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Connect the World
Trump Urges Republicans to Vote for Release of Epstein Files; U.S. Boosts Pressure on Venezuela as Strike Group Arrives; Pentagon Announces 21st Strike on Alleged Drug Boat; U.S. to Designate Venezuelan Cartel a Foreign Terrorist Organization; Saudi Crown Prince to Meet with Trump in DC This Week. Aired 9-10a ET
Aired November 17, 2025 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: A live look at a tent camp in Khan Yunis, Gaza, where a delicate ceasefire between Israel and
Hamas holds. Hours from now, the United Nations will vote on the next phase of the Gaza plan. It's 04:00 p.m. in Khan Yunis, and it is 02:00 p.m. here
in London.
I'm Christina Macfarlane in for Becky Anderson. This is "Connect the World". Also coming up, President Trump makes a sudden shift, calling on
House Republicans to vote in favor of releasing the Epstein documents. And the U.S. wraps up pressure on Venezuela, suggesting it could directly
target President Maduro's assets.
Stock market in New York opens about 30 minutes from now. Let's take a quick look. Futures are down, but not significantly, almost flat. Investors
will be keeping a close eye, of course, on Nvidia earnings this week, as fears of an AI bubble persist. Well, U.S. President Donald Trump is back in
Washington after a weekend at Mar-a-Lago amid a whirlwind of activity surrounding his administration, front and center.
The president is calling on House Republicans to vote to release the Jeffrey Epstein files in a stark about face from his previous stance. He's
also suggesting that the U.S. could target assets of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and infrastructure inside Venezuela.
And it was a weekend of fear and anger in Charlotte, North Carolina, as border patrol officers arrested dozens of people in the administration's
latest immigration blitz. But we start with President Trump's dramatic shift on the Epstein files. In a post on his website, he urged Republicans
to vote to release the files and move on from what he's calling a democratic hoax.
It marks a dramatic turnaround for the president, and comes just days before a likely House vote to release the files. Republican co-sponsor of
the bill, Thomas Massie, says it's possible 100 or more Republicans could support the measure. Well, Stephen Collison is joining me here to discuss.
So, Stephen, as we're saying, this is a total 180 from Trump, who just last week, was urging Republicans to vote against the bill. The question is, why
and what's changed?
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: I think the obvious conclusion to draw is that Trump knew he was going to have a heavy defeat,
and is now somehow trying to rebrand this vote, which we expect to take place this week, as his idea all along and to save himself his blushes.
It would be very unusual, unprecedented, almost, for the Republican House to stage such a revolt against the president. One characteristic spatting
his two terms in office has been his iron grip on the Republican coalition and the grassroots voters for whom this issue really is quite a big one, so
he doesn't want to be seen to be defeated.
The question is, does this mean we're more likely to get to see the Epstein files? Because, after all, the president could simply produce them himself.
He often remarks that he's the effective Head of the U.S. Justice System. These files are held by the Department of Justice, so I think if he really
wanted them to come out, he could just produce them.
Often, what Trump does is, when he's in a crisis, he adopts a position, sometimes a big reversal, to get him out of the immediate spot, and then he
trusts himself to maneuver in the future to alleviate the pressure. I think he's done that many times successfully before, and I don't think this is
the end of the story in this case.
MACFARLANE: No, certainly not. A fascinating flashpoint, Stephen, in this whole saga has been Donald Trump's escalating feud with Marjorie Taylor
Green, who I'm sure you'll heard over the weekend, voiced sharp criticism of the president over his reluctance to release the files before this about
face. What do you make of this very public breakup between the two?
COLLINSON: It's pretty fascinating, because Marjorie Taylor Greene, who represents a district in Northwest Georgia, was regarded when she came to
Washington four years ago, as more Trumpy than Trump. She adopted a lot of his stunt politics. She, for example, heckled President Joe Biden from the
floor of the House during his State of the Union address.
She was well known for conspiracy theorists. She is on something of a political journey herself.
[09:05:00]
She certainly has toned down the show up edges of her rhetoric. It's not just over Epstein that Marjorie Taylor Greene has broken with Trump. She's
also criticized him over his foreign policy trips, and most notably, over the rising cost of health care and the cost of living.
She says that Air Force One should be parked in the United States and Trump should adopt a purely domestic focus. What she's basically arguing is that
Trump, the architect of the MAGA philosophy in America First, is no longer being faithful to those principles.
You know, it's interesting because she obviously is living much more in the real world than the president is with his gilded lifestyle trips to Mar-a-
Lago his Winter Palace in Florida at the weekend. And I think she's probably channeling some Republican concerns that the president is becoming
out of touch.
But it is a very interesting political development. We'll have to see whether it portends a wider split between Trump and the Republican base and
certain people in the House as the midterm elections come into view next year.
MACFARLANE: Yeah, certainly be keeping a close eye on how it plays out with less than a year to go. Stephen, we appreciate it. Thank you. Let's turn
now to the immense pressure building in the Caribbean. The U.S. ramping up its military presence with a navy strike group led by the world's largest
aircraft carrier.
Over the weekend, the State Department announced it would label a Venezuelan cartel a foreign terrorist organization. President Trump
suggesting it will allow the U.S. military to target infrastructure and President Nicolas Maduro is assets in Venezuela.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: It allows us to do that, but we haven't said we're going to do that. And we may be discussing,
we may be having some discussions with Maduro, and we'll see how that turns out. They would like -- they would like to talk.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: And as he considers his military options, Mr. Trump made it clear he does not think permission from Congress is necessary.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I said, go to Congress and let them know we're not letting drugs come through Mexico. We're not letting them come through Venezuela. And let
Congress know about it. We don't have to get their approval. But I think letting them know is good. The only thing I don't want them to do is leak
information that's very important and confidential and may put our military at risk.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: All of this coming after months of American strikes on alleged drug traffickers at sea, the U.S. over the weekend, conducting its 21st
such attack, which killed three people. Stefano Pozzebon and joins us now from the Venezuela capital, Caracas.
So, Stefano, President Trump, says there will be discussions with President Maduro. Are you seeing any indications of that happening soon?
STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, we don't know if that would be happening soon. We know that Maduro has been trying to broker for those
discussions for months, frankly, and those discussions have happened in the past. It was only last February then the U.S. Special Envoy for hostage
negotiation, Richard Grenell was here in Caracas, and met personally with Maduro several times, and they were working out a deal in exchange for oil.
A lot of what happens in Venezuela, of course, has to do with oil, as this country sits on top of the largest oil reserves in the world. And the U.S.
is the largest importer of Venezuelan oil in the world. So, there is a lot to discuss in that terms. And of course, discussing business deals is
definitely much more palatable for Nicolas Maduro than discusses the bellicose rhetoric that we've seen coming out of the White House in the
last few months.
What I'm hearing from yesterday's stunning reversal, frankly, from the White House, is that I think that Trump and the White House, more in
general, is going back to an old, tried and tested approach towards Latin America, which is the carrot and the stick. So, on the same day that the
president opens the door to discussions with this government.
And let's remember that the White House and the U.S. in general do not recognize the maduro's government as a legitimate authority here in
Venezuela. The same time as they say that they're open to talk with them, we have the Secretary of State announcing that they will be declaring the
Cartel de los Soles, which is a an alleged narco-trafficking cartel headed by Maduro himself, as a foreign terrorist organization.
Now we understand that, that designation takes about a week to enter in place. And so, I think that that gives us a window for this negotiation to
happen. That's why I'm quite confident in saying that there will be some sort of intent in the upcoming hours and days, at least, from Maduro.
I think that they will see these weak almost as an ultimatum coming down from the White House, saying, let's sit down and let's really find a deal.
[09:10:00]
Let's find a profitable deal for all parties involved. Otherwise, you already know what's happening and what is coming to you. It's a designation
as a foreign terrorist organization with the largest and mightiest military power in the world at your door, with plenty of warships and aircraft
power.
I think that however, the challenge now is, what do you hope to obtain with that negotiation with Maduro. Maduro himself is a skilled negotiator. He
has dealt with Qataris, Norwegians. He has dealt with Colombian mediators, Venezuelan mediators. All of that will not -- was not able to sway him out
of his power.
So, I wonder if the White House feels like that. They have an inning in that. But however, I clearly see that there has been a change in the
narrative and a change in the pace of the story that we've been covering for the last few weeks, Christina.
MACFARLANE: Yeah, and last week, Stefano, of course, we're reporting on the mobilization of troops within Venezuela. Are you seeing any more military
preparation on the ground there, any signs there squaring for potential conflict with the United States?
POZZEBON: Yeah, we saw that on Saturday actually, that was remarkable, Christina, coming out of the mirror floor is the presidential palace. What
Maduro has said is that they passed a law the call on regular citizens, civilians, to come to the defense of the Fatherland in case of an attack.
And I think that we saw that on Saturday with ceremonies all across Venezuela, not just here in Caracas, but in several cities, with regular
citizens being asked to take an oath, to basically swear in, that they would fight and they would defend Venezuela in case of an attack.
I think that they were really preparing for the possibility of open conflict with the United States, not just by arming the troops and rallying
and preparing the military aspect, but also making sure that the civilian population would know what to do in case of an attack.
I think that will be perhaps sidelined a bit in the next coming hours and days, as I was saying, as probably Nicolas Maduro, who, by the way, on
Saturday, was on stage here in Caracas at the tune of imagine by the Beatles and portraying himself as a president of peace, will put on his
best deal maker mask and try to really convince Donald Trump to sit around the table and to sign a deal with him, Christina.
MACFARLANE: All right. Well, things are obviously moving a pace. We'll continue to follow it. Stefano, appreciate it for now. Thank you.
POZZEBON: Exactly.
MACFARLANE: Well, Venezuelan immigrants in the U.S. are watching these developments very closely. Some telling CNN they support American
intervention against President Maduro.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We didn't leave Venezuela because we wanted to. We fled Maduro, but now being here means not being able to fully be at peace
either, because we are afraid of being deported.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's time for him to go. I don't care if he goes to prison, they do something to him, or he just goes away to anywhere else,
but it's time for him and his government to go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: Charlotte, North Carolina, has become the latest target of President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown in the U.S. Over the past
weekend, at least 81 people were arrested during a mass deportation campaign dubbed Charlotte's Web. The Trump Administration says the search
targeted criminal illegal aliens who flocked to the Tar Heel State because they knew sanctuary politicians would protect them and allow them to roam
free on American streets.
The rate sparked protests and angered Democratic leaders who framed the operation as a political distraction ahead of next year's midterm
elections. CNN, Dianne Gallagher is following more reaction out of Charlotte there.
DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm actually on Central Avenue. This is an area that is usually very vibrant and busy. It is full
of businesses that are owned by and cater to immigrants. And since Saturday, when that U.S. Customs and Border Protection operation dubbed
Charlotte's Web began, it has been a ghost town.
I have never seen it like this in East Charlotte. We're in front of Manolo's Colombian bakery. It's a popular bakery here in Charlotte. They
have been closed since Saturday when the owner, who was a naturalized U.S. citizen, who now carries his passport everywhere with him, he tells me.
Showed me security video of two men in green uniforms chasing people through his parking lot. He said at that point he decided that he should
shut down for the safety of his customers, even though people from the community came out and sort of guarded his bakery. He said it was not worth
the risk to customers, so he shut down his bakery for the first time in more than a quarter century.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MANOLO BETANCUR, OWNER OF MANOLO'S BAKERY: I don't know when I'm going to open back, but I need to protect my customers. I need to protect my people.
I need to protect myself and my family. I don't even know who are approaching me and who is going to throw me to the floor.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GALLAGHER: Now, hundreds of people showed up in uptown Charlotte on Saturday afternoon to protest the operation.
[09:15:00]
DHS said that in just five hours on that first day, they arrested more than 80 people. Now videos of people being detained in front yards at Home Depot
and Lowe's and parking lots of restaurants quickly went viral around the city. This one here where federal agents smashed a car window in and then
detained a man who had a real ID and says he's been a U.S. citizen since 2019.
He told CNN that he pleaded with the federal agents to check his ID. Said they eventually did, and then dropped him off, letting him go. Now in a
statement, a Customs and Border Patrol agent said that officers had quote, approached an individual who acted increasingly erratic.
The individual escalated the situation and refused to comply to lawful commands by officers. One of the big concerns today is that this operation
started over the weekend, and this is the first day that school is back in session. The school district here in Charlotte, Mecklenburg, they said that
they are still going to have school as scheduled.
And at this point, there's been no notification there is any sort of immigration enforcement on their properties.
MACFARLANE: Thanks to Dianne Gallagher for that. Now, still to come, a CNN exclusive. Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister tells us his country's nuclear
program remains intact, despite American and Israeli strikes earlier this year.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MACFARLANE: Five months after the U.S. and Israel carried out strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities, it remains unclear just how much damage
was really done. U.S. President Donald Trump initially claimed the four- door nuclear facility had been obliterated. But U.S. intelligence assessments later suggested that Iran's nuclear program may have only been
set back about two years.
Well CNN's Fred Pleitgen sat down for an exclusive interview with Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister to talk about the strikes and the state of Iran's
nuclear program.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SAEED KHATIBZADEH, IRANIAN DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER: If the other side accept the logic of compromise, the logic of negotiation, and which is give
and take and abandon the -- some delusions that they do have, and abandon this tendency to achieve whatever they couldn't achieve through military
campaign, through any sort of political or diplomatic means. Then we think, within the framework of what Grand Ayatollah Khomeini said, we can move on.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Are you already rebuilding your nuclear program, and is it going to be as strong as it was
before?
KHATIBZADEH: The nuclear program, the peaceful nuclear program, is intact, as we are speaking. Yes. They have attacked. They have ruined many of our
infrastructure, machineries, you know, buildings. But the program is very much based on our indigenous knowledge, very much spread across our
country, which is a huge country, 90 million people, 1,600,000 square meter country.
And this country is not a country that you can bomb and then think that you know you are going to ruin everything.
[09:20:00]
This is a science, and this is a knowledge, and this is a no -- that we actually possess and we are going to be protecting that.
PLEITGEN: Does that mean expanding and strengthening your missile program?
KHATIBZADEH: A battle of repair and recovery started the moment that ceasefire happened. The battle of repair and recovery happened in Tel Aviv
by receiving thousands of shipments full of military equipment from United States and NATO members. And also, we started our battle of repair and
recovery. Our aim was to prevent another war. The other side the no aim was to be being prepared for another war.
So, we think that, you know, any means of defense, legitimate means of defense should be boosted by Iran, because no country on earth compromise
on its national security, and Iran is not an exception.
PLEITGEN: What is your message, then, to the Trump Administration, as it looks the situation in the Middle East? What would you say to them, as far
as dealing with Iran?
KHATIBZADEH: Iran is the oldest living continuous civilization on earth. I repeat, Iran is the oldest living civilization on earth. This country and
this nation are master of survival and master, you know, of just conquering all the turbulences and all ups and downs. The language that we respond is
the language of respect and equal footing.
And I think this is the language that based on which we can talk to other side, even if there are those aggressive.
PLEITGEN: President Trump said that the U.S. is now in wars to win them. Are there people in Iran who think at the higher level that Iran must
rethink its stance on nuclear weapons.
KHATIBZADEH: We are member of IAEA, even after all these atrocities and crimes that President Trump and his administration did by bombing over un
safeguarded peaceful nuclear facilities, we decided not to withdraw from NPT Non-Proliferation Treaty. And you know that this is why Israelis by
processing hundreds of nuclear warheads, they are not actually party to the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Why Iran has decided to remain in the realm of NPT, because Iran is very clear about this peaceful nuclear program. Not only we do have, you know, a
fatwa by our leader, Grand Ayatollah Khomeini, but also in our doctrine, the only thing that we are following is peaceful nuclear program and also
legitimate military program to defend our national interest and our national security.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: Now, in the coming hours, the United Nations Security Council is set to vote on a U.S. draft resolution based on phase two of President
Trump's plan for post war Gaza. It's focused on creating an interim government for the enclave, but also is expected to include a pathway to a
Palestinian state.
CNN's Nic Robertson is live for us from Jerusalem. So, and Nic just walk us through this resolution and whether we expect it to pass.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yeah, it was just over a month or so ago that President Trump put forward out his sort of 20-point
plan for peace in Gaza, and initially that was a ceasefire, the release of Palestinian prisoners, release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas and
others. And that's happened, but this is the difficult part.
Everyone knew it would be difficult. President Trump's initial plan was quite vague, just the bare bones. So, this, this U.N. Security Council
resolution that's drafted predominantly by the United States, aims to put flesh on those bones. It will talk about the board of peace.
This is the international body that will oversee Gaza. It will be in place for about two years. That's the expectation there. We'll talk about the
international stabilization force, Palestinian police force, that will be trained in Egypt and in Jordan. These are some of the details that we've
seen in a draft version of this document.
However, we don't know if that's going to be the final draft, and some of the language is very imprecise, and that gives concern to diplomats I've
spoken with, to aid organizations that I've spoken with, that in its current form, not enough detail to make it workable.
And one area that's already causing alarm in Israel is the line about moving forward if the Palestinian Authority or when the Palestinian
Authority reforms itself adequately, this may provide the path to discussions about a Palestinian state. Already, Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu has said there will be no Palestinian state, has been criticized from within his cabinet for allowing this sort of language.
But on the Palestinian side, where the language is placed, how the language is placed, the imprecise nature of discussing, what it is precisely the
Palestinian Authority has to do who will judge whether or not they've achieved this measure that will allow them to move forward to the
discussions of a Palestinian state.
All of that may not be enough, essentially, for Palestinians. So, this is a document that will be voted on at the U.N.
[09:25:00]
Even if it passes, it doesn't mean it's going to be successful, and we understand as well the possibility of another U.N. -- another Russian
counter resolution that may be put forward, and as a member of the permanent five on the Security Council, Russia could veto the U.S. proposal
as it stands right now. So, all of that's the frame going into this.
MACFARLANE: Yeah, and you mentioned, of course, Benjamin Netanyahu rejecting the idea of Palestinian state again. Let's just take a listen to
what he actually said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Our opposition to a Palestinian state in any territory west of the Jordan exists, is valid and has not
changed one bit. I have been rebuffing these attempts for decades, and I am doing it both against pressure from outside and against pressure from
within. So, I do not need affirmations tweets or lectures from anyone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: Nic, we know this is a key sticking point for Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as he prepares to meet Donald Trump in
Washington tomorrow to convince him to normalize ties with Israel by signing on to the Abraham Accords. So how do you expect that to play out as
an issue between the two leaders?
ROBERTSON: Yeah, there's really an expectation here in Israel that President Trump won't make any of the deals with Saudi Arabia that Saudi
Arabia wants, like F-35 fighter aircraft, like civil nuclear power projects, like a Security Treaty, the type of thing that Qatar recently
achieved with President Trump.
So, you know, from Israel's perspective, they think that President Trump will say to him, look, if you want all these things, then you're going to
have to normalize with Israel. But I was talking with Saudi contacts over the past day or so, and they seem to think that actually, what is going to
happen, that all these deals that the Saudis want to achieve with the White House.
And all the business deals that the United States would like to achieve with Saudi Arabia, will be separated out from the whole normalization
track. And the language that we've heard from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, MBS, as is known. He'll be in Washington with President Trump on
Tuesday.
The language has been using over the past two years with the war in Gaza has been getting stronger and stronger, very clearly saying that without a
Palestinian state, Saudi Arabia can't normalize with Israel. But there's another piece of that puzzle as well that's becoming clear from the Saudi
perspective.
And that is, they don't believe that they can achieve a Palestinian state with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in office, and we just heard him
saying there can be no Palestinian state. So, from a Saudi perspective, it appears as if they're sort of strengthening their position, essentially
saying, and maybe this is part of the conversation behind the scenes in Washington with President Trump.
We don't know, but it seems to be there indicating that they can't move forward on normalization path with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in
office. Of course, it's not up to them to have a say in domestic Israeli affairs, but it's the sort of thing that they're signaling to partners,
including the United States, right now.
MACFARLANE: All right, well, we will wait to see how that vote plays out in the hours ahead. Nic for now. Thank you. Bangladesh's Former Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina has been sentenced to death for crimes against humanity. A three-judge panel found her responsible for inciting hundreds of
extrajudicial killings during last year's crackdown on student led protests.
It is believed at least 1400 people were killed in the demonstrations that eventually toppled her government. Some of the victims' families were
inside the courtroom for the verdict.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is sentence of death.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: The 78-year-old former leader was tried in absentia after she self-exiled to India. She has criticized the trial as politically
motivated. When new protests erupted during the trial, and her son has warned of further violence if her party, the Awami League, are blocked from
taking part in next year's elections.
Let's get you up to speed on some other stories that are on our radar right now. In a show of military cooperation, the leaders of France and Ukraine
signed an agreement today bolstering Kyiv's air defenses as Russia escalates its attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure.
The Elysee Palace confirmed Ukraine will buy up to 100 French fighter jets as well as air defense missile systems and drones. Chile's presidential
race is heading to a tense runoff. Communist candidate Jeannette Jara will go up against ultra conservative veteran Jose Antonio Kast.
Jara took nearly 27 percent of the vote, while Kast claimed 24 percent, both far off the 50 percent needed for first round victory. However, cast
may benefit from the votes that went to the eliminated right-wing candidates.
[09:30:00]
Still to come, we are just seconds away from the U.S. market open, last week was a rocky one for Wall Street, marked by the worst day of losses in
months. There's the bell. And after a tech stock slump, investors have big expectations of AI chip giant Nvidia, and what that will spell? Will
explain after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MACFARLANE: Welcome back, I'm Christina Macfarlane, and you are watching "Connect the World". This is a pivotal week ahead for U.S. markets, after a
rocky few days led by tech stock swings. Investors have turned their attention to a key earnings report from AI chipmaker Nvidia, due out on
Wednesday.
And with the end of the longest U.S. government shutdown in history, Wall Street is also bracing for the release of a slew of backlogged federal data
that includes the September jobs report, originally due out in October. All of this as President Donald Trump says his administration worked this
weekend on lowering prices as they focus on the issue of affordability.
Well, let's discuss all of this with Art Hogan, Chief Market Strategist at B. Riley Financial. Great to see you Art. So, investors awaiting that
highly anticipated release of Nvidia's third quarter earnings, due out Wednesday. That's after last week's tech stock slump. What's going to be
the significance of this report? How much is riding on it?
ART HOGAN, CHIEF MARKET STRATEGIST AT B. RILEY FINANCIAL: Well, quite a bit. I think the good news is Nvidia is going to report at a point in time
where they're not trading at an all-time high, nor the other artificial intelligence darlings having come off some significant peaks.
And I think that sets it up for a much better reaction function to the news they'll deliver. They will talk to us about 56 percent revenue growth on a
year over year basis, and a sequential revenue growth of about 62 percent. They'll certainly talk to us about the fact that it's not a demand issue
for any of their chips.
It's a supply issue. So, the supply constraint, they'll continue to give us numbers that are outstanding that don't include anything from China. So,
all of that, I think, is going to be a real positive and affirmation that we're still in the early innings of this artificial intelligence
revolution.
And will likely reignite some of the enthusiasm for the technology trade, which certainly came off the boil last week and likely in a much better
place. I think, when we think about the Mag6 names, and if you exclude Tesla, which I think is appropriate, you're talking about a group that
trades at about 32 times but has gross margins of 65 percent and grows their earnings at an average of 63 percent and grows their revenues at an
average of 68 percent.
[09:35:00]
So clearly, the higher multiple makes a great deal of sense if you were to back them out of the S&P 500, the rest of the stocks, the other 494 stocks
traded about 19 times. And I think that's a much more appropriate way to look at this. So, I think that any of the conversation that we had last
week about things getting ahead of themselves, likely gets put in the rear- view mirror after Nvidia reports.
MACFARLANE: Yeah, well, hopefully we'll stay steady a few nerves where AI is concerned. We're also, of course, expecting that slew of government data
out this week, which is now after the longest ever American shutdown, government shutdown in history, the much-awaited September jobs report was,
of course, supposed to be published on October 3rd, finally to be released on Thursday.
And as one economist told CNN when the government was shut down, we could believe whatever we wanted to believe. Now that is over. So, what do you
expect the potential impact on markets to be?
HOGAN: Well, I can tell you this, that the notion that the fed would cut rates in December before the shutdown, looked like about an 80 percent
chance. Now it stands at about 45 percent. I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that we've been in a vacuum of actual government data.
I think the fact that we need the September jobs report, which will be quite obsolete, will continue to show us that the mandate for full
employment is the one thing the fed will like to defend the hardest. And I think that as we catch up to the November data in the first week of
December.
Right before their meeting, the fed's going to have a picture that says we need to defend one of our dually -- our dual mandates more than the other,
and that's going to be the full employment mandate, and that likely has them cut again.
MACFARLANE: President Trump, on Friday signed an executive order exempting certain agricultural imports from a set of tariffs on -- from a set of
tariffs. He also said his administration worked on lowering prices this weekend amid a switch on focus on affordability, President Trump pledging
during his campaign to make America affordable again, lest we forget.
And we haven't heard that promise in months, but now we're hearing it again. The question is, why now? And is this a response to the poll showing
American concerns about prices in the economy?
HOGAN: 100 percent I think if you look at the last election cycle, which went entirely democratic, I think the reason was affordability. The one
thing the exit polling showed was affordability is the biggest concern of the majority of this country. And, you know, it's very, you know, easy for
the administration to say things like, we're working on affordability, but it's difficult to juxtapose that against the fact that they continue a
trade war with everyone in the world.
So, the fact that they're pulling back tariffs on things that we just don't do here, bananas and coffee and vanilla and those types of things, while
notionally nice to say, going to have very little impact. And I would argue that for the most part, presidents, unless they have bad policy, don't
really impact prices.
Supply, demand typically impacts prices. So, if prices are going higher, it has to do with the kind of policies they've moved forward, in a lesson,
until they back away from that, we're going to see ongoing price increases, especially for imported goods.
MACFARLANE: All right. Art Hogan, we appreciate it. Costs set to rise for Thanksgiving dinner this year. I think we'll wait to see. Appreciate it.
Thank you.
HOGAN: Thank you.
MACFARLANE: Now the World Cup is meant to be for the big names. And on Sunday, one man contributed his remarkable campaign and propelled Norway to
qualification.
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MACFARLANE: Now it's only right that Erling Haaland will be at the World Cup next summer, with an always place confirmed on Sunday after victory
over Italy, the 25-year-old did it in sensational style, as we come to expect from him. Amanda, tell us how.
AMANDA DAVIES, CNN WORLD SPORT: Yeah. I mean, Erling Haaland, for a long time, has talked about the feeling of weight and expectation on his
shoulders for his country. Norway, haven't been at a World Cup final since 1998 since France 98. And they all but secured their place last week, but
they had to get over the line yesterday against Italy.
Italy themselves looking to get back automatically to World Cup finals. But Erling Harland, we shouldn't be surprised, scored another two goals. He
scored 16 goals in eight games in this qualifying. That's more than twice any other player in the entirety of European qualifying on his own.
MACFARLANE: Unbelievable. I've seen 55 goals in 48 matches for his country -- something --
DAVIES Yeah, he's a man that can't be stopped, but absolutely deserves to be at the World Cup finals.
MACFARLANE: Yeah.
DAVIES: People want to see him on the biggest stage, so a huge moment for him and for Norway. And of course, they will be in that draw on December
the fifth, but it was a big night across the board. We're really getting to crunch point for so many of the teams, so that's what we're going to be
looking at in a couple of minutes in "World Sport".
MACFARLANE: We look forward to it. Thank you, and stay with Amanda. "World Sport" coming up after this quick break.
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