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The Brief with Jim Sciutto
Trump Threatens New Tariffs; Trump Not Looking For A Deal With E.U.; Trump Threatens Apple With 25 Percent Tariff; Judge Halts Ban On International Student Enrollment From Harvard; U.N. Chief: "Teaspoon" Of Aid Allowed In Gaza; Billy Joel Suffers Brain Disorder. Aired 6-7p ET
Aired May 23, 2025 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[18:00:00]
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Jim Sciutto in Washington, and you're watching
"The Brief."
Just in this hour, Donald Trump ratchets up the trade war by threatening 50 percent tariffs on the E.U., as well as higher tariffs on smartphone
makers, including Apple.
A federal judge temporarily blocks the Trump administration from banning international students from Harvard.
And it is Memorial Day weekend here in the U.S. The unofficial start of summer, will it be a blockbuster one for Hollywood?
We begin with the U.S. president reigniting his tariff war with the E.U. and leveling a shocking new tariff threat against the tech giant Apple.
Donald Trump threatening the E.U. with a 50 percent tariff beginning June 1st because he says, talks between the two sides are, in his description,
going nowhere.
That tariff would be 30 percent higher than the, so-called, reciprocal tariff rate he slapped on the E.U. back in early April and then paused 20
days later. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent characterized today's threat as a wakeup call to Europe.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCOTT BESSENT, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: I would hope that this would light a fire under the E.U. because, Bill, I've said before, E.U. has a
collective action problem here. It's 27 countries, but they're being represented by this one group in Brussels.
So, some of the feedback that I've been getting is that the underlying countries don't even know what the E.U. is negotiating on their behalf.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: Bessent suggested there is room for compromise on tariffs, but at the White House today, President Trump seemed a no mood for negotiation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you looking for a deal in nine days? Will you be able to do that, sir?
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I'm not looking for a deal. I mean, we've set the deal, it's at 50 percent. But again, there is no tariff if they build
their plant here. Now, if somebody comes in and wants to build a plant here, I can talk to them about a little bit of a delay.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: Trump warned that he could impose a 25 percent tariff on Apple unless the company begins making its iPhones in the U.S. He says that
iPhones sold domestically should be made domestically. Latest tariff threats come as another week comes to an end with no trade deals or even
partial trade agreements announced by the Trump administration.
Trump officials have been promising for weeks a flurry of deals were just around the corner. This is what Trump economic official, Kevin Hassett,
said on our air just last month.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEVIN HASSETT, DIRECTOR, U.S. NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL: Jamieson Greer has -- has gotten 19, I believe, written offers on their reciprocal tariffs.
Secretary Lutnick is working really, really hard on the 232 tariffs, which are the ones for national security. And Secretary Bessett is working with
our Asian counterparts and making an enormous amount of progress, all of them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: Richard Quest joins me now. He said enormous amount of progress weeks ago. Hassett said there are 19 written offers but I haven't seen any
deals except the U.K.-U.S. one.
RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS EDITOR-AT-LARGE AND ANCHOR, QUEST MEANS BUSINESS: Yes, and even when you do see them, Jim, they're not going to be
that detailed. They're going to look very similar to the U.K.-U.S. deal, which is a real hodgepodge of just one or two individual items, more beef,
more this, more that. And a lot of good sounding talks that you agree to agree to have talks to agree in the future.
I'm not surprised that the U.S. is getting frustrated because -- with the European Union. But I don't agree with the treasury secretary's analysis
of, you know, Brussels going rogue and Brussels not listening to its member states. The ambassadors of the E.U. are being kept very well informed by
Brussels on exactly what the commission is negotiating.
The problem is, it's bloody hard stuff. We're dealing with non-tariff barriers. You are dealing with the sort of thing like home owned beef,
ownerships, taxation, that the commission is going to have to take everybody along with them and that was always going to be difficult.
The U.K. -- I'll come back to what I started, the U.K.-U.S. deal is as good as far as it goes, but it is primarily a grab bag of wishlists and promises
rather than hardened policies.
[18:05:00]
SCIUTTO: Yes, it's like a memorandum of understanding. Not quite --
QUEST: Exactly. Thank you, yes.
SCIUTTO: -- not quite a deal.
QUEST: Exactly. And that's the only way, Jim, you could do so many trade deals so quickly. You are not going to be able to do it by dotting i's and
crossing t's. And then with this Apple business, I mean, he now says it's got to be Samsung and all the phone makers will all be subject if they
don't bring their production to the United States, knowing that it's physically impossible to do that in the timescale. So, I don't know how
they get out of this one.
SCIUTTO: Just briefly, are we learning here, as we watch this, that perhaps China, the E.U., Canada, et cetera, are not quite as easy to have their
hands forced by Trump than he imagined?
QUEST: Oh, completely. Absolutely. Totally. The E.U. is a bigger market. The E.U. is a trillion dollars-worth of goods and services across to the
United States. What's happening is Donald Trump has forced the reworking of trade links and trade connections.
So, yes, the U.S. relationship is still very important, in some cases of primary importance, but everybody's working behind the scenes, particularly
Canada, to try and diversify away from the U.S. And what the U.S. is going to find in its own short order is that it is still very significant, but
not as important as it was. The E.U. is not going to roll over on this one. You can take that to the bank.
SCIUTTO: Richard Quest, thanks so much.
QUEST: Thank you.
SCIUTTO: Well, Trump's demand that Apple build its iPhones here in the U.S. is seen as a non-starter by many tech watchers. Let's take a look at that
issue in depth so we understand it. Apple's most powerful iPhone sales, more than $1,000 now sells $4,000 now.
Bank of America says, U.S. labor costs alone would add 25 percent to that price. Tech analyst, Dan Ives says iPhones made in the U.S. could end up
costing nearly triple what they are now, about $3,500. He says, the prospect of U.S. iPhone production is, quote, "A fairy tale." Not to
mention President Trump's 25 percent tariff threat could also run into legal difficulty.
Apple has committed to spending more than $500 billion on U.S. factories over the next four years, but that commitment does not involve
manufacturing iPhones. In fact, Apple is moving more of its iPhone production to India to avoid the China tariffs. CEO Tim Cook says the
majority of iPhones sold in the U.S. will ultimately be made there. Something Trump says, he's just not happy about.
Apple is yet to comment on the president's latest threat. Trump also warning today that other firms that import smartphones over -- built or
manufactured overseas could be hit with tariffs as well.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you have the power to tariff one single company? And why would you want to hurt an American company in that way?
TRUMP: It would be more. It would be also Samsung and anybody that makes that product. Otherwise, it wouldn't be fair.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: Tech investor, Ross Gerber joins me now. He's President and CEO of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth and Investment Management. Good to have you on.
ROSS GERBER, CEO, GERBER KAWASAKI WEALTH AND INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT: Thank you.
SCIUTTO: First, as a practical matter, can Apple, which for years has made and built massive supply chains in China, simply move that whole process,
not just from China to India but just back to the U.S.?
GERBER: Well, certainly we all know that that's implausible but a lot of that has to do with just the forces of capitalism and economics, because
even with the tariff, it's better for them to continue to manufacture in other countries for so many reasons because, you know, if you just look at
the average wage of what would be a factory worker in the United States, it would be like $200 to $400 a day, which is what, you know, could be a
monthly income in many of the places where they manufacture phones today.
So, you know, it's a really crazy thing, but it's really just another tax. And I don't think people should overthink this. Donald Trump is grasping,
you know, to move the tax base away from wealthy people to the middle- income part of America, and this is a tax on young people as well. So, the prices of phones go up because of tariffs and whatever that price, you
know, that's passed on to the consumer is a tax.
SCIUTTO: Trump imagines returning to a world that hasn't existed in this country for decades, really, where you made a lot of stuff, particularly at
the low end, right? And there are commentators who have made the point, and economists that some of that is about those jobs going overseas. Some of
that, though, is that much of the U.S. labor forces has moved up the labor ladder, as it were, to well service positions and other jobs.
I mean it -- that's part of the -- part of this here, is it not that you would have to pull workers back to some degree, right?
[18:10:00]
To lower earning jobs if you were to return, I don't know, screwing the -- screws into the back of an iPhone, back to the U.S.?
GERBER: Well, and also, it's completely denying the biggest trend that's about to hit, you know, the world, which is robotics. So, we are making
humanoid robots now that will soon be replacing factory workers. So, theoretically they could build iPhones in the United States with robots,
but the truth is that humans are better at building things like iPhones than robots because of our hands are really good.
And so, you know, it turns out that conceptually, Trump lives in the 20th century economy and we're in the 21st century economy. And so, the way it
works is it says it on the iPhone, the IP is made here in United States and the profits of Apple are here, they come here to the United States and its
shareholders and employees, and it benefits all the pensions and 401(k)s across America because Apple's one of the largest companies in America.
So, he's literally hurting everybody's future pension because of this decision, like literally all of America. And so, would you rather have the
profits in America or the -- or not have the profits and have the hard labor part of building the iPhone here and much less profits?
So, that's the way the system works now where the hard labor part goes to other countries which much lower margins, or do you want to make the easy
part, which is the thinking and the ideas when that -- maybe not that easy, but the ideas and then making all the profits?
So, you see amazing innovation happening here in America right now. And literally, these are the things that just are so uncapitalistic and so un-
American. It just doesn't make sense.
SCIUTTO: Yes, I mean, I like that distinction, right? The IP made here, the hardware made elsewhere. I -- just -- as an investor, and I know you're a
tech investor, but I know you watch the economy as well, it affects the decisions you make. But given that these trade deals, they're just not
coming as fast as the president promised.
Tariffs are going up there. They're not -- some have been delayed, et cetera. But does the -- does that extend the likely economic damage from
the trade war out further? In other words, because you have a lot -- it seems the market is hoping, ah, we're going to get over this. Everything's
going to be just fine. But I wonder what your view is.
GERBER: Well, you know, keep in mind, I manage billions of dollars for thousands of clients at my firm. I have a tremendous responsibility to my
clients to, you know, protect their assets and, you know, I have a certain belief system. I'm a pure capitalist and very much believe in free markets
and no tariffs at all, ideally.
So, fundamentally, I think all of these policies are regressive and anti- profits to America and not good for this country. And for, you know, a Republican president, it's almost like, wait, what's going on here, you
know?
And then secondly, you know, the truth is we have a really good thing going on here. Things have been going pretty well. Markets were at all-time
highs, profits at all-time highs, great earnings. You know, why mess with it and what people care about is certainty. And by continually coming up
every morning with another tariff or whatever, it creates uncertainty so investors and businesses can't make decisions about their futures and what
they're going to do, and it just holds back the economy and can potentially cause a recession.
So, we're seeing pullbacks in consumer and business investment and it would be only prudent to be more conservative with your money right now. And we
have clients that want to, you know, make money and get to their retirement goals. And these things put us at risk as a country and it just doesn't
make sense, as I said.
SCIUTTO: Ross Gerber, you know a thing or two about how it all works. Thanks so much for joining.
Well, federal judge has temporarily blocked a Trump administration decision to ban Harvard University's ability to enroll international students. Think
of it, they've got many thousands of them on the campus today.
Harvard filed a lawsuit just hours after the administration decided to revoke its certification in the student and exchange visitor program as
it's known. The school argues the government action is retaliation after it refused to cave to demands it change its policies and its curriculum to the
administration's liking. Here's what a Harvard professor had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVEN PINKER, PROFESSOR OF PSYCHOLOGY, HARVARD UNIVERSITY: It is often been said that the Trump administration is following the handbook of
authoritarian regimes and dictatorships of trying to cripple civil society organizations outside of government that they worry could serve as centers
of people opposing the government's policies.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: Jason Carroll is live from Harvard's campus. and Jason, I wonder What you're hearing there from students, particularly international
students.
[18:15:00]
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: well, Jim, as you can imagine, this development is having a huge impact on the international students
here. I mean, just think about this, there are more than 6,800 students, international students on campus here at Harvard.
I mean, I spoke to one from Pakistan, who's a sophomore, who's not sure he is going to make it to his junior year. Another junior from Israel, she
says, with so much uncertainty, she's not sure what she's supposed to do going forward.
I mean, there are many students here, Jim, who simply don't know what to do next. I mean, do you stay and hope that the courts end up ruling in
Harvard's favor, or do you just pack up and leave and pack up all your dreams with it? These are some of the choices that international students
are facing. I want you to listen to some of those that we spoke to earlier today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEO GARDEN, HARVARD SENIOR-YEAR INTERNATIONAL STUDENT FROM SWEDEN: It is people's lives that are put at risk and we're being used as poker chips in
a battle between the White House and Harvard. This place will not only be poorer financially, but also culturally.
MARC HVIDKJAER, HARVARD INTERNATIONAL DOCTORAL STUDENT FROM DENMARK: Of course, I'm in limbo. And, you know, the government has showed its hand
here and it's showed to what lengths it is willing to go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: Now, Jim, all -- you know, all of the students that we spoke to were in agreement that they are grateful that the university is doing what
it can to stand up to the Trump administration. I should also note that I spoke to a professor and he is really just feeling, at this point, not
heartbroken because he says so many international students are now coming to him, asking him for guidance in terms of what they should do next. And
he turned to me and he looked and he said, Jason, you know, I can't look at them with confidence at this point and tell them specifically what they
should do.
So, that's the status of many folks here, whether it be a professor or an international student here at Harvard. A lot of those are trying to decide,
do they stay and wait it out, or do they leave? Jim.
SCIUTTO: Yes, and I'm sure their families back home, wherever they're from are nervous as well.
CARROLL: Yes.
SCIUTTO: Jason Carroll on the Harvard campus there, thanks so much.
So, before the judge halted the ban, Homeland Security told current foreign students at Harvard to transfer or lose their legal status in this country.
Now, as many of those students facing, well as we were describing there, an extremely uncertain future as they weighed out the White House's and the
courts next moves.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EMIL HANSEN, HARVARD STUDENT: I came to Harvard hoping to stay in the U.S. and make a career there. And that's just not the case.
FANGZHOU JIANG, HARVARD STUDENT: So, basically, it's a mixture of like shock then to kind of just, you know, devastation, you know, like
frustration and then uncertainty, anxiety.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: Yes, understandable. Oscar Escobar is a graduate student at Harvard and he joins us now from Albania where he's been traveling. Oscar,
thanks so much for joining.
OSCAR ESCOBAR, GRADUATE STUDENT, HARVARD UNIVERSITY: Thank you so much for your time and your interest in this news.
SCIUTTO: First of all, I'm curious, has the university been providing you and other foreign students like you, guidance on what you should do now?
ESCOBAR: Well, just really, a couple hours ago we got an e-mail from the international office of Harvard, with some like frequently asked questions.
However, as they -- situation, meaning changing minute by minute. So, they really encourage us to be checking with them on every -- like each
individual case.
But there has been like two days of a lot of uncertainty of what students should do, the ones who are traveling, coming back to the states for
graduation next week. What does this mean for students who are doing their OPT, which is the permission they get -- derived from the student visa to
be able to work. What does this mean for the students that are still lacking a year of studies?
And so, it's definitely a very uncertain time. But I will also say that most students agree with the university in the sense that we should protect
free speech. However, this is truly affecting our lives right now.
SCIUTTO: No question. I wonder, as a foreign student, you studied there and you're coming to the end of your studies, does this change your desire to
try to stay and work in the U.S. or do you imagine, hey, it might be better for me just to leave the country?
ESCOBAR: Well, I came here for a master's in public administration. and I had pretty clear I wanted to go back to Colombia, which is my country, to
work for my country. So, this decision in particular has not changed my mind about my future professional development.
However, it is sad for me. I mean, as a Colombian, we have been traditionally probably the best ally that the U.S. has in Latin America.
But many of the decisions that the current government is making are literally indefensible, right?
[18:20:00]
So, as an -- I mean, when we come as international students to the U.S., we are sort of also becoming ambassadors to the U.S. in our own country. And
when we face this type of situations, well, that becomes very difficult.
SCIUTTO: What does it tell you about the U.S., today's America, in terms of, well, what a think of foreigners, even citizens of countries like
Columbia, that is America's friend? What's the message you're receiving from this?
ESCOBAR: Well, I think most people see it as a very paradoxical the way that -- the narrative the -- foundational narrative of the U.S. is so
related to freedom and to personal freedom. But however, now we are seeing an environment into which many students would love to tell you this story
on TV, but are -- they are not doing it because they are very afraid that repercussions are going to be taken against them, that -- because of
voicing their opinions, they can be kicked out of this country.
So, it's sort of the opposite of the message that we have always get from the U.S. that this is a country of freedom while we are understanding is
that we should just stay quiet and not to speak our minds.
SCIUTTO: That is -- I mean, as an American, I just find -- and by the way, I've lived in travels and countries where you don't have freedom of speech
and -- Russia, China, and to hear that about my own country, of course, there are other examples, it's just gutting to hear.
I mean, what -- do you think you can get over that, right, or is this something you're not going to forget?
ESCOBAR: Well, I think, of course, there are -- we cannot gen generalize about this country. I believe what's happening currently is unfortunate but
I also believe things can change. And again, as I said, most of the students, even though facing very difficult situations, for many of them
who have planned their professional lives in the U.S. and who have worked very hard in their own countries, in the U.S., to get the opportunity to be
at Harvard, to get the opportunity to have a scholarship, and now, suddenly, all of their lives are in a balance because of what seems to be
political retaliation from the government to the university, it is pretty sad.
But I also believe that we stand by the ideals of freedom and free speech, and we stand by also by institutions. And so, we are putting all of our
trust in the sense that institutionality and the courage and the due process are going to give a result that is favorable to the university, to
freedom and to us international students.
SCIUTTO: Well, Oscar, I'm sorry you're going through this. I genuinely am. And I wish you the best of luck and your fellow students the best of luck.
ESCOBAR: Thank you.
SCIUTTO: Well, coming up as President Trump's tariffs shake up transatlantic trade, is Canada now looking to strike more deals with
Europe, with Asia? My conversation with Canada's new minister of industry right after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:25:00]
SCIUTTO: The Canadian dollar has now strengthened to a seven-month high against the U.S. dollar. It gained 1 percent today after the country's
better than expected domestic retail sales data. It is the fifth straight day of gains for the Canadian currency. This as President Trump threatens
to impose hefty tariffs on goods, not just from Canada as he is done, but from the European Union raising concerns about slowing economic growth
globally. I spoke to Melanie Joly, Canada's newly appointed minister of industry, and I began by asking her whether President Trump's tariffs on
Europe create an opening for Canada to strengthen its trade ties with the E.U.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MELANIE JOLY, CANADIAN INDUSTRY MINISTER: We want to make sure that we get to deal with the West on trade, but also a security partnership. And
conversations are ongoing and we want to be constructive. That's the first thing.
Second thing is, obviously, Canada is the most European of all non-European countries in the world, and we want to be closer to Europe. We want to be
also closer to Asia, and yes, we will diversify our trade. That's why I'm the new minister of industry. My job is to create relationship with
businesses, business leaders, CEOs to attract investments in Canada and also to have constructive conversations with business leaders in the U.S.
SCIUTTO: Can you tell us how the U.S.-Canada trade talks are going? Has there been progress in recent days and weeks?
JOLY: One thing is clear is that we've been engaging with many people amongst the U.S. administration. We've had many conversations with U.S.
businesses and business leaders and Canadian businesses, Canadian leaders. And my job has been really to look at what's the impact of U.S. tariffs on
-- you know, in the auto sector, in the aluminum sector, in the steel sector. And what I'm seeing is that, yes, there are impacts, but at the
same time people are holding strong, holding steady. And we're working with allies within the U.S. which don't agree neither, with this approach when
it comes to Canada.
SCIUTTO: There, there are many in this country who believe that, at some point, the effects of the tariff war will lead the U.S. economy into a
recession. And I wonder, do you see signs that Canada's economy will head into recession, or at least that growth will be reduced as a result of the
trade war?
JOLY: The world is being reorganized for economy blocks. And because of the rules of trade being yet rewritten, we need to, as -- you know, as the new
Canadian industry minister, we need to do the job to attract investments, to attract talent. And there is more than ever a global competition to do
that.
Now, what is going on right now is that there's lots of uncertainty. But we'll continue to face that uncertainty. And so, our goal is to have these
conversations with people in the business sector that are able to invest in Canada.
You saw President Trump in the Gulf -- in the Gulf States, you know, going around and re-announcing investments for your country, for the U.S. Well,
you know, many of us will be doing that for our country. Now, we also think that we need to be aligning these common blocks. And Canada can be
extremely useful being the biggest client of the U.S. to the American people, the American administration.
And meanwhile, we have to bear in mind that we have the same goals when it comes to our national security, that we know that there is a greater
alliance between China, Russia, Iran, the DPRK, and we need as allies to organize our economies to make sure that we're ready to deal with that.
SCIUTTO: President Trump in speaking of his Golden Dome plan for defending the U.S. for missile attacks, said that Canada is interested in taking part
in some way. Can you confirm that? Is there a discussion with the U.S. about participation?
[18:30:00]
JOLY: So, the prime minister has said that, you know, these are the conversations that are ongoing. As mentioned a bit earlier in this
interview, we are having conversations about a trade relationship, but also a security relationship. So, we're willing to talk. But at the same time, I
think these conversations have not gone yet into the details of projects.
SCIUTTO: Understood. Finally, do you find in these conversations that you have with the administration, with the U.S., do you feel the U.S. is a
negotiator in good faith?
JOLY: You know, I'm not in the mindset of President Trump. I know that he has a clear vision on -- about trade and investment in his country. I
respect that. We have a different mandate. We represent Canadians and the Canadian people has just entrusted us with this new mandate to create the
fastest growing economy in the G7. And at the same time, to stand up for them in the context of, you know, the U.S. tariffs and the trade tensions.
And we'll do our work and we will do that.
And it's a huge privilege to do that. It's not easy, but I think that things can go very fast in the coming months, and we are definitely on our
side in good faith.
SCIUTTO: Well, congratulations on your new role as minister of industry. Melanie Joly, thanks so much for joining us.
JOLY: Thank you, Jim. Take good care.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCIUTTO: You are watching "The Brief." And we'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCIUTTO: Welcome back to "The Brief." I'm Jim Sciutto. And here are more international headlines we're watching today.
[18:35:00]
U.S. President Donald Trump now says he is not looking for a deal with the European Union on trade. Trump threatened earlier in the day to slap a 50
percent tariff on E.U. goods. He noted at the time that trade talks are going nowhere. Ireland's prime minister calls the tariff threat enormously
disappointing.
German police are now investigating a mass stabbing attack at a Hamburg railway station. The city's fire department tell CNN 17 people were
wounded, four of them critically. Police say they have arrested a suspect, a 39-year-old woman, and believe that she acted alone.
Palestinians in a West Bank village say Israeli settlers set their houses and vehicles on fire. The Red Crescent said eight people were treated for
burns. The Israeli army says it sent troops to the village, but the suspects had fled. Most countries consider Israeli settlements in the
occupied West Bank to be illegal. Some Israeli ministers have talked about annexing the entire area.
Israel says more than 300 trucks have arrived since Monday in Gaza, a fraction of the number that entered each day before the war. People there
becoming increasingly desperate, attacking and looting trucks. The U.N. secretary-general says they're enduring what he says may be the cruelest
phase of the war.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTONIO GUTERRES, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: As the world's leading hunger assessment found the entire population of Gaza is facing the risk of
famine. Families are being starved and denied the very basics, all with the world watching in real-time. All the aid authorized until now amounts to a
teaspoon of aid when a flood of assistance is required.
And so, beyond questions about the particular number of trucks at any particular moment, it is important to stay fixed on the big picture. And
the big picture is that without rapid, reliable, safe, and sustained aid, excess, more people will die.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: This is happening as Israel continues to expand its military operations in Gaza. Joining me now is a spokesperson for UNICEF, Joe
English. Joe, thanks so much for joining.
JOE ENGLISH, UNICEF EMERGENCY COMMUNICATION SPECIALIST: Good to be with you, Jim.
SCIUTTO: You hear the U.N. secretary-general there describe it as a teaspoon of aid given the need. Just I wonder what portion of the current
need in Gaza will this small delivery of aid be able to address?
ENGLISH: Yes. Look, some very small positive steps this week, but let's be clear, the situation remains catastrophic and arguably worse forever. And
we spend a lot of time talking about the number of trucks that are entering, the number of trucks that are being unloaded. You know, loaded
back up that all of the hoops that we have to jump through to get aid to children and families in Gaza.
But let me tell you, the parents and families that we are speaking to, they are not concerned with numbers of trucks. They are concerned with making
sure their children are going to bed at night with not even a full belly now, but one meal a day. You know, parents are watching children waste away
in front of them. So, that's their concern and that is our concern.
We manage to get 500 pallets of nutrition supply safety into Gaza this week. We're now working to get them to children and families who
desperately, desperately need them. But no parent is satisfied with, well, I fed my child today. Let's wait and see what happens tomorrow. We have to
have sustained rapid unimpeded access so that parents aren't having to worry about this day after day after day.
SCIUTTO: You know, we've been playing pictures of how aid is distributed and it's just a measure of the desperation. Why is that? Right? I mean,
beyond the shortage, right, even the delivery mechanism is just a mess, it seems. Crowds of people climbing on each other to get a small bag of food.
ENGLISH: Indeed, we are seeing what 19 months of absolute devastation does to a people, to a community. I think any of us can imagine, you know,
having to go through this day after day as a parent, putting your child to bed each night, trying to comfort them as there are bombs falling all
around with no clear idea of if you will wake up safely in the morning. Trying to make sure that you have enough food to eat when you know that for
80 days there has been no food able to get in through humanitarian aid.
The specter of polio, the looming famine, you know, this is the psychological torment that children and families are going through every
single day. For any one of us, a single day of this would be the worst day of our life and we would never forget it. And children and families in Gaza
are going through this every day.
SCIUTTO: As you know, Israel blames Hamas for this. They blame Hamas for stealing the aid. What are the facts on the ground?
[18:40:00]
ENGLISH: Our response to this has been, you know, consistent all the way through, which is that violence is never an answer and never provides a
solution to a humanitarian crisis. UNICEF is one of those organizations where we reach people where they are. We do the last mile delivery. When we
deliver food, we know that it goes to children. When we deliver vaccines, we know it's going in the children's arms. When we are doing, you know,
psychosocial support work to help children deal with the torment that they have been through, we are there with that child. There is no diversion of
those kind of services for children, you know.
And so, with all of these new plans around, you know, we're going to have a limited number of places where people can come and get aid, you know,
survival cannot be the privilege of those who can go and search for it. We have to meet vulnerable children. We have to meet new moms. We have to meet
disabled children, the elderly, the sick, the infirm where they are, and that means through sustained unimpeded humanitarian access, we do this all
around the world. Let us do our jobs.
SCIUTTO: I guess that partially answers my next question, which is to say, what would it take to fix this, right, to fix that just -- the endless, it
seems, need and march towards famine here? It can't just be a little bit of aid every once in a while, can it?
ENGLISH: No. And let's be honest, some of this will never be fixed. You will never fix the hole in the heart of a parent who has had to bury their
child. You'll never fix the -- you know, the sense of a child who goes to pick up a pencil and then remembers that their arm has been blown off in a
war, you know? But what we can do is we can provide a little bit of hope for the future.
And the first thing that needs to happen is an end to the fighting, a ceasefire, the hostage is released, and then a huge scale up of aid, to
allow us to reach these children and families, you know, to provide them, first of all, with the absolute basics to keep them alive. And then, you
know, schooling, education, all of those other things, which all of us is what we want for our children. Allow us to do this for the children of
Gaza.
SCIUTTO: Finally, can the people of Gaza be fed, given what they need to survive while Israeli military operations are still underway there? Are
those two things mutually exclusive?
ENGLISH: Well, one of the principles of humanitarian aid is impartiality, neutrality, independence, and that common sense of humanity, which means
that organizations like UNICEF will continue doing absolutely everything that we can to deliver no matter what the circumstances are.
Now, sometimes it will be safe, sometimes it won't be safe. We have already seen huge numbers of humanitarians killed, but we do not stop. You know,
these are our principles, and if you try and deliver humanitarian aid without that independence, without that neutrality and without that
impartiality, it's not humanitarian aid at all.
SCIUTTO: Well, Joe English, we appreciate the work that UNICEF does. Thanks so much for joining us.
ENGLISH: Thanks so much, Jim.
SCIUTTO: Coming up just after the break, the legendary singer Billy Joel is canceling upcoming tour dates as he battles a rare disorder affecting his
hearing vision and balance. A prognosis from our Dr. Sanjay Gupta next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:45:00]
SCIUTTO: The piano man, legendary musician Billy Joel is now taking a break, canceling all upcoming tour dates because of a neurological
disorder. CNN chief medical correspondent and practicing neurosurgeon Dr. Sanjay Gupta has more on Joel's diagnosis.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. We're talking about something known as normal pressure hydrocephalus. So, people
have heard of hydrocephalus maybe, that is something you typically associate with kids, with babies, water on the brain. What it really is,
and take a look at these images here, is an increase in fluid in these normal fluid-filled spaces in the brain.
Now, again, you typically associate it with children, but it can happen in adults as well. Typically, older adults, typically people over the age of
65. So, when you look at these images here on the left, that is sort of a normal brain. The image on the right, you can see that -- those black sort
of darker areas in the center of the brain, those are the ventricles and they are bigger, they are filled with more fluid. Typically, that happens
because the brain around those ventricles starts to shrink a bit and the ventricles sort of expand to fill that space.
This isn't something that happens commonly, but it is something that happens and is often associated with very classic symptoms. People may have
difficulty with walking and their balance. They may have difficulty with their bladder control overall. And they may have some cognitive
difficulties, memory problems.
A lot of times this is a mimic for things like Alzheimer's or even Parkinson's disease. People go into the hospital, they get this scan
because they're having symptoms and sometimes they see something like this, normal pressure hydrocephalus.
Now, if somebody has this, the good news is that it is potentially very treatable. Sometimes you put a needle in the lower back, something called a
lumbar puncture. You drain fluid, the fluid from the brain and the spinal cord is all circulating around together, you drain some of that fluid and
sometimes the patient starts to feel better pretty quickly. Their balance improves, their bladder control improves, their overall cognition improves.
If that is the case, then what surgeons -- and I do this procedure myself, what surgeons will do is sometimes put a catheter into the brain into that
fluid-filled space and then drain that fluid to another place in the body, usually in the abdomen. That is called a shunt and that is a more permanent
solution.
So, that may be what Billy Joel is sort of thinking about now, talking to his doctors about, but it is, again, a, potentially -- it's rare, but
potentially a very treatable condition. Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCIUTTO: Well, we wish Billy Joel the very best in his recovery. Straight ahead, your summer movie roundup. What's opening this weekend and who's
expected to win big.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:50:00]
SCIUTTO: Memorial Day marks the unofficial start of summer and the start of the summer blockbuster season as well. But brace yourself for a case of
deja vu, movie studios continue to bet big on remakes and sequels, lots of them. The two major releases this week are the latest insolvent of "Mission
Impossible" and Disney's live adaptation of "Lilo & Stitch."
Joining me now, entertainment journalist Segun Oduolowu. Good to have you. Thanks so much for joining today.
SEGUN ODUOLOWU, ENTERTAINMENT JOURNALIST: Thanks for having me, Jim. You said it best. It looks like deja vu all over again with Tom Cruise playing
Ethan Hunt in another "Mission Impossible." Maybe the last one. This is the eighth "Mission Impossible" that he's done. This was actually a two-parter
with the first part opening in 2023, and we've been waiting so long for this final reckoning, so to speak. But it's big blockbuster. It's over the
Memorial Day weekend. So, Tom Cruise doing his own stunts. It's supposed to bring somewhere between 75 and 85 million, which will seem low for an
American audience, but worldwide this is going to be tremendous.
And then, as you said, "Lilo & Stitch." Ohana means family and family means no one gets left behind and Disney is not leaving anything behind when it
comes to turning their cartoons into live action remakes. This is poised to do around 140 to 150 million with families of little kids. I know I'm
taking my daughter, to see it. So, this will have the theaters packed with kids wanting to see this movie.
And then, from there on the summer doesn't slow down. There's going to be movies galore that I love to talk about.
SCIUTTO: You know, I got to tell you, hey, listen, I'm excited to see some of these movies too. And by, by the way, I'm going to go to that sequel and
I'm not convinced it's the last in the series for "Mission Possible." I'm just telling you there's going to be to be continued at the bottom of the
screen.
But I do have to ask you, it's a lot of remakes, it's a lot of live action versions of beloved animated films, and it's a lot of sequels. I mean, what
-- is there any room for original filmmaking anymore?
ODUOLOWU: Yes. If your name is Ryan Coogler, if your name is not Ryan Coogler, then all you're going to do is get retreads. And the month of
June, you're going to see three in succession. You're going to see another "Jurassic Park" movie, this time starring Scarlet Johansson, right? Whole
new cast, but different dinosaurs. Then a couple days later, after you see Jurassic -- another "Jurassic Park," you're going to see another
"Superman," right? I mean, no one really asked for another "Superman," but we're going to get it, this time, directed by James Gunn. You're going to
get, you know, the Superdog. They're going to keep trying to make the Man of Steel not rust in the box office. And then, the "Fantastic Four" get
remade, remade, remade again. And this time with a female Silver Surfer.
So, the month of June, we'll see a new "Jurassic Park," another "Superman," and another "Fantastic Four." So, to your point, if you want original fare,
Ryan Coogler must be protected at all costs because he seems to be the only one that's doing that stuff.
SCIUTTO: I might just say, just keep the dinosaurs behind the fan. I'm just going to throw that out there as an idea. But anyway, very quickly if we
can, I mean, is there going to be the market for all these movies, right? Because some -- like, I mean, if some of the live action animated films
have not done so well, I mean, are you expecting a big windfall this summer?
ODUOLOWU: I am expecting a big windfall for "Lilo & Stitch." I think that Disney learned its lesson with "Snow White" and realized that bad press
before a movie opens is not a good thing. So, I do think people are going to go to the movie theaters this time to escape everything that's going on
in real life. Wherever you live is, it's stranger than fiction. You've got court trials, you've got reasons to just turn away from the TV and actually
go to a movie theater to escape the news, because the news is sort of depressing, as you know, covering it. So, let's all go get some popcorn and
go to the movies.
[18:55:00]
SCIUTTO: Yes. Well, I think I'm going to do that this weekend.
ODUOLOWU: There you go.
SCIUTTO: Segun Oduolowu, good to have you. I hope you have a nice weekend as well.
ODUOLOWU: Thanks, Jim.
SCIUTTO: A question, what's at the end of your garden? Perhaps a shed. A garage. Well, this man in Norway Canal boast to having a massive container
ship right on his lawn. You see it there. The vessel was reportedly headed down the coast with 16 people aboard when it ran aground. The ship's owner,
NCL, describes the beaching as a serious incident. They're trying to find out exactly why it ran aground and how to now refloat it.
Apparently, get this, the homeowner managed to sleep through the whole thing. Just wake up in the morning, a giant ship in your front law lawn.
I'd love to know how.
In today's Good Brief, a drought breaking celebration in North London. Tottenham Hotspur pet players and fans took to the streets today for a big
victory parade. This after winning their first trophy in 17 years. They beat Manchester United, one-nil in the Europa League Final on Wednesday.
Nice to see them celebrating. It's been a while up there.
Thanks so much for your company. I'm Jim Sciutto in Washington. You've been watching The Brief. Stay with CNN.
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[19:00:00]
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