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Quest Means Business

Trump Says He Would Sign Bill Forcing Release Of Files; USS Gerald R. Ford Carries Troops And Warplanes To Caribbean; Britain Announces Sweeping Reform Of Asylum System; Thousands Gather To Demand Climate Action; Bill Ackman Gives Dating Advice To Young Men. Aired 4-4:45p ET

Aired November 17, 2025 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:15]

RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST, "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS": Closing bell ringing on Wall Street. The Dow has had a turbulence -- well, we will take

turbulence, it has been down most of the day, and the losses have been quite severe, coming off slightly towards the close here and CN ringing the

closing bell.

The bell one, two good solid gavels. Trading is over. Ugly day on the markets and these are the events we will be talking about over the next

hour.

President Trump says he is prepared to sign a bill to release the Epstein files. That's if it passes through Congress.

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince, MBS is on his way to Washington. I will speak to the chief executive of Riyadh Air about the kingdom's new flag carrier.

And you've heard of gilts. Investors will be trying on kilts, Scotland's First Minister joins me to discuss the first Scottish sovereign bond for

some 300 years.

Well, we are live in New York. It is Monday, November the 17th. Good to be back in New York. I am Richard Quest and I mean business.

Good evening. Donald Trump says he will sign a bill that would force the release of the Epstein files. He was speaking in the Oval Office over the

last hour. He called the controversy a Democratic hoax and said no amount of new information will satisfy the critics.

Now, the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote on the measure this week. If it passes, it will go to the Senate and then the Majority

Leader, Senator John Thune, is considering whether to schedule a vote. The President says he doesn't care what happens.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: They can do whatever they want. We will give them everything --

REPORTER: You would sign it.

TRUMP: Sure, I would. Let the Senate look at it, let anybody look at it, but don't talk about it too much because honestly, I don't want to take it

away from us. It is really a Democrat problem.

The Democrats were Epstein's friends, all of them and it is a hoax. The whole thing is a hoax.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: Kevin Liptak is at The White House. The President is pedaling hard. The question is, is the bicycle going anywhere?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: If it is going somewhere, it is going in reverse because the President has done a full 180 from his

position of last week, which was actively trying to get some of these Republicans to oppose the measure that would compel the Justice Department

to release all of these records. But I think it was becoming readily apparent that that effort one, wasnt working, and two, was only generating

more attention to this matter and raising questions of why the President was fighting so hard to keep these records under wraps.

So all of it kind of a flop for the President and risked becoming kind of an embarrassing ordeal on Capitol Hill when it was becoming clearer and

clearer that dozens of Republicans are going to break with him to vote to get these documents out.

Now, what happens in the Senate? Still not entirely clear, but the President, in effect, has given all of these members of his own party

political cover to come out and vote for these documents.

You know, the choice in front of them had been their loyalty to President Trump or the promises that many of them had made to their constituents to

do everything in their power to get all of these documents out.

Now, the president is kind of removing the loyalty factor here, and it does seem as if this bill will potentially make it right to his desk. And today,

when he was asked whether he would sign it, you know, at first he didn't answer and went into this long sort of grievance about how Democrats never

are satisfied with when he puts all of this information out, but eventually saying, yes, sure, I would support it and sign it.

And so the President, I think, trying to tamp down on the controversy here, but still, I think a lot of unanswered questions.

QUEST: Do you think they believe it will never happen and that they are doing whatever they can sort of look like we are moving forward and going

along with it all, but expecting that there will be sufficient obstacles before anything meaningful actually took place?

LIPTAK: It is a theory that I've heard from many people in Washington, and the one thing that they point to is this investigation that the President

has ordered opened into a variety of Democrats links to Epstein, whether it is Bill Clinton or Larry Summers, and they suggest that now that there is

an open investigation underway at the Justice Department, that that could be used as pretext to say, look, we have an open investigation here, we

can't put all this information out into the public, whether that's actually what happens, I think remains to be seen.

[16:05:00]

You know, remember, it wasnt that long ago that Pam Bondi, the Attorney General, was telling everyone that there, in fact, were no Epstein

documents, and so what actually, the Justice Department is holding on to here and what they will be compelled to release, I don't think anyone

explicitly knows at this point. And so I think is leading to a lot of questions about what actually will be the product of all of this.

QUEST: Kevin, grateful. We will watch. We've got a busy week. Thank you, sir.

Meanwhile, still in The White House, the President said he is not ruling anything out when it comes to military action in Venezuela.

Over the weekend, the United States said it will designate a Cartel De Los Soles as a foreign terrorist organization. Now, the U.S. President says

doing so allows the U.S. to target Nicolas Maduro's assets and infrastructure inside Venezuela. But he said there may be talks with

Venezuela and we will know more about that.

Today, it was a case of Venezuela is a country that needs to be taken care of.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)''

TRUMP: I don't rule out that. I don't rule out anything. We just have to take care of Venezuela. They dumped hundreds of thousands of people into

our country from prisons. We have a tight border right now. Nobody comes in.

But we have millions of people pouring through. A year ago, we had millions of people pouring through our border and many of them came from Venezuela.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: Now, it comes as the U.S. buildup continues with military assets in the Caribbean. The USS Gerald Ford -- Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group

entered the region on Sunday, 15,000 personnel there, as well as more than a dozen warships, an attack submarine and 10 F-35 helicopters -- fighter

jets, I do beg your pardon -- that have gone to Puerto Rico.

Stefano Pozzebon is in Caracas.

What on earth are they making of this extraordinary buildup of military assets in the Caribbean or in your area of the world?

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes. Well, Richard, I mean, I think that both the government of Venezuela, but also regular people onto the street

have been taken a little bit by surprise by the President's remarks in the last few hours.

First yesterday on Sunday, late on Sunday night, as he was flying back from Florida to Washington, D.C., saying that he would be open for discussion

and today, strengthening that pivot towards diplomacy, saying that at some point President Donald Trump, would be open to speaking with Maduro at the

same time not ruling out an attack. And we know, just like you pointed out, that the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, is looking to certify the top of

the Venezuelan government, which is collectively known by The White House as the Cartel De Los Soles' alleged involvement on the drug trade, which

they deny, but they wanted to designate them as foreign terrorist organization.

However, Richard, I am coming to you from a location that is not -- it is not a coincidence that I am coming here. Just behind me, there is an old

gas station here in the center of Caracas. And by coming here, I wanted to point out to two things that I think are important and maybe lost in our

coverage so far.

The first thing is that there is still a lot of trade coming and going between Washington and Caracas, for example, the U.S. is still the largest

purchaser of crude Venezuela as you know, sits on the largest oil reserves in the world and a lot of the geopolitical stance on Venezuela has to do

with their oil reserve. And so far, there is no indication that Donald Trump would sanction the oil business even further.

And actually, we have heard in the past from President Maduro here in Caracas that he would be open to exporting more oil to lower gas prices up

in the United States, which is definitely something that Donald Trump, I would imagine will be open to.

And I think that around oil will be the cornerstone of that negotiation that we may see in the coming days and weeks, if indeed there is a direct

conversation between Caracas and Washington.

The second thing that I want to point out to you --

QUEST: So, yes, I just want to jump in now, of course, are people expecting some sort of attack, some sort of military activity or do they think Maduro

is too wily for that and will manage to sort something out with Donald Trump, the dealmaker.

POZZEBON: That is exactly the second point I wanted to make. This is the regular situation at a gas station in Caracas we are not seeing, and we've

been here for more than a month now. We are not seeing the type of frenzy that you would expect would lead us to believe that this is a country on

the brink of a military action. We haven't seen exceptional shopping or nervous shopping at supermarkets, at the gas station, for example, not

exceptional queues here trying to fill up the tank as much as people can before an attack.

[16:10:05]

I think that there is a lot of expectation on the fact that the U.S. would take a direct action within Venezuelan territory. There definitely was a

lot of expectation last week and across the weekend, when we saw thousands of Venezuelans swearing and taking an oath to defend the country in

foreseeing a potential attack from the United States, not many people here in Caracas, where I am, believe that because of that attack, their daily

situation would change. They don't think that this would spell the end of Nicolas Maduro, and that's why I think Caracas is very normal these days.

It is a Monday evening and people are just filling up the tank as much as they normally would going to the shopping, but there is not that feeling of

frenzy as you would expect if you thought that this country was on the brink of war.

QUEST: I am grateful to you, sir. Thank you. Go and fill up the car. Send me the bill. Thank you very much, sir.

That is Stefano in Caracas.

Now, staying in the region. President Trump has also floated the idea of targeting cocaine factories in Colombia. That was in the last hour or two

that those comments were made.

Shortly on this program, the former Colombian President, Juan Manuel Santos, will be talking to him about that, and also, of course, about the

COP climate talks taking place in Brazil.

What a busy day!

Now, the kilt has long been an iconic cultural artifact. Those viewers have not easy disposition. Yes, gentle, sir, gentle sir. There we are. Me

wearing a kilt during a visit to Edinburgh some years ago. Now, the kilt is a source of pride for millions of Scots. Can it be a source of debt? We

will be talking about the plan to issue kilts of an entirely different kind of.

We will have the First Minister of Scotland after the break. QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.

QUEST: The British government has announced sweeping reforms of its asylum system in an attempt to crack down on illegal migration. Now, migrants

arriving in the U.K. will be familiar, often used by small boats is a major issue for British voters and of course, also a major safety issue for them.

You think about the number of people who have died or been injured as they've tried to make the crossings in these deeply unseaworthy vessels.

So now the new plan involves increasing the amount of time it takes for refugees to settle permanently and pressuring countries to accept the

return of illegal migrants. In Parliament, the Home Secretary outlined the logic behind the U.K. government's reforms.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHABANA MAHMOOD, BRITISH HOME SECRETARY: Its goals are twofold. Firstly, to reduce illegal arrivals into this country and secondly, to increase

removals of those with no right to be here.

[16:15:18]

It starts by accepting an uncomfortable truth. While asylum claims fall across Europe, they are rising here and that is because of the comparative

generosity of our asylum offer when compared to so many of our European neighbors.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: Now the shakeup comes ahead of important local elections across the United Kingdom in spring of next year and that includes Scotland, where the

devolved government, which has many powers, pledged to issue sovereign bonds for the first time since the 17th Century. It plans to issue just

under $2 billion worth of so-called kilts. The playing on the word gilts, which is the U.K. government's name of the bond for that, the kilt and the

gilt.

The bonds have been given a AAA rating by Moody's, Scotland's First Minister says the bonds are an important step towards his party push for

independence from the U.K. That First Minister is John Swinney and the First Minister is with me now.

Sir, thank you. Thank you for taking time to join me tonight.

Let's start with the kilts and then we will do the immigration bit in just a moment. And we look at the kilts. You're familiar, of course, that the

pricing of the kilts is exactly the same as gilts, because largely the whole thing is backed by the end of the day by the British -- the U.K.

government in Westminster and that's really the problem. How much of an independence premium is in that, or would be if the -- if it came to that.

JOHN SWINNEY, SCOTLAND'S FIRST MINISTER: Some of the answers to that question lie in the decisions of the credit rating agencies of Moody's and

Standard & Poors and their assessment of Scotland, because both agencies remark on the strength of the Scottish economy and its diversity, and there

is a clear commendation of the financial management that we undertake within the Scottish government to ensure that we have got prudent financial

management, they complement the strong institutional framework that we have in place for the management of our economy.

So these are really -- these are fundamental strengths in whatever constitutional arrangement Scotland is in that will advantage Scotland. And

obviously they've given us a strong foundation for being able to take forward a bond issue in the next parliamentary term.

QUEST: What are you going to spend the money on, firstly? And secondly, you know, the problem with debt as indeed the last time this was done by an

independent Scotland back in the 17th Century, you know the story much better than I do, sir, of how it all went horribly wrong. But how do you

avoid becoming addicted to debt?

SWINNEY: Well, what you've got to do is to make sure you've got sustainable public finances and that is what we've demonstrated, that we can deliver

and I was overjoyed by the strength of the credit rating agencies assessment of the Scottish economy and our management of the public

finances, because it demonstrates real strength that the people of Scotland can rely upon within their government.

Now, in terms of what we would spend the bonds on, they would be part of the capital program that we take forward, which has undertaken a number of

investments about strengthening our availability of public sector housing supply for example, or supporting us in capturing our renewable energy

potential through the transition to net zero.

So they'd be part of our capital program, but they'd have to be funded in a sustainable way by our public finances, which have been commended by the

ratings agencies.

QUEST: If we now look at this issue of migrants and the Home Secretary's latest plan, one in, one out doesn't seem to be working terribly well. The

new plan is there.

You accept, though, First Minister, that the British people want something done about it. There is common ground on that, and a review of the

convention on human rights might need to take place, if only because it is not working at the moment, so say the critics for the U.K.

SWINNEY: I don't subscribe to the direction of thinking that the Home Secretary set out today. I think it is wrongly founded. In Scotland, we

welcome migrants into Scotland and we welcome a boost to our population because the challenge we face in Scotland is that we do not have a big

enough working age population, or one that is sufficient to fuel the economic growth that we want to see in Scotland.

So we need to boost our working age population, so what the Home Secretary has announced today is going an entirely the opposite direction to the

direction that we would want to go in. So it raises, I think, what the Home Secretary is trying to do --

[16:20:09]

QUEST: But you do accept, I mean, look at the latest polls in Scotland as elsewhere, the British people want something done about illegal migration

or at least migration numbers to be controlled, and I guess your party has to come forward even because, you know, to be fair, you don't have them

coming over the boats where you are, but you have to recognize it is an issue for the electorate.

SWINNEY: Well, we've -- clearly there are public concerns about these issues, but I think many of these calls are being essentially exaggerated

by the political pressure of parties from the far right, like reform and what we want to take forward is an approach to migration that welcomes

people, that gets people to be economic contributors in our society and gives them a basis to do so.

Now, many of the schemes that we've had in the past have been really successful about attracting international talent and students into our

economy, which have fueled our economic growth. The message from the Home Secretary is to turn our back on that, and I think that is a mistake.

QUEST: First Minister, I am grateful.

Good luck with the kilts. Having been to Scotland many times and worn the kilt, I hope -- put it this way, sir, I hope your bonds, your kilts are

more successful than my wearing of the garment.

SWINNEY: Well, it is an interesting nickname for a bond issue, but, obviously these issues, these nicknames attract a lot of international

attention and that's welcome because the bond issue will attract a lot of international attention on Scotland.

QUEST: First Minister, I am grateful. Thank you, sir.

QUEST MEANS BUSINESS tonight from New York.

President Trump is to welcome the Saudi Arabia Crown Prince, MBS, Mohammed Bin Salman, to The White House on Tuesday. The first visit for the Crown

Prince since 2018. President Trump and the Prince are expected to sign a defense agreement, including the purchase of U.S. fighter jets and weapons.

It is not the treaty that was under discussion before the October 7th attacks in Israel in 2023.

American officials are hopeful about making progress on that on Tuesday, it will build upon the Abraham Accords and help Saudi Arabia develop a

civilian nuclear program in exchange for normalizing.

Salma Abdelaziz with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Don't expect any signs of an eruption during the Saudi Crown Prince's first visit to The White House

in more than seven years.

While the Crown Prince is not a head of state, all the trappings of a state visit are planned for Mohammed Bin Salman, a bilateral meeting in the Oval

Office, and a black tie dinner with some of America's most powerful executives.

At the top of President Donald Trump's agenda will be the Abraham Accords. He wants to see Saudi Arabia join this set of agreements that normalizes

relations with Israel.

It would amount to a major advancement of his signature policy in the region. Saudi Arabia said it has set a "credible and irreversible pathway

to Palestinian statehood" as a precondition, which the ceasefire President Trump brokered stops short of providing.

Another major issue on the agenda will be money, money, money. Before Trump's first state visit of his second term to Saudi Arabia, Riyadh

promised to invest $600 billion in the U.S., a good chunk is set to go to major new purchases of American made fighter jets and weapons, a U.S.

official said.

Trump and the Crown Prince are also expected to sign a defense cooperation agreement, though a formal treaty would require congressional approval.

Unlikely to be a topic of discussion is the kingdom's human rights record and the murder in 2018 of prominent journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, which

caused a schism in U.S.-Saudi relations.

A CIA assessment later found the Prince had likely ordered the assassination, although he has long denied any involvement.

Critics accuse the Trump administration of foregoing human rights concerns for weapons and trade, but Trump has long cultivated a close relationship

with the kingdom's de facto ruler, and this visit is set to only deepen their alliance.

Salma Abdelaziz, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: Now, just to have an idea of just how much money the Saudi government is spending. The Crown Prince announced in 2023 that the country

was establishing a new global national carrier. It would cement Riyadh as a tourism hub.

Two years later, and that's how long it has taken, only two years. Riyadh Air has made its inaugural passenger flight.

It took the airlines' employees from Riyadh to London Heathrow. Riyadh's chief executive, Tony Douglas says London is just the beginning.

[16:25:10]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TONY DOUGLAS, RIYADH AIR CHIEF EXECUTIVE: Yes, we started on the 26th of October. Small step, but an important step. We've got one brand new

aircraft on the flight line in Charleston at the moment. We've got one in the paint shop, we've got one in final assembly, so they're now inbound and

this is super exciting. It is a pathway to perfect. It is an opportunity for us to test on those launch flights into Heathrow.

We will then put Dubai on as the next destination and when we get the second new aircraft, what we will then do is open up to public sales. But

by then, of course, what we will have had, because we will have been selling revenue tickets to so many people on all of these launch flights.

Anything that wasnt quite to our level of excellence, we will make sure we find it up, just like you would do if you're opening up a big conference

center and hotel like this.

QUEST: When do you expect to announce the third route and the fourth route? Because it is going to come quite quickly. An airline needs a network and

you've got to start building it. So when would you hope to start doing that?

DOUGLAS: So we've got the first 14 already planned. All of the air services agreements. The minute we've announced Dubai's schedule, we will then

announce at the same time the third city, the minute we do that, we will then announce the fourth one.

QUEST: And the partnerships that you've put in place, obviously, Delta, you have the partnership and the other partnerships. They are bilateral rather

than system-wide, alliance based, and you're still okay with that. You still don't see an alliance being the way forward.

DOUGLAS: So I'd say never, however, we don't believe that the alliance is the right way for us. We tried to enter into partnerships based upon

geography, and we are actually humbled and we are honored to have ten partners. Delta gives us North America, Singapore gives us the Far East.

QUEST: As an airline man, not just a Riyadh Air man. What you're doing is slowly playing Jenga with the alliances, which is a fair enough thing to

do. It benefits you, but it sort of weakens the alliances.

DOUGLAS: Well, look, we really don't look at it like that. We've been playing our own game rather than really being interested in anybody else's.

QUEST: How close are you going to operate with Saudia?

DOUGLAS: So super close. Saudia is obviously the other big international carrier of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The strategy from his Royal

Highness is to begin to introduce Riyadh Air as the new carrier. Our hub will be the capital city, Riyadh. Over time, Saudia will pivot to the

ancestral hub which is Jeddah. There is huge growth potential for both of them and for people who are slightly less familiar with the geography, we

are talking two hours flying time between the two capitals, the capital city and Jeddah.

So that's like going from London to Rome, like New York to Charleston, South Carolina. The demand in terms of religious traffic, for example,

through Jeddah to Mecca and Medina, is far greater than supply. Obviously, connectivity to Africa and continued growth for Saudia is there. But our

mandate is a hundred cities all around the world within the first five years, Riyadh Air.

QUEST: How many times a day does somebody ask you if Riyadh Air is going to serve alcohol?

DOUGLAS: Quite frequently, in all honesty, and obviously we now go to the answer, which is we will follow the legislation in any country that we

operate within and if anything changes by legislation here or somewhere else, we will adapt as well.

QUEST: And has anyone asked your opinion on that? I mean, by anyone, I mean, you know, the powers that be have said, well, you know, Tony, do you

want -- would you prefer -- would you -- given your choices, would you wish to?

DOUGLAS: Simply no. And to be honest, I would avoid that because what we are about is giving a complete hospitality experience. And what I can tell

you when you fly Riyadh Air, you're going to see something quite unique in terms of the persona of Hafawa, which is the warm Saudi hospitality and

that will come through the interpersonal touch, with all the hard and soft product.

We've tried to take it to a completely different level.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: Coming up, Colombia has been pushing back against President Trump's military action in the Caribbean. I will speak to the former Colombian

President after the break.

QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:32:59]

QUEST: Thousands of people protested in Berlin this weekend as the nearby COP 30 hit the halfway point. The climate summit has faced repeated

demonstrations as people call for more progress on combating climate change. Negotiators are working through a range of issues. It remains

unclear what the result will be, particularly without the U.S. or high- level U.S. president's presence.

Former President Juan Manuel Santos is Nobel Prize winner and the former president of Colombia. and Mr. President, I'm hoping you can hear me down

in Berlin in Brazil. Good afternoon, sir. It's kind of you to join us.

Assuming you can hear me, is real progress being made at COP without the U.S.?

JUAN MANUEL SANTOS, FORMER COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT: Well, I think so, and I hope so. What they're trying to do is to agree on a road map for two

fundamental objectives, one, to phase out fossil fuels, and second, to save the Amazon. I think both are very important.

Right now, the ministers are negotiating to see if they can agree on those two road maps, and if they do, I think this would be success, even though,

unfortunately, the U.S. is not present.

QUEST: How essential is it, though, to have either U.S. leadership or merely U.S. presence? Does it feel a bit like Hamlet without the ghost? You

know, there's the -- there's an important part missing that whatever agreements are reached can never get to full fruition.

SANTOS: Well, the world cannot depend on the will of one country, and if the U.S. does not want to be part of this effort to save the planet, the

rest of the world has to take a decision and double down, otherwise everybody will suffer.

[16:35:14]

And what everybody hopes is that the U.S. will eventually understand that this is an effort that everybody should try to help, because it's the

future of humanity what is at stake. But again, the world cannot stop in their efforts to save the planet because of one country.

QUEST: Mr. President, can I just refer you. In the last hour, President Trump has made some suggestions concerning the current president and

Colombia. Have a listen to what Mr. Trump has just said, and I'll ask for your response in a second.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Colombia has cocaine factories where they make cocaine. Would I knock out those factories? I

would be proud to do it personally, I didn't say I'm doing it, but I would be proud to do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: Bearing in mind the background, the animus, the insults that have gone backward and forward. Now, the suggestion of taking out, whether, you

know, allegedly, cocaine factories in Colombia. As a former president who got on with Mr. Trump, what do you say, sir?

SANTOS: Well, it's a shame. It's a shame. Colombia was

the U.S. strategic partner south of Rio Grande. We were the best partners of the U.S. for many, many years. The animosity between the two presidents

have changed the situation and who benefits?

Well, the drug traffickers. Because if the major consumer of cocaine and the major exporter of cocaine are not collaborating to fight the drug

traffickers, it's the drug traffickers who are going to benefit. So, it's a very sad situation.

QUEST: As somebody who won the Nobel Prize for bringing peace. A, do you think it's possible that the two presidents can work together, can solve

this problem, or is the well too poisoned? And B, do you see any potential role that you could have?

SANTOS: Well, there is no conflict that cannot be solved. I truly believe that if you sit down and what Nelson Mandela used to mention so often, and

have a constructive dialog, and what he meant by a constructive dialog, you sit down and listen to the person who you are confronting to learn from him

why he thinks the way he thinks, and try to find a common ground.

If there is a constructive dialog between the two presidents and the two countries, I am very sure that a solution could be found.

QUEST: Finally, back to COP, I'm just curious, what do you think is the best that we can get? Realistically, sir, you've always been a realist. One

of the things we always admire about you, sir, is the realism that is not just blatant optimism. What do you think is the realistic best we can

expect out of this COP?

SANTOS: Well, a realistic outcome of this COP would be, as I mentioned before, a road map for the Amazon to be saved. Because what we have to

realize and the world has to realize is that we are reaching the tipping point where if we surpass that tipping point, the Amazon will perish. And

if the Amazon disappears, the whole world will perish. This is something that everybody should understand.

So, a roadblock road map to save the Amazon is extremely important, and also a road map to phase out fossil fuels in order to be able to comply

with the commitments that have been taken before in order to stop global warming.

QUEST: Mr. President, I'm grateful. Thank you, sir, for taking time at COP. Thank you very much for joining us tonight. Thank you.

[16:40:02]

Now, here's a strange one. The billionaire investor Bill Ackman has shared his tips and tricks for dating. He was talking on X for young people.

So, apparently, approaching a woman in real life and saying, may I meet you is a preferred way. Your approach sparked debate on the internet, some

claiming he was out of touch. Ackman insists that proper grammar and politeness are a key to true love, as many men complain of loneliness

epidemic. I'm on thin ice here. Absolutely thin ice.

Anna Cooban is with me. So, Anna Cooban, May I meet you? What do you say?

ANNA COOBAN, CNN BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS REPORTER: Well, I mean, it's a bit of cheat. It's a cheesy line there, Richard, I don't know how successful

this is going to be with people trying to meet people, but I do think Bill Ackman is getting out something very real here, which is people crying out

for in person connection. They're sick and tired of the dating apps.

And you know, Bill Ackman has come along with some advice. He said that it almost never got a no when he was using this back in the day. Now, we've

not been able to independently verify that claim, but it is the case that people on X are saying that they're trying out in real life. There was one

user that said he went into a coffee shop. He asked a girl, may I meet you? She said no, but then Bill Ackman responded and say, mate, you've got to

keep trying. Like, don't let rejection get you down. Another user said that, you know, it probably helped that you were a billionaire.

QUEST: Hang on, stop all these were users on X. I find the best reporting and the best journalism is what we see in our everyday lives. So, what do

your friends tell you about this?

COOBAN: Well, none of them have put this particular line to the test, but I can tell you with utter certainty that many of them, the single people

among my friends are absolutely sick and tired of dating apps. A lot of them are coming off dating apps. And that is borne out by the data we're

seeing that, you know, Bumble for example, a very popular dating app. The shares are down 90 percent since 2021 since it IPOed, people are coming off

these apps in droves, because they want to have these in person connections.

QUEST: That's fascinating. Thank you. I'm grateful to that. Anna Cooban taking apps galore.

That's QUEST MEANS BUSINESS tonight. We've got "WORLD OF WONDER" coming up next. I'm trying to remember which "WORLD OF WONDER" this must be. Whatever

it is, it'll be a splendid place of "WORLD OF WONDER" and I'll be back with you tomorrow at the same time. Have a good evening.

Whatever you're up to -- oh, the bell's broken. I hope it's profitable. Didn't travel well, there.

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