Return to Transcripts main page

Quest Means Business

U.N. Mulls Tough New Sanctions for North Korea; Turkey's President Slams Merkel Over EU Comments; Top Executive Defend U.S. "Dreamers"; La Liga Boss Calls for Action Over Manchester City Sponsors. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired September 04, 2017 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:00] RICHARD QUEST, CNN HOST: No trading on Wall Street as the United States celebrates Labor Day. The rest of the world was open for

business, and we've got the details for you. It is Monday. It is the 4th of September.

Tonight, the end of the road. U.N. leaders calling for the strongest sanctions yet on North Korea. Turkey's President is attacking angle Merkel

over her call to block Ankara from joining the EU. And defending the Dreamers. More top tech executives want President Trump to rethink his

immigration plan. We'll have the details.

I'm Richard quest, live in the world's financial capital where there's no trading today, but a beautiful Statue of Liberty. Because of course, here

we still mean business.

Good evening, tonight, North Korea is begging for war, in the view of the United States. As the U.S. is calling for the strongest possible sanctions

on Pyongyang just days after the north claimed to have tested a hydrogen bomb. The Treasury Secretary, Stephen Mnuchin, says he is drawing up tough

new measures for President Donald Trump to consider. And at an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council, U.S. ambassador, Nikki

Haley, said all diplomatic options must be exhausted before it's too late.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIKKI HALEY, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: For then 20 years the Security Council has taken actions against North Korea's nuclear program.

And for more than 20 years North Korea has defied our collective voice. Enough is enough. We have taken an incremental approach and despite the

best of intentions, it has not worked. His abusive use of missiles and his nuclear threats show that he is begging for war.

QUEST: Michelle Kosinski is our senior diplomatic correspondent. She's at Washington at the State Department. OK, the rhetoric is tough, but what is

it that the U.S. now actually wants to happen? I mean, since clearly Kim is not just going to give up his nuclear ambitions. So, what's the U.S. is

agenda?

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN SENIOR DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENT: well, it's clear that first off, after the stunning development, another nuclear test, the

U.S. wanted to put it out there right away the scary possibility of military action. Even though analysts, you know -- everyone knows that

that is a remote possibility and an absolute last resort. But you see the administration wanted to put that out there first off. A message to Kim

Jong-un that the capability at least is there. But you hear from the State Department that they have lots of options, diplomatic, military and

economic. The problem of course, is none of this has worked in the past and what do you do now? So, you see the U.S. preparing its own economic

sanctions and that could get considerably tougher, if they go to target, say, Chinese banks and larger ones. Not just some of the smaller

incremental measures that we've seen in the recent past.

We know from what we hear again and again there from Nikki Haley at the U.N., other nations need to do more. At this point she's almost shaming

other countries, namely China, to try to really step this up. But it was very telling today to hear right after her and she's been trying to ramp up

the rhetoric, but after a while there is not much more she can say about this. It sounds kind of a whole lot like the last time we heard her before

the U.N. after the last North Korean provocation. But right after her you hear China and you hear Russia aligned to gather and putting out their

idea. Saying that how about if North Korea halts its missile program if the U.S. and South Korea stop working together on these preemptive military

options. So, you see that, you know, the desire is not there yet for China to do as much as the U.S. wanted to.

QUEST: Now, I understand the reasons why China, for example, doesn't want obviously a collapse of North Korea and the potential for a South Korea all

the way up to the border with U.S. troops to their shared border. Similarly, for Russia. But at some point, the greater threat must be,

surely, North Korea -- a nuclear North Korea with allegedly a madman at the controls versus a closer U.S. troops because of a fall.

[16:05:03] KOSINSKI: Absolutely. China just isn't there yet. They don't see the threat as being that eminent. Obviously, not as urgent as the U.S.

and Western countries are talking this up as. They feel like they have some time. They want to take the very slow, incremental approach that we

have seen. So, I think it's interesting, you know, from the U.S. perspective, it seems like why isn't China doing anything? And there's a

real point to be made there, but when you see China using the stronger condemnation of North Korea that it hasn't quite done in the past, taking

some economic steps, it doesn't seem like progress from somebody who is watching in the U.S.

But it really is progress when you see them in the past having blocked some of these measures in the U.N. So, China is getting there. They see the

steps that they are taking as significant and appropriate, but there's obviously a big gap between the way the west sees this threat and what

China is willing to do at this point. Because there's also the thought that they don't want to escalate things either. They want to take this

much more deliberatively than the U.S. does.

QUEST: Michelle, thank you, good to see you. Thank you,

KOSINSKI: You too.

QUEST: Nikki Haley told the U.N. than a quarter of a century of half measures on North Korea has failed and now it was time for a new course.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

Haley: only the strongest sanctions will enable us to resolve this problem through diplomacy. We've kicked the can down the road long enough. There

is no more road left.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: So, if there's no more road left, then the diplomatic options are now starting to get extremely difficult. You have, first of all, the

option of tougher sanctions, few options remain here. There is Chinese oil, which is vital to the Kim regime. There is also the possibility of

sanctioning Chinese banks and fining them for dealing with North Korea. And there is North Korean textiles which are imported by China, but these

are -- I mean, relatively limited, except for the oil one, and likely to have muted response.

And then you've got trade pressure. This is a new one. This is a new when they came out from President Trump, who has now threatened trade, or to

stop trade with all of those countries that still continue to do business with North Korea. The obvious candidate here for this would be China,

which has as I just said, some very strong trading relations with North Korea.

So, today at a press conference, China said, that's not fair. And let us not forget that the U.S./China trade relationship is the largest bilateral

trade relationship in the world and it would likely start a global recession, any disruption. And then of course, if you're not going to do

sanctions, and you're knocking to do trade pressure, you are left with continuing to kick the can down the road yet again and continue with the

status quo.

Sung-Yoon Lee a professor of Korean studies at Tufts University in Boston and joins me now. Professor, this is tricky and dangerous. But what for

you seems to be the only way forward?

SUNG-YUNG LEE, PROFESSOR IN KOREAN STUDIES, TUFTS UNIVERSITY: Enforced sanctions. Sanctions are not self-enforcing. U.N. Security Council

resolutions are tough on paper but the plain fact is no country, including the United States or even South Korea that faces the greatest threat from

the North, no country has ever really uniformly enforced sanctions. There is a lot more that the U.S. could do. Use nonlethal means to isolate

financially the Kim regime. And as you mentioned, designate, blacklist, more Chinese banks. It's a tactic that's been very fruitful in the case of

sanctions against Iran. Treasury officials traveled all over the world, got major European automakers to stop their business deals with Iran. Hit

a major French bank with almost $9 billion in fines. So, the U.S. certainly, could do that, yet has shied away from doing that out of fear.

QUEST: Why? So, you say out of fear. Fear of what? Bearing in mind that now the fear of a nuclear weapon is real.

LEE: That's the greater fear. Certainly, that's the greater threat. But out of concern of escalation by North Korea. You know, a lot of people of

various political persuasions over the past quarter century have pontificated that North Korea does these things, provokes, because they're

paranoid. Their nukes are only for self-defense or maybe a bargaining chip. No. North Korea has a compelling systemic need to be a menace. To

credibly threaten to nuke a major U.S. city. Why?

[16:10:00] Because of the internal dynamic in the Korean Peninsula. It faces a far more legitimate, attractive, prosperous Korean state across the

border, which is a magnet to North Korea's own people. So, North Korea needs to isolate and emasculate and may be, just maybe, one day be able to

dominate South Korea. And the key step is to get the U.S. out of there.

NEWTON: It's not going to happen though is it, in that sense? Because now there is this nuclear capability within ICBM. As they had of the IEA said

today, North Korea is no longer a regional threat, it's now a global threat. And although it may have threatened to terrorize South Korea,

Japan and other parts of eastern China, now it can hit the United States. It's got bigger problems.

LEE: Certainly, North Korea is not suicidal. It does not necessarily seek a war with the United States anytime soon, but it wants to go there to

instill in the U.S. administration some moral doubt, dilemma. Do we honor our treaty obligations to defend our key allies in the region, South Korea

or Japan, putting millions of American lives at risk, or do we perhaps pull out or settle for an expedient settlement? You know, a nuclear deal as you

seen before.

QUEST: Professor, look, finally though, we were talking about this earlier on "QUEST EXPRESS," the reality is in any confrontation, the North is going

to lose. Yes, there may be large, widespread damage elsewhere. There may be, God forbid, millions killed elsewhere. But Kim knows that in any

military action he is going to lose.

LEE: Kim knows that. His father knew it. His grandfather knew it. But they've also long known that the stomach, the appetite for escalation is

certainly not there in South Korea or the U.S. They have simply far more to lose. South Korea has grown very rich over the past six decades. There

is no public support, no government to resolve to continue to escalate tension with North Korea. North Korea has shown little regard for human

life, for the lives of their own citizens. They pursued a policy of deliberate mass starvation according to a landmark U.N. study that came out

in 2014. So, because of that dynamic North Korea is able to get away with murder. And over the past six decades in even egregious cases of murder,

killings of Americans and South Koreans. There has never been a military response from either the U.S. or South Korea, and that dynamic will remain

for this foreseeable future.

QUEST: Good to have you with us tonight, Professor, thank you. Much appreciated.

LEE: Thank you.

QUEST: Now, worries over North Korea spread to the Asian financial markets. Look at the numbers and you'll see exactly what I mean. The

KOSPI was down 1.1 percent, while you expect that. Although it's very likely, the ability of the KOSPI to bounce back is quite remarkable. Hong

Kong was off as the indicators fell. So, even the Australian index fell in sympathy.

At the epicenter of this crisis is of course, Seoul, which is now facing pressure from all sides. Think about it. It's facing military pressure

from Pyongyang and diplomatic pressure from Beijing, particularly over THAD missiles. And even now economic pressure from Washington. The

relationship between the White House and the Korean blue house is looking strained. Just think about it like this, it took 30 hours for President

Trump to pick up the phone and speak to President Moon about this latest crisis. Paula Hancocks is in Seoul for us this evening. Paula, I just

outlined briefly, annual go into more detail, Seoul put the THAD missile in and China gets angry. It's got a trade dispute potentially with the United

States. And a military potential dispute with North Korea. They must be feeling somewhat beleaguered.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Richard. I mean, they're stuck between a rock and a hard place. Who did they want to please? Now

certainly, they want the alliance with the United States to remain strong. We've seen that distance between the U.S. and South Korea when it comes to

deciding what to do about North Korea. In that has been a concern for many South Koreans.

We've even seen state-run media in North Korea, KCNA, grasp on that. And point at it that there is a rift between these two once very close allies.

Although, of course, militarily they're still very close. Now with this phone call between Mr. Trump and Mr. Moon, we did hear them both pledge to

strengthen joint military capabilities. Also saying, that they're going to maximize pressure on Korea using all means at their disposal. But as you

say, it did take more than 30 hours before that phone call took place.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[16:15:04] HANCOCKS (voice-over): It started so well. A state visit in June. A dinner, agreement on North Korea. Then a slight blip as U.S.

president Donald Trump publicly chastised the South Korean leader for what he saw as an unfair trade deal. But North Korean missile launches brought

back the alliance that we are used to seeing. Shows a force U.S. and South Korean military side-by-side, shoulder to shoulder.

And now this on Sunday. A direct jab to the South Korean President go to sleep South Koreans President's Moon Jae-in desire for more dialogue with

the North. A tweet from President Trump that read, South Korea is finding, as I have told them, that their talk of appeasement with North Korea will

not work, they only understand one thing!

JOHN DELURY, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, YONSEI UNIVERSITY: You can't really get a more toxic term than appeasement. And so, to throw that at your ally who

apparently is saying to President Trump, look, dialogue needs to be part of the mix. At this moment when North Korea has just tested a nuke, it's a

real head spinner as to, you know, what the President thinks he gets out of that.

HANCOCKS: Senior U.S. White House officials tells CNN, Mr. Trump has grown frustrated with Mr. Moon's stance on North Korea, which he believes is too

soft. President Trump spoke to Japan's leader, Shinzo Abe, twice in 24 hours over North Korea's actions. But took far longer to pick up the phone

to South Korea's leader. Leaving some in Seoul to ask, what happened?

This man says, we are the ones dealing with this directly. It's fine to talk to Abe, but Trump should have talked to the South Korean President

first. If there is war, it will be on this Peninsula.

This young woman says, if the U.S. response to strongly to North Korea, North Korea might choose an extreme response. I'd like to know what

responsibility Mr. Trump would take if that happens.

Walking the streets of Seoul, it doesn't look like a country technically at war. Tensions are not visible. But there is concern all the way up to the

president that military confrontation with the North be avoided at all costs. And to that President Trump's insistence of free trade deal that

South Korea thought was signed sealed and delivered, be renegotiated, confusion is rife.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HANCOCKS: The one side that really couldn't be happier about this perceived rift between the U.S. and South Korea, is of course, North Korea.

Any less of a unified response to these military, these missile and nuclear test that North Korea carries out is only going to give him political

success, along with the recent tactical success we've seen from Pyongyang - - Richard.

QUEST: Paula, just in a sentence or two, you've been now our correspondent in Seoul for some years. I am seeing phrases in the press, comments from

leaders like, this is the greatest threat towards war we've ever seen. How do you rate all of this?

HANCOCKS: It's interesting, one expert I was talking to today, in fact, John Delury, who was in that piece, did remind me that this time last year,

or just a little over a year ago, we weren't even talking about potential military options. This has now become commonplace. We're talking about it

almost every single day, whether or not the military options are feasible. Whether or not how catastrophic they would be. They weren't even being

mentioned just over a year ago. So, that just shows you how far we have come in a relatively short amount of time -- Richard.

QUEST: Paula, thank you. I know it's late there. We're grateful you stayed up late -- or earlier I should say. The early hours of the morning

to talk to us tonight, thank you.

The two contenders in the German elections, both are opposing turkeys hopes of joining the European Union. And Turkey says Germany is succumbing to

populism and prejudice. We will discuss all of that in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:20:46] No trading in the United States today. It is the Labor Day holiday. Traditionally signifies if you like, the end of the summer. The

European markets all finish lower and they were of course rattled by what we've been talking about, North Korea. Switzerland's SMI was the worst

performer of the day down nearly 1 percent. At the same time, gold's prices spiked. Your well familiar with, we talked about it many times on

this program. That gold is a commodity as a safe haven in terms of economic and geopolitical stress. People rush to gold.

Turkey has condemned the German Chancellor Angela Merkel after she claimed that Ankara's entry into the European Union should be put on hold. Mrs.

Merkel made the comments during a televised TV debate with her election rival, Martin Schulz, on Sunday

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANGELA MERKEL, GERMAN CHANCELLOR (through translator): First of all, Erdogan, of course we need to deal clearly and I have a lot of experience

talking to with Mr. Erdogan on this issue. Secondly, it's not about support beforehand and turkey should not be a member of the EU, that is

also clear. And I will discuss with colleagues again to see if we can come to a joint position and these ascension negotiations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: It's now only 20 days until polling opens in Germany. CNN's Atika Schubert is our correspondent in Berlin.

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Richard, an estimated 30 million viewers tuned in to this debate. But anyone who is looking for a thrilling

political fight was probably underwhelmed. One commentator called it more of a duet than a jewel. Especially with opposition candidate, Martin

Schultz, actually agreeing with Angela Merkel on a number of key points.

Now the debate raged for more than an hour and a half on all sorts of topics. Merkel actually spent a large chunk of it defending her decision

in 2015 to open the borders to nearly a million refugees. But the highlight probably came when both candidates talked tough on Turkey.

Specifically, both candidates said that they did not believe Turkey should become a member of the EU. Merkel at one point suggesting that the EU

ascension talks could be frozen. She hedged that a little bit later saying that this is something that needs to be discussed with other EU leaders.

There were also other topics discussed, such as North Korea and the economy. And for anyone wondering just how much Brexit would impact this

election, it was not mentioned once over the course of the debate.

But the bottom line is, for Schultz, he really wasn't able to break through and differentiate himself from Merkel. And part of the problem is that his

party, the Social Democrats, has been part of this grand coalition with Merkel's Christian Democrats over the last terms. So, during the debate

Merkel was able to claim credit for a lot of policies. But Schultz wasn't always able to provide a substantially different or viable alternative.

All in all, the last media poll out of the debate showed that 55 percent of respondents believe that Merkel was more convincing. Only 35 percent said

Schultz was the more convincing candidate -- Richard.

QUEST: Atika Shubert in Berlin, thank you.

Turkey has accused German politicians of bowing down to populism and prejudice. It's reported that EU leaders will meet next month to discuss

the Turkey situation. The commission says Europe's patients won't last forever.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARGARITIS SCHINAS, SPOKESMAN, YOU EU COMMISSION: This is a decision for member states to take. We are very concerned with developments as they are

unfolding. Our support to Turkey, and this is again, a quote from the president. Is not unlimited and is not unconditioned, unconditional. Much

has happened in the recent months. And we have to be able to reflect on these things calmly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: Marc Pierini is the former EU ambassador and former head of the delegation to Turkey. He joins me from France. Ambassador, the idea now

that Germany is wanting to break off ascension talks, to use the phrase you know, bring them to an end.

[16:25:01] It's not a surprise, but from turkeys point of view it pretty much shuts the door on anything happening anytime soon.

MARC PIERINI, FORMER EU AMBASSADOR: Indeed. It is an abolishment in the German position. Because until now the Chancellor was saying, my party is

against, but Germany has promised to hold any decisions, so, we will be patient. Now she's change position. Schultz is on the same line. And

it's not too surprising.

If you look back at the past few weeks or a few months, you have this massive interference in the German election with the Turkish President

saying to Germans of Turkish origin, don't vote for CDU, don't vote for SPD, and don't vote for the Greens. That's called interference and also,

it's a strange calculus. Because all of the three parties, or maybe two, or maybe three One of these parties will be governing Germany in a few

weeks.

QUEST: What is it do you think that's finally -- is it the interference in the election? Or is it the seemingly abuse of human rights? Or is it the

shift toward autocratic rule? I mean, what is it? They might be down to, it was return of the hanging.

PIERINI: It is a combination of a very sour story. With Germany, specifically you have interference. You have these hostages, 10, 12

Germans. Including four Germans in jail on flimsy charges of terrorism. You have the airbase, visiting members of the Bundestag. And if you go

back to March you have these references to Nazis and gas chambers. That doesn't go down the German public or the civilians of European

straightaway. So, it is a combination. And indeed, as you said, rule of law has gone down the drain. So, Turkey is not meeting the criteria.

QUEST: Ambassador, bearing in mind that Germany is now against. France has been in that position. I mean, the you might as well just rip it all

up. This isn't going to happen, is it?

PIERINI: You need unanimity in ascension negotiations. If you want to close them. You need unanimity. And, you know, you may have Viktor Orban

in Hungry, saying, no, no, no, I want to keep it the dialogue open. But everybody knows that abridges been broken by now. And the mood is

extremely negative. That leaves very little Turkey and the European Union. It leaves the improvement of the Customs Union, which is beneficial to both

sides. But even that in Germany looks pretty difficult now.

QUEST: Ambassador, good to see you, Sir. Enjoy France. I hope the weather is good there, thank you.

As we continue, Russia and China share the same border and the same policy when it comes to North Korea. We're going to be at the BRICS Summit which

was dominated by the talk on Kim Jong-un's latest moves. That's next on QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, live from New York.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:30:24] Hello. I Richard Quest. There's a lot more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS in just a moment. When the list of executives opposing Donald

Trump's latest immigration moves seems to get longer by the minute.

And it's Manchester City versus the entire Spanish football league. The League boss, thinks City's sponsors are guilty of foul play. As we

consider those and other issues, remember, this is CNN and on this network the news always comes first.

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations is telling the Security Council that Kim Jong-un is begging for war. Nikki Haley says the U.S. will soon

circulate a new resolution in response to North Korea's latest nuclear test. The resolution will be voted on next week. South Korea's ambassador

says the resolution must be truly biting.

Meanwhile, they had of the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog agency says that North Korea has evolved from a regional menace to a global threat. Nikki Amano

told CNN Pyongyang claims that it has tested a hydrogen bomb, represents a new dimension of threat. He says it's difficult to guess the country's

next step.

The remains of passengers from Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 may be handed over to the Netherlands. The Russian state news report that that

prosecutors from Donetsk in Eastern Ukraine said they are ready to turn over remains. Almost 300 people died back in July 2014 when the 777 was

shot down over Ukraine.

Kenya set a date for its presidential election -- it second election. It will take place on October 17. The Supreme Court throughout the previous

vote. President Uhuru Kenyatta won that election over the opposition candidate, Raila Odinga. The Supreme Court upheld the petition of Odinga

who claimed Mr. Kenyatta's reelection was fraudulent.

Kensington Palace has announced the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are expecting their third child. The Queen and both families are to be excited

at the news. Kate has been cared for at Kensington Palace with a condition which causes severe nausea and vomiting. She experienced it also with her

first two pregnancies, with Prince George and Princess Charlotte.

Donald Trump says to ramp up the pressure on Pyongyang he might end trade with any country that does business with North Korea. And not so thinly

veiled threat aimed at the other side of the Yalu River in China where the BRICS economies are gathered for a summit. They sent condemnation over

North Korea's nuclear test and continued to say dialogue is the best way forward.

China and Russia have key roles to play despite repeated rounds of U.N. sanctions. The goods continue to flow between North Korea and China every

day. Whether by sanctions or by armed conflict. If the regime in the North is brought down, China fears chaos on its doorstep. Think about it.

Refugees would pour over the border and you would have two or more armies nearby. CNN's Andrew Stevens is at the BRICS Summit and shunning.

ANDREW STEVENS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Richard, I think the word that best describes the reaction by economists and analysts to Donald Trump's tweet

is incredulous. The world's two biggest economies, the U.S. and China, $650 billion in two-way trade. Stopping that dad would be absolutely

disastrous. It would be disastrous for China obviously, but also for the U.S. Well over $100 billion of that two-way trade is actually U.S. exports

going to China. So, without that, you're going to have a lot of people with no money and no work. In fact, the only people who seem to be taking

this threat in any way seriously are the Chinese themselves. They say it's unacceptable. And it's also unfair. There working really, really hard

they say, two denuclearize the Korean Peninsula. And should not be sanctioned for it.

But certainly, Donald Trump has brought the spotlight at least two what China could possibly do. And what it can possibly do is Oil supplies to

North Korea. That would hurt. The equation though, is China prepared to do that and run the risk of destabilizing the North Korean community to the

extent it could get millions of refugees flooding across its border. At this stage China is giving no indication it's prepared to even push in that

direction because that could be the result -- Richard.

QUEST: Andrew Stevens in China. Thank you.

[16:35:16] Now in Moscow, Vladimir Putin has been happy to follow China's lead. His public view is that only diplomacy can solve this crisis.

Russia shares a narrow border with North Korea, they don't want war and the U.S. military forces in their back yard either. Jill Dougherty has got

that side of the story from Moscow.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Russia's advice to the United States and North Korea is keep your cool. Don't escalate things any

further, President Vladimir Putin in China for a regional meeting spoke by phone with South Korean President Moon. He said the resolution of this

extremely complex and difficult situation is through negotiations. Through political and diplomatic means. Meanwhile, Russia is sticking with that

plan that it and China support, namely, freeze-freeze. North Korea, by this plan would, have a moratorium on testing and the United States would

stop carrying out military exercises with its partners in the region.

Meanwhile, CNN, asked the spokesperson for President Putin Dmitry Peskov to comment on statements by the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki

Haley, who said that Kim Jong-un, quote, is begging for war. Peskov said is easy for countries not in the region to use words like war, but for

countries in the region, you have to be smarter and wiser. The consensus here in Moscow appears to be that the rhetoric that the United States is

using about North Korea is like trying to put out fire with kerosene. Jill Dougherty, Moscow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: As we continue, the futures of nearly a million young people in the U.S. looking increasingly uncertain. One of President Obama's key

immigration protections is facing the ax.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: President Trump will end the Dreamers immigration program, according to various sources. Now, the program is officially called the

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA. It protects undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children. They are known as

the Dreamers. It prevents them from being deported. This is what happens.

They had to have arrived in the U.S. before the age of 16. They must be under the age of 31 as of the date of 2012. And they must not have any

felony convictions.

[14:40:00] If they meet these conditions and there are nearly 800,000 people who do benefit from these -- from the DACA conditions then they are

allowed to stay and they can have work permits, as well. The vast majority of DACA beneficiaries are from Mexico. Mexico 75 percent. You have young

people from Asia as well, 4.2 percent. And Europe is less than 1 percent.

The vast majority, this number here. Three-quarters of it come from the southern border -- across the southern border. Sara Murray is at the White

House and joins me now. Look, Sara, let's put this into some context. Doesn't -- let me be even-handed here. Doesn't the president actually have

a valid point when he is basically saying this is really up to congress to do something properly with proper immigration reform, to regularize and

sort these people out once and for all?

SARA MURRAY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think, of course the president has a valid point on this. That is certainly the reaction we've

heard from Republicans. A number of the Republicans have welcomed the announcement we are expecting from the president tomorrow, saying it should

be up to congress to fix it. But I think the reason you are seeing some backlash and skepticism. There was nothing stopping congress on a fix to

this earlier. There was no appetite and there are certainly struggling viewpoints on this that are clashing in congress., Democrats look at this

and say, what this will end up doing is punishing kids for decisions their parents made on their behalf. There is not necessarily a ton of optimism

that congress will come through on something like this.

QUEST: Excellent point. So, in that scenario, Sara, why do you think that the president wants to go, or the administration, wants to go for this

particular issue knowing the pathetic-ness of congress to actually deal with it?

MURRAY: The Trump Administration is facing a number of lawsuits from state attorneys general who are challenging the executive order from President

Obama. There is a lawsuit on the table could force a decision one way or another. I think the reason it has taken this long is because he has

personally struggled with this. He has been on basically every side of this issue. He said he would end DACA immediately and has also said he

would protect the Dreamers. You love the dreamers. You shouldn't punish kids for the decisions their parents made. I think that we have seen this

push and pull played out in the decision-making process when you look at this six-month delay I think the White House sees that as way to kind of be

agreeable, as a way to seem compassionate. As a way to give congress the opportunity to fix this the right way.

One of the big things Republicans hammered Obama for, even on this, is they said, even if we agree this is the right policy, and a number of

Republicans do agree this is the right policy, they don't believe you should be making that policy from the White House, they believe it should

be congress. Now the question is can congress actually get their act together and do anything about it?

QUEST: Final thought, just more generally. Now the president is back from his vacation. We've had all the summer nonsense that took place. Give me

your impression of the White House, the administration, and Kelly, are things seeming to run smoother as they head towards the fall, and what will

be a very difficult legislative session?

MURRAY: I think the process of the White House seems to be running more smoothly. There are more formalized decision-making processes, a plan to

actually roll out the DACA announcement on Tuesday knowing that this will be coming, that's different from what we've seen in the White House in the

past. This I president who doesn't like to operate within many constraints. And a lot of the times, the controversies and drama from the

White House are stemming from one man, President Trump.

We'll see how that fares against the various deadlines that you are talking about. Congress has a very heavy plate. If they just deal with the fiscal

deadlines, the debt ceiling, budget, hurricane Harvey, maybe immigration, a lot of people in congress will be happy. What they'll be worried about is

they are going to be answering to a lot of the president's tweets about issues that don't have anything to do with that.

QUEST: Thank you, Sara. Lovely day in Washington by the look of it. Thank you for working Labor Day as well.

More chief executives have joined calls to protect the Dreamers. Five chief executives, Tim Cook. Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey and Marc Benioff

have publicly appealed to the president on many occasions with little success. Now they signed an open letter urging the president to uphold

DACA. The tech leaders have weighed in urging DACA.

[16:45:00] But let's not forget in July they weighed in and criticized the president's calls to bar transgender people from the military. In January,

right after the president took office, the same group urged Mr. Trump to abandon the so-called, travel ban as it affected Muslim countries.

Our correspondent in London looking at technology is Samuel Burke. I can see why they're making the statements. It's very good, and they are on the

right side, as they would see it, of the moral argument, but they don't seem to be making any progress.

SAMUEL BURKE, CNN TECH CORRESPONDENT: What's fascinating, Richard, is that so many people thought that Donald Trump would appease business leaders,

and here you arguably have the biggest business sector in the United States, tech, nothing is growing the way tech is, and he is doing

everything they don't want him to do. I just want to put up a tweet on the screen from Tim Cook, the head of Apple. Showed how personal this is.

Anytime you spend any amount of time in Silicon Valley you see how many immigrants there are, he says 250 of his Apple co-workers are Dreamers.

So, you have people like Tim Cook who probably have a lot of left-leaning neighbors in California. Even Meg Whitman, the moderate Republican, head

of HP, also signing the letter. At the end of day, Richard, what difference is it making? They don't seem to be appealing to the President.

It's fascinating that, without the personal relationships that we hear are so important to Trump which we don't see between him and nay particular

member of the tech community, it doesn't seem to be making a difference in at least the most important house in the United States, the White House.

QUEST: In that scenario, I suppose we come back to this idea -- and we'll talk more about this over the next couple of days of CEOS as the moral

barometers in some cases of these core issues in the U.S.

BURKE: Absolutely, but it looks like the ones who could make more of a difference are not the ones on the west coast. It might be the business

leaders who Trump is more accustomed to working with on the east coast. In New York. Maybe people who can make that quick trip to D.C. just doesn't

have those relationships with people like Tim Cook. So yes, they've become this moral compass. And to just add that timeline you started with after

Charlottesville it was people in the business community who put that pressure on him. It doesn't look like it will be the people in Silicon

Valley to put pressure on him. I am very interested to see what happens tomorrow. It's the first day for the new Uber CEO. Dara Khosrowshahi. He

has been chosen because he keeps a low profile except one issue, very vocal critic of Donald Trump. We'll see what that relationship will be.

QUEST: Since you raised Uber, the vote for him was unanimous. He has an extremely impressive background in Expedia. I was reading an article about

him over the weekend. Is there a feeling, right man, right job?

BURKE: Absolutely. This is the one thing the board was able to agree on, the board at Uber is really a reflection of how this company has been,

completely at odds with itself. They were both backing completely different candidates, Meg Whitman, who we were talking about earlier, is

backed by the former CEO of GE, backed by another point and they couldn't agree on anybody. So, it was this kind of unknown candidate but has a

stellar reputation in Silicon Valley. I think it is the low profile, except for on Trump, that will be what really, helps them at least in this

first part.

QUEST: Good to see you, Samuel. Thank you.

Our podcast always available. Download the whole thing. Available from all the major providers or listen at CNN.com/podcast.

There is a major accusation tonight, European football is being corrupted by state financing from Middle East. Now that is the view of the Spanish

Football League. And it wants an official investigation into one of the top clubs in England. QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.

[16:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: The Spanish Football League is taking on Manchester city. La Liga says the English club has sponsorship from companies such as Etihad that

make no economic sense and lack any fair value. Sports European governing body says any reports of any official investigation are unsubstantiated.

Don Riddell joins me. Don. Don. This may be new fertile ground for the sports world, but for those of us in the aviation industry we are well

familiar with this accusation about the Gulf three, in this case, the UAE. Why now, don?

DON RIDDELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We have just had an extraordinary summer transfer window, Richard. In which five of the top clubs in the world have

spent more than they ever have in a single transfer window. The numbers are absolutely eye-watering. Manchester City and Paris St. Germain are

the two clubs that are the biggest spenders. In truth, they are not. So many clubs are spending so much money right now. There is real concern

that this is irreparably damaging the financial health of the game in Europe. Of course, there is a risk that clubs might be imperiling

themselves, but they are creating this inflationary spiral and the value of players is just going up and up, and many fear it's completely

unsustainable. The question must be asked, why is this happening and where is the money coming from to fuel it in the first place?

QUEST: Bearing in mind, in many of these cases the front man, for wont of a better phrase, will own the club, obviously is often a representative in

a sense of wealth, of sovereign funds, government, or just simply from a country whose economy flows funds to leading individuals.

RIDDELL: I was thinking about this before we started. When I began my career, I remember interviewing premier league football chairmen and they

had the same accents as the supporters in the stadium cheering on the team. It doesn't feel like that long ago, but those days are long gone. We saw

it with oligarchs making investments. Now it has got to a point where, football clubs are certainly not owned by local businessmen they're owned

by far away states, countries.

Look at Manchester City, owned by Sheikh Mansour who is in the Abu Dhabi government. Paris St. Germain owned by the state of Qatar. Countries

with bottomless pockets when it comes to the investments they could make. It makes it complicated when European footballs' governing body, UEFA

trying to keep up with that money the clubs have.

Are they spending money they don't have or is there an inexhaustible supply of cash to facilitate the purchase of the players for whatever price they

deem they are worth?

QUEST: The fascinating part about this and to put this in perspective, some of the players -- give us an idea are going for what? In the high

millions of dollars, obviously. Quarter of a billion was one of them. I mean, you know, this is relatively small amounts of money when you start

talking about a sovereign fund or a government backing Sheikh Mansour or whatever, who can funnel larger sums, if it's seen as a prestige project

for the country.

RIDDELL: Right. You used the phrase higher millions. I mean, really high millions. I have had to write some of them down. The numbers are

absolutely eye-watering.

[16:55:00] This year when Paris St. Germain bought Neymar from Barcelona, that didn't just break or smash the transfer record. They more than

doubled it. $263 million. A real concern is that PSG also this summer took Kylian Mbappe from Monaco. He is worth 215 million. They took him on

a loan-to-purchase deal. In other words, some would say that's creative accounting because they won't pay for him until next year.

and so maybe that can circumvent the concerns with the financial fair play rules. Extraordinary numbers. Manchester City this summer, $278 million

on players in a matter of weeks.

QUEST: Grateful you brought this story to us. Sport and business an important part. Thank you.

News I need give you before we part companies. Hurricane season continues in north and Central America. Hurricane Irma has been upgraded to a

Category 4 storm and heading through the Caribbean. It could threaten the United States as well. But obviously as you can see you have D.R. you've

got Haiti, you've got Turks and Caicos. Many islands in its path where the devastation could be tremendous. As this hurricane 4 barrels towards it.

Profitable Moment after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: Tonight's Profitable Moment. The tech CEOs continue to ask for changes. DACA, travel policies, transgender. It seems the White House is

not listening. I guess that's one way of looking at it to say they are wasting their time. Probably it's more important to think that at least

CEOs are taking a stand on important, relevant issues for their employees, that's worth celebrating. That's QUEST MEANS BUSINESS tonight. I am

Richard Quest on Labor Day in New York. Whatever you're up to in the hours ahead, I hope it's profitable. We'll do it all again tomorrow.

END

END