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Quest Means Business
Markets Fall After Trump Threatens New Tariffs On E.U.; Investors Question Seriousness Of Trump's Threats; Guilty Verdict In 2016 Paris Robbery Of Kim Kardashian; U.S. Judge Temporarily Blocks Donald Trump From Revoking Harvard's Ability To Enroll International Student; Ukraine And Russia Exchange Almost 800 Prisoners In First Phase Of Biggest Swap Of The War; U.S. And Iran Hold Fifth Round Of Nuclear Talks; Billy Joel Cancels Tour Due To Neurological Disorder. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired May 23, 2025 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:21]
RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST, "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS": Closing bell coming to an end on Wall Street. One, two, three, as trading comes to an
end, it has been down all right the way through the session. We are off the lows of the day, but there are all sorts of reasons that we will get into
as to why it is. The U.S., also starting a long holiday weekend, Memorial Day weekend in the United States.
Well, these are the markets and these are the main events that we are going to be talking about.
Donald Trump's new targets, the President now threatening to raise tariffs against smartphone makers and the European Union.
A guilty verdict in Paris for the ringleader of the plot to rob Kim Kardashian.
And the piano man, Billy Joel cancels his upcoming tour because of a neurological disorder.
We are live tonight. We are in London tonight, on Friday, May the 23rd. I am Richard Quest. In London, as elsewhere, I mean business.
Good evening.
We begin tonight with a sour note for the markets to go into a long holiday weekend in the U.S. Donald Trump has reignited his trade war. All three
major indices were off. The NASDAQ was the worst of the day. It had been a lot worse earlier on in the session.
European shares had seen the worst in a sense, so you've got quite sharp losses in Frankfurt and Paris.
President Trump is threatening 50 percent tariffs on E.U. goods, saying current trade negotiations are going too slowly and he doesn't want a deal.
He is threatening apple with 25 percent tariffs if it doesn't move iPhone production to the U.S.
Matt Egan is with me.
We need to take this slowly because since you and I last spoke, we've heard from Donald Trump and lets just do first of all this question of the
tariffs on the E.U.
I wasn't at all clear what the President actually wants in this case. Are you?
MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: No, Richard, I think he wants something that he can hold up as a win, but only he knows exactly what that would be. And
look, this is coming as a surprise to investors, right? Because they have been celebrating the fact that trade tensions and actual tariff rates had
been coming down. Now they seem to be heating back up.
And you look at how U.S. markets performed today, the NASDAQ down -- the NASDAQ down about one percent. At one point, it was down 1.7 percent.
Markets down across the board. Although, I would note this is a pretty calm response when you think about it, especially heading into a holiday
weekend. In some ways, you've got to wonder if, Richard, we've all become numb to some of these numbers, right?
I mean, after a couple of weeks of 145 percent tariffs on China, now 50 percent tariffs on the E.U. doesn't sound quite as dramatic, but this would
be a big deal. I mean, as you know, we are talking about America's biggest trading partner, right? Almost a trillion dollars' worth of imports and
exports between the U.S. and the E.U. last year alone. Right? More than Mexico, more than Canada. It is actually more than China and Japan
combined, and this gives the E.U. some leverage as well.
And when you think about what the U.S. gets from the E.U., we are talking about more than $600 billion of goods last year alone. It is not just the
BMW, the Volkswagen, Mercedes, but also pharmaceutical products, aircraft, wine and other alcoholic beverages and machinery as well -- Richard.
QUEST: On this question of tariffs against Apple for not going back to the U.S., the President did clarify that when he was asked, you know, wouldn't
that be illegal to go against one company? He said, no, he is not going -- he is going against all the companies. He wants Samsung. He wants everybody
to bring into back into the United States.
EGAN: Yes.
QUEST: But we've been down this road before.
EGAN: We have. We have. And look, he is not the first president to try to get Apple to make stuff in the United States. It did catch my ear, though,
that the President did say that it wasn't just something that would be on Apple, because I've talked to some trade experts today who suggested the
President doesn't really have the power to just put tariffs on one company, right? It would have to be a specific product or a specific region.
But to your point, look, the cost of labor here in the U.S. is so much higher than it is overseas, especially in India and in China. And so that's
why there are estimates out there, Richard, that if iPhones were made in the U.S., it would increase the cost of iPhones to something like $3,500.00
apiece. And obviously that would just be prohibitively expensive for most Americans and would also make inflation even worse. Back to you.
[16:05:12]
QUEST: Matt Egan in New York. Have a good -- have a good holiday weekend tomorrow, okay?
EGAN: Thank you, you too, Richard.
QUEST: Now we were just talking there about the iPhone and also the Samsung. But let's just focus on Apple's product.
The President wants to bring production back to the United States, but bringing all the different parts of the supply chain to the U.S. would be a
major challenge. You've got the chips. Well, we know the chips are mostly made in Taiwan. The screens, they are made in South Korea, and the final
assembly mostly in China, although some of it is going to India.
If all that was done in the U.S., as we were just hearing then, Dan Ives says iPhones could cost $3,500.00. Donald Trump has been taking direct aim
at the Apple CEO.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We have Apple, as you know, it is coming in and I had a little problem with Tim Cook
yesterday. I said to him, Tim, you're my friend. I treated you very good. You're coming in with $500 million.
But now, I hear you're building all over India. I don't want you building in India.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I don't want you building in India, Clare Duffy, Donald Trump -- listen, when he said I am going after all of them, Samsung, he mentioned
Samsung by name. He can't realistically expect all of these companies are going to build factories or even announce factories in time to avoid 25
percent tariffs or maybe, maybe he is.
CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: Yes, Richard, I mean, there are so many questions to unpack here. I think, you know, on one hand, there is really
the issue of just this whiplash. Is it Apple? Is it Samsung?
I mean, we've seen this over the past few months, as you have reported so much on, just companies can't make decisions when there is uncertainty
about what is happening. So this idea that these companies are going to decide to move and start building factories in the U.S., when one day to
the next, you don't know who these tariffs are going to apply to. I think that is a real concern.
But then when you talk about the smartphone companies, whether its Apple, whether it is Samsung, it just is so unlikely that they are going to be
moving production of smartphones to the United States because the infrastructure just isn't here.
In, you know, Asia, as you laid out there, there is this whole ecosystem that supports the production of these products. And for these companies to
build that up here, it would take, by some estimates, five to ten years. They can't do this quickly enough to avoid these 25 percent tariffs.
So what is likely to happen instead is that these companies are going to have to pass on some of the cost of these tariffs to consumers. Apple was
already rumored to be thinking about raising prices on its newest slate of iPhones when it releases them in the fall. This just makes that more likely
-- Richard.
QUEST: Do we actually think, because this will come on to our next story, that we are going to follow through this idea that he speaks but doesn't
actually do? Do we actually think that on the case of the iPhone, bearing in mind if you think about the way it went, we had tariffs of 145 percent
on Japan. Then he removed electronics from those tariffs. Now, he is putting the specifics onto Apple.
Do we -- is the common view that he is likely to proceed with that?
DUFFY: Well, I mean I think what is likely to happen is that he is going to get a call from Apple CEO, Tim Cook, if he has not already, and they're
going to talk about potentially what other kinds of commitments Apple could make that will satisfy Trump.
I mean, Apple has already announced $500 billion in investment in other U.S. facilities, other types of production that will be centered in the
U.S. I think it is possible that perhaps if they announced a little bit more that Trump could loosen up his stance on tariffs on smartphones in
particular.
QUEST: Clare, I am grateful. Let's continue to talk about this idea of investors and their reaction. Thank you, Clare.
The muted reaction that as Matt Egan was saying and it is muted compared to other selloffs that we had seen earlier in the year. The S&P tells the
story.
The S&P fell in April after Donald Trump unveiled the reciprocal tariffs. A few days later, he backed off. And then we had the huge rally. Same thing
happened with China. The President eased, the market jumped.
So today's muted reaction could be because of what "The Financial Times" calls the TACO factor. It stands for Trump Always Chickens Out. It is the
idea that the President never really follows through with his economic threats.
Steve Englander is the global head of G10 FX Research, North American Macro Strategy. The problem, Steven is -- the problem is just when you think you
might actually be on the winning side by guessing that he chickens out, he might not. That's really the risk, isn't it?
STEVE ENGLANDER, GLOBAL HEAD, G10 FX RESEARCH, NORTH AMERICAN MACRO STRATEGY: Indeed it is. Although, you know, even before they pulled back on
the 145 percent tariffs, they were putting in exemptions to make sure that the impact wasn't as dire as the worst projections were there.
[16:10:10]
So you know, his fans say that there is method in his madness, his detractors say there is madness in his method. They are collecting a lot of
revenues, which I think, you know, is very important for them for the tax bill that's coming up.
QUEST: You say they are collecting a lot of revenues, but I saw the numbers on the first month. It was, what? About $17 billion, which is not small, I
will grant you, but it is nowhere near the $600 billion, I mean, annualized out. It is nowhere near the $600 billion that they have forecast in
revenues that they could be bringing in. And you know better than I do that you do end up with substitution and consumer substituting goods when
something is tariffed.
ENGLANDER: Indeed I do, but I -- since the numbers for May, including the big collection day, just came out, the May run rate is three times what it
was last year. So it is not going to be $600 billion, but it could be somewhere between $250 billion and $300 billion that they are collecting.
You know, it doesn't solve the fiscal problem, but it certainly gets them a certain distance towards it. And the May numbers relative to May 2024 were
significantly better than the April numbers were relative to April 2024.
QUEST: Is it your feeling that on both of these the tariffs on smartphones and the tariffs on the E.U. ever come to fruition, or do they get
negotiated away with some quasi deal like the U.K. deal, which sort of looks like one thing, but actually probably doesn't hold a great deal of
water?
ENGLANDER: Well, I will comment on the E.U. I am not going to say anything that applies to specific companies. The E.U. thing, I think it would be
like China that if they were implemented, there would be a couple of days of panic and then both sides would pull back.
But, you know, I think that there are issues that the U.S. legitimately has with the E.U. The E.U. doesn't even have free trade within itself. Never
mind, you know, kind of the sort of free trade with the U.S., and there are non-tariff barriers. There are -- it seems like they use selective taxation
to, you know, on U.S. service companies.
There is something to discuss, and I think the issue that he is bringing up today is that the E.U. offers are pretty minimal. You know, the they said
free trade in goods, that's not the issue. What about free trade in agriculture? You know, what about getting rid of you know, healthcare
restrictions, which seems to limit U.S. exports to Europe?
QUEST: The problem -- I am glad you mentioned all of those non-tariff barriers, if you like, because they are the difficult bit in the
negotiations, aren't they? Anybody can just come up with a, you know, let's reduce tariffs by 20 percent and a headline number. But the reason these
talks are going nowhere, in the President's words, is that it is really tricky stuff and it is the stuff people have been fighting over for years.
ENGLANDER: I mean, you're right. And you know, I think that the -- it would -- in the best of all worlds, this would be a long negotiation that would,
you know, end up with non-tariff barriers on both sides being reduced.
You know, the history is that nothing much happens. I think, he is trying to accelerate it. You can debate the wisdom, as we said earlier, 50 percent
tariffs don't look like they are going to be a good idea. We import more from Europe than we do from China, so there would be tremendous disruption
that would be disruption on both sides. I think he is trying to motivate them to move closer towards, you know, giving us an offer that they would
consider to be reasonable or debatable.
QUEST: I am grateful, sir. Steven, thank you very much. Have a good weekend and a good holiday weekend, too. Thank you.
ENGLANDER: Pleasure. Thank you.
QUEST: The ringleader of that robbery of Kim Kardashian has been found guilty in Paris. Talk about a multimillion dollar heist and what will
become of the so-called Grandpa Robbers now, in a moment.
QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:17:07]
QUEST: Eight people linked to the robbery of Kim Kardashian in a Paris hotel room in 2016 were today found guilty. Kardashian called the 2016
burglary the most terrifying experience of her life, understandably, too. The thieves tied her up and then made off with $10 million in cash and
jewelry.
Eight of the ten were found guilty of crimes directly linked to the robbery. One was convicted on weapons charges and one person was acquitted.
Melissa Bell is in Paris. Tell us more.
MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we now have more than when we last spoke, Richard, not just the verdict, but the
sentencing. Eight of the ten found guilty. Many of them have had prison sentences handed down, including the ringleader that we spoke of a while
ago and the either most high profiled person accused in this case, who is the man who happened to write the book about having kidnapped Kim
Kardashian.
Both of them had eight year prison sentences, with five years suspended, handed down. And yet, Richard, all of those in court today, I was telling
you earlier, some of them turned up with their luggage this morning. So clearly did they expect to go straight to jail. None of them will actually
serve any more prison time either because of the suspended part of their sentences, or because of time served.
And the presiding judge just spoke to that, to the relative leniency of the sentences, telling the accused that they had caused real harm to Kim
Kardashian and that these sentences didn't really reflect that fear that she had been put through on that night. And I'd just like to read you the
statement that she has published this evening in response to this verdict, Richard.
"I'm deeply grateful," says Kim Kardashian, "... to the French authorities for pursuing justice in this case. The crime was the most terrifying
experience of my life, leaving a lasting impact on me and my family. While I'll never forget what happened, I believe in the power of growth and
accountability and pray for healing for all."
And that was very much the sentiment that she expressed when she testified here last week. That sense that this had been a life changing moment for
her, and there was a certain amount of trauma that she would never really get over. How it had changed her life, left her unable to sleep without the
knowledge that her security detail was there and present, and keeping her safe.
QUEST: Melissa, you know, I am sort of raising an eyebrow that these that most of these sentences were suspended. Bearing in mind the gravity of the
offenses that they should -- and -- gravity of the offenses, and that some of these, as they say, had form, that they weren't -- that a custodial
sentence wasn't for them all.
BELL: I mean, I think that's right and I mean, it isn't you and I saying that this is a leniency here, but the presiding judge himself. I think
perhaps reflection of the ages of many of these men. Remember, these have been called the Grandpa Robbers in much of the press, and that may have
played a part in the jury's deliberations.
[16:20:16]
But clearly, there is an element of leniency. Still, this is also a trial. Remember, there is going on nearly nine -- it has taken nine years rather,
for this four-week trial to get started and come to a close, Richard. And there is a sense in which these accused, many of them will have served a
little bit of time, of course, in the immediate aftermath of their capture and the accusations against them.
But clearly the fact they are all walking free, I think, a huge surprise to them, the fact that they turned up expecting some of them carrying
suitcases to go to jail today tells you that they themselves were -- and what we've heard from the reporters who were inside is that there was a
fair amount of, I don't -- quite jubilation, but certainly relief on the part of the accused as they heard those sentences tonight -- Richard.
QUEST: I am grateful, Melissa. Thank you.
The German authorities now say 17 people were hurt in the knife attack in Hamburg Central Station. Police say the suspected attacker is a 39-year-old
woman who has since been arrested. The Fire Department tells us that six people were badly injured and four of those are in critical condition.
Sebastian Shukla is in berlin, joins me now.
I am surprised at the number of people who this -- who seem to have been hit. I mean, it is quite a large number to have 17 people to be injured, so
many so seriously.
SEBASTIAN SHUKLA, CNN PRODUCER: Yes, I mean, 17 is a huge number, Richard. But you also don't forget that Hamburg Central Station, Hauptbahnhof, as
they call it here in Germany, is one of the main transit points for the entire country, for people crisscrossing on their way home or perhaps
commuting from work and there is actually a public holiday coming up as well this week.
So that may even give you a picture of the scene that may have taken place here in the station as people were looking to make their way home.
This attacker, this 39-year-old German woman who has now been arrested, there is video circulating of her arrest or what appears to be an arrest of
somebody, on social media being taken away to police cars.
What we do know is that, as you say, 17 people have been injured. Those numbers have been updated very slightly. Four people have been injured with
life-threatening injuries, six seriously and seven lightly injured as the police told us. There were some 60-odd first responders, police, ambulance,
fire department who were all there to be able to treat those wounded people on the platform, which we believe happened between -- the attack happened
between these train lines.
And, you know, we've heard as well now, the German Chancellor Friedrich Merz speak with the mayor of Hamburg to say and offer his condolences to
the families and those injured, as well as thanking the emergency services for their help.
QUEST: One simple question: Why? Why did she do it?
SHUKLA: Well, I mean, that's only the question that this attacker can possibly answer, Richard. What we've seen here in Germany over the last
series of months, I am going back to December now, is a spate of attacks like these.
The first one in December happened at this Christmas market. There was one in Mannheim, another car ramming which took place in March. There was the
attack that happened just before the Munich Security Conference, where the U.S. Vice President attended, which was another car ramming incident where
people are looking to show in that instance anyway, you know, express their displeasure at political goings on in this country.
The police at the moment are ruling that out as they've told us. They say they don't view this as being politically motivated. Well, details of that,
though, are still kind of thin on the ground and we will have to wait to see whether the authorities come out with any more. And obviously we are
hoping -- you know, hoping very, very much that none of these people injured, their injuries get any worse and that we have any fatalities here
-- Richard.
QUEST: I am grateful for you, Sebastian Shukla in Berlin tonight. Thank you, sir.
A judge has temporarily halted the Trump administration's ban on international students at Harvard. We are going to look at the university's
latest lawsuit and take a look at how they fight with the White House.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Hello, I am Richard Quest. Together, we will have more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
A new twist in the war with Harvard University by the President. A judge now temporarily suspends the ban on international students.
And Billy Joel has canceled all of his concerts after revealing he is suffering from a brain disorder. He talked to Dr. Sanjay Gupta about it.
All of it comes after the headlines because this is CNN and on this network, the news always comes first.
President Donald Trump now says he is not looking for a deal with the European Union, although it is not quite clear by what he meant from that.
Mr. 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 has called the tariff threat enormously disappointing.
The German Police are investigating a mass stabbing attack that took place at Hamburg's Central Railway Station. The city's fire department says 17
people have been wounded, four of those have been critically so.
Police say they've arrested the suspect, a 39-year-old woman, and believed that she acted alone.
Sebastiao Salgado, the acclaimed Brazilian photographer, has died at the age of 81. He was known for his striking black and white images, often
depicting laborers, migrants, and the effects of industry on the environment. His nonprofit, Instituto Terra called him an eternal source of
inspiration.
A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from banning international students at Harvard. The ability to enroll foreign
students was revoked on Thursday. Harvard immediately went to court, arguing it was the victim of retaliation, and the university has rejected a
series of reforms demanded by the White House.
The President accused the university of being an antisemitic, far left institution, and Mr. Trump says enrolling international students is a
privilege, not a right.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Billions of dollars has been paid to Harvard. How ridiculous is that? Billions. And
they have $52 billion as an endowment. They have $52 billion, and this country is paying billions and billions of dollars and then give student
loans, and they have to pay back the loans.
So Harvard is going to have to change its ways.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[16:30:08]
QUEST: Joey Jackson's in New York. Joey, when I listen to the president, I mean, he threw everything but the kitchen sink about anti-Semitism, anti
this, anti that. And then he goes on about the amount of money, but none of that is relevant to whether or not the government has acted lawfully in
banning Harvard from taking international students.
JOEY JACKSON, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: It is not but it's messaging, and I think the president of the United States knows how to message very well,
right, for political purposes, to get people on his side.
You know, this is very alarming, Richard, I should say, I should also say that it's been halted, that as a judge has evaluated this and has stopped
it. We call that in the United States an injunction. That means that things will remain the status quo until there's an actual hearing.
And so, when you have a situation where you have a President of the United States targeting a university and engaging in unilateral action, I mean,
this program has been in existence for 70 years, and with a stroke of a pen, you say, no more, not the way it works. You need what's called due
process. That means there's a process if you want to take action, you just don't declare an edict, and it's over.
And so now, with the judges imposed stay, right, because of the TRO, temporary restraining order, where things remain the same, there'll be a
hearing on the merits, and we'll see whether or not, after the merits are heard, whether it was lawful or not.
QUEST: I read the letter. I read the letter from the Homeland Security secretary. And it was just -- again, it was -- it was a very strange rag
bag of accusations, none of which justify the actions that they've been taken. And how do -- how do we get out of this one?
JACKSON: So, I think you get out of it with the law, right? Remember that? I don't know if the White House does, but we have a process of laws. The
first one is the First Amendment. A university has a right to hire who they want, to admit who they want, to have the curriculum that they think is
most appropriate to express themselves as they wish. And those are First Amendment issues. And you cannot retaliate on the basis of we think you're
too woke.
You know what? Those lefties, those radicals, etcetera. As we look there, almost 7,000 international students would be affected, more than a quarter,
right? 27 percent of the population at Harvard.
But with respect to your question, we get out of it, right, by following the law. And if the law says that you can't retaliate, because I think what
I think, Richard thinks what he thinks, viewers think what they think. We're all how to think, what we think, do what we do, and that's the issue.
QUEST: Do you find it slightly disturbing that lawyers went along with this in the first place? This is, this doesn't seem to be very clear cut. I
mean, it's not one of these things where, you know, maybe I'm just wrong here, and the Supreme Court will eventually to tell me we were that, that.
But it does seem to me that it was this was always a very difficult argument for lawyers to make.
JACKSON: So, I do find it disturbing, but I also found it disturbing in a case that we have involving another issue where someone, right, Abrego
Garcia was just picked up, we think you're a criminal, thrown out of the country.
And by the way, the lawyer comes to court working for the Department of Justice, which is part of the president's administration, saying, you know,
judge, I don't know why it happened, my client hasn't given me clarity. Oh, you're fired. He was fired for that, for telling the truth. You're fired.
So, do I find it disturbing? Yes, I do. I also find it disturbing that, you know, we're embracing issues like violating the First Amendment in, you
know, saying your funding is being eliminated right away. Student visas are revoked.
There's a process, Richard, we have laws, an Administrative Procedures Act. It's cited, in fact, in Harvard's brief, and it's just very briefly, a law
that says, hey, if you think I did something wrong, no problem. Why don't we go to court? Why don't we have a hearing? Why don't I have an
opportunity to cure whatever defect there are, and if that's not cured, because it's found with evidentiary facts, remember facts, truth, right? If
it's found on that equation, then we're good. If not, then I have a problem.
And so, the realities are, is that I think we should always follow the law, be it First Amendment or procedures for due process.
What is due process? Very briefly, notice -- give me notice what I did wrong, and give me an opportunity to be heard. None of that happened here.
So, yes, I find it disturbing, problematic, especially in a democracy like the United States of America.
QUEST: Joey, I'm grateful to you. Thank you, sir. As always, have a good holiday weekend.
JACKSON: You too. Thanks.
News to us, just in, Donald Trump as an. Announced a deal that will keep U.S. steel headquartered in the United States. The president says the
companies entered into a partnership with Japan's Nippon steel. The agreement will invest $14 billion into the U.S. economy and create 70,000
jobs.
President Trump says he'll go to the U.S. deal in Pittsburgh for a rally next week. You remember, the previous administration and the Trump
administration both were aiming to stop this deal between the two steel makers on the grounds of jobs in the United States.
[16:35:06]
Now, it does look as though the current administration has put together a satisfactory arrangement that will preserve the jobs.
As you and I continue tonight, Iran says its latest round of nuclear talks with the U.S. were the most professional, major hurdles that remain before
any deal can be reached.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: A major prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine is now underway, the two sides have agreed to swap last week in Turkey. Nic
Robertson has more on the emotional reunions.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Glory to heroes.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: A first taste of freedom. Reunion by phone. I'm alive. I'm healthy, he says, Ukrainian
soldiers back on home soil, joyous in survival, celebrating release. Emotions overflowing as Russia and Ukraine begin their biggest prisoner
exchange since Russia began its illegal, unprovoked, full scale invasion of Ukraine, 39 months ago.
270 troops and 120 civilians of each side released Friday, some of the 1,000 from each side expected over the coming days.
I'm just so happy to go home and see my family, this Russian soldier says.
In any conflict, what you are seeing here might build trust, lead to the end of conflict, but not here, not yet, at least.
This is the fifth such exchange this year, the 64th since the war started, and while it was agreed during the first face-to-face Ukrainian Russian
talks in Istanbul last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described it as the only tangible result of the meeting.
[16:40:04]
Ukraine agreed two months ago to President Donald Trump's demand for a 30- day unconditional ceasefire. Russia still refuses.
The low level talks in Turkey last week, the prisoner exchange this weekend, the latest examples Ukraine says of Russian President Vladimir
Putin's intransigence in the face of Trump's optimism that he is on track to brokering peace.
On his truth social platform, the U.S. president jumping the gun on the actual exchange saying this could lead to something big.
Since Russia invaded in 2022, it has released more than 5,000 captured Ukrainians, according to Ukrainian officials, but some families are still
missing loved ones, turning up Friday, hoping for news. This mother with pictures of her son.
Many Ukrainians fear the swaps like the one this weekend are part of the cycle of war, not a harbinger it's about to end.
Nic Robertson, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: Iran's foreign minister says nuclear talks on Friday one of the most professional rounds of negotiations. The meetings in Rome were the fifth
round of talks between the two sides. A statement from Iran's foreign ministry says the next round will be announced at a later date.
The Iranian sources had earlier told CNN they didn't expect an agreement to be reached. The United States is demanding Iran completely dismantle its
uranium enrichment program, an issue that the Iranians say is a red line. CNN has more from Tehran.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Death to America and death to Israel, chants at Friday prayers in Tehran.
The prayer leader laying into the Trump administration as the U.S.-Iran nuclear talks hang in the balance.
PLEITGEN: Iran's leadership is telling the United States that they want a nuclear agreement, but they're also not afraid of a confrontation if the
talks fail.
PLEITGEN (voice over): Tehran not happy with both President Trump and his chief negotiator, Steve Witkoff after Witkoff said the U.S. wouldn't allow
Iran to continue enriching uranium as part of any deal.
No way. There is no trust, this member of the elite Revolutionary Guard Corps tells me. They failed their previous tests towards the Iranian
nation.
However, we have initiated the talks to prove our intention is not war. We want the enrichment for medical and other purposes.
The negotiations are unilateral, this woman says. Trump is trying to show his power, but it is our right to have nuclear capabilities.
Iran has consistently said its nuclear program is purely civilian in nature, and Tehran insists on keeping its uranium enrichment capabilities.
Iran's foreign minister acknowledging the talks are complicated.
We stress the positions and principles of the Islamic Republic of Iran regarding the negotiations, he says, our positions are completely clear,
and we insist on them. I think the American side now has a better and more clear picture of our position.
President Trump is threatening even tougher measures against Iran if the talks fail, and American officials tell CNN, intelligence suggests Israel
is preparing for strikes against targets in Iran.
Iranians we spoke to vowing a tough response if that happens.
The United States knows better what will happen, he says, if things get serious, there will not be a country named Israel on Earth.
But for now, both sides say they're gearing up for the next round of talks trying to forge a new nuclear deal.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Tehran.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: Alex Marquardt is with me in Washington. Difficult to know how this one goes. I mean, one level, the two sides are talking, and therefore that
is good. It's very difficult to fight when you've actually been talking. But the discrepancy on what success looks like is enormous.
ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Not just talking Richard, which, of course, is positive, but promising more
meetings. But I thought perhaps the most telling phrase of all the statements that we got from not just the two sides, but three sides, when
you include Oman, is the Iranian foreign minister saying that one or two more meetings will need to be had to just get on the same page to make
progress.
So, it's clear that a deal is not imminent, and it does seem for now, that that 60-day time frame that Donald Trump had put on this is going to
stretch out. But neither side is walking away. The American statement was much more tepid, saying that progress had been made, but it's clear that
that work still remains.
[16:45:03]
Richard, what is not clear at all is how they plan to resolve this issue of enrichment or not. Each side has said it is a red line. So, how are they
going to resolve that? Iran says they must enrich. The U.S. says no, you cannot enrich even at the lowest levels for civilian energy. The U.S.
officials that I've spoken with say they're looking for creative solutions, but they haven't really laid that out.
But yes, they are still talking. They emerge from this fifth round of talks promising more. We don't know when or where those future talks will take
place just yet.
QUEST: There is one consistent with Donald Trump in a sort of an otherwise inconsistent presidency, and that is he always says, we will not allow Iran
to have a bomb. We will not allow Iran to move further. That he stuck to that line persistently.
Therefore, if the Iranians have ambitions of further uranium enrichment, that is going to be the ultimate deal breaker.
MARQUARDT: Yes, but there's a lot that can be done below not having a bomb. And of course, a reminder to our viewers, the Iranians have insisted that
they don't want a bomb.
After the first round of negotiations, Steve Witkoff, the lead us negotiator, really confused everybody, because he started talking about how
Iran wouldn't need to enrich above 3.6 percent, that's a very specific number. It was mentioned in the former Iran deal.
That seemed to indicate that they would allow some kind of civilian energy enrichment in Iran. And then the U.S. has had all kinds of positions, an
evolving position, different officials saying different things, that has really annoyed the Iranian side.
And frankly, the Iranians have been a lot more consistent. What the U.S. appears to have backed off of is an insistent on full dismantling, which
goes even further than just not allowing enrichment.
QUEST: Let me tell you off (INAUDIBLE) as they say, when you ski. Steve Witkoff, you talk to a lot of diplomats and a lot of people in diplomatic
circles. What's the general thinking?
I mean, here's somebody who's various astute real estate deal made an enormous amount of money, and until recently, has never negotiated a treaty
in his life.
MARQUARDT: Yes, on the positive side of the ledger, a lot of people that I speak to in Washington, particularly in the diplomatic community, they
really are eager to get in with him, because they know that he has a direct line to Donald Trump, and really he is the guy doing this, not just the
Iranian nuclear deal, but the Gaza cease fire. He's got all manner of portfolios. Of course, he's the main guy who goes to speak with Vladimir
Putin.
I think what's interesting in this Iranian nuclear discussion is that he has acknowledged that he is not an expert on this front. So, he brought
along someone named Michael Anton, who is leading the technical side of the discussions today. He's done the same in the Ukrainian negotiations as
well.
So, he is really a big picture guy, from what we hear. He goes into the meetings, he gets a sense of things, he gets a sense of the person on the
other side of the table. Then he goes back and reports to Donald Trump.
But of course, there has been some criticism Richard, notably, when he would go and visit with Vladimir Putin that he's not taking any aids with
him. He's not taking experts or intelligence officials or any diplomats along with him.
So, he does have this ever expanding portfolio. He's often seen as kind of a shadow Secretary of State. He's taken a large part of the traditional
Secretary of State portfolio from Marco Rubio.
But what is very, very clear is that he is possibly the person who is closest to Donald Trump, certainly on the foreign policy side, extremely
loyal, a very good friend of Donald Trump for decades, Richard.
QUEST: That's the bit that matters. I'm grateful to you. Have a good weekend.
MARQUARDT: You too.
QUEST: Thank you. Now, the legendary singer Billy Joel is canceling his upcoming tour as he battles a rare disorder affecting his hearing, vision
and balance.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:51:33]
QUEST: The Grammy winning singer Billy Joel has canceled his upcoming tour dates, he's announcing a statement he's seeking treatment for a
neurological disorder, and that the condition has been worsened by recent performances. He said he'll go through treatment and looks forward to
getting back on stage.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta, our resident practicing neurosurgeon, I'm glad I did not have to mention or say the name of what he's suffering from. You say it and
tell us the seriousness, please.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, sure. Good to be with you, Richard. This condition is known as normal pressure
hydrocephalus, and a lot of people may have heard of hydrocephalus before. You typically think of it in kids, where you develop water on the brain as
it's often thought of, you have these normal fluid filled spaces within the brain, if you're a kid or an adult, and I think we have some images of
this.
With normal pressure hydrocephalus, these fluid filled spaces start to enlarge, and that can happen in someone, especially in people over the age
of 65. You can see on the left, that is what it should look like. This is an image of the brain, and on the right, those black areas in between, you
can see they're quite a bit larger than the image on the left. That is hydrocephalus, Richard.
And by normal pressure, they mean it's not under a great deal of pressure, maybe slightly increased, but it's close to normal in terms of pressure.
The issue is this, when you start to develop normal pressure hydrocephalus. People often have various symptoms that are pretty classically associated
with that. They start to develop walking problems, balance problems, they start to develop some cognitive problems that is often memory problems, and
then difficulties with bladder control as well.
So, it is -- it is one of these conditions that is often confused with things like Parkinson's or Alzheimer's, but this is what we're talking
about.
QUEST: OK, so the obvious follow up is treatable, and what's the recovery like?
GUPTA: Yes, I think this can be treatable. You know, in the vast majority of people, it's interesting. So, and I take care of this as a neurosurgeon
myself, one of the first things they do is actually do a what's called a lumbar puncture. You've heard of this, basically putting a needle in the --
in the back and try and drain some of that fluid, that fluid from the brain circulates around the whole spinal cord.
So, you drain some of that fluid, and you basically say, now that we've drained the fluid, did the person get better? Did those symptoms that we
just talked about improve?
And if they do, then you do a procedure that is a little bit more permanent. And I have a model of the brain here, Richard, you basically put
a catheter right on top of the brain into that fluid filled space, and then you drain that fluid by actually draining it elsewhere in the body. That's
called a shunt.
So, it is -- it is very treatable. And as I said, a lot of times people come in concerned about Alzheimer's disease. They get a scan, found to have
normal pressure hydrocephalus, which is -- which is treatable.
QUEST: What causes it? Do we know? Sorry, I'll ask him.
GUPTA: Sorry, Richard, you're lost. I've lost you there, sorry.
QUEST: Can you still hear me, Sanjay? Can you still hear me, Sanjay Gupta, can you hear me?
GUPTA: Yes, you're coming in and out, but I hear you.
QUEST: Right. What causes it?
GUPTA: You know, it's something that's typically associated with age. Think about the brain, and you have these fluid filled spaces.
As with age, all of us the brains matter starts to shrink a bit. As that brain matter around those fluid filled spaces shrink. The brain doesn't
like empty space, so the fluid increases.
[16:55:07]
So, it's really first the brain shrinking a bit and the fluid sort of filling in that gap.
QUEST: Sanjay Gupta, thank you very much indeed. Send the bill to the usual place. Thank you, sir.
Now, U.S. market going to show you how we're going to finish the week, long weekend. Oh dear. Take what you will from that, bearing in mind that it was
just threats of tariffs. There's no real tariffs in it. 50 percent on Europe, 25 percent on Apple and Samsung and everybody else.
We're off the lows of the day across the world. The NASDAQ is the worst of the session, closing about one percent lower. The president threatened
Apple with 25 percent tariffs, unless it makes phones in the United States.
By the way, it is Memorial Day weekend in the United States, which apparently means you can wear white shoes in the Hamptons after this. Well,
just in case you were thinking of it, we'll take a profitable moment after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Tonight's profitable moment. There was something deeply depressing today about the way in which the tariffs came back, both for Apple and 25
percent and 50 percent for the E.U.
The temptation is to say, well, look at what he does, not what he says. Taco, Trump always chickens out, etcetera, etcetera.
The reality is, everything is all right until it's not. And in this particular case, when you listen to the president follow on from his Truth
Social posts, I was even more confused. He says he doesn't want a deal with Europe. It just wants more manufacturing. He says he will -- this will
include Apple, as well as Samsung and all the companies. He wants more production in the United States. We just don't know.
Which is why I strongly suggest this is Memorial Day weekend in the United States. It's a bank holiday in Britain this weekend, it's a bank holiday
elsewhere. I think this is one of these weekends where you just simply say summer is around the corner. We've got a couple of days before we have to
worry about tariffs anymore. Just go and enjoy yourself.
Because that's QUEST MEANS BUSINESS for tonight. I'm Richard Quest in London. Whatever you're up to in the hours ahead, I hope it's profitable.
I'll be back in New York on Monday.
END
