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Quest Means Business
Trump: Consider Venezuelan Airspace To Be Closed; Trump Threatens Action On Land In Venezuela Very Soon; Airbus Shares Fall Amid Issues With Best-Selling A320; Sharma: Now Is Opportunity To Buy Quality Stocks; Zelenskyy, Macron Discuss U.S.-Backed Peace Plan; Zelenskyy In Paris As Witkoff Heads To Moscow For Talks; Pope Leo Urges Youth In Lebanon To Work For Peace; Attentive: 69 Percent Of Consumers Plan To Use A.I. To Compare Deals, Find Gift Ideas; How Trader Joe's Tote Bags Gained Cult Status In London. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired December 01, 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]
ISA SOARES, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: U.S. markets are kicking off December as you can see there in the red, a sharp drop in Bitcoin's price
is taking the broader market with it. Those are the markets and these are the main events for you.
One hour from now, President Trump is calling his National Security team to the Oval Office to decide the next steps on Venezuela.
Airbus shares tumble after the plane maker reveals a potential issue with its best-selling aircraft, and online retailers are hoping to follow up a
record breaking Black Friday, with strong cyber Monday sales.
Live from Monday, it is Monday, December the 1st. I am Isa Soares, in for Richard Quest and I too mean business.
A very good evening to you. In the next hour, President Donald Trump is expected to hold an oval office meeting regarding Venezuela. It is just one
day after he spoke to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro over the phone. Now, we do not know exactly what was discussed. The U.S. has been, as you
well know, increasing the pressure in the region in recent weeks. It has deployed more than a dozen warships and 15,000 troops. Today's meeting also
comes among legal questions regarding U.S. strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean, as well as the Pacific.
Well, as part of President Trump's pressure campaign, he posted on Truth Social this past Saturday that Venezuelan airspace should be considered
closed. President Trump cannot close another country's airspace, FYI.
Venezuela's Foreign Minister denounced the directive, calling it a colonialist threat. Right now, demonstrators are lining the streets of
Caracas protesting U.S. intervention.
Our Stephen Collinson is in Washington and Stefano Pozzebon is in Caracas. Stefano, let me just go to you. First of all, give us a sense of course, as
the pressure continues to mount on Nicolas Maduro.
STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, there is definitely. pressure on Nicolas -- yes, there is definitely pressure, Isa on Nicolas Maduro
himself. However, I don't know if you can see him, but he is center stage right at the bottom of the street. He is speaking right now to Venezuelans
-- to his supporters and to the Venezuelan people on television. And the message that he is sending is the same that has been sent in yesterday and
in the past few weeks, that he is unshakable, that he doesn't intend to bend to this pressure coming down from Washington.
One of the things that, for example, it is worth getting out is that, for example, he said that it has been 22 weeks of pressure, that is, since the
beginning of august, when the U.S. did start the deployment of military assets in the Caribbean.
But it is worth also pointing out that this is a movement that we've spent the day with the power base essentially of the Venezuelan government,
workers unions, public employees. This is a movement I was saying, Isa that has been in power here for more than 25 years. They say that this is just
the latest of a long series of confrontations between Washington and Caracas, and they're not ready to see their leaders bending down.
It is not the majority of Venezuelans, by the way, Isa, however, shows of force like this one that we've seen today send the signal, give the message
that the government is still capable of rallying at the crowd. And again, a message of stability, of stillness and a message that they're not prepared
to give up power anytime soon -- Isa.
SOARES: And Stefano, on that point, I mean, what it shows, and we know Maduro likes to talk for a while, likes a good monologue, right? It does
show is that he is -- at least the message he is trying to convey is that he is not going anywhere. Do we have a sense from anything he said, or some
of the sources you have on the ground what that meeting between Maduro and President Trump was like?
POZZEBON: The government is not speaking to us. It is interesting that yesterday, for example, I was able to speak to the government spokesperson
here in in Venezuela, Jorge Rodriguez, who is also the speaker of the Venezuelan Parliament. We asked him directly whether he could confirm this
meeting, and he declined to say that. We only know that that meeting took place, that phone call took place because Donald Trump told us so.
The government here, I think, is hunkering down. They are definitely prepared to stand up to this pressure for several more weeks, at least
until Christmas. If you hear what maduro just said a couple of minutes ago that he is looking forward to a peaceful Christmas here in Venezuela.
[16:05:04]
But again, I think the message that Maduro wanted to give, especially after not appearing on television for several days last week that was noticed as
a sign that the government had been rattled here in Caracas, but the fact that he did appear yesterday, on Sunday at a coffee fair here in Caracas
and now here, speaking directly to his base, he wants exactly just to send the message of stillness, of stability, kind of a message of defiance to
Donald Trump himself, saying that he is not ready to leave anytime soon -- Isa.
SOARES: Yes, that is certainly not a message for the inside Venezuela, definitely a message for the United States.
Let me go to Stephen. Do stay with us, Stefano, if you can. I know it is quite noisy.
Stephen, we then have this meeting expected what -- in the next 55 minutes or so, 22 weeks, as we heard Stefano say there of pressure, and yet we have
seen very little in terms of action that would dislodge Maduro, if that is indeed the intention.
Do we have a sense of what the meeting taking place at the top of the hour is expected to achieve here?
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: No, but I think events are now driving this, and in recent days we have seen the showdown become more
personal between the presidents. And I think President Trump is now in a little bit of a box. Those 22 weeks of pressure, the massive U.S. aircraft
carrier and ship armada off the coast of Venezuela, the increasing drumbeat of these speedboat attacks against alleged drug traffickers and Maduro is
still there. At what point, you have to ask does Trump find himself forced to carry out some kind of military action to back up that pressure to
retain his own credibility? We've seen it over so many generations of Latin American dictators standing up to American presidents. The strength is all
on the U.S. side, but they are exceedingly difficult to dislodge in these dictatorships.
I think The White House knows that there could be a great foreign policy success for Trump if he is able to get maduro out without military action,
and I think that would be the preferred outcome from the U.S. point of view and the message that that would send throughout the region would bolster
American power. But we are getting to a point, I think, where credibility is increasingly in question here.
And if there was military action, how much risk is Trump prepared to take? And if it is some kind of kinetic attack from the air, is even that going
to be something that is likely to prod Maduro out when all efforts so far have failed? So I think, there is an increasing strategic conundrum for The
White House.
SOARES: Yes, and you're right. It is not just about the credibility, though there are huge questions over the strategy thus far, given, of course, the
show of force that we have seen off the coast of Venezuela.
Do we have a sense of how Americans feel about this strategy?
COLLINSON: Well, if you look at the polls, the recent polls on this issue, overwhelmingly Americans do not back action against Venezuela. There is not
strong support for the more limited attacks on the what The White House says are narcotrafficking drug boats. I would suspect that would be even
more in question that public sentiment, as we go through this controversy about whether the strikes were legal and the so-called double tap strike
that killed some suspected drug traffickers on September the 2nd, and big questions of whether that was legal in itself and whether the follow up
strike was legal.
So there is a political risk for Trump. Some of his base, especially down in Florida, is keen to see maduro ousted and is supporting him, but more
military action really goes against one of the core principles of the MAGA movement, which is avoiding entanglements overseas with not clear exit
routes out.
So there is increasing pressure politically, domestically on the President on this issue and as with the international side of this, it is all
pressure that he has actually created for himself.
SOARES: Yes, well, Stephen, really appreciate it. And Stefano Pozzebon, I am not sure if he is still with us. You are. Thank you very much indeed. We
are going to keep listening for what Nicolas Maduro is saying. Any other new lines, of course, we will alert, bring it to your attention.
Let's continue on this story. I am joined now by Christopher Sabatini, a senior fellow for Latin America at Chatham House. A well-known face on the
show. Christopher, great to see you.
CHRISTOPHER SABATINI, SENIOR FELLOW FOR LATIN AMERICA AT CHATHAM HOUSE: Nice to see you.
SOARES: You know, the numerous times that you and I have spoken, we've spoken about Venezuela. What do you make, then of this meeting that is, you
know, in 50 minutes or so, we know the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs-of- Staff is joining, that to me suggests perhaps we are -- the road for diplomacy is running thin now. What is your sense of what the next move is
by this by the U.S. government?
[16:10:03]
SABATINI: I don't think we know. I am not even sure Donald Trump knows at this point. As your previous report was indicating, this was really sort of
an effort, I think, to try to signal and try to scare the Maduro government and Maduro himself into leaving or overthrowing him if he refused to go.
That hasn't happened. It has been now, we see it, to some months, 22 weeks and I think this was based on bad information, quite frankly, the Secretary
of State Marco Rubio had that he was receiving that this idea that the commitment around Maduro was very fragile and that we only needed to or
they only needed to rattle military and he would then flee or be forced out. But that hasn't happened.
SOARES: That hasn't been the case.
SABATINI: But, you know, hope springs eternal for some members of the opposition and for those who believe in the democracy is imminent in
Venezuela or in Cuba and that is precisely what they've been hoping for. And so what we've seen is that that hasn't happened. They continue to
escalate, continue to escalate and now you have several things in play.
The first is what comes next? And you know, as your previous report was saying, I saw numbers about -- only about 17 percent of Americans would
support a military invasion in Venezuela and a little bit more would probably support some form of military strikes. But those would have to be
military targets in the country, not civilian targets, so as not to violate the War Powers Act and other conventions regarding war.
But of course, on top of this, you have now the news about the double tap. The second missile strike against survivors on September 2nd and pressure
is clearly building right now in the Senate and the House.
Both parties, members of the House Services Committee, Armed Services Committee are now calling for investigation. So it is a do or die moment
for Donald Trump. Does he try to de-escalate? He has already been somewhat stood up, if you will, by -- he says he tried to ask Maduro to leave and he
wouldn't leave.
So now we are seeing he has kind of gotten himself into a box. And does he continue to double down, or does he try to find some sort of negotiated
exit or negotiated exit, not only just for Maduro, but for himself by declaring victory and moving on?
SOARES: Yes, I mean, we will go to The White House in just a moment for more on this bipartisan push for questions regarding September the 2nd, it
is important to point out, of course, to our viewers, Christopher, that many NGOs we've been speaking to, I've been speaking to have raised
questions over the legality of all the strikes, let alone the September 2nd strike.
But in terms of Maduro, we don't have the details of what that conversation was like. "Miami Herald" was looking at options, giving us some sort of
sense of potentially what that would look like, offering Maduro a way out, a plane out of Venezuela into Russia. I mean, do you think -- what is
Maduro's playbook here? Is he just going to extend, as he looks at the political pressure in the United States, is he going to just play it out as
far as he can?
SABATINI: Bide for time. He knows eventually Donald Trump doesn't really have the stomach and he doesn't have the base to go into Venezuela. So his
idea is to wait this all out. And if he can, he knows that Donald Trump will eventually become frustrated, will eventually -- well, eventually sort
of have to move on.
The USS Gerald Ford has to be redeployed at a certain point. It can't stay parked there off the coast of Venezuela forever. But there is also now what
we see with the admission of the telephone call in "The Miami Herald story, is that Donald Trump, who has been very careful before about talking about
this only as a narcoterrorist operation, claiming that he was going to take out the maritime routes for narcoterrorists and then strike them inside the
country. Now, he is talking about removing Maduro.
So he is actually intentionally or unintentionally, suddenly showing his hand. And the question is, is he going to really be willing to back down?
SOARES: Yes, and this is something that the region will be looking at very closely with the implications, of course, of what that means.
I've just come back from Colombia. I spoke to President Petro, who very clearly said that, you know, that Trump is not interested in democracy,
that Trump is not interested in narcotrafficking concerns in in Venezuela. He is interested in oil.
The huge concerns over the United States actions or potential actions to say in the region. What would be the implications then if there was to be a
strike in Venezuela, what would that mean for the region, Christopher?
SABATINI: I think a strike that is targeting specific military targets, let's say, or even narco-related targets, say airstrips, because Venezuela
doesn't produce fentanyl, only a small amount of cocaine on the border with Colombia, and maybe gold mining sites, illicit gold mining sites, those
could be targets. I don't think you could go the next route.
If any civilians were affected, that would bring a lot of international criticism down on him and even criticism from the U.S. Congress. So I think
he is going to go for very targeted sites, perhaps the surface to air missiles that Venezuela has and hope again, hope that this will somehow
rattle the military.
But I really think this is at the seat of your pants, diplomacy or strategy in terms of trying to rattle the inner circle around Maduro to hope that
they will leave.
SOARES: Look, the inner circle have really profited for so long from not just from the illicit trade and from mining and from human trafficking,
that to dislodge them will take quite an offer. So it will be interesting to see what -- how far, like you said, Chris -- how far President Trump is
prepared to go.
[16:15:11]
SABATINI: Yes, And they won't go easily because he is right in this. It is not a cartel as he has described it, but it is a criminal organization and
it goes deep.
So even if you remove Maduro and say some at the top, people say Padrino Lopez, the Defense Minister, and Diosdado Cabello, the Interior Secretary
Minister, you'd still have deep levels of corruption throughout, especially among the officer class and what happens to them?
SOARES: Indeed, if we are looking at transition to democracy, what would that mean? How complicated would that be?
SABATINI: Exactly.
SOARES: Chris, always great to see you.
SABATINI: Thank you.
SOARES: Thank you very much.
Well, The White House, as Chris was just saying there, confirms just in the last hour that it carried out a double tap strike on an alleged drug vessel
in the Caribbean. It says the Defense Secretary Hegseth authorized Admiral Frank Mitch Bradley to order a second attack after the first strike did not
kill everyone on board.
She said the attack insured the boat was destroyed and the threat to the U.S. was eliminated. She did not, however, specify what threat the
survivors posed. The incident has led to scrutiny from Congress, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are voicing their concerns, with some
suggesting this attack from September 2nd could be a war crime.
Alayna Treene is standing by.
Alayna, good to see you. So we heard from The White House Press Secretary try to clarify this attack on September the 2nd. I wonder whether that will
appease any of those who are seeking more clarification regarding this attack from both sides of the aisle, of course.
ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, it is very much unclear and I want to break down some of the reasons why that statement from The White
House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, was so significant because one of the key questions was, you know, we had seen The Pentagon and specifically
the Defense Secretary himself, Pete Hegseth, argue that some details of the reporting regarding that double tap strike on September 2nd, arguing that
the story was fabricated, that it wasn't true.
And then you heard the President come out yesterday, Isa, and argue that Hegseth had denied it. And so one of the key questions was, are they
denying that this happened or are they denying who ordered it? And, well, Leavitt then gave the answer that it did happen. They are confirming it
happened. And they argue that Hegseth authorized, as you mentioned, Admiral Bradley, who is the now commander of U.S. Special Operations Command to
carry out those strikes.
But I don't think that goes far enough. She did argue that this was very lawful, that it was in their authority to carry this out. I don't think
that will go far enough for a lot of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle who we are hearing are very concerned about this. We heard The White House
and Leavitt herself say that these strikes were carried out in accordance with "The Law of Armed Conflict.
One of the things that I've already heard come up in the aftermath of that is people saying, well, we are not at war with Venezuela. The United States
has not declared war on Venezuela. Congress has not yet approved any sort of war between the United States and Venezuela, and so there are a lot of
concerns over whether they are going, the Trump administration, too far in some of these strikes.
Now, I do want to point your attention to some of the reporting as well, that both myself and our colleague, Natasha Bertrand broke earlier today.
Leavitt confirmed this as well, is that the President is going to be meeting at 5:00 P.M. in the Oval Office, 5:00 P.M. Eastern I should point
out, with some of his top Cabinet officials, as well as members of his National Security team, among those who are going to be in the room, that
includes the Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth.
But also we know that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs-of-Staff, General Dan Caine, is going to be present, as well as Secretary of State Marco
Rubio, all of them very crucial in some of these negotiations behind the scenes about what next steps regarding Venezuela are going to be about, and
we were told that the meeting will focus on next steps regarding Venezuela.
I would remind you as well that all of this comes as we know that the President himself has publicly said, you know, that there could be possible
land strikes in Venezuela shortly. There has not been a lot of details. We've been reporting out as many other outlets are reporting out what some
of those targets could look like. We've reported they could try and have airstrikes on drug routes or different drug facilities.
But all of that is very much unclear, but it is a key question as they look at the options they have before them to try and further out their ultimate
goal, which is essentially to lower the amount of drugs flowing from Venezuela into the United States. But also this idea of regime change with
Nicolas Maduro and seeing him potentially leave power.
I would note as well that we know the President confirmed it, that he spoke by phone with President Maduro, very unclear where that went. Any of the
details of the call have not been released. The White House hasn't confirmed any of them, but there is also a key question of whether
diplomacy is still even an option at this point. All of that likely to be discussed during that meeting this evening -- Isa.
SOARES: Yes, and as we just saw in the last what -- ten minutes or so, Nicolas Maduro out in the streets of Caracas didn't seem like he was
moving, like he was budging anywhere.
Alayna Treene, great to see you. Thank you very much indeed.
[16:20:07]
And coming up right here on the show, Airbus is facing a new issue on its best-selling A320 fleet. We will discuss the impact for you next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOARES: Well, shares of Airbus closed lower after it found a potential issue with its best-selling aircraft. Airbus says the problem has to do
with metal fuselage panels on the A320. It says a very limited number of planes in service are actually affected.
Even so, Airbus shares closed nearly as you can see, six percent lower in Paris. On Friday, the company announced a separate problem with the A320
family of jets. Thousands of planes needed a software -- the planes needed a software fix to address a potential issue with their flight controls.
Anna Cooban is with me now, and this is not just their best-selling, right, aircraft. It is one of the world's most best commercial aircrafts out
there. So just talk us through, Anna, first, these two technical hiccups that Airbus has faced just in a matter of days.
ANNA COOBAN, CNN BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS REPORTER: Yes. So today we have seen a quality issue. They've said that there are some planes with some
metal panels that have this quality issue due to what they've said is a supplier, a supplier problem that came hot off the heels of what happened
on Friday, which was a much, much bigger in scope.
The company basically said to all of its customers, don't fly these model planes, including the A320, which is that best-selling aircraft in the
world, and that was due to a software issue. Now we have to go back to October as to where this all began. There was a flight from Cancun in
Mexico to New Jersey that suffered a really sharp drop in altitude. There were some injuries on the plane.
The investigation into that found and then was released on Friday, that the issue was the software having a bad sort of connection with or having a bad
reaction to what was going on in the environment due to solar radiation, and so what Airbus basically said was, until that software is modified,
updated, none of these planes can fly.
And frankly, I think that the disruption that we've seen has been pretty minimal. You know, Thanksgiving weekend in the U.S., a very busy weekend
for travel. We've seen some sort of cancellations and delays, but nothing on the scale that you would expect with something like this.
SOARES: And I am guessing, I mean, if we bring up, I am just going to get Ronan to bring up the share price again because it fell, what -- eight
percent -- almost 10 percent at one point. Something like this. Look at it as we are looking at now, six percent, pardon me. You know, this would be
something that many investors would be worried about, right? The continuance of this.
Why do you think that the drop hasn't been as significant? Is it because they've got a handle on it? Very quickly, they came out of it, they came
out and said they were on top of it? What do you think the messaging is here?
[16:25:14]
COOBAN: I agree with that. You know, we did see a drop of 10 percent -- over 10 percent earlier in the day and this is to be expected. You've got
two issues with a major aircraft maker to do with safety as well. Investors always jittery around that, but then you did see this recovery in some of
those losses.
And I think quite frankly, there is a paradoxical argument here that actually this is quite reassuring because you've got a major aircraft maker
that took very quick action, an airline industry that responded very quickly, very nimbly to this issue, and this is within the context of years
of safety issues being flagged with Airbus competitor, Boeing. We've seen deadly crashes as well.
Airline safety is really sort of the forefront of many people's minds right now, as it should be.
SOARES: Yes.
COOBAN: And we've seen Airbus shares suffer, but they did respond quickly to this incident.
SOARES: Very quickly, viewers no doubt wanting to know, are all of these problems being fixed?
COOBAN: Well, it is an ongoing issue now looking into the reasons behind these metal panels, the quality issue we saw today. But in terms of what
happened over the weekend, we saw airlines respond very quickly and do those software updates.
There are some A320s that will require some more in-depth modifications to do with their hardware, but the majority of these planes have had that
necessary software update.
SOARES: Anna, thank you very much indeed. Appreciate it.
Well, it has been a difficult day for Bitcoin to start the month of December. The cryptocurrency slid another 5.5 percent. It is now trading at
$86,000.00, down almost five percent, in fact.
Bitcoin has now lost nearly a third of its value, as you can see there, since hitting an all-time high in October and some investors worry its
troubles could spill into the broader markets.
Tech stocks were lower on Monday amid those very concerns. Have a look. NASDAQ down almost four-tenths of a percent. The S&P 500 also significantly
lower.
Ruchir Sharma is the Chair of Rockefeller International. He joins me now.
Ruchir, great to have you on the show. What do you make then of this? This is quite a drop of Bitcoin struggles. And do you think people were not
invested in crypto should be concerned at this juncture about their holdings?
RUCHIR SHARMA, CHAIRMAN, ROCKEFELLER INTERNATIONAL: Well, I think that if you look at the history of bitcoin, it has experienced such sharp drawdowns
in the past as well. As I've always argued that Bitcoin is something which is here to stay, but this is a good idea that had gone too far. You know,
which is the fact that we saw signs of too much bubbly price action. And so therefore, we are seeing this very sharp pullback now.
But I am not really concerned that this has a broader impact on the economy. Because if you look at the holdings of Bitcoin's in people's
portfolios, it is still relatively limited, and also the fact that Bitcoin is up a lot, over the last couple of years or so.
So I think that this is corrective in nature. I think the bigger issue for the American market will be when the A.I. bubble pops. I think that could
be a much bigger issue. But for now, that's still holding in there as the Fed seems poised again to cut interest rates and inflate this bubble
further.
SOARES: And Ruchir, just on this, I mean, do you think then what? It is a blip? You think that's what it is?
SHARMA: But as I said, that it has had drawdowns in the past. I still feel the broad trend over a very long term is up for Bitcoin. So I am not that
concerned about it. But yes, I do feel that if by any chance the Fed is forced to increase interest rates at some point next year because of
inflation, then a lot of liquidity could come out of markets and then everything from A.I. stocks to Bitcoin to gold, everything could have a
sharper drawdown.
But for now, I don't think that this is signifying something more material going on in the economy.
SOARES: And you're right. You're right, Ruchir, in your recent column, I should say that so-called quality stocks are relatively inexpensive. Why do
you think most investors are ignoring this companies? Just explain the thinking here.
SHARMA: Yes, so this is my op-ed this morning in "The Financial Times" and what I argued here was that quality stocks have experienced one of their
worst, relative performances in history over the past 12 months or so. Now, what exactly is quality? Quality is defined by companies that tend to be
very profitable, very high return on equity. They have reasonably stable earnings growth and also don't tend to be very volatile with very low debt
levels.
[16:24:57]
What's happened in the last 12 months is that a lot of unprofitable companies with relatively high debt and quite volatile profiles have done
extremely well over the last 12 months, in terms of high performance.
And the reason is that a lot of those are in all these new thematics, whether it's A.I., robotics, nuclear, so, like in all those kind of areas,
those stocks have done really well. So, the more stable, sturdy companies that have known to produce stable earnings over a period of time, those
have lagged very significantly.
And so, what I am saying is that this is a great opportunity, particularly if you look at some of the cheaper, quality companies in the so-called
bottom third of the quality baskets, those have done -- those have lagged quite significantly and are very cheap.
Now, if you look at history, you don't get such opportunities too often, because quality, by definition, tends to be stocks which are relatively
well run.
And so, the fact that you are getting them cheap, because the rest of the market, which is so focused on all these new themes, and a lot of these
unprofitable companies have run up so much, that's the reason why some of these quality companies have lagged. And so, this could be a once in a
generation opportunity to buy some quality stocks, and, you know, just sort of have a pretty decent return profile, regardless of how much this A.I.
mania continues.
SOARES: And Ruchir, you were talking about -- we were talking earlier, about just the broader market, and is it --and it's quite something, how
volatile it has been, right, over concerns of potential A.I. bubble. What do you make whatever you've seen the last month or so in terms of the
trend?
SHARMA: Well, I think what the markets behavior the last month shows me that how sensitive it is to what the U.S. Federal Reserve is going to do.
Because I think that the reason you have had such a powerful rally across different asset classes, right?
It's not just been U.S. stocks, it's been global stock, it's been gold. It's been -- it was Bitcoin before the big correction over the last month
or so.
The reason you've had such a powerful rally is because there's so much of money around. There is still so much surplus liquidity floating around the
system, which came to be after the massive stimulus that was injected during the stimulus following the pandemic.
And also, the fact that the Federal Reserve has been cutting interest rates. And if you look at the interest rate adjusted for inflation, it's
still relatively low. So now, what's been happening is, in the last month, you got to wobble in markets, because there was some concern that the
Federal Reserve may not cut interest rates next time that they need, which is a few days from now.
But I think that what's happened in the last few days again is a corrective narrative that the Fed has put out there that it is going to cut interest
rates.
So, I think that what it tells you is that the market is very sensitive to the amount of liquidity out there. The price of money is still determined
by the Fed. And if the Fed keeps cutting interest rates, then markets have further to run.
But if, by any chance, the Fed turns its focus next year to the rising prices, to the fact that inflation is sticky, to the fact that America
still faces an affordability crisis, then that's a real problem for financial markets. So, it's quite expensive in general, and it is very
sensitive to liquidity and the price of money.
SOARES: Ruchir Sharma, we appreciate you taking the time speak to us. Ruchir, thank you.
SHARMA: Thanks,
SOARES: Well, we will have the less -- the latest on the negotiations to end the war in Ukraine as U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff heads to Moscow.
That story after this short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:36:54]
SOARES: Hello. I'm Isa Soares. There is more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS in a moment, when Adobe Analytics is predicting record sales this side the
Monday. And the Trader Joe's tote bag has become a hot item right here in the U.K., even though the supermarket has no stores outside the U.S. We'll
tell you why. Before that, the headlines for you this hour:
The White House says Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has authorized an admiral to order a follow up strike on an alleged drug vessel in the
Caribbean, just last September. A double tap strike is considered illegal under international law. The Trump administration argues the boat
represented a threat to the United States.
Attorneys for Luigi Mangione argued that his diary entry should be tossed as evidence in a state murder trial. The 27-year-old appeared at the
hearing, which is expected to last several days.
He is been accused of killing United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson last year in New York City. Mangione has pleaded not guilty to state as well as
federal charges.
Heavy rain has unleashed widespread flooding as well as landslides across South Asia, killing more than 1,100 people. In Indonesia, we have been
seeing catastrophic damage to the island of Sumatra.
In Thailand, authorities are flying in critical supplies to submerged communities. Almost 3 million people have been affected there.
President Trump's top envoy, Steve Witkoff, is on his way to Moscow as part of ongoing negotiations to end Russia's war on Ukraine. Mr. Witkoff is
scheduled to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, and will be accompanied by Mr. Trump's son in law, Jared Kushner.
Meanwhile, Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, attended meetings in Paris today and outlined his priorities. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE (through translator): The territorial issue is the most difficult. The issues of money and
reconstruction, and I am speaking honestly, and we have discussed this, are, of course, hard to finalize without the presence of our European
partners, because the money is in Europe. To me, this does not seem entirely fair.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Let's get more on the story. Our Nick Paton Walsh has more from the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: I think there is clear anxiety as to exactly what is in the plan that Witkoff is
presenting. I suspect that the details of that are fully known to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, although there is always some slight sense
of uncertainty, this appears to be being packaged as a U.S. proposal to Russia, for which the Ukrainians are kind of contributors trying to assist
at certain times.
Zelenskyy, himself, busy today with Emmanuel Macron of France for much of the day. And then, on a phone call with Keir Starmer of the United Kingdom,
the U.K.'s prime minister, and Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff himself.
[16:40:03]
I presume at that point, trying to ensure that whatever was decided in Florida with his negotiating team and Secretary of State Marco Rubio and
Witkoff was known amongst Ukraine's European allies.
But ultimately, we are still a little unsure as exactly what Witkoff will be taking with him to the Kremlin.
Zelenskyy, himself, clear that the outstanding points of tension here revolve around territory. It's pretty clear, I think, that at this stage,
if Witkoff is going to have another attempt at trying to sell a peace deal to a Kremlin that have been open and clear about how they don't see any
need for peace until they get the territory from Ukraine that they want, or they will take it militarily.
They said that if Witkoff is going to make a proposal to Vladimir Putin in the next 24 hours, it will likely involve some sort of fudge or way of
allowing Russia to feel it's achieved some of its territorial war goals without necessarily disturbing Ukraine's sense of red lines and sovereignty
as well.
Zelenskyy clear repeatedly today how he wanted to see security guarantees as part of any potential deal. And also, France's Emmanuel Macron clear
that they wanted Europe to be part of any final deal, and that what, in fact, we're seeing being taken to the Kremlin in France's perspective, is
the beginnings of a process here.
An awful lot moving very fast indeed, not least the fact that in -- on Friday, the top negotiator for Ukraine and Zelenskyy's Chief of Staff
Andriy Yermak resigned after anti-corruption investigators searched his home in the early hours of Friday morning.
That has, I think, it's fair to say, significantly weakened Zelenskyy here at home, trying to draw a line under it by the resignation of his number
two. But ultimately, that it's been hanging in the background for weeks now.
Has this left Ukraine more vulnerable to concessions? Certainly, the front- line situation will have made that the case definitely where Ukraine is under significant pressure across various parts of the front line. But I
think that the real focus for tomorrow is exactly how is Witkoff going to package a deal for Vladimir Putin that makes him feel like he is getting
the ground that he wants, and then, at the same time here, makes Ukraine feel that they've not somehow crossed a red line or inflicted upon
themselves a wound they are going to regret in the months and years ahead.
SOARES: On Nick Paton Walsh there in Kyiv for you.
Well, Pope Leo is in the midst of a historic visit to Lebanon. We'll have more on his message to Christians in the war-torn country. This story after
the short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:45:43]
SOARES: Pope Leo spoke to a crowd of young Christians on the second day of his trip to Lebanon. He encouraged them to continue to work and hope
despite the country's difficulties.
Our Christopher Lamb has more for you from Beirut.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A warm welcome on the streets of Beirut for Pope Leo. In Lebanon, during his first overseas
trip, the first American pope in the heart of the Middle East with a message of peace.
POPE LEO XIV, SOVEREIGN OF THE VATICAN CITY STATE: In an age when coexistence can seem like a distant dream, the people of Lebanon, while
embracing different religions, stand as a powerful reminder that fear, distrust, and prejudice do not have the final word, and that unity,
reconciliation, and peace are possible.
LAMB (voice over): For a country which has been through so much, Leo's visit lifting their spirits. The people here want more than nice words.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need, if you want practical sayings that the pope will ask, maybe to the church or to the maybe international community. We
know the pope that he is not a political figure, and he doesn't have arms, but he has, you know, he's the pope. People would listen to him.
LAMB (voice over): The pope in a country with a sizeable Christian community, one as old as Christianity itself, excited to meet Leo, as were
young people.
But like thousands of Lebanese Christians, many have been leaving. Leo, urging them to stay.
The pope's visit to Lebanon won't be able to resolve the country's problems, but it is offering a glimmer of hope.
Christopher Lamb, CNN, Beirut.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOARES: One record number of sales are expected this Cyber Monday, but the economy could be swaying some consumers to shop more selectively this
holiday season, including my producer. Have more on that next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:50:13]
SOARES: And today is Cyber Monday, the last chance to take advantage of big online sales for your holiday shopping. Adobe expects a record $14.2
billion in online sales today. That's up 6.3 percent from last year. Shoppers have been snatching up these deals all weekend. MasterCard found
retail sales in U.S. rose 4.1 percent on Black Friday. But these numbers don't usually account for inflation.
Consumer expert told CNN, the shoppers are buying fewer items this year, though average selling prices are higher.
Marketing company attentive has also been analyzing the shopping figures. CEO Amit Jhawar joins me now.
Amit, great to have you with us. What have you found, that in terms of the sales, record sales, it seems, talk us through what you have been seeing?
AMIT JHAWAR, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, ATTENTIVE: Yes. So, Attentive is an A.I. marketing platform that delivers messages from brands to consumers,
and we are seeing high single digit growth across overall sales for many of the retailers.
What's happening is that consumers are being very strategic in their purchasing. They are searching for deals. So, you're seeing higher average
order values, but basically flat number of purchases, which is leading to this combination of higher overall sales.
SOARES: And how much, we are talking about being more strategic, Amit. How much is A.I. -- I was looking at my notes. How much is A.I. playing a role,
you think, in kind of -- in that strategy of what they are purchasing?
JHAWAR: Yes, we believe more than 50 percent of shoppers this year are heavily using A.I. in their shopping experience.
SOARES: OK.
JHAWAR: There are great ways to make the shopping experience easier. So, if you need to buy a gift for your teenage nephew, you know, as opposed to
trying to figure it out yourself, A.I. can give you a bunch of ideas. Or if you're looking for an item, like a beginner tennis racket, usually that
expertise is required for the user to do the research and figure out. Now, A.I. can give you a couple of options that leads you to a purchase.
The other side of it is retailers are sending smarter messages. They are writing one to one message with A.I. platforms like Attentive, so that
consumers are getting something that is immediately relevant to them. So, that generates higher clicks and -- purchases.
SOARES: Yes. And I'm getting the brands that have, like you said, they have A.I. platforms, are the ones benefit -- benefiting the most, right?
JHAWAR: Of course, we are seeing brands that are using A.I. having conversion rates. Meaning, someone who clicks on a link, at 30 or 40
percent higher than brands that are just using standard one message for everybody. And that's really changing the whole game of how consumers will
shop. Consumers are now expecting personalized experiences, not just generic messaging, which makes them do all the work.
SOARES: Add some context here for us, Amit, if you could. You know, we have seen the longest shutdown in the U.S. We have seen as well, consumer
sentiment at its lowest point since April. Concern still lingering over inflation. How did this -- How does this match up? It seems mixed messages
almost to me here.
JHAWAR: It does a little bit. I think that when you take a macro perspective, the consumer searching for deals is a big piece of it, right?
They are looking for the discount. They are -- the overall number of purchases hasn't increased dramatically, right? It's really just the
average order value, and I think that is a combination of tariffs plus inflation impacting the baskets, right? If you were to buy the same item
last year, it would have been cheaper than it is this year.
SOARES: And what are people buying more of? Do we have a sense if you have the detail of that? What are they spending most of their money on?
JHAWAR: Yes, the categories that continue to outperform are apparel and sporting goods and electronics. All of those are seeing double digit
increases in the 15 to 25 percent range. Other categories, like beauty are always popular, but haven't seen the same level of growth this year as they
have historically.
SOARES: And even if we go back even further down to the -- to the minutiae here, the people who -- do we have a -- you know, people who are purchasing
on the lowest scale in terms of income, do we have that detail there what people are buying?
JHAWAR: Yes, it's more necessities at the lower income.
SOARES: Yes.
JHAWAR: You know, hard to know exactly what each person has in their entire basket. So, our 8,000 customers cover some of those large brands. But
individually, we think that it's more necessity purchasing, as opposed to luxury purchasing.
(CROSSTALK)
SOARES: Right.
JHAWAR: As inflation and tariffs have taken a bite out of spending capacity people at.
SOARES: Yes, indeed. Amit, really appreciate you joining us.
[16:55:00]
Thank you very much indeed.
Now, tote bags from the U.S. supermarket, Trader Joe's have become a hot property even here.
Richard Quest and Anna Cooban look at how the canvas bag gained cult status in London.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Trader Joe's is a grocery store institution known for high quality and reasonable prices. They are
everywhere. The bags are also ubiquitous. They used to be a bit of a fashion statement here in New York. But now, the way they taken off
overseas, it's worth a great deal more.
COOBAN: I'm in a trendy part of East London on a fact-finding mission, because I want to know why these bags have really taken off in the U.K.,
despite the fact that Trader Joe's doesn't even have a store in the country.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anytime I go anywhere, people are complimenting me on it, which is odd, because it's just a thing you would have in the states.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Maybe people saw it on TikTok.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You see something, a piece of like something that people wear online. You see you like -- you like it, because you see more and more
and more you get used to it, and you think that's what you want to wear, because everybody wears it basically.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I did bring this bag from L.A. all the way across the Atlantic Ocean to London.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It feels like it's not luxury, but something like niche. You know, you have to be in America to have one of those. So, maybe
that's the reason why people think it's cool. But it's basically just a supermarket.
COOBAN (voice over): As with all fashion trends, it's about individual taste.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I wouldn't wear it. I'm a black only wear it.
COOBAN (voice over): Anna Cooban, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOARES: I've got so many questions about that. We'll leave it for another day.
And finally, Wall Street closed lower, after a survey showed U.S. manufacturing activities shrank for ninth straight month. The major
averages snapped their five-day winning streaks. You can see the Dow lost 427 points down almost one percent. The S&P fell half of one percent down.
Yes, as you can see, 53 to 6,000. The NASDAQ dropped nearly point 0.4 percent.
If we have a look quickly at the Dow components for you, Disney is at the top. As you can see, that up more than two percent. It's equal to Zootopia.
I love. Zootopia, it's a global blockbuster. Nike, not far to the right of it, not far behind, up nearly two percent. Walmart is up one percent, as
holiday shopping as we you and I discussing just a few moments come in. Both Merck and Amgen are down more than two percent giving up some of the
strong gains over the past month.
And that is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. I'm Isa Soares. "THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER" is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
