned you develop so much wisdom. You'd be -- you'd be -- you would be

amazed at just how things like you mellow out. And the I'm not trying to be difficult, really, is about they were being difficult, my partners, my

chefs.

So, they were like, you're -- they thought I was difficult, but I'm not trying to be difficult.

QUEST: So, one of the things I love about this book is that it's from the restaurant tours point of view. We read so much about the chefs, and the

only thing I know about chefs is that they are troublesome difficult. They may be geniuses, but actually they are amongst the most arrogant in people

you'll ever come across in the world, like he said, and you have to massage it all into a business.

[16:55:05]

NIEPORENT: It's unbelievable, but I will say that the most talented practitioners of food are difficult. There's one or two that have been

charming and easy, but when you read the book, you'll see that I always just what you just said. I had to, you know, walk on the edges, but I'm a

restaurateur. All about the food. It's always been about food.

QUEST: But it's got to make -- the restaurant has to make money. There's no great achievement in lieu and you talk about this again and again, we're

about the number of people it takes in the kitchen, the number of good ingredients. But it can't be overly done.

NIEPORENT: If you don't make money -- the financial supports the creative. If you don't make money, your partners will be pissed off at you, and the

restaurant won't last a long time.

My restaurants have lasted a long time. Nobu is now 31 years. Tribeca Grill is 35 years. My first restaurant I opened when I was 29 went almost 40

years. So, it's amazing.

QUEST: Also the cost of a restaurant meal these days is prohibitive, a good -- I mean, I was just -- I'm not going to mention the name of the steak

house in New York, but I was walking towards the United Nations, and I saw the menu outside, and I mentally totted up that if I had a starter, a steak

with extras, a dessert and a glass of wine for my guests, we're talking about $150-200 a head.

NIEPORENT: And then, if they -- if they slap the way goo (PH) on the beef, it's another $100 on top of that. Because way goo, is this like ridiculous

breed of -- I don't even know where it comes from, to be honest.

No, the prices in restaurants, I'll tell you what, Richard, Montrachet when we opened in 1985, $16.00 for three courses. All my restaurants, I kept the

price down. I was the crazy Eddie of restaurants.

QUEST: Have you got another restaurant, another big name restaurant that you want to open?

NIEPORENT: I've done so many different ones, but I will tell you that it -- and I do the hamburgers, by the way, at Madison Square Garden, which, if

you go see the Rangers in the Knicks, you'll have that my delicious hamburger, but I have one left in me, and that's a deli. I want to do a

Jewish -- I want to do a Jewish delicatessen.

QUEST: Sign me up, and I'll be there to have the pastrami on rye or a good bit of hot salt beef. You can't beat a good one.

NIEPORENT: You love food, so I love it.

QUEST: All right, thank you so much, Drew. Thank you.

NIEPORENT: Thanks for having me.

QUEST: We will take a Profitable Moment. I do love hot salt beef. It really is. Used to get Phil Rabins in London. It was magnificent.

Anyway, after the break, QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. Where's the bell? Where's the bell? It's over here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:00:00]

QUEST: Tonight's Profitable Moment. I'll keep it simple. There is no achievement in going to an expensive restaurant where the bill is obscene

just because that's where other people go and the food is. well, it's well known. To my way of thinking, and goodness knows whether it's the company

paying or me, there's plenty of good meals, reasonably priced, and that's the best bargain of all.

And that's QUEST MEANS BUSINESS for tonight, I'm Richard Quest. Where am I? I'm in New York.

Whatever you're up to in the hours ahead. I hope it's profitable. Join me in London next week.

END