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Trump Meeting With Congressional Leaders To Try To Reach Deal; Netanyahu Says He Supports Trump Plan To End War In Gaza; Eurovision Members To Vote On Israel's Participation; FBI Investigates Latter-Day Saints Church Attack As "Targeted Violence"; X Is "Go-To Platform" For Anti-Semitic Posters; New U.S. Tariffs Overshadow New York Watch Collector Event. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired September 29, 2025 - 16:00   ET

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[16:00:34]

JIM SCIUTTO CNN HOST: A muted start to what could be a very busy week for investors here in the U.S. Those are the markets, and these are the main

events.

Two critical meetings at The White House, President Trump hosts the Israeli Prime Minister and says the sides are close to a deal to end the war in

Gaza. The President is also hosting democratic leaders in a last ditch attempt to avert a government shutdown, and gaming giant EA is going

private in, what will become the largest leveraged buyout in history.

Live from Washington, it is Monday, September 29th. I am Jim Sciutto in for Richard Quest, and this is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.

Good evening to you.

This hour, President Trump is scheduled to meet with U.S. Congressional leaders in a last chance effort to avoid a government shutdown. It is

getting close.

Democrats Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries are attending, as well as House Speaker Mike Johnson and John Thune on the Republican Senate Side. They

have just a little more than 24 hours to reach an agreement before government funding runs out.

Some experts warn that a shutdown could tip what is already a fragile U.S. economy into recession, and force policy makers into decisions without key

data. The Labor Department has said it may not release a Jobs Report on Friday if there is a shutdown.

Kevin Liptak is at The White House and Kevin, as the parties meet again at The White House, I wonder, is The White House position here they might be

willing to negotiate or is this really about redelivering their red lines?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Publicly, it is about redelivering those red lines, and we heard that from President Trump. We

heard that from the Press Secretary earlier today saying that essentially this was an opportunity for President Trump to reiterate that his position

was that the Democrats needed to get on board with what they called the clean C.R. essentially an extension of current funding levels for seven

weeks that Republicans have proposed, and say that that is the only sort of option that they have to avert this government shutdown.

I think in reality, once these sides get into the Oval Office, certainly the hope from Democrats is that President Trump will, in fact, be more

willing to negotiate on what they want to come and talk about, which is an extension of these tax credits that are included in the Affordable Care

Act.

They want to discuss these tax credits, which are due to expire by the end of the year as part of this government funding discussion. And so I think

it remains to be seen what will be enough for these Democrats to hear from President Trump in order to get them on board, and what President Trump is

willing to do. There is some suggestion that maybe if Trump says that he is open to talking about these tax credits, says that these negotiations can

proceed sometime in the future, that perhaps that will be enough to get Democrats on board with the clean funding extension.

Now, how this all proceeds, we will have to wait and see. I think there is some pressure on Democrats, at least from some moderates in their party, to

not allow a shutdown either to happen or to proceed for a very long time, and so when you listen to what Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader, is

saying today, is that they are open to some kind of negotiation, what exactly that looks like, I think, remains to be seen.

What is true and I think is true -- a reality that all sides sort of recognize here is that there will be blame to go around if a shutdown

actually takes place.

You know, services will be withheld from the American people, federal workers certainly will feel the effects of not being paid, even as many of

them will still have to report to work. It is a political sort of loser for a lot of people involved in this, both sides claim that the other side will

bear the political brunt of this, but I think sort of the objective in this meeting today is to try and see whether there is any way out of it.

SCIUTTO: Yes. I mean, the Democrats' key demand is health care funding. That is an issue that we know Americans are concerned about. I suppose we

will see if the President and Republicans are willing to deal.

Kevin Liptak at The White House.

Now, on to that second key meeting at The White House today. Israel's Prime Minister says he is on board now with a U.S. plan to end the war in Gaza.

President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu discussed that 20-point plan today at The White House.

[16:05:10]

The plan includes a transitional Board of Peace to supervise Gaza's redevelopment. Trump would chair that board, by the way, and it would

include other heads of state. He also mentioned the former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, would join the group.

Netanyahu and Trump both urged Hamas to accept this proposal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I hope that we are going to have a deal for peace and if Hamas rejects the deal, which is

always possible, they're the only one left. Everyone else has accepted it.

But I have a feeling that we are going to have a positive answer, but if not, as you know, Bibi, you'd have our full backing to do what you would

have to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Jeremy Diamond is in Jerusalem.

Jeremy, as you know, and you've covered, there have been multiple deals on the table for some time, either rejected or delayed by Israelis, Hamas, et

cetera. Is this one fundamentally different in any way from previous proposals?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Jim, it really is, and some of that has to do with just the kind of nature of this framework. This goes

far beyond a kind of ceasefire and hostage release deal proposal that we've seen many times before, and that's for one major reason. That's because

even if Hamas rejects this proposal, this 20-point plan lays out a pathway for Israeli forces to eventually withdraw from parts of the Gaza Strip and

hand over Gazan territory to this international security force, which would be governed by this Peace Board that President Trump talked about.

Now, it doesn't lay out a timeline for that to happen, and it makes very clear that Israel would step up its offensive first, if Hamas rejects this,

and only once, it has now conquered and effectively cleared areas of Hamas operatives, would it then hand over that territory to that international

security force.

But nonetheless, this is the first time that we have ever seen the Israeli government publicly agree to any kind of plan that would see them withdraw

their forces from Gaza and hand over territory to any other authority.

And so, just from that perspective, I think this makes this proposal really, really unique.

Now, there are still a lot of questions that are not answered by this proposal. Chief among them, what happens to the 48 hostages being held by

Hamas if Hamas rejects this agreement? Because, again, this this proposal lays out a very, very short timeline, 72 hours for Hamas to agree to this

and release the hostages from now, basically from the moment at which Israel has agreed to this proposal, if they don't, then they're going to

face this continued Israeli military offensive in Gaza, but it doesn't say anything about how those 48 hostages get released if Hamas rejects this

proposal, and so that is a glaring omission here.

I have just been told, Jim, that Qatar's Prime Minister and Egypt's head of Intelligence just met with Hamas' negotiators and handed over this 20-point

proposal. I am told that Hamas said that it would review the proposal and subsequently provide a response to it. So the ball is now rolling in that

very short 72-hour period for Hamas to review this proposal, to ultimately agree to it and to actually release those Israeli hostages on the ground,

that is a lot that needs to happen in 72 hours without even counting the fact that there is so much in here that Hamas is not going to like, so much

in here that violates some of Hamas' red lines, namely, this issue of Hamas being disarmed, something that Hamas has rejected, unless that comes with

recognition and the establishment of a Palestinian State.

SCIUTTO: How should we read President Trump's statement that if Hamas does not accept this deal as it is in that time frame, that in effect, Israel

has free reign?

DIAMOND: Well, I think we should take it very literally, because in this proposal, again, it talks about if Hamas rejects it, Israel will continue

to move forward with its operations to basically conquer the rest of the Gaza Strip, destroy Hamas completely, and then gradually hand over that

territory to this international security force.

So it very much seems like the plan is if Hamas rejects this, this is what's hanging over them, the possibility of this kind of all out Israeli

military offensive continuing, that that still leaves other questions, Jim, such as is it even possible to completely rid Gaza of Hamas, to completely

destroy Hamas in the way that the Israeli Prime Minister has been talking about for nearly two years now?

But the only difference here is that it does lay out a way for Israel to actually, ultimately withdraw for territory that it has conquered in Gaza

to be handed over to this international force, and what the United States and Israel are saying here is that it is going to happen regardless of

whether or not Hamas agrees.

[16:10:17]

I think it is very clear, though, that this proposal is far more achievable if Hamas actually agrees to it. If Hamas rejects it, I think we are going

to see a lot of potential problems with how this plan can actually be implemented, with the feasibility of it, and of course, with whether or not

it can actually lead to the freedom of those 48 hostages, 20 of whom are still believed to be alive.

SCIUTTO: Jeremy Diamond, thanks so much.

Well, Israel's participation in next year's Eurovision song contest is now going to be put to a vote by its organizers in the midst of the ongoing war

in Gaza. Europe's national broadcaster started the event back in the 1950s as a friendly rivalry among nations. Contestants are picked by members of

the European Broadcasting Union, including non-European outliers such as Australia and Israel.

Some members are threatening to boycott Eurovision this year if the group does not exclude Israel over the war in Gaza. The EBU now says it will put

the matter up to a vote in November. Israel's public broadcaster KAN, recently expressed, "Its firm hope, that the Eurovision Song Contest will

continue to uphold its cultural and nonpolitical identity."

Iceland's national broadcaster is among those on the fence about competing alongside Israel. Director General of RUV Stefan Eiriksson joins me now.

Thanks so much for joining.

STEFAN EIRIKSSON, DIRECTOR GENERAL AT RUV ICELAND: Thank you.

SCIUTTO: So first, just in terms of vote counting right now, do you believe this measure will pass? That members will vote to exclude Israel?

EIRIKSSON: Well, I really don't know what will happen in November when the vote will go on, but there is a difference of opinion between the members

of the EBU, but I am sure that they will find the right way forward with this difficult matter.

SCIUTTO: Given it is an extremely difficult matter, is it possible that if the measure doesn't pass, that is, if Israel is not excluded, that member

states that oppose its participation simply don't show up?

EIRIKSSON: Yes, I think that is a good possibility, and we have heard very clearly from several members of the EBU that they will not participate, if

KAN will still be part of the competition next year.

We have not said that right away. We will have to wait for the final decision by the EBU. But I think it is very unlikely that RUV and Iceland

will participate if there will be no changes within the EBU.

The Eurovision Song Contest is very popular in Iceland. We have sharing rate over 90 -- ninety-seven percent, so this is a popular event in

Iceland, and the political discussion and the discussion between the musicians and the artists and the public is also focused on the situation

in Gaza and therefore we are discussing this at the EBU level and asking the EBU to tackle this issue as it already has done by organizing this vote

in November.

SCIUTTO: So how is the public in Iceland and how is the musicians community pushing you? Which direction do they want Iceland to go?

EIRIKSSON: They are very vocal, both in public and especially the musicians and other artists. Vast majority of the artists that we are looking to

compete in our national selection, they are against this. They are against the participation of KAN in the competition, and they believe and we have

also raised that concern that the participation of KAN is bringing the competition into disrepute, and that is something that the EBU has to

address and tackle.

SCIUTTO: There is one alternative suggested that would allow independent Israeli artists to join, but under a neutral flag, it is not dissimilar

than what we saw with some Russian athletes competing in some international sporting events, but not under the Russian flag. Would that be an

acceptable outcome to you?

[16:15:10]

EIRIKSSON: Well, I have heard this proposal, but I don't think that is an acceptable solution. We simply want to focus on the music and focus on the

music that unites us. But our belief is that KAN and the authorities in Israel, they are bringing the competition into disrepute, and they are

using it for political purposes, and that is not the aim of the Eurovision to be a political platform for all kinds of political issues.

This is a song competition, and we want to be united by music, but not divided by politics, as we have been for the last two years.

SCIUTTO: Stefan Eiriksson, thank you so much for joining.

EIRIKSSON: Thank you.

SCIUTTO: President trump says tariffs are coming soon to a theater near you. It is his plan to protect the U.S. film industry. I am going to speak

about it with the former executive editor of "The Hollywood Reporter" right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCIUTTO: President Trump is once again threatening a hundred percent tariff on all movies made outside of the U.S. He posted that the industry has been

stolen by other countries, and that California has been hit particularly hard.

Trump originally threatened these terrorists back in May at a time one Hollywood insider told CNN the policy would, in effect, halt production.

The President has still not clarified when or how these tariffs would be imposed.

Elisabeth Buchwald is in New York, so, Elisabeth, it is not the first time he has made this threat. Is this one he is going to stick to?

ELISABETH BUCHWALD, CNN BUSINESS ECONOMICS REPORTER: That's always the big question here. But you pointed out the when and how. For this tariff in

particular, it is not as critical the when I would say as the how because we really don't know exactly how effectively a service would be tariffed as

opposed to goods coming off ships, that kind of tariff that we've seen for so many months now.

SCIUTTO: Okay. So his argument, in effect, is that so much of the movie industry has gone overseas and my understanding of that and you know this

better than me is a lot of countries, they've got good locations, they give big tax incentives and the prices are lower to shoot overseas. Is that the

essential conflict here?

[16:20:07]

BUCHWALD: Yes. Tax incentives, labor costs, both have been huge reasons why film production has moved overseas. Now, instead of going that route, of

course, Trump is trying to incentivize production to happen in the U.S. by effectively disincentivizing them to produce overseas.

SCIUTTO: Yes, I mean, that's the battle here. I mean, it is sort of in a way not dissimilar from iPhone manufacturing, right? You just try to make

it more expensive or they bring it over here.

BUCHWALD: Exactly!

SCIUTTO: But is the movie industry showing any interest in doing this?

BUCHWALD: You know, they are kind of baffled by how this would work. So with a movie, you could have several scenes shot, perhaps in the U.S., in

Hollywood, and then a few scenes shot overseas. You know, it is not uncommon for that to occur.

So I think right now, they are just trying to make sense of what this all means.

SCIUTTO: Elisabeth Buchwald, thanks so much.

BUCHWALD: Thanks.

SCIUTTO: As we mentioned, it is not the first time Trump has floated tariffs. The idea of tariffs on foreign movies. Film workers this spring

were lukewarm at best to the idea of such a tariff.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OLIVIER STOCKMAN, MANAGING DIRECTOR, SANDS FILMS: I would say it is impossible to put a tariff on a film because the film is a non-tangible

asset. That is the issue at stake.

REYNALDO CASTILLO, GENERAL MANAGER, THE HAND PROP ROOM: Everyone wants production to stay here. It is just how you do it and what -- it is a

different ballgame now where it is all by incentives. You know, people go shoot out of the country because they get a tax break. People shoot in

Atlanta because they get a tax break.

So we, as the state of California, have to kind of just keep up with the times.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Stephen Galloway was executive editor of "The Hollywood Reporter" and now Dean of Chapman University's Dodge College of Film and Media Arts.

Thanks so much for joining.

STEPHEN GALLOWAY, FORMER EXECUTIVE EDITOR OF "THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER": Oh, my pleasure.

SCIUTTO: So do you understand how this works? Like what would you actually put the tariff on? I mean, because like the cost of doing a movie, I don't

know, you hire some photographers and extras and hotels in a foreign city. What do you actually put the tariff on?

GALLOWAY: It is actually so complicated. You know, I understand what President Trump is trying to do. He has basically said there has been a

massive exodus of production from Hollywood. How can we bring that back?

Then the solution becomes really hard, and you've got a carrot and a stick. The foreign countries and other states like Georgia have provided very big

carrots. California is trying to do the same. They've given us $750 million tax incentive.

What President Trump is doing is saying, lets also impose the stick. The stick gets very complicated because films now are such global propositions

that it is very hard to separate what is domestic and what is foreign.

For instance, you're going to record a score, let's do it in Abbey Road in London with those musicians, but the composer and the conductor are here,

you know, if you're doing animation, ideas, scripts, producers, they are in L.A. Background animators might be in Taiwan.

So as a piece of accounting, it is going to be extremely complicated to pull off. Also, I think a lot of production is not movies, it is streaming

and series. And if you're buying "The Squid Game," how do you tax the rights just to show it on Netflix?

So I think, as always, the devil is in the details and they're very, very difficult ones to work out.

SCIUTTO: The way tax incentives work, I mean, you have -- I mean, you have states and cities that you know, in this country that do that and that's

why you have this kind of competition among cities here. Are there federal tax incentives that President Trump could control himself? They are all

state and local.

GALLOWAY: Well, absolutely. And that could make a very big difference. You know, the L.A. industry has been worried about the exodus to places like

Atlanta or New Mexico, and whole infrastructures have been built there based on the fact that those states give a lot of rebates.

Trump could do the same because the entire industry is going through retrenchment. We spent 10 years where there was a sort of arms race to

become the dominant streamer. Netflix, Disney -- all of these other companies spent billions each year, twenty to twenty-five billion to make

productions.

And now they're realizing, oh, we spent too much. We have to retrench. So right now the industry has gone from saying, oh, we can't get jobs in L.A.

We have to go to Atlanta to saying, we can't even get jobs in Atlanta if the President put tariffs on -- if the President gave a rebate or tax

incentives, it would absolutely help the flow towards foreign production.

[16:25:10]

But until then, it is very hard to use the carrot here -- the stick here.

SCIUTTO: So if you were in charge of the policy, what would help draw some of these productions back to the U.S.? What would do the trick?

GALLOWAY: Well, you need infrastructure. You need the personnel who are the low level as well as the high level because the high level ones are almost

all here.

You need some uniformity so that states are not competing against each other to give more and more and more. This is where the federal government

can actually work with the states to create subsidies that maybe run across states. You might be doing some shooting in Georgia, some in California,

where there are subsidies for different types of workers, so that there is an inducement to use background artists and animation here.

Unfortunately, you know, everybody always knows great ways for the federal government to spend money. It is different when you come having to raise

money, so I also understand that. There are ways to do it, but they cost money.

I do think putting tariffs on isn't really a solution. Again, because the film business, as opposed to streaming, film is a tiny part of the business

and these massive productions, you know, the Marvel films, the James Bond films, you know, if you're factoring in the cost to make it and market, A

James Bond film is almost half a billion dollars. How much is spent here? How much is spent there? It is so difficult to separate that you would have

to have, you know, a thousand-page document outlining it, adding accounting fees, adding the need for documentation. It is very complicated.

So also, I think one of the reasons we have not seen action is because it is so complicated, but if the goal is to preserve it in America, then the

government should be creating tax breaks that transcend what the states offer.

SCIUTTO: Stephen Galloway, thanks so much.

GALLOWAY: Thank you.

SCIUTTO: Well, President Trump's son-in-law is teaming up with Saudi Arabia now to buy the video game maker, a huge video game make, EA.

Jared Kushner's investment firm and the Saudi public investment fund reached a $55 billion deal to take EA private. Shares have jumped on the

news. EA is behind some of the most famous video game franchises in the world. This will become the largest leveraged buyout in history once it all

goes through.

Clare Duffy reports.

CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: Yes, Jim.

Electronic Arts is the video game maker famous for hits like "Madden NFL," "The Sims" and "Battlefield." It was founded in 1982, and when it went

public back in 1989, the company's shares were priced around $0.50.

Now, this group of investors is taking the company private for $120.00 per share. That's a 25 percent premium just from Friday's closing price before

reports of this buyout emerged.

This group includes Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund; the private equity firm, Silver Lake, and Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners, and it

values EA at $55 billion. That's $5 billion more than the company's current market cap after shares surged around 4.5 percent today on this news, so

just a massive deal.

But it does come at a time when EA, like other video game makers, has struggled with growth and actually had to cut headcount in recent years

because consumer habits have changed post-COVID. People are not spending as much time at home playing video games as perhaps they were during 2020.

So this private deal could potentially allow the company to make changes, make improvements without needing to be accountable to shareholders as a

public company.

The deal is expected to close next year, pending regulatory approval. Back to you.

SCIUTTO: Coming up, a new study finds that antisemitism is rampant on the social media platform, X, and its community notes are not stopping that

hateful content. We will discuss next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:32:20]

SCIUTTO: Jim. Hello. I'm Jim Sciutto. There is more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS in a moment when we're going to tell you about a new study which claims X has

become the go to platform for anti-Semitic posters.

And the luxury watch industry has been shaken by U.S. tariffs. I'm going to speak to the founder of Raleigh Fest. Before that, the headlines this hour.

President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu say they have agreed to a new U.S. led peace plan for Gaza. The proposal calls

for the release of all hostages, along with the gradual withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. Trump is now urging Hamas to accept the plan.

The FBI is investigating a fatal shooting and fire at a church in Michigan as a "Act of targeted violence." Four people were killed, eight wounded at

a church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Mormon church on Sunday. Police say the suspect drove his truck into the church, shot worshipers,

and then set the building on fire. The gunman was killed in a shootout with police.

President Trump has announced plans for 100 percent tariff on movies made outside the U.S. The president says it will help save the U.S. movie

industry, particularly in states such as California, which has been hit hard by foreign competition. Details though, on exactly how and on what and

when those tariffs would be imposed is unclear.

Back now on the deadly attack on a Michigan church this weekend, four people were killed Sunday, at least eight wounded at a church of Jesus

Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc, Michigan. Authorities say the gunman is a Marine veteran who had deployed to Iraq.

Federal officials say several explosive devices were found at the scene. They are now investigating this deadly attack as an act of targeted

violence.

The killing, yet again, raising questions about why what we think of as safe places come under such frequent attack. Hear the comments of the

governor of Michigan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRETCHEN WHITMER, MICHIGAN GOVERNOR: These are places that we go to feel connected, to feel safe, to be together. But today, this place has been

shattered by bullets and broken glass, and this might be a familiar pain, but it hurts all the same. Every time, we cannot keep living our lives like

this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Leigh Waldman is in Grand Blanc, Michigan. And Lee, I wonder what we're learning about the investigation now, the motivation, if any,

established, for this killer.

[16:35:07]

LEIGH WALDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jim, it's good to be with you. That's still the overwhelming question that so many people have is, is the mindset

of this shooter before he crashed his vehicle into a church filled with hundreds of people, began shooting and then set that church on fire, using

an accelerant to increase the amount of fire that we saw.

We spoke with a man who said the flames were shooting 60-70 feet in the air. He lives just down the street. Heard it all. I thought it was

firecrackers, and then unfortunately, realized, no, it was -- it was gunshots that happened here.

We know the FBI is leading this investigation. They're calling this an act of targeted violence. The ATF has sent a specialized team in to help with

their investigative efforts. They're not looking for any more people inside of the burnt out remains of that churches just down the road from where we

are right now, we know eight other people were hurt. Four people are dead in response to the shooting.

But we spoke to a man who is running for city council in a nearby community. His name is Chris Johns, and he actually spoke with the shooter

just days before the shooting took place. Take a listen to what he had to say about that conversation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRIS JOHNS, BURTON CITY COUNCIL CANDIDATE: He did make the statement that Mormons are the anti-Christ, which is a shocking statement. And again,

you're -- this is somebody you're just meeting for the first time.

There was anger. I mean, it was a long standing anger that I just -- I'm speculating. But what he did took planning. It also took real motivation

and real anger

to ultimately do what he did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALDMAN: And his words there just speaking to such a pointed, sharp conversation that he had, but he said, you know, even though he was using

these harsh terms, he never suspected that Sanford would go and commit an act of violence like this, or else he would have called someone, sent in a

tip about what this man was planning.

He says, now looking back, he's heart broken. He says it's surreal that conversation that he had with him. Again, just last week on a Monday, just

days before the shooting took place.

Jim, I do also want to point out to you all, you can see these hardened barriers put into place at this road right here. Those weren't there

earlier this morning. We saw a man driving a red sedan. He drove through the barricades that were in place, not the hardened ones behind us, and was

arrested by police. We've learned that it's a 21-year-old. They're not releasing his name just yet, but we saw, according to videos and photos

taken by another CNN crew, what appears to be a long gun inside of that man's car.

So, that's why we see these barricades up in place. We just saw some heavy machinery moving down to the church itself, including an excavator as they

continue to search through the rubble that remains there, Jim.

SCIUTTO: So, Leigh, they thought this other driver might have been another shooter?

WALDMAN: At this point, they haven't said what they believe, but it's what was clear to us. We saw officers start running down from a command center.

We were on the phone with another team. We had to hang up the phone run down to try and see what happens, and they just said that he drove through

that barricade. This is closed to everyone. They're not letting people go through here.

Last night, they let people get to their cars, but no one else is down here, because this is a very active crime scene just down the road from

where we are. So, they arrested that person, and we know that there was what appears to be a long gun inside of his vehicle.

SCIUTTO: Leigh Waldman on the scene. Thanks so much.

Well, new studies found that X is now the go to platform for anti-Semitism. The study analyzed more than one million posts on X over the course of a

year. It identified nearly 680,000 containing anti-Semitic comments, and it says those posts were viewed 193 million times, with very few of them being

flagged by X's crowd source, Community Notes.

CNN asked X about that study. Has not yet heard a response. Hadas Gold joins me now. And Hadas, I mean, sad fact of X is it's -- it seems to often

be a site for so much hate in so many directions. Is it particularly a haven for anti-Semitic back and forth?

HADAS GOLD, CNN MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Now, Elon Musk calls himself a free speech absolutist, and when he took over Twitter in 2022, we all know, of

course, he gutted much of the content moderation team and said a lot of the moderation will be taken care of by these crowd sourced Community Notes.

But this study was a year long, study done by the Center for countering digital hate and the Jewish Council for public affairs, and what they found

is, not only is anti-Semitism flourishing on X, as you noted, they said that the Community Notes are barely making a dent, and in some cases,

influencers who post anti-Semitic content are even able to profit off of some of their hateful posts.

So, this study found more than 679,000 posts, as you said, and they broke them out into categories. They said about 53 percent were about Jewish

conspiracy theories. These are things like Jews control the government. 41 percent were specifically more about anti-Semitic abuse, sometimes even

calls for violence against Jews, and at least six percent of it were specifically about Holocaust denial and distortion.

[16:4d0:01]

Now, Musk, when he's talked about anti-Semitism on X, he has specifically brought up things like Holocaust denial and distortion. He said, if

somebody makes those claims, then they can be refuted by replies. And specifically he brought up Community Notes, saying the Community Note will

correct them.

Well, according to the study, Community Notes have only popped up on one percent of the top 300 posts they found that had anti-Semitic claims,

including just two Community Notes on Holocaust denial posts.

So, obviously, that goes to show you that Community Notes, while there aren't being applied on a lot of these posts. I have X premium, so I can

see when Community Notes are proposed for a lot of these posts, and I see them all over the place being proposed. But the number that actually get

through, they're very, very small.

Another thing that this study found that something like a third of the likes on these top posts came from just 10 kind of big accounts that are

known to send anti-Semitic posts. Some of these accounts are huge. They've got two million followers.

And they found in some of these cases, not all of these accounts, but some of these accounts are verified. Some of these accounts even allow people to

buy subscriptions, meaning that these people are profiting off of this type of content that they are posting.

Now, we reached out to X multiple times for comment. They have not commented, but Musk has previously called this group one of the groups who

co-authored this the Center for Countering Digital Hate. He's called them a criminal organization, and X has sued this group before for their previous

research. That lawsuit was thrown out. X has appealed.

But when I asked the Center for Countering Digital Hate on this, they said, you know what, they didn't sue us for defamation. They just sued us for

doing our research, and that goes to show they just didn't want this research to get -- to get out there, Jim.

SCIUTTO: Hadas Gold, thanks so much.

Well, on a different topic, one of the largest gatherings of watch collectors took place in New York over the weekend. How new tariffs are

impacting this year's RollieFest, that's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCIUTTO: The Adriatic Sea, once teeming with sharks and Reyes, is losing marine life at an alarming pace. Today on CALL TO EARTH, we dive into dark

waters with European scientists working tirelessly to protect some of the most vulnerable species there.

[16:45:16]

(CALL TO EARTH)

SCIUTTO: Let us know what you're doing to answer the call with the #CalltoEarth.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:51:54]

SCIUTTO: A celebration of luxury watches wrapped up at New York's RollieFest, more than 200 collectors flocked to see the vintage time pieces

on display. This year's event was overshadowed, though, by new U.S. tariffs. President Trump hit top luxury producer Switzerland with a 39

percent tariff last month, stoking fears of higher prices and weakening demand.

The founder of RollieFest, Geoff Hess joins me now. Jeff, I wonder what a damper this is putting on the market. I mean, the Rolexes are already

pretty expensive, Omegas and so on. Add 40 percent to it, that's a big -- that's a big deal.

GEOFF HESS, FOUNDER, ROLLIEFEST: You know, I thank you for having me, Jim, first of all. I run the watch department at Sotheby's, and in truth, we

haven't found it to be a damper in any way, shape or form. We actually see demand still eclipsing supply. Our last auction had 1355 bidders from 52

countries.

So, I really can't say that it's something that is hampering demand. In theory, it may cause watch prices that for watches that are ready in the

United States to escalate. It's possible that dealers will have a harder time replenishing inventory, so they may have to raise their prices, but I

can't say it's hampering demand.

SCIUTTO: I mean, obviously, I guess on collectibles that folks brought years ago selling at a market event like that, different from new watches

to some degree. Are we finding that this is a case where manufacturers are eating that tariff, or are we seeing it passed on in retail prices as well?

HESS: I think it's a little too early to tell. I think the notion of tariffs and the effect is something that we're all just figuring out. It's

quite new. There's still plenty of inventory in the United States, I think you'll see brands raising their prices, at least to some degree, but I

think it's a little early to tell to be honest.

SCIUTTO: And is the Rolex, I imagine, part of the reason collectors buy Rolex is beyond the fact that they like the look of them or the feel of

them, is they feel that they hold value, right? And Rolex, often called the Blue Chip among watches, is that -- does that -- has that proven to be true

over time?

HESS: Yes, no question. That's proven to be true over time. I mean, I liken Rolex to a blue chip stock. Rolex is the equivalent of buying Apple or

Microsoft or Amazon. It's certainly the brand that's probably the most coveted in the world. It's certainly the watch brand that's most known in

the world.

And frankly, I think as a company, even beyond the watch community, it's so widely known that it deserves the title of blue chip.

SCIUTTO: So, does it appreciate like a stock or real estate or artwork?

HESS: No doubt, if you buy correctly and you're buying certain references in certain condition, there can be appreciation.

The reality is, people are buying watches for two reasons, some for passion and some for investment, and actually some a little bit of both. But we're

certainly in a time in which people are not just buying watches because they look nice, they are an asset class, and there are opportunities to

make money.

[16:55:12]

SCIUTTO: Geoff Hess, thanks so much for joining.

HESS: Thank you, Jim, very much.

SCIUTTO: Well, Wall Street managed some modest gains today as investors watch for a possible U.S. government shutdown. The Dow Jones closed 68

points higher, S&P about a quarter percent, tech shares over performed, the NASDAQ closing about a half percent higher.

So, let's look at the Dow components. Nvidia stock up two percent, Disney gained more than one percent among Trump's tariff threat on foreign made

films. Microsoft also higher. It is introducing a new A.I. feature called vibe working. It will allow users to generate A.I. generated spreadsheets

and presentations with a single prompt. Some losers to Chevron down two and a half percent on falling oil prices. Lots of stocks to watch there.

That is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS for today. I'm Jim Sciutto, "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts now.

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