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Quest Means Business

European Stocks Fall After Trump Announces Deal With E.U.; Trump Says There Is Real Starvation In Gaza; Hotel Occupancy Rates Drop In Several Top Destinations; Russia Continues Summer Offensive As Donald Trump Pushes For Peace; Thailand And Cambodia Agree To Ceasefire Deal; Tesla Signs $16.5 Billion Chip Deal With Samsung; Delta Causes Uproar Over Plans To Use A.I. To Set Ticket Prices. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired July 28, 2025 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:16]

RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST, "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS": Let the pen out of the pocket. Closing bell ringing on wall street. Seaport

Entertainment ringing the bell. Let's see how we are going to get sort of a gavel from Seaport. Here we go.

Close it off, please, sir.

Oh, dear. Hurry up. One, two. Oh, dear! I hope their entertainment is better than their gavels. That was a very wimpy gavel. And a wimpy day,

really. Market was up a bit down, a bit up, round a bit and that's the way the markets are looking. A very busy day though, in terms of the news.

The main events that you and I will chew over. The trade deal between Washington and Brussels. There is skepticism now in Europe about whether it

is a good deal.

Donald Trump is moving up the deadline for Russia to reach a peace deal with Ukraine.

And everybody is talking about it. How A.I. might set the price of your next plane ticket. Delta is planning to do it or in some shape or form and

politicians are concerned.

You and I start a new week together. Delighted to have you on board. Keep your seatbelt securely fastened. It is Monday, July the 28th. I am Richard

Quest and I mean business.

Good evening.

They may have called it a huge deal, but the trade deal between the U.S. and Europe has failed to satisfy investors. Now, the U.S. markets opened

slightly higher and then fell throughout the course of the day. You can see even the gains on the NASDAQ and the S&P are rather small. And if you look

in terms of Europe, the XETRA DAX, not surprisingly, with the heavy manufacturing based automobiles and other heavy machinery, is off one

percent bearing the brunt, if you will, of the losses.

It all follows President Trump and E.U. Commissioner Ursula von der Leyen, who praised their deal on what they called hard negotiations on Sunday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: And we were able to make a deal that is very satisfactory to both sides. So it is very

-- it is a tremendously -- it is a very powerful deal. It's a very big deal.

It's the biggest of all the deals. It will be the biggest of all the deals.

URSULA VON DER LEYEN, EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT: It is a huge deal. It will bring stability. It will bring predictability, that's very important

for our businesses on both sides of the Atlantic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: Biggest, huge, important. The only problem is, not everyone is happy about the deal.

France's Prime Minister is calling it a dark day for Europe. The Belgian Prime Minister said it was a moment of relief, but not celebration, and the

Chair of the European Parliament's Trade Committee said the deal has concessions that are difficult to accept.

All told, many are still happy the continent avoided 30 percent tariffs that Mr. Trump had threatened, including the owner of a vineyard I spoke to

in Bordeaux about a week ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FLORENCE CATHIARD, CO-OWNER, CHATEAU SMITH HAUT LAFITTE: I am very, very worried it could be a total disaster because nobody would accept taxes at

30 percent more. Yesterday, I was with an American man who owns 50 wine shops in New Jersey, and he told me for him also, it would be a disaster.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: Now that was before we knew what it was going to be. Some business groups are cautiously optimistic.

There is Fredrik Persson, the president of the Business Europe. He joins me now from Brussels. Good to see you, sir.

All right, 15 percent gives you certainty, that much I accept. But is it a number that's going to hurt European business?

FREDRIK PERSSON, PRESIDENT, BUSINESS EUROPE: Thank you, Richard. It is a number that will hurt both the U.S. and the E.U. economy. But what would

have hurt the economies even harder would have been a full out trade war, and I think that is what we've avoided. But I think we need to be clear

with that we are in a far worse position than we were a year ago, and where we were ahead of April 2nd.

QUEST: So it is really -- am I being cynical when I just simply say, you know, the old joke, it is just a question of the price. That was always

what this was going to be. It was just a question of from the Europeans, how low; from the Americans, how high.

PERSSON: I think it is also about the way you look at trade. So I think, of course, 15 is better than 30, fifteen is worse than ten. But then again,

what would have been even better is that we would have taken away all tariffs, and I think that would have boosted the U.S. economy and that

would have boosted the European economy.

[16:05:14]

The challenge for Europe and for my members, we have 25 million companies as members is the lack of growth in Europe. If you look back the last 20

years, the U.S. economy has grown by 60 percent and Europe by only 30 percent. That is a huge challenge and that is a gap we need to close.

QUEST: Okay, so with this, do you believe the 15 percent and I recognize this is how long is a piece of string and different industries will do it

different ways. But who do you think -- who do you think is going to eat most of the 15 percent?

PERSSON: Richard, you talked about pies, I think in another episode earlier this week, if it was last week. I mean, is this the pecan pie? Honestly, it

feels a bit more like a shepherd's pie, but we need to keep in mind, it is a framework where we are talking about three to four pages.

A free trade agreement is normally three thousand to four thousand pages. So a lot of things needs to be ironed out before we actually see the color

of this pie or this deal.

QUEST: You see there, the problem with that, sir, is, if you will, you've got half the pie, you've got the crust, you've got the 15 percent bit,

because that happens immediately. It is the other bit, it is the -- you know, it is the $750 billion of energy. Well, who is buying that from whom

and how is it funded? It is the $600 billion of inward investment and military purchases. How much of that was already going?

Do you have any -- to use this horrible phrase -- do you have any visibility on those issues?

PERSSON: I would pull it back one step and say, it is not even the crust yet. I think we've just been handed the shopping list to go to, to the

store, the three to four pages.

So I mean, we have so little information yet. I hear the numbers you're calling out, and they're also being called out by the White House and the

Commission. We have no clarity whatsoever what is behind those numbers. So we just need to dig into that and get further information.

QUEST: I was interested in some of the commentary I read overnight, which basically said the Europeans caved. The view seems to be Europe gave in on

all concessions and perhaps for understandable reasons, 15 percent is better than 20, better than 30.

Do you now see this as a capitulation to U.S. demands?

PERSSON: I think both 15 percent, 10 percent or even, God forbid, 20 percent is much better than a full out trade war. That would have hurt the

European economy enormously. So I think that is the big win we are seeing here.

Then, of course, I would have been happier if it would have been a 10 percent, but I think this is the price we needed to pay not to end up in a

full scale trade war.

QUEST: I promise you, sir, next time I am in brussels, I will buy the pie. You just have to choose the flavor. Thank you, sir, for joining us tonight

from Brussels.

Jeff Zeleny is with me. He is in Scotland. What magnificent weather you must be having there and what a gorgeous evening in the Scottish capital.

So, I mean, if everything I am reading on what you're seeing, Donald Trump rightly can claim this as a victory.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: There is no question it is a victory, at least for the United States government and the

President, because this is something that he has been obviously trying to make a deal, but it is a victory in a couple of different ways, I guess,

for both sides, because it averted a transatlantic trade war.

There was no one who certainly was looking forward to that, but had that Friday deadline come and gone without a deal. Obviously, retaliatory

tariffs were on the verge of happening as well and the idea of a trade war with a group of allies is, once it would have been unthinkable. Now, I

guess, it is anything but unthinkable.

But look, it is a win for the President as he tries to reshape the global order of trade. But for American consumers buying autos, buying perfume,

buying a variety of things, they are going to be paying more.

So it is going to take a while for this to settle in, to be able to really declare it a victory. But in the short term, for President Trump, getting

the European Union, which he has long railed against, as you well know, it is a win for him, sure.

QUEST: Do you think they regret giving 10 percent to the U.K. or was the significance of that 10 percent early on? It set an agenda which he was

able to parlay into greater things.

ZELENY: I think it could be the latter. I think it could be the 10 percent, it was the floor.

[16:10:10]

Now it seems like 15 percent is the floor if you look at Japan and you look at the European Union as well, so that 10 percent may have gotten up

onto the 15 percent. But look, there is no question that President Trump also works on relationships with the leaders and he has found and developed

a very warm relationship with the British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer.

You could see that along the way today. They have not known each other for very long, really. They met for the first time in February when Mr. Starmer

visited the White House. But I've heard no regrets of the 10 percent.

I think that was a way to get to this current percentage here, but the bigger question is long term, does this encourage other countries to also

make a deal? It might.

QUEST: Finally, you know you followed this closer than I have, but I've certainly watched Donald Trump on tariffs over the years. He has got what

he wants, and I don't mean that -- and I am not saying that in a begrudging sense. I am saying it in the, he always wanted tariffs. He never wanted

free trade. He always believed tariffs is a way of raising revenue. He has managed to do it.

He has set basically no one is going to have free trade.

ZELENY: For all of the inconsistencies that really permeate the Trump administration, this is not that, Richard. This is something that President

Trump, Donald Trump as a private citizen, has been very consistent about, really going back a couple of decades. He does believe in tariffs. He does

believe that that is something that should be done.

He believes that American companies have been on the losing end of this. But the question is, at what cost? And the relationship with allies and

things, there is no doubt that it has been somewhat bruised. Yet at the same time, when Donald Trump comes to Scotland for basically a golf trip,

you see leaders rushing to get an audience with him because there is some type of unpredictability that comes with his style of government.

So that's what the E.U. certainly was looking for, not the best deal, but it is some certainty that it had been missing.

QUEST: I think you get the -- I think you get the phrase of the night, Jeff Zeleny unpredictability as his style of government. I think that one goes

down for the phrase of our show tonight. Thank you very much, sir. It is good to see you in Edinburgh. Enjoy Scotland.

Now to Gaza and increased aid is seemingly flowing into Gaza as Israel apparently has got the message. However, the U.N.'s aid chief is warning

the amount of aid being allowed in is nowhere near enough and that in the coming days will be make or break if they are to rescue people from

starvation. I should say rescue more people from starvation.

President Trump in Scotland has told reporters that the U.S. will set up food centers in The Strip. He is also refuting Israel's Prime Minister,

Benjamin Netanyahu's statement that there is in Netanyahu's words no starvation in Gaza.

Mr. Trump says widespread hunger was motivating the U.S. to become even more involved, in his words.

So today, Israel let in only 100 truckloads of aid on Sunday and allowed more airdrops from Jordan and from the Emirates.

The airdrops, now they are expensive and they are inefficient as well as being, as we know from the past, extremely dangerous for the desperate

people below who suddenly not only can be hit and killed by the falling food, but then the riot, as you can see, as they -- look at this, just look

at it. The children --

Jeremy Diamond joins me now from Jerusalem.

How did Benjamin Netanyahu justify no starvation in Gaza?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Israeli Prime Minister is simply denying reality when he says things like that and President Trump

was just the latest person to contradict him based off of the imagery in Gaza.

It is impossible to draw any other conclusion beyond the fact that there is rampant starvation right now gripping Gaza, with 14 people dying of

starvation in just the last 24 hours. But even as the Israeli Prime Minister denies the existence of starvation, he has directed his government

to take steps to stem it.

The steps that we have seen the Israeli government take in the last 24 hours, you know, their real impact will have to be judged based off of how

long those steps are actually in place. But what we've seen so far from the Israeli military are these ten-hour a day tactical pauses, effectively

ceasing fire in certain parts of the Gaza Strip and allowing for safe corridors for these aid trucks to be able to not only get into Gaza, but

then be able to distribute the aid throughout the Gaza Strip.

[16:15:02]

And, Richard, these steps are really the latest evidence of the Israeli restrictions that existed in Gaza for months now, because by taking these

steps and reversing those restrictions, the Israeli government has shown that all along it could have done much more.

Many of these steps were steps that the U.N. and other humanitarian organizations have called for, for months now.

QUEST: So to your best understanding, are -- you know, does Israel continue with this increased level of aid or is there the possibility that it gets

cut off?

DIAMOND: Well, for the time being at least, it certainly seems like the intention is to put these tactical pauses into effect, for that to happen,

for some, you know, unclear duration of time. But clearly Israel is taking these actions because of the global outcry that we have seen over the

course of the last week, as the images of starving children in Gaza have become an undeniable and rude awakening and therefore Israel is, it seems,

trying to facilitate the flow of aid.

But again, the proof will be in how long that stays in place and in how many more hundreds of trucks can get in each day.

QUEST: Jeremy in Jerusalem. Grateful, thank you.

A hundred and forty-seven people have starved to death since the war began, says Gaza's Health Ministry and most of them have been children.

It is very tempting to feel and to believe you've heard it all before. It is very easy to simply say, oh, more stories. Well, this is the same as we

told you last night and really well, what else is he going to tell us now? I urge you not to.

Tonight, Nic Robertson with this report from Jerusalem, and some of the things that you're about to see, yes, you may well have seen before, but it

is equally disturbing tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice over): Baby Zeinab cradled in her father's loving arms, fought for life as long as she

could. Her tiny, emaciated body, a now silent witness to Gaza's new horror -- malnutrition.

Once a happy, healthy baby, dead at five months old. She passed away as her mother carried her to the hospital for a checkup.

(ISRAA AUB HALEEB speaking in foreign language.)

ROBERTSON (voice over): "This is her photo before she got sick," she says. "And this is the medical referral. My daughter suffered greatly from her

illness, malnutrition and a lack of milk due to the closure of the crossings."

A little over a week ago, CNN saw Zeinab in hospital alive.

DR. NICK MAYNARD (British pediatrician): How old is she?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She is now five months. Five months old.

MAYNARD: And how -- what is her weight?

ROBERTSON (voice over): British doctor, Nick Maynard was helping treat Zeinab. He was on one of his many life-saving missions to Gaza, and was

recording a video diary for CNN.

MAYNARD: There have been four newborn babies in the last couple of weeks who have died as a direct result of malnutrition or their mothers were too

malnourished to produce milk. There are inadequate amounts of formula feed.

Zeinab's wizened skin and bone body was clinging to life and there was hope.

After CNN's report, Zeinab was offered a medical evacuation abroad.

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE speaking in foreign language.)

ROBERTSON (voice over): Her father, clutching her dead body, tells us: "Her referral was ready and we were waiting for the crossing to open, but she

found peace and rose to the heavens. We did everything we could."

According to her doctors, she had no underlying medical conditions. Cases like hers increasingly common, he says.

DR. AHMAD AL-FARRA, ZEINAB'S PHYSICIAN: I came to the hospital as a body because of severe, severe starvation and unavailability of the special

formula for milk that it is suitable for her. This is one of the examples for not allowing and for closing borders, against milk and against special

formula of milk for children.

ROBERTSON (voice over): More than 120 dead in Gaza from malnutrition, he says. Two-thirds of them are children because they're more vulnerable.

Israeli officials say they abide by international law, allow aid into Gaza and blame Hamas for the shortages.

Baby Zeinab never knew any of that, or about a ceasefire or negotiations over meters of land or numbers of hostages and prisoners to be exchanged.

She came into the world innocent and left it the same way. Her parents' lives heavier, carrying the loss of what might have been.

[16:20:08]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Allahu akbar.

ROBERTSON (voice over): Nic Robertson, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: As I say, we can feel we've seen the stories and heard it before, but when you hear it again, you realize why we need to see it again. This

is CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:22:59]

QUEST: So in the Northern Hemisphere, well, we are in the thick of the busiest travel periods, the summer season. Here in the U.S., the

indications are of a slow start, a sluggish beginning.

Local visitor boards in top destinations are reporting the numbers are down for occupancies. Las Vegas down 5.5 percent in room bookings, 12 percent in

Houston, although part of the wider dip in overseas tourism in the United States.

According to WTTC, the World Travel and Tourism Council predicts the U.S. will lose around $12.5 billion in international visitor spending this year.

Radisson Hotels Group operates more than 1,500 hotels around the world. There is the CEO, a good friend, Federico Gonzalez joins me now from

Brussels.

You've been -- look, I thought you've have enough to do with running your company, but you're the author of the book "Living and Working Abroad: A

Survival Guide," which is a fascinating book as somebody like myself who has lived and worked overseas.

Let's deal, first of all with what you're seeing in terms of numbers. Then we will talk about the book. Let's just talk about this.

Is it a slow start? I know the numbers are high because it is the summer, but if we look at transatlantic traffic shifts and trends, what are we

seeing?

FEDERICO GONZALEZ, CEO, RADISSON HOTEL GROUP: Good evening, Richard. Good evening, everybody.

I think when you look around the world, I think the trends you are mentioning is really true, it is happening. There is a slowdown, I think,

on both on the inbound and outbound in most of the territories in the world.

I think, definitely that's driven by uncertainty. There is a higher level of uncertainty. And I think uncertainty affects first and most, the long

haul travel, because obviously nobody wants to spend or to be in a place where you have some risk after one week or two.

I think, however, when you look to the world, there are different trends. I think if you look to India, for example, India is doing extremely well both

inbound and outbound. China that has been slow during the last two years, it is starting to see a recovery both inbound and outbound.

As you said, the U.S. is -- sorry, yes.

[16:25:10]

QUEST: No, I wanted to talk about, what -- the summers are going to be okay. It is really once we get to the autumn and the winter, isn't it?

Because now, we are going to see overcapacity, under-utilization and that's when the trouble hits.

GONZALEZ: That's right and I think it is particularly also linked to some segments. I think one of the segments that is most important during that

period is actually all the meeting and events and conventions of business and that's the business that I would say at a global level is suffering

more from the typical kind of events you would have by the end of the year, by October-November to talk about the next year.

And I think also, we are seeing some companies or many, if not all companies around the world, also trying to reduce costs, reduce travel

expenses, and actually that will affect and possibly, as you say, October- November.

QUEST: I want to talk about the book, "Living and Working Abroad." It resonated with me.

GONZALEZ: Yes.

QUEST: Particularly, there is a huge difference between visiting. I don't care if you visit often, and then actually going and living in another

country and it really is about cultural difference, isn't it?

You can all speak the same language and you can still have got no idea what people are talking about. What's been the biggest shock that you've

experienced?

GONZALEZ: Well, I think, there are way too many, I would say. You know, I think -- I've had the luxury of living in Sweden and Portugal, two very

different countries, to my home country of Spain, in brussels or in France. So I think, shocks you would have, you know, in a negative and in a

positive way many, many times. But I would say, the biggest discovery, I think I have had is that 90 percent of the issues or problems you face when

you go and live abroad are driven by communications and by lack of understanding of what the other one is trying to say, or lack of empathy in

trying to put yourself in the position of the other.

However, when you go deeper and try to understand and try to really and I always make the difference, as you say, you know, when you visit a place,

you can have sympathy, okay, how nice they are. Okay, how funny this is.

When you leave, sympathy is not enough. You really need to put yourself in the other people's place, trying to understand not only how they are, but

why they are like that and I think the moment you learn the why is when the adventure becomes more fascinating.

QUEST: Does this make you more sympathetic when sending your senior directorate managers overseas? Because in your business, you can be Asia

for five years, Europe for five years, U.S. for three years, on and on and on. It is the nature of the GM's area, GMs, country managers. Are you now

more empathetic to them?

GONZALEZ: Well, yes, I've lived in my own skin, you know, all the problems that that means. Obviously, usually when you travel like that, you don't

travel alone, you travel with your family. Life becomes more complex.

You lose the support many times you have in your home country of five million friends. And yes, I think our company, Radisson, and I think many

other companies, we will make an effort to try to help and accompany and also understand that I think it is something very important that is -- the

journey of working and living abroad, as anything in life is never perfect.

There are times where you need to bring someone back because it is not working, because the family is maybe suffering and I think having that

flexibility in mind, I think, makes the journey of anybody who we ask to go to a different destination, you know, something more bearable, I would say.

QUEST: Is there one part of the world, one place, Federico, I've known you a long time where you'd like to live, where you have not.

GONZALEZ: I would tell you, more than 20 countries, and I hope that the day I retire, I will go with my wife and live for some periods, okay, in some

of these countries, if life allows, because I think the experience of being in a place more than one week, two weeks, one month, two months, I think

helps you enjoy the experience and learn.

You know, I think you make many mistakes when you travel around the world. And I think, you learn from those mistakes and I think that is an amazing

and very enriching experience.

QUEST: That sound of screaming we heard, that was your wife in the background. I think the thought of another 20 or 30 places to go and live.

Good to see you, sir. Well catch up in Brussels, London or somewhere down the road. Thank you, sir.

GONZALEZ: Thank you. See you soon. Thank you.

QUEST: QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, President Trump tries to light a fire under President Putin's peace negotiations. Now, can -- will the Russian

President be pushed into a deal? That is another matter entirely. We will talk about it after the break.

QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:33:19]

QUEST: Hello, I'm Richard Quest. Together, we've got a lot more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. We're going to discuss Tesla's major new chip deal with Samsung.

And one price for you, another price for him. I have another price, personalized pricing for a plane ticket. Now there's a thought, good pat.

Only after these headlines. This is CNN in here. The news always comes first.

The new trade agreement between the U.S. and the E.U. was announced during a meeting between President Trump and the European Commission President

Ursula von der Leyen. It includes the E.U. buying $750 billion worth of U.S. energy. There'll be a new 15 percent tariff on most European goods

entering the U.S.

President Trump says the U.S. will create food centers in Gaza to address the hunger crisis. He says starvation there is very real. Adding, in his

words, you can't fake that.

Israel's military says 28 packages were dropped from the air in Gaza over the recent hours, part of an effort including the United Arab Emirates, UAE

and Jordan.

Michigan authorities are now looking to file terrorism charges against the man accused of stabbing 11 shoppers at a Walmart store. The county sheriff

is praising the quick response by law enforcement, as well as a group of bystanders who detain the suspect in the shop's parking lot. All victims

are expected to survive.

President Trump and the British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, are both in Aberdeen in northern Scotland, having a private dinner, which brings to

an end very cordial talks on trade Gaza and Ukraine. They flew up to Aberdeen this morning together on Air Force One.

[16:35:17]

In the morning, Mr. Trump will dedicate a golf course to his Scottish born his late mother.

Meanwhile, President Trump is cracking the whip on Russian President Vladimir Putin, so to speak, he has whittled down his deadline to reach a

cease fire with Ukraine from 50 days to 10 or perhaps 12.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm disappointed in President Putin. Very disappointed in him. So, we're going to have to look and I'm

going to reduce that 50 days that I gave him to a lesser number, because I think I already know the answer what's going to happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: Interestingly, earlier this month, he threatened Russia with 100 percent tariffs unless President Putin cut a deal with Ukraine. And of

course, Ukraine has welcomed the new shorter, tighter deadline.

Russian forces are currently in the middle of making a major summer push, as expected, they're aiming to take control of Ukraine's Donetsk region.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh now reports from eastern Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there has been obviously a positive Ukrainian reaction to the news of a significantly

shortened deadline from U.S. President Donald Trump suggesting again, Zelenskyy's Chief of Staff, Andriy Yermak. This is about peace through

strength, and how Vladimir Putin essentially respects power.

But I don't think there's much positivity that suddenly, in the next 10 days, we'll see an urgent peace deal signed and agreed to by the Kremlin.

Bear in mind that at the moment, Ukraine is experiencing significant issues along its eastern front line, with three key towns at risk of some kind of

encirclement by Russian forces.

Russia's progress incremental, yes, but beginning in this intense offensive to show some kind of strategic gain. The shortened deadline will certainly

remove concerns that this 50 day deadline had originally given the Putin administration most of the summer to pursue their offensive but it doesn't

immediately cause change in Russia's military maneuvers, and indeed, the 10 days ahead could cause Russia to advance significantly in other areas.

And you have to also bear in mind too exactly what Trump is indeed threatening here. The secondary sanctions or tariffs won't necessarily be

directed towards Russia. They're directed towards Russia's primary customers of energy, China and India.

Now, China is utterly dependent on Russian oil and gas and a key ally of Moscow. India is an American ally that's also dependent on Russian gas, and

indeed, through complex mechanisms, has been allowed to keep buying Russian oil and gas to essentially keep the global oil price lower.

In the event of sanctions or tariffs against these two key customers, that's going to cause havoc across the global energy market, probably cause

American gas prices to rise to some degree.

So, Trump is threatening something that would have an extraordinary impact on the global economy, for sure, and indeed potentially mean that he's

doing things that his predecessor, President Joe Biden, felt were perhaps a little too severe.

This may cause Beijing to reach out and pressure Moscow, but they have suggested in talks with the E.U. diplomats that they ultimately think they

can't afford to see Russia lose this war, because that would mean the U.S.'s primary focus shifts entirely towards China.

So, I'm sure there are many in Ukraine here who hear sirens like you can hear now every night that will welcome the renewed urgency that indeed,

Trump's new deadline sets to finding peace here or addressing Ukraine's issues on the front line. I don't think many people here believe it's going

to suddenly change their course in the war.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, eastern Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: After days of deadly clashes, there's a fragile cease fire that would seem to be holding between Thailand and Cambodia. It went into effect

earlier on Monday, and the neighboring nations who share this 800 kilometer border say they will resume direct communications at the official level.

This latest report from Will Ripley.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With smoke still rising on the border from Thailand military drones dropping bombs on Cambodian military

positions both nations leaders flew to nearby Malaysia, hoping diplomacy can succeed where fighting has failed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For immediate ceasefire, immediate ceasefire.

RIPLEY (voice-over): In Putrajaya, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim stepped in to break the deadlock, announcing an immediate and unconditional

ceasefire from midnight local time. He's also bringing in field commanders from both sides for face-to-face talks.

[16:40:01]

On the ground, cautious hope so many families forced to flee, abandoning their livelihoods, we should take precautions no matter what this Thai

farmer says, if there's a ceasefire, that's great. It would be better so my family can come back to keep farming. Dozens are dead, hundreds hurt.

Both governments say more than 200,000 people displaced. This is one of the region's worst flare ups in years. Even U.S. President Donald Trump is

getting involved, speaking during a Summit in Scotland.

TRUMP: And I spoke to both of the prime ministers, and I think by the time I got it off, I think they want to settle now.

RIPLEY (voice-over): If they did not settle, he said trade deals would be at risk. But even warnings from the U.S. President won't easily erase

decades of distrust, tensions growing since May. First a Cambodian soldier died in a border skirmish, then a leaked phone call led to bitter fallout

between Thailand and Cambodia's powerful elder statesman, deepening the diplomatic crisis, plunging both sides into deadly violence.

Now Malaysia is playing peacemaker, but with trust in short supply nobody knows how long this truce will last.

Will Ripley, CNN, Taipei.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: Samsung has agreed to make A.I. semiconductors for Tesla. It's a $16.5 billion deal, and we'll talk about it next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: You can buy an awful lot of computer chips with $16.5 billion. Well, that's what Samsung has sold to Tesla, and shares of both companies rallied

with Samsung up six percent the highest in September. Tesla is up three percent.

Tesla's Chief Executive Musk confirmed the eight year contract in a post on X late on Sunday. Clare's with me, Clare Duffy. Interesting, you know,

Samsung is a large manufacturer of it, but we never really think of it in terms of that, do we? We're so obsessed with Nvidia and then Intel and this

and that. But why Samsung and Tesla? For Tesla, do you think?

[16:45:12]

CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: Well, yes, I mean, Samsung has really been behind in the A.I. chip game, behind TSMC in particular. TSMC makes

the A15 chips for Tesla. Samsung will be making the A16 chips for Tesla.

And, you know, there's some reporting that suggests that Samsung may have given Tesla a bit of a deal in order to reach this really significant

contract, because Samsung had reportedly been having a hard time finding customers for this new Taylor, Texas facility that it's building out. This

facility was built with the help of funding from the CHIPS Act that was meant to boost U.S. chip manufacturering.

And so, it was really important that they have an anchor client like Tesla. And so, I think that's why you're seeing this reaction from Samsung

shareholders today.

The company has also been trying to get into this contract chip making business where, rather than the memory chips they're really known for,

they're making chips designed by third party customers.

So, this deal with Tesla is also really a vote of confidence in that business for Samsung as well.

QUEST: Who needed who more in this deal do you think?

DUFFY: I mean, I think this is a really great deal for Samsung for all the reasons we just talked about, but it also is a big deal for Tesla, and

here's why, we've talked a lot about the challenges that Tesla is having this year and last week during the company's earnings call, Elon Musk

basically answered those concerns by talking about the future, talking about robotaxis and humanoid robots, and these A.I. chips are really going

to be central to the company's ability to build those technologies.

And so, I think this is really, you know, doubling down by Tesla on that vision for the A.I. future.

QUEST: Tesla has suffered so badly, the whole Elon Musk. Is there -- give us the feeling, is it that the turnaround has started? They're still

thinking about it. The market is always not. The board of Tesla has given enough ultimatum.

DUFFY: Yes. I mean, I think that this is maybe the reaction to this news today. Is a feeling from shareholders that Elon Musk is at least kind of

putting his money where his mouth is when he makes these bold promises for the future.

But I think the company still has a lot of challenges to deal with in the current moment. I mean, not least all of the competition it's seeing in the

E.V. space. The E.V. -- demand for E.V.s is growing, and yet demand for Teslas is falling.

So, while Elon Musk is thinking a lot about robotaxis and humanoid robots, I think that those things, he's not going to have the money to do those

things and the support from his board if they don't get the core business under control.

QUEST: Clare in New York with me. Grateful. Thank you.

In a moment, Delta says it's going to use A.I. to set ticket prices. Now, travelers are wondering exactly what that means, bearing in mind, Delta

says it's not individual ticketing. I mean ticket based on an individual. So, what are they going to do? We'll get to bottom of it. We'll try to

after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:50:35]

QUEST: Delta Air Lines is now dealing with the fallout after saying it would use A.I. to set more of its ticket prices. The company said it would

use the software from A.I. company Fetcherr for 20 percent of its network by the end of this year.

However, it said it is not based on personal information, saying there is no fair product delta has ever used, is testing or plans to use that

targets customers with individualized offer.

So, what are they doing? How does it work in this technology, and indeed in the U.S., some lawmakers are raising legitimate concerns as well.

Nabeel Siddiqi is the founder and CEO of PricePerfectAI, he joins me now. Good to see you, sir.

So, what are they doing? They they're adamant it's not individual, but we already know about dynamic ticket pricing. So, what element? What

additional element does this A.I. add?

NABEEL SIDDIQI, FOUNDER AND CEO, PRICEPERFECTAI: Yes, so it -- thanks for having me. So, it essentially adds a couple of different things, right?

It's adding information that traditionally isn't included in ticketing prices. So, airlines have traditionally had a long history of pricing,

starting from the '80s, and their most of their focus has been on the demand, so -- and on the supply, right?

So, the supply is that seats are flying. So, when an airplane takes off, the seats are kind of worthless once the flight has taken off and they're

not filled. So, they're trying to fill that demand, and that's been the traditional way.

Now, what they're adding, and the new things that they're adding are things like, is there a new event happening? Let's say there's a flight from New

York to Boston, and if there's a conference or some large event that's happening in Boston, those -- sorry, again?

QUEST: Yes, but a lot of that's already done up to a point. You know, the schedulers and the route managers do know that. How are they planning to

enhance this with more A.I.?

SIDDIQI: So, they will make it predictive? So, right now, what's happening is it's reactive.

So, again, like the New York to Boston flight, as it's filling up, the flight ticket prices will start picking up. But now that it's predictive,

they know that maybe at this time of the year, these -- you know, these kind of conferences are happening, they'll start ticking the prices up

earlier, so that nearly everybody has to pay a higher price. And this can go the other way as well, right?

So, it could be a cheaper price, for example. If they know that New York and Miami flights are not, you know, selling at a certain point of the

year, they can actually reduce those prices before, they end up having to react from a demand. So, it's more proactive, rather than reactive.

QUEST: Do you see this as a, if you will, stepping stone to the individual price or geo locating? Look, they're buying the ticket from the Upper East

Side of New York. They've got more money than if it's down in the Lower East Side. Ah, no, it's Quest. He always buys that sort of ticket.

Therefore, we know it's very likely he'll buy that sort of ticket again.

SIDDIQI: Is it technically possible? Yes, it is technically possible. It's quite -- it's not difficult at all to do.

The problem becomes again, like we're talking about consumer backlash and the regulatory authorities, right? Because if everybody, if all of the

airlines, start doing personalized pricing, which is what you're referring to, then the chances of collusion increase radically, and that's a risk

that I would imagine most airlines are not willing to take.

So, is it possible? Yes. Are they going to do it? That's a very different question.

QUEST: Airline pricing is both the most sophisticated and least sophisticated at the same time, because, as you say, the moment the plane

takes off. It's like, you know, at least with old fruit and veg, you can make soup. Once that plane's taken off, it's a worthless -- it's a

worthless seat.

But I wonder the Nirvana for the airline is to predict exactly what they can sell and to whom.

SIDDIQI: It is. It is for not just the airline, for any business who's selling anything, right? If you can say that this person is going to -- is

willing to pay a thousand and this other person is willing to pay 600 then it's the best to be able to charge the person thousand and the other person

600 rather than charging both 600.

[16:55:09]

And if you really think about it, like at the kind of the ancient time markets that exist. That's what they would be doing. You know, you've got

the carpet sellers, they look at the person and they kind of figure out that we can charge them more money because they're whatever.

QUEST: Let's go to press. Let's go to the basics here, at the end of the day, as the consumer, are we going to get screwed with this?

SIDDIQI: It's right, that's too early to tell. I would say that there they have the ability to make some very strategic decreases if they really want

to. And what I mean by that is, there's always going to be flights that are going to be less than and if you know more on the empty side, right? Like,

kind of not as much demand as they expected.

In those scenarios, they can strategically decrease prices to kind of give other consumers who wouldn't be taking that flight the opportunity to take

the flight. An example of this is, you know, free upgrades to business class. It's like a free trial, right? Same kind of thing, they can do that.

Let's see if they do it.

QUEST: Let's see, indeed. Sir, I'm grateful for your time and attention tonight. Thank you for joining us on QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.

SIDDIQI: Thank you.

QUEST: We will take a profitable moment after the break. Bear in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: Tonight's profitable moment, T-R-U-S-T, trust. That's what's really going to be behind this. A.I. business and airline pricing the trust that

the airline is not going to gouge, it's not going to have individual pricing to the individual consumer, that it's not going to push it so far

to the line that everybody is up in arms. And eventually there is legislation.

I don't have much confidence in the industry getting this one right, to be honest. I just don't I think the temptation to push it further and faster,

to know the events that are taking place, to moderate the A.I. algorithm, to make the most per seat that eventually, the lawyer -- the politicians

will get involved, and restrictions and regulations will be put in place, and it'll all end in tears and gnashing and wailing before bed.

No, the reality is the airline should come out straight out now as Delta has to be fair, and say we're not going to do this. We mean that we're not

going to do it, and we genuinely are not going to do it, because otherwise we are just looking at one disaster waiting to happen, and it will.

[17:00:14]

And that's QUEST MEANS BUSINESS for tonight, I'm Richard Quest in New York. Delighted that you and I are starting a new week together. Whatever you're

up to in the hour ahead, I hope it's profitable. See you tomorrow.

END